CBC Radio cleaned up in the latest audience measurement report released by BBM.

In radio they call it the book, and it was an outstanding showing, overall CBC Radio One:

• Set an all-time record for total audience share of 11.1 per cent, which is up from 9.9 per cent a year ago;
• Achieved a national audience of 3.5 million listerners, which is up almost a quarter million;
• Set records in Toronto. For the first time ever, CBC Radio One is now the top-ranked station, with a reach of 1.1 million listeners, and again producing the top-rated morning show in the largest market in Canada;
  
• Is in the top three of 20 of 22 markets in the morning show slots.

A bunch of shows had historic high points, including The Current, The World at Six, DNTO, Vinyl Tap, Cross Country Check-up.

This latest book is for September and October. For the full BBM results, click here.

Unfortunately the format changes at Radio 2 were not as well received. It saw its share of 2.9 per cent drop slightly.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 8:37 pm (28 Nov 2008)

Download a full-size image suitable for printing.

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 12:16 pm (28 Aug 2008)

The new CBC Radio 2 schedule has been announced and here are the highlights:

Radio 2 Morning, weekdays hosted by Tom Allen, weekends hosted by Molly Johnson.
Weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., listeners wake up to a mix of contemporary artists and familiar favourites with Tom Allen. The show features a cross-genre look at the best of our nation’s music. The weekend edition of Radio 2 Morning airs Saturdays, 6 – 10 a.m. and Sundays, 6 – 8 a.m. with host Molly Johnson. An acclaimed international jazz sensation, Johnson brings her firsthand experience and perspective as a Canadian performer to the airwaves.

Tempo, hosted by Julie Nesrallah.
Weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Radio 2’s classical core takes the prime daytime slot as mezzo-soprano and Ottawa native Julie Nesrallah gives listeners five hours of celebrated classical music. With anecdotes, insight and the occasional studio guest, Nesrallah’s vibrant delivery and intimate knowledge of classical music makes for an upbeat, modern, and informed show.

Radio 2 Drive, hosted by Rich Terfry.
Airing weekdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Radio 2 Drive, is hosted by innovative