Apparently CBC Radio Two is holding a contest. This is the text of the contest announcement from the CBC Radio Two web site:
49 Songs from North of the 49th Parallel
Canadians choose 49 songs from North of the 49th parallel that defines Canada to the new President.
Beginning Monday, January 5, CBC Radio 2 invites Canadians to help select the top "49 songs from north of the 49th parallel" that would best define our country to the incoming U.S. President Barack Obama.
His playlist could definitely benefit from some Canadian content, especially given the depth of our musical offerings – spanning a wide variety of genres and representing our culture from coast to coast.
"One of the best way to know Canada is through the depth and breadth of our artistic expression," says Denise Donlon, Executive Director, CBC Radio. "We're excited about the new President and we want him to be excited about us, so we're asking our audience to help compile the list of our most definitive Canadian songs!"
After having read this announcement, I imagined the following conversation that might take place between President-elect Obama and one of his advisors during their morning workout:
Hey, Barack, did ya see this? (Advisor is reading the Chicago Tribune while on the stationary bike.) Canada is holding a contest to develop a playlist of Canadian music for you.
Say again? A playlist of Canadian songs? For me?
Yeah, CBC Radio is holding a contest to choose 49 songs that best define Canada for the incoming president. That would be you.
Why me? I already know about Canada. We have briefing papers coming out the ying-yang about Canada. And why 49 songs? What, one for every state in continental North America? Are they excluding Hawaii for some reason?
No, no, it has something to do with Canada being north of the 49th parallel.
I see. Well, it seems very odd. But why me? Why now?
Well, you know how it is. Canada has always been a little bit unsure of itself. It's always had to try to define itself by its relationship to America.
I see.
And there's always been a deep-seated anti-American aspect to the Canadian identity. It all comes from the United Empire Loyalists who flooded into Canada after the War of Independence. They were anti-American, and the trait has persisted through the generations. So Canadians often feel the need to assert their identity, often through anti-American sentiments. Remember the ad, what was it, that we saw that one time when we were in Buffalo? Remember? That beer ad? The guy in the lumberjack shirt ranting about Canada?
Oh, yeah, I remember. How very odd, and sad at the same time.
Yeah, so I suppose this contest is just another one of Canada's strange attempts to assert its identify, but they have to do it in relation to America, and to you, to let you know they exist.
Well, it still seems very strange. Why can't they celebrate their own achievements without us? Canada is a great country. They have many things to be proud of. It would be like us, trying to celebrate ourselves in relation to, say, England, or France. Can you imagine such a thing?
No, I can't, but that's Canada for you.
Yeah, I guess. (Barack ponders for a moment.) I know what the problem is. Canada has a self-esteem problem. Yes, that's it. It's all a matter of self-esteem. We can fix this! I know we can! OK, here's what I want you to do. After the inauguration, I want you to start working on a program to build up Canada's self-esteem. We'll have a Canada Appreciation Day, and we'll invite famous Canadians to the White House for a dinner. We'll invite Avril Lavigne, Jim Carrey, Margaret Atwood, Burton Cummings, Joni Mitchell, Michel Bublé, we'll have a dinner and show afterwards.
OK, I'll get some other names together.
We'll invite the Canadian Prime Minister, Harper, to Washington, first thing in January.
Well, remember, Canada's going through a bit of a political crisis right now. Harper might not be the Prime Minister after they introduce their next budget.
Right, I forgot. OK, hold off on the Harper invitation until after the situation in Ottawa becomes a bit clearer.
I think that's a good idea.
And we'll have an exhibition hockey game. We'll get all the Canadians who play on U.S. teams to play for Canada, and all our guys to play for the U.S. Shoot, we can even make it an eight game series!
I'll get right on that. I'll talk to the NHL Commissioner.
What about inviting some CFL teams to play exhibition games in border cities? Show everyone that the CFL can be more exciting than the NFL, what with all the passing that the Canadians do?
Yeah, that's an idea for next summer.
And Gretzky. Does he play ball? We can invite him over sometime.
I don't know if he plays, but I'm sure he'd give it a shot. He's a great athlete.
