Chasing the Public: The CBC and the Debate Over Factual Entertainment on Canadian Airwaves
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| Udgivet i: | Canadian Journal of Communication vol. 34, no. 1 (2009), p. 61-77 |
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University of Toronto Press
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| 245 | 1 | |a Chasing the Public: The CBC and the Debate Over Factual Entertainment on Canadian Airwaves | |
| 260 | |b University of Toronto Press |c 2009 | ||
| 513 | |a Journal Article | ||
| 520 | 3 | |a In 2003, the broadcaster created a "Current Affairs Redevelopment Group" tasked with incorporating "reality-type ideas" into its programming. However, Slawko Klymkiw, then executive director of network programming, was adamant that "[w]e don't actually use the term 'reality' television." Instead, reported Alexandra Gill in the Globe and Mail, "he prefers to call it constructive observational documentary, or counterintuitive programming" (Gill, 2003). Two years later, as reported by Toronto Star television critic Antonia Zerbisias (2005), CBC president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch told Parliament's Heritage Committee, "There are certain types of programming that we don't have to do, or shouldn't do. For example, we don't do reality television. . . . If we just were chasing audiences, or just were chasing rating points, we could do reality programming. . . . But we don't do that." Then, less than a year later, the broadcaster created a "Factual Entertainment" division. For the CBC, this meant "talk shows, game shows, lifestyle and reality programs, as well as the acquisition and adaptation of formats of this type" (Stephenson, 2006). In other words, even though reluctant to admit it, the CBC was definitely pursuing reality programming. Richard Stursberg, the executive vice-president of CBC Television and the individual most likely associated with the thrust behind reality television on the CBC, admitted how the programming choice was indebted to the British experience: "There is a growing acceptance that our programming must be entertaining and fun as well as intelligent, interesting and engaging. Public service broadcasting can no longer be, as the UK Government White Paper on the BBC says and I quote, confined to the 'worthy'" (Stursberg, 2006). With this in mind, we can look to Bignell's (2005, p. 47) characterization of the British Broadcasting Corporation to understand the changes underway at the CBC: Both institutions are "shifting from a paternalistic notion of the viewer as a member of a collective national audience to the notion of the viewer as increasingly an individual consumer." No longer content with marginal ratings due to attempts at "supervising the viewer's cultural education towards 'better' taste and informed citizenship," now "public service" entails the "attempt to satisfy perceived desires and capture large audiences through entertainment." The challenge that Stursberg faces, above and beyond simply drawing viewers away from private networks, is to get viewers to watch "Canadian" television. As the vice-president admits, "[W]hen it comes to the most popular forms of narrative - television and feature films Canadians overwhelmingly prefer the stories of another country" (Stursberg, 2006). Although this may not be true of all Canadians, viewer ratings feature rare domestic successes but a sustained appetite for imported American programming. Thus, even as it programs reality TV, the CBC operates under the pressure to reflect Canadian life and tell Canadian stories. Shows such as Triple Sensation or Test the Nation successfully re-inscribe the "CBC effect" given that they don't carry with them the taint of the " 'bad ordinary' (content deemed vulgar and/or personally disappointing in ways unsuited to national visibility)" (Corner, 2005, p. xiv). But other shows on the CBC have been accused of this when the quest to be popular appears to detract from the "smart-ness" of the programming. One critic called No Opportunity Wasted "Some Time Wasted" (Menon, 2007) while another used it to suggest that "maybe CBC could try to overcome its fear of intelligent television" ([Doyle, John], 2007). This last comment challenges the public broadcaster to consider whether, having overcome its fear of the "dumb" genre of reality television, its efforts to elevate the format merely reproduce it. Curiously enough, both No Opportunity Wasted and Triple Sensation are programs that are not automatically identifiable as "Canadian." They look as though they could be produced anywhere (and indeed, the Canadian version of No Opportunity Wasted was the third "distinctly national" iteration of the format, following American and New Zealand productions). This demonstrates an important point: | |
| 610 | 4 | |a Canadian Broadcasting Corp | |
| 651 | 4 | |a Canada | |
| 653 | |a Reality programming | ||
| 653 | |a Canadian culture | ||
| 653 | |a Nationalism | ||
| 653 | |a Public service | ||
| 653 | |a Ratings | ||
| 653 | |a Redevelopment | ||
| 653 | |a Entertainment | ||
| 653 | |a Taint | ||
| 653 | |a Format | ||
| 653 | |a Programming | ||
| 653 | |a Visibility | ||
| 653 | |a Television | ||
| 653 | |a Fear | ||
| 653 | |a Broadcasting | ||
| 653 | |a Television broadcasting | ||
| 653 | |a Perceptions | ||
| 653 | |a Motion pictures | ||
| 653 | |a Culture | ||
| 653 | |a Audiences | ||
| 653 | |a Television programming | ||
| 653 | |a Critics | ||
| 653 | |a Cultural heritage | ||
| 653 | |a Populism | ||
| 653 | |a Transnationalism | ||
| 653 | |a Ratings & rankings | ||
| 653 | |a Citizenship | ||
| 653 | |a Current events | ||
| 653 | |a Presidents | ||
| 653 | |a Television viewing | ||
| 653 | |a Talk shows | ||
| 653 | |a Mass media images | ||
| 653 | |a Legislatures | ||
| 653 | |a Viewers | ||
| 653 | |a Fear & phobias | ||
| 653 | |a Intelligence | ||
| 773 | 0 | |t Canadian Journal of Communication |g vol. 34, no. 1 (2009), p. 61-77 | |
| 786 | 0 | |d ProQuest |t ABI/INFORM Global | |
| 856 | 4 | 1 | |3 Citation/Abstract |u https://www.proquest.com/docview/219617736/abstract/embedded/7BTGNMKEMPT1V9Z2?source=fedsrch |
| 856 | 4 | 0 | |3 Full Text |u https://www.proquest.com/docview/219617736/fulltext/embedded/7BTGNMKEMPT1V9Z2?source=fedsrch |
| 856 | 4 | 0 | |3 Full Text - PDF |u https://www.proquest.com/docview/219617736/fulltextPDF/embedded/7BTGNMKEMPT1V9Z2?source=fedsrch |