Evidence of meeting #26 for Canadian Heritage in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was classical.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:45 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
First of all, to the issue of how we are doing more generally with respect to our core audience, English services this year, and in the last results in terms of audiences, have the highest share for Radio One that they've ever had—
4:45 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
I understand it's really good with Radio One, but the question was about Radio 2.
4:45 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Radio One and 2 combined--I just have to say this: television had the best share it's had in many years. For the first time it beat Global. Now—
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Can I? On Radio 2, we have not yet seen any erosion of audience. I don't expect we will see any erosion of audience.
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
No, not yet, and—
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
That's not what I was told by officials of Radio 2 in Vancouver.
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
We have not seen erosion of Radio 2. And in fact we will not really have a clear sense of what's going on until probably the beginning of next year, because what we're going to do is re-launch a lot of the shows come this September, and then we're going to promote the new Radio 2. Then we'll see how the listeners respond to it and get a better idea when the books come out in January.
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The big changes are not even starting until September.
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Yes, we've done some small changes over the course of the last little while.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
And you've done no audience surveys to find out what the effect of that is on your—
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
We don't actually do the audience surveys. BBM does the audience surveys, and we obviously study the results very carefully, but so far we have not seen erosion.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Okay. I'm also interested in the idea—and Mr. Chong was raising this—about saying you're going to put up a classical music channel on the Internet and encourage folks to get their classical music fix that way. It would seem to me that when you've got an established audience that's using over-the-air broadcast to receive this service—admittedly maybe they're older than others—why would you suggest they're the ones who have to figure out the new technology? The younger audience that maybe you're trying to attract, who may be more familiar with that technology, why wouldn't they be the ones to look for this other content on the Internet?
4:50 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
We receive, as everybody in this room is well aware, about $1 billion from government. We think that the best way to ensure that with Radio 2 we serve all Canadians who basically contribute to these services is to offer to our listeners more than simply one genre of music. That is the point of the changes we're trying to do to Radio 2.
We're not trying to make classical music disappear. We have too much respect for that. In September you will see the new schedule, the new shows, the new host.
Mr. Siksay, you're absolutely right, and I think Mr. Fast referred to it also: when you listen to Radio 2, it's an experience; people take you by the hand and make you understand what you're listening to. We hope to multiply this by three, four, five, and six, and to open up this airwave to more Canadians so that they can enjoy more genres of music. That is what we're trying to do with Radio 2.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
With regard to the CBC's mandate, clearly there's one that says that you're to safeguard, enrich, strengthen the cultural fabric of Canada. Over the years CBC has taken a particular leadership role around classical music. Now with these changes many people feel like you're exactly abandoning that specific mandate around classical music. It's something the CBC has taken initiative and leadership in over many years, and now is backing away from that commitment--and I listed the ways at the beginning.
Is that not in fact abandoning your commitment or your mandate to safeguard and enrich the cultural fabric of Canada, by backing away from the long-established traditions of the CBC around classical music?
4:50 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
I respectfully disagree with that comment. We think that by taking this to another level, on the contrary, we will show Canadians, and we will meet our mandate requirements even better by changing the format of Radio 2. We are not abandoning classical music. It will still be on our airwaves on Radio 2, the most important music that you will hear.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Were other options considered, other than disbanding the CBC Radio Orchestra?
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
It's a fairly specific question, Mr. Chair.
Were there other options considered, other than just outright disbanding the CBC Radio Orchestra--finding another home, finding another sponsor, selling off the asset in some way? Was that considered?
4:50 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Richard.
May 1st, 2008 / 4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, English Services, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
I think we have to sometimes just remember what the CBC Radio Orchestra actually was. The CBC Radio Orchestra is not an orchestra like the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, where we have employed musicians, full-time. That's not what it is. It's different kinds of players who get together occasionally to play music, and we pay them to do that.
I just don't want people to have the impression we were winding up something that is now scattered to the winds. Many of these people continue to play; they play for different orchestras around Vancouver. That's the situation.
As we were saying earlier, really, this issue of the CBC orchestra in Vancouver was one of cost. As the president said, for the price of doing one recording for the CBC using the CBC Radio Orchestra in Vancouver, we could do three if we used other orchestras, of which there are about 46 symphony orchestras across the country.
That just seemed to us, frankly, as a matter of fairness, economy, and good sense, the right thing to do.
I would just say there's a reason why all other radio orchestras of this variety in North America, of which there were very many, have been disbanded. This is the last one left in North America.
