A reply from the Minister of Heritage, the Hon. Bev Oda

Readers of this blog may recall that I sent a letter (as well as an e-mail) to the Minister of Heritage, Ms. Bev Oda, on May 17 2007. You may read the original letter in my May 17 blog entry. Ms. Oda's office was kind enough to reply to my e-mail on May 24, stating that they had received my e-mail and would follow up with a more detailed response.

I received the following response on July 20 2007 from Ms. Bev Oda's office:

Dear Mr. Wooten:

Thank you for your correspondence of May 17, 2007, regarding Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio programming.

I appreciate your advising me of your views on this matter and have carefully noted your comments. While the Department of Canadian Heritage is responsible for overall broadcasting policy and legislation, the CBC operates independently of the Government under a framework provided in the Broadcasting Act. As an autonomous Crown corporation, its Board of Directors and senior management are responsible for its day-to-day operations, including its radio programming. In view of the autonomy of the CBC, you might wish to share your views directly with Mr. Robert Rabinovitch, its President and Chief Executive Officer, at the address provided in the enclosure.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is responsible for the licensing, regulation and supervision of all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system. The CRTC was established by Parliament under the Broadcasting Act as an autonomous body that operates independently of the Government and is responsible for its own day-to-day operations and decisions. The CRTC maintains a record of complaints against licensees and takes these into consideration when broadcasters apply for renewal of their licences. In view of the autonomy of the CRTC, you might wish to share your concerns on this matter directly with Mr. Robert A. Morin, its Secretary General, at the address provided in the enclosure.

I trust that this information is useful. Please accept my best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Bev Oda, P.C., M.P.

Enclosure

ANNEX

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Mr. Robert Rabinovitch
President and Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Post Office Box 3220, Station C
Ottawa, Ontario
K1Y 1E4
Telephone: 613-288-6000
Electronic mail: commho@ottawa.cbc.ca
Web site: http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

Mr. Robert A. Morin
Secretary General
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N2
Telephone: 819-997-0313
Toll-free: 1-877-249-2782
Facsimile: 819-994-0218
Electronic Mail: info@crtc.x400.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca

Now, this how I believe a Member of Parliament or Minister's office should operate: they acknowledge your letter and follow with a reply within a reasonable period of time. Well done, Ms. Oda! This is in contrast to some of the other letters that I have sent; for example, the letter to Mr. Robert Rabinovitch, the letter to Ms. Jane Chalmers or the letters to several Members of Parliament on the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, where I received no replies or acknowledgements at all. To give full credit where credit is due, Ms. Jennifer McGuire and Mr. Gary Schellenberger's office also responded to my letters. You may see Ms. McGuire's response in my June 21 blog entry, and my subsequent reply in my June 29 blog entry. My reply to Mr. Gary Schellenberger's response is in my May 15 blog entry.

As for the content of the reply, to tell the truth this is about what I expected to receive. I didn't really expect Ms. Oda to march into the offices of CBC Radio and demand that they alter their behaviour and begin to consult Canadians more often when making programming changes. As Ms. Oda states (or, more correctly I assume, someone in her office) CBC management is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the corporation and operates independently of the government. The reason that I wrote this letter to Ms. Oda's office (and I encourage you to do the same) is so that members of the government will know just how unhappy CBC Radio Two listeners are with CBC Radio management. Perhaps this information will prove useful to the Members of Parliament at some point in the future.

I encourage everyone reading this blog to use the above addresses and write your own letters of protest concerning the changes to CBC Radio Two's programming to Mr. Robert Rabinovitch and Mr. Robert Morin.

A new web site protesting the CBC Radio Two programming changes

There is a new web site that has been created to serve as a forum for those CBC Radio Two listeners who are concerned about the programming changes that have taken place on CBC Radio Two. The link to the web site is listed under "Links" on the right hand side of this page and is also here. I encourage all of you to visit this site and make your opinions known!

The authors of this web site have begun a petition to protest these changes, and I have to admit their petition is more successful than my own - 242 signatures as of the time I write this! You can find a link to it under "Links" on the right, and also here.

New Classical Program on Sunday Afternoons on CBC Radio Two!

The "official" CBC Blog has announced a new program of classical music on Sunday afternoons.

The blog entry announces:

"Classical lovers, rejoice! CBC Radio 2 is going to air at Sunday-afternoon show featuring high-quality classical performances.

