Wednesday, July 27, 2016

New music! New Music! New Music! New Music!

New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! 

After following the downhill trajectory of CBC Radio for the past seven years I've finally figured out where CBC Radio went wrong.

If you listen to the announcers and read the pronouncements of CBC Radio executives you will come to realize something. Everyone currently working at the CBC is a failed musician, record producer, music industry has-been executive, music industry wanna-be or music industry groupie. Sorry to tell it like it is folks, but it is true.

So what does this mean for CBC Radio? When the Jian Ghomeshi fiasco first erupted a newspaper article quoted a CBC Radio employee. The employee described how enjoyable it was (at first) to be working on the new programming at CBC Radio. The employee was quoted as saying that they would rather be programming shows with the so-called "new music" instead of programming classical music for seniors living in Saskatchewan. Yes, that's precisely what this person said. "Instead of programming classical music for seniors living in Saskatchewan." I would quote the newspaper article, but unfortunately Google is not co-operating with me in my search for the original article.

There you have it, folks. At one time if you were a failed musician or music industry groupie and were otherwise unemployable, you could find yourself a job at Sam The Record Man or an HMV outlet. With those venues no longer being an option, what is the failed musician with no other marketable skills to do? Why, join the CBC, of course!

Once there, the failed musician - let's call him or her FM for short - decides that the old CBC is, well, boring. The CBC is programming Classical Music for seniors living in Saskatchewan! They know nothing about the indie bands erupting all over the country! They know nothing about the New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music!

So what does the FM, now an aspiring programmer/producer/CBC executive/music industry has-been, do? Change the CBC, of course! Program more new music! Show Canadians what they're missing! Who cares if Canadians don't want it! They will learn to love it! The new programming on CBC Radio Two will "find it's audience", as CBC executives said many times.

In 2007 the CBC justified their programming changes with the elusive "Arts and Culture" survey, which purportedly found that Canadian seniors living in Saskatchewan didn't want their old CBC, but wanted a new, vibrant, culturally-aware CBC that programmed more new music. New Music! New Music! New Music!

Of course the CBC refused to release the infamous "Arts and Culture" survey to the great, unwashed public. But the survey found what the CBC Execs said it found. Trust us on this, they said. We know what's best.

And so we all know what happened. Programs were axed, veteran announcers were let go, new programming was introduced and the CBC's market share slid. If you don't know about all this, start reading my blog entries beginning in 2007. You can read the whole sorry story there.

Which brings us to my latest rant. There's a new show on CBC Radio One on weekdays from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. Whereas previously this time slot was occupied by a variety of interesting programming, such as "Ideas", "Rewind" and even "Vinyl Cafe", it is now occupied by a program that can only be described as "Q Lite". And yes, it is chock-a-block full of New Music! New Music! New Music! And yes, I find it impossible to listen to.

New music! New Music! New Music! New Music!

New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! 

After following the downhill trajectory of CBC Radio for the past seven years I've finally figured out where CBC Radio went wrong.

If you listen to the announcers and read the pronouncements of CBC Radio executives you will come to realize something. Everyone currently working at the CBC is a failed musician, record producer, music industry has-been executive, music industry wanna-be or music industry groupie. Sorry to tell it like it is folks, but it is true.

So what does this mean for CBC Radio? When the Jian Ghomeshi fiasco first erupted a newspaper article quoted a CBC Radio employee. The employee described how enjoyable it was (at first) to be working on the new programming at CBC Radio. The employee was quoted as saying that they would rather be programming shows with the so-called "new music" instead of programming classical music for seniors living in Saskatchewan. Yes, that's precisely what this person said. "Instead of programming classical music for seniors living in Saskatchewan." I would quote the newspaper article, but unfortunately Google is not co-operating with me in my search for the original article.

There you have it, folks. At one time if you were a failed musician or music industry groupie and were otherwise unemployable, you could find yourself a job at Sam The Record Man or an HMV outlet. With those venues no longer being an option, what is the failed musician with no other marketable skills to do? Why, join the CBC, of course!

Once there, the failed musician - let's call him or her FM for short - decides that the old CBC is, well, boring. The CBC is programming Classical Music for seniors living in Saskatchewan! They know nothing about the indie bands erupting all over the country! They know nothing about the New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music!

So what does the FM, now an aspiring programmer/producer/CBC executive/music industry has-been, do? Change the CBC, of course! Program more new music! Show Canadians what they're missing! Who cares if Canadians don't want it! They will learn to love it! The new programming on CBC Radio Two will "find it's audience", as CBC executives said many times.

In 2007 the CBC justified their programming changes with the elusive "Arts and Culture" survey, which purportedly found that Canadian seniors living in Saskatchewan didn't want their old CBC, but wanted a new, vibrant, culturally-aware CBC that programmed more new music. New Music! New Music! New Music!