Good! I'm excited about this! I just know we can make a difference for Canada! Now, let's go shoot some hoops.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
The death of broadcast radio
Jon Landau famously wrote in 1974 "I have seen rock and roll's future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen." This, of course, was before Bruce Springsteen became famous outside New Jersey and the household name that he is today.
While this statement might have been a bit overdone, there's no doubt that Mr. Landau was prescient in predicting Bruce Springsteen's later impact on rock and roll. This statement was written by Mr. Landau after having seen Mr. Springsteen and the E-Street Band perform in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The performance must have been a revelation for Mr. Landau - a moment when he realized nothing would be the same, ever again, for rock and roll.
Well, I too have had my moment of revelation, when I realized that nothing would be the same, ever again. What it that, you ask, that will never be the same, ever again? Why, broadcast radio, of course.
It's becoming increasingly clear, at least to me, that broadcast radio will soon be dead, both in the sense of broadcasting to reach a wide audience and broadcasting over the AM and FM bands of the radio spectrum. I doubt that I'm the first to reach this conclusion. But it was my moment of revelation, and I insist on enjoying it while I can.
The fact that broadcasting to reach a wide radio audience will soon be dead can be seen from radio's sister medium, television. The increasing number of specialty channels on television and the trend towards program distribution over the internet signals the demise of television broadcasting. Television viewers now have the choice of specialty channels to meet every interest, with additional channels being added each year. If you doubt this, take a look at your local cable provider's lineup or what's available on the internet.
Television broadcasting, in the sense of the television signal being broadcast over the air, has long been replaced by cable television except among those die-hards who refuse to pay for cable and still have an antenna on top of their house, or rabbit ears on their TV. I expect cable will soon become the primary medium for internet access and television viewing, rather than simply for program distribution.
"Broadcast radio is still alive and kicking", you might tell me in response. Yes, but just give it time. I expect broadcast radio over the FM band to rapidly diminish in the next few years, just as AM radio gave way to FM radio. What will cause the death of broadcast radio? Internet radio. Yes, my moment of revelation came this past Christmas when I received my latest toy as a present, an internet radio.
If you've been reading this blog up until this point, you will know how enthusiastic I have been about my Sirius satellite radio. Well, I'm sorry to say, internet radio just blows satellite radio away. While my Sirius satellite radio gives me Symphony Hall, classical music 24/7, with internet radio I now have the choice of classical music from Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy - well, you get the picture. Radio from all over the world. All that you need is an 802.11b or 802.11g wireless router, an internet connection and an internet radio and you're off, never to listen to broadcast radio again.
While I don't believe internet radio is available for your vehicle yet, there have been several announcements of internet-enabled vehicles and WiMax networks to distribute the content. Just give it time.
What does this mean for CBC Radio Two? Well, the tremendous irony in all of this is that it was the CBC's decision to decimate classical programming on Radio Two that caused me to investigate satellite radio and internet radio in the first place and to become an adopter - a mid-to-late adopter in the case of satellite radio, an early adopter in the case of internet radio. Talk about driving your customer base into the arms of your competitor!
Yes, CBC Radio has hastened its own demise. Sorry, CBC Radio, but there it is.
While this statement might have been a bit overdone, there's no doubt that Mr. Landau was prescient in predicting Bruce Springsteen's later impact on rock and roll. This statement was written by Mr. Landau after having seen Mr. Springsteen and the E-Street Band perform in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The performance must have been a revelation for Mr. Landau - a moment when he realized nothing would be the same, ever again, for rock and roll.
Well, I too have had my moment of revelation, when I realized that nothing would be the same, ever again. What it that, you ask, that will never be the same, ever again? Why, broadcast radio, of course.
It's becoming increasingly clear, at least to me, that broadcast radio will soon be dead, both in the sense of broadcasting to reach a wide audience and broadcasting over the AM and FM bands of the radio spectrum. I doubt that I'm the first to reach this conclusion. But it was my moment of revelation, and I insist on enjoying it while I can.