The Sunday show, to run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., is as yet unnamed, but will feature classical performances from the best Canadian and international symphonies and chamber orchestras.

CBC Radio program director Jennifer McGuire said the goal is to grow younger audiences by drawing them into classical listening with better-quality and more contemporary works."

The description of this new show - "classical performances from the best Canadian and international symphonies and chamber orchestras" - sounds promising, but I'll wait until I hear the first broadcast before passing judgement.

Having said that, I really have to wonder just what is going on at CBC Radio. When the new evening schedule was launched (replacing "Music for Awhile" with "Tonic" and "In Performance" with "Canada Live") the rationale given at the time was that CBC Radio Two was trying to appeal to a younger audience, and the new programming - jazz and live performances of more contemporary music - was supposed to do just that. Jennifer McGuire, CBC Radio's executive director of programming, is said in a March 19 2007 Globe and Mail article to have stated that "CBC Radio Two's target audience is between 35 and 49 years old, yet the majority of current listeners are over 50. So the network is looking to attract a relatively younger, although still adult audience." - implying that the classical programming previously broadcast appealed to the to over-50 set, while the new programming would appeal to the 35 - 49 year old age group.

And now we are told that "the goal is to grow younger audiences by drawing them into classical listening with better-quality and more contemporary works." On Sunday afternoon? After church, perhaps, while waiting for the Sunday dinner served at 5:00 PM? This is 2007 folks, not 1927! If CBC Radio really wanted to "grow younger audiences by drawing them into classical listening" what was wrong with the classical music that was featured on "Music for Awhile" and "In Performance"? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what is meant by "better-quality and more contemporary works".

There are two excellent comments made in response to this announcement by individuals who, from their comments, appear to be in precisely the age category (early twenties, I assume) that the CBC should be aiming for if they want to have a sustainable audience, and yet clearly both are unhappy with the programming changes that are taking place on CBC Radio Two. You can read their comments here. CBC Radio Two management, are you able to admit that you have made a mistake and return "Music for Awhile" and "In Performance" to the evening schedule of CBC Radio Two?

March 19, 2007 - a day that will live in infamy in the hearts of CBC Radio Two listeners

Well, this is it. The new evening programming begins on CBC Radio Two. On my drive home from work I tune in to CBC Radio Two at 6:00 PM. Two minutes of news, then Katie Malloch launches her new program, "Tonic". Now, I like Katie Malloch. I liked her program when it was on for an hour or two on Sunday evenings. I like jazz, late at night, driving home after an evening out, cool jazz playing as the street lights and darkened buildings flash by. But at 6:00 PM? Yes, I realize that there are jazz fans who like to listen to jazz at any time, day or night. As you will see from future postings on this blog, I do not mean to belittle or denigrate any musical genre or those who appreciate the music that has become the mainstay on CBC Radio Two in the evening. The point of this blog is that CBC Radio Two management has made wholesale changes to the evening schedule without consulting Canadians or providing any period for Canadians to comment on the proposed changes. What is more abhorrent, CBC Radio Two has not provided any means for CBC Radio Two listeners to comment on the changes in programming in a public forum where CBC Radio Two listeners can exchange opinions and comments, for all to see. This is the purpose of this blog - I hope to stimulate open discussion by CBC Radio Two listeners of the changes that have taken place. Future posts will document the letters I have written to CBC Radio management and the response I have received (or lack thereof), feedback I have posted on the CBC Radio Two web site, letters I have written to the House Standing Committee on Canadian Culture (which, incidentally, has initiated a study entitled "A full investigation of the role for a public broadcaster in the 21st century" - check out the Committee's link to the right). But I am getting ahead of myself. This post was only intended to describe that first week.

So, I continued to listen to Katie's program. I listened all the way home. I continued listening at home. Some of the music I enjoyed, some I did not. All in all, I would have preferred "Music for Awhile" and Danielle Charbonneau.

I listened to the new "Canada Live" at 8:00 PM. I tried to enjoy it - I really did! But I gave up after ten to twenty minutes and changed to Espace Musique - or perhaps it was "Couleur FM", 97.1 in the Ottawa/Gatineau region.

The rest of the week continued in the same vein. (I missed Tuesday's programming, attending Murray Perahia's performance at the National Arts Centre with my girlfriend - finally, a classical music fix in the evening!). But I diligently listened to CBC Radio Two for the rest of the week, trying to find some good in it all. Sad to say, I found very little.