And so we all know what happened. Programs were axed, veteran announcers were let go, new programming was introduced and the CBC's market share slid. If you don't know about all this, start reading my blog entries beginning in 2007. You can read the whole sorry story there.

Which brings us to my latest rant. There's a new show on CBC Radio One on weekdays from 1:00 - 2:00 PM. Whereas previously this time slot was occupied by a variety of interesting programming, such as "Ideas", "Rewind" and even "Vinyl Cafe", it is not occupied by a program that can only be described as "Q Lite". And yes, it is chock-a-block full of New Music! New Music! New Music! And yes, I find it impossible to listen to.

New music! New Music! New Music! New Music!

New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music! 

After following the downhill trajectory of CBC Radio for the past seven years I've finally figured out where CBC Radio went wrong.

If you listen to the announcers and read the pronouncements of CBC Radio executives you will come to realize something. Everyone currently working at the CBC is a failed musician, record producer, music industry has-been executive, music industry wanna-be or music industry groupie. Sorry to tell it like it is folks, but it is true.

So what does this mean for CBC Radio? When the Jian Ghomeshi fiasco first erupted a newspaper article quoted a CBC Radio employee. The employee described how enjoyable it was (at first) to be working on the new programming at CBC Radio. The employee was quoted as saying that they would rather be programming shows with the so-called "new music" instead of programming classical music for seniors living in Saskatchewan. Yes, that's precisely what this person said. "Instead of programming classical music for seniors living in Saskatchewan." I would quote the newspaper article, but unfortunately Google is not co-operating with me in my search for the original article.

There you have it, folks. At one time if you were a failed musician or music industry groupie and were otherwise unemployable, you could find yourself a job at Sam The Record Man or an HMV outlet. With those venues no longer being an option, what is the failed musician with no other marketable skills to do? Why, join the CBC, of course!

Once there, the failed musician - let's call him or her FM for short - decides that the old CBC is, well, boring. The CBC is programming Classical Music for seniors living in Saskatchewan! They know nothing about the indie bands erupting all over the country! They know nothing about the New Music! New Music! New Music! New Music!

So what does the FM, now an aspiring programmer/producer/CBC executive/music industry has-been, do? Change the CBC, of course! Program more new music! Show Canadians what they're missing! Who cares if Canadians don't want it! They will learn to love it! The new programming on CBC Radio Two will "find it's audience", as CBC executives said many times.

In 2007 the CBC justified their programming changes with the elusive "Arts and Culture" survey, which purportedly found that Canadian seniors living in Saskatchewan didn't want their old CBC, but wanted a new, vibrant, culturally-aware CBC that programmed more new music. New Music! New Music! New Music!

And so we all know what happened. Programs were axed, veteran announcers were let go, new programming was introduced and the CBC's market share slid. If you don't know about all this, start reading my blog entries beginning in 2007. You can read the whole sorry story there.

Which brings us to my latest rant. There's a new show on CBC Radio One on weekdays from 1:00 - 2:00 PM. Whereas previously this time slot was occupied by a variety of interesting programming, such as "Ideas", "Rewind" and even "Vinyl Cafe", it is not occupied by a program that can only be described as "Q Lite". And yes, it is chock-a-block full of New Music! New Music! New Music! And yes, I find it impossible to listen to.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

The Spring 2016 Numeris (formerly BBM) Survey of CBC Radio Market Share


This is our eleventh review of CBC Radio's market share since the CBC decided to restructure the programming of CBC Radio Two. Previous surveys can be seen in the sidebar to the right.

This review summarizes the radio audience of CBC Radio Two stations in major cities, as surveyed by Numeris (formerly the Bureau of Broadcast Mesaurement). It compares the audience of CBC Radio Two stations both before and after the CBC restructured the programming of Radio Two.

The premise is simple. If the restructuring was successful, the audience would have increased. If unsuccessful, the audience would have decreased.

We note that the audience for radio is declining. Even so, if the audience for CBC Radio Two decreased more than the general radio audience, then the restructuring was unsuccessful.

The results of these reviews have consistently shown that the audience for CBC Radio Two stations in the cities surveyed by Numeris declined following the Radio Two programming changes. An impartial observer would therefore have to conclude that the programming restructuring was, and continues to be, a resounding failure. Yet the CBC apparently refuses to recognize this.

A summary of the findings: the overall radio audience declined by 22.3% while the audience for CBC Radio Two declined by 35.4% since the initial survey in 2007.














A graph of the CBC Radio One and Radio Two audience in Vancouver.














Calgary:














Edmonton:














Winnipeg:














Toronto:














Ottawa:














Montreal:














The results are clear. The CBC Radio Two programming changes have been a spectacular failure, in spite of repeated protestations from CBC management that the new programming would "find it's audience". The audience was never found, and listeners have abandoned CBC Radio in droves.