The fact that broadcasting to reach a wide radio audience will soon be dead can be seen from radio's sister medium, television. The increasing number of specialty channels on television and the trend towards program distribution over the internet signals the demise of television broadcasting. Television viewers now have the choice of specialty channels to meet every interest, with additional channels being added each year. If you doubt this, take a look at your local cable provider's lineup or what's available on the internet.
Television broadcasting, in the sense of the television signal being broadcast over the air, has long been replaced by cable television except among those die-hards who refuse to pay for cable and still have an antenna on top of their house, or rabbit ears on their TV. I expect cable will soon become the primary medium for internet access and television viewing, rather than simply for program distribution.
"Broadcast radio is still alive and kicking", you might tell me in response. Yes, but just give it time. I expect broadcast radio over the FM band to rapidly diminish in the next few years, just as AM radio gave way to FM radio. What will cause the death of broadcast radio? Internet radio. Yes, my moment of revelation came this past Christmas when I received my latest toy as a present, an internet radio.
If you've been reading this blog up until this point, you will know how enthusiastic I have been about my Sirius satellite radio. Well, I'm sorry to say, internet radio just blows satellite radio away. While my Sirius satellite radio gives me Symphony Hall, classical music 24/7, with internet radio I now have the choice of classical music from Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy - well, you get the picture. Radio from all over the world. All that you need is an 802.11b or 802.11g wireless router, an internet connection and an internet radio and you're off, never to listen to broadcast radio again.
While I don't believe internet radio is available for your vehicle yet, there have been several announcements of internet-enabled vehicles and WiMax networks to distribute the content. Just give it time.
What does this mean for CBC Radio Two? Well, the tremendous irony in all of this is that it was the CBC's decision to decimate classical programming on Radio Two that caused me to investigate satellite radio and internet radio in the first place and to become an adopter - a mid-to-late adopter in the case of satellite radio, an early adopter in the case of internet radio. Talk about driving your customer base into the arms of your competitor!
Yes, CBC Radio has hastened its own demise. Sorry, CBC Radio, but there it is.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Why does CBC Radio Two need an audience?
Why does CBC Radio Two need an audience?
The answer seems obvious, right? But is it so obvious?
First of all, the CBC is publicly funded. While a commercial radio station sells advertising to survive, CBC Radio is not saddled with this constraint. The CBC gets a big pot of money from the taxpayers each year to do with as they want - in Fiscal Year 2007, the CBC received $948 million in annual funding approved through Parliamentary appropriations, plus an additional $60 million for "Additional non-recurring funding for programming initiatives". So, theoretically, CBC Radio Two could have no listeners at all in Canada and still get it's share of the big pot of money.
Or could it? At some point, you would think someone - perhaps the Minister of Heritage - would sit up and take notice that the Canadian taxpayer was not getting much bang for their buck. But how low would CBC Radio Two's market share have to fall before anyone started to question the value of funding this enterprise? Would it have to fall to zero? How about one percent? Two percent? What is the cut-off point where CBC Radio Two no longer deserves to be funded by the Canadian taxpayer?
The CBC has reported, in their own press release, that CBC Radio Two's market share fell to 2.9% according to the latest BBM survey.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, as the Hon. John Crosby used to say.
The answer seems obvious, right? But is it so obvious?
First of all, the CBC is publicly funded. While a commercial radio station sells advertising to survive, CBC Radio is not saddled with this constraint. The CBC gets a big pot of money from the taxpayers each year to do with as they want - in Fiscal Year 2007, the CBC received $948 million in annual funding approved through Parliamentary appropriations, plus an additional $60 million for "Additional non-recurring funding for programming initiatives". So, theoretically, CBC Radio Two could have no listeners at all in Canada and still get it's share of the big pot of money.
Or could it? At some point, you would think someone - perhaps the Minister of Heritage - would sit up and take notice that the Canadian taxpayer was not getting much bang for their buck. But how low would CBC Radio Two's market share have to fall before anyone started to question the value of funding this enterprise? Would it have to fall to zero? How about one percent? Two percent? What is the cut-off point where CBC Radio Two no longer deserves to be funded by the Canadian taxpayer?
The CBC has reported, in their own press release, that CBC Radio Two's market share fell to 2.9% according to the latest BBM survey.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, as the Hon. John Crosby used to say.
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