Memorable concerts during that week included the "Black History Month" concert, the "Sicilian Jazz Project", "Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans" (I'm not making this stuff up, check out the CBC Radio Two home page under "Concerts on Demand"). There may have been others - or in fact these may have taken place the next week - but my memories of that bitter time are, thankfully, beginning to fade.

Now, I have nothing against the performances listed above, the content of the performances or the performers who participated in them. I'm sure that the performances were excellent, the performers are dedicated musicians and that there is an audience for such performances. My point is that CBC Radio Two has abandoned its listeners with such drastic changes in programming. Imagine if "Hockey Night in Canada" had been replaced with "Ballet Night in Canada". What would be the reaction? There would be rioting in the streets, CBC management burned in effigy, letters written to the editor. Don Cherry would likely replace (by popular demand) Stephen Harper as the leader of the Conservative Party, run for Parliament in the next election, win a seat in the House and the election by a record margin, then restore some sense to CBC management and return Hockey Night in Canada to its rightful place in the CBC schedule. But classical music? Who cares? Who is being affected?

Well, oddly enough, quite a few people apparently. Mr. Robert Rabinovitch, President of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, referred in his March 22 2007 address to the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage of "... a decade of almost continuous growth in audience share and loyalty". Is this how audience loyalty is rewarded?

The unfortunate thing is that many of the CBC Radio Two listeners are from the generations that are less likely to be computer literate or able to protest these changes. Will they start a blog? Will they go to the CBC Radio Two web site and provide feedback to CBC Radio Two? Will they write letters to CBC Radio management? Will they write to their Member of Parliament? Will they protest on Parliament Hill? Will they see this blog? Sadly, no. It is up to you, reader, to do these things for those who can not.

The warnings become clearer

The announcements on CBC Radio Two became more frequent as the bleak month of March wore on towards March 19 2007, initially just vague references to the new schedule, then more explicit announcements. "Music for Awhile" would be replaced by an evening program of jazz, beginning at 6:00 PM. The evening newscast, "The World at Six" from 6:00 - 6:30 PM, would be replaced by a short summary of the top news stories of the day. (And "short" means two to three minutes - how 's that for in-depth reporting of the day's top news stories?). "In Performance", which generally consisted of recorded performances of classical music performed by Canadian orchestras, would be replaced by "Canada Live", performances of a variety of musical genres in venues across Canada.

Wonderful, I thought. CBC Radio Two management has decided that the CBC Radio Two listener should adopt jazz as their preferred choice of music when driving home or preparing the evening meal. And apparently classical music after 8:00 PM is now out of favour - we should be listening to other genres. We should be widening our horizons, become more culturally diverse, learn to enjoy different types of music. Furthermore, apparently we do not need to be informed of the day's events when we are listening to CBC Radio Two - a three minute summary of the news at 6:00 PM is all we need. If we want more in-depth discussion of the day's news stories, we can always tune in to Radio One.

Minicult has issued a new directive, and we complacent Canadians must obey. War is Peace! Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Jazz is good!.

Early warnings of the impending disaster

It must have been sometime in late February or early March 2007 when, while listening to Danielle Charbonneau's "Music for Awhile" program on CBC Radio Two, I heard Ms. Charbonneau announce that there would be a new program replacing "Music for Awhile", beginning March 19 2007. My heart sank. I was afraid that I knew what was coming - more crapulent programming such as the Friday evening "Canada Live", or whatever it was called at the time. I immediately regretted that I had not expressed my dissatisfaction to CBC Radio Two management the previous year when the new Friday evening programming was launched - live performances of eclectic music from across Canada that could be of interest to only the comatose or taxi drivers. Latvian hip-hop, Bulgarian Blues, Polynesian operatic works - you name it, it was not too bizarre or of limited interest to the general CBC Radio Two listening audience to be featured on Friday evenings. I could only tolerate it for several seconds before changing to Espace Musique where good taste still prevailed.

What to do? Should I begin writing letters now? Telephone my Member of Parliament? Begin a protest march on Parliament Hill? No, being a calm, considerate, complacent Canadian, I thought I should at least give it a try. Wait for March 19. Listen to the new programming - after all, I naively thought, it might not be as bad as I imagined it could be. It might even be good! Thus proving that hope springs eternal.