1 of 1- RadioActive
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Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
A viewer's letter in the Globe & Mail bemoans the sad state of CBC-TV, noting declining ratings are adding fuel to the fire about possible defunding of Canada's national broadcaster. But he has an idea that could change that.
He notes that the French side, Radio-Canada, is hugely popular in Quebec and is often the top rated broadcaster there. His suggestion: take some of those shows, subtitle or dub them, and show them to English Canadians, who almost certainly have never seen them. (They did try this last season, when an English version of the original R-C program "Plan B" debuted to middling ratings.)
I have two questions about this: Would L'Anglais watch dubbed or subtitled French shows and would they even appeal to non-Quebec sensibilities? And is Radio-Canada so hugely popular there simply because it's in French and there just aren't that many other choices in Quebec that provide well-funded programming for them to watch?
I'm curious about what you think of this idea. I'm not sure it would work. But it would definitely be cheaper than producing new shows that already don't get the big numbers CTV or Global does. If you only speak English or high school French, would you watch this?
- R-S-T-L-N-E
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
RadioActive wrote:
I'm curious about what you think of this idea
Not much
- RadioActive
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
I don't think it's a great idea, either, but clearly they have to do something if they expect to survive.
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Thread Starter- R-S-T-L-N-E
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
they have to do something if they expect to survive.
The letter-writer correctly separates radio from television. CBC radio in any language is wonderful (in my opionion, for what its worth). CBC television is abysmal
Last edited by R-S-T-L-N-E (January 14, 2024 10:53 am)
- paterson1
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
I think dubbed would be better than subtitled. However neither likely would work that well IMO. Maybe they could try the odd drama. Radio-Canada is very popular in Quebec, and I have my doubts how popular it is for the one million francophones outside of the province.
True R-C has less competition for French speakers but does have some stiff challenges from Quebecors popular TVA and Bell's Noovo plus various specialty channels and a few from France. Quebecers also get all the US OTA networks on cable and English TV from the rest of Canada especially in larger cities.
Maybe less competition but the base audience is smaller as well. Quebec's French speaking audience is about 7.5 million people. The latest installment of the New Year's Eve satirical special Bye Bye had around 4.5 million viewers and the show prior called Infoman had 3.5 million. This year Radio Canada also had specials on January 1st 2024 that were watched by 2.3 and 1.8 million people.
Bye Bye 2023 and Infoman were by far the most watched shows on New Year's Eve in Canada, but virtually unknown outside of Quebec.
- Bristol
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
In the '50's CBC TV ran The Plouffe Family ( originally a Francophone show) on both networks in English and French until 1959 and then revived the show as a mini series in the 80's. A great show that proved that people have the same trials, tribulations, joys and hopes no matter their language. It captured a time and place.
- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
The dubbing/subtitled experiment has been done before with mixed results. While generations of Quebecers have grown up with popular American or British shows being dubbed or subtitled in French, Anglo viewers don't seem to appreciate it. The CBC tried to do a fully-bilingual show back in the 1980s called "He Shoots He Scores" about the exploits of a fictional NHL team in Quebec City. It was (and remains) hugely popular in Quebec, but scored only middling success in the rest of the country. As well, TV in Quebec is often very regionalized and political with in-jokes, local slang and character traits that can't be conveyed through dubbing or subtitling. It's also important to note that exportability is just as important, if not more so in certain cases, than ratings when it comes to Canadian TV. The numbers are often secondary to the issue of whether a show can be sold in the U.S. or overseas to other markets. The large numbers of German tourists visiting Gibsons, B.C. each year are due to German kids growing up watching The Beachcombers, similar to millions of Japanese kids growing up with Anne of Green Gables.
Last edited by BowmanvilleBob (January 14, 2024 11:49 am)
- Radio Bob
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Re: Could This Suggestion Increase Ratings For CBC TV?
Dubbed or subtitled? Ridiculous idea. This is the 21st century, after all.
Regardless, I am a supporter of a national public broadcaster. The feds waste a lot more money on many more frivolous things.