The CBC has been running Coronation Street since 1966. For many years it ran weekday afternoons. Several years ago CBC decided to move the very popular British soap to the 7pm primetime lead timeslot. Smart move. No guarantee, but possibly some of the large Corrie audience might stick around to sample parts of the network's evening lineup. If the CBC ever got rid of Corrie?  A protest would be a vast understatement. You should see the size of the scroll that runs across the screen advising viewers of a temporary pre-emption or timeslot change.

To me a lot of CBC's problem is their news operation.  And this has an effect on the rest of their schedule.  They are perceived by many as being too sympathetic to the left and focus on special interest groups and topics that the average Canadian is not interested in.  Other networks cover these areas as well, but CBC seems to dwell more on these topics and in much greater detail.  This is a generalization but rightly or wrongly it  is the image for many of their news.

Also because the network is a crown corporation, they are also mandated to include programming that private broadcasters are not required to have on their schedules.  Children/Educational shows, and some specialized programming that is not of general interest but to specific groups like farming or fishing. 

CTV news clobbers CBC head to head in ratings and has for decades.  However it could not only be CBC's left of centre image.   The news schedule on the main network is moved around and shortened almost every night for two months with NHL hockey playoffs.  This is great for general ratings but kills their newscasts, even with the addition of a news network.  Both CTV and Global's 11pm newscasts rarely are moved or late because of special programming.  Over the decades the playoffs on Hockey Night in Canada has possibly done permanent damage to The National.  

So I disagree with Peter's assessment of CBC.  BBC does have many mass appeal shows like Family Feud, and they seem to have more success against the private commercial networks in the UK.  But the BBC has the balance right between mass appeal and the more specialized or high brow programming that they have on the schedule.  Often CBC tries too hard to  include everyone or every group in  their programming.  This is admirable, but you don't need to attempt this all the time or as much as they do.  

Last edited by paterson1 (October 6, 2021 11:14 am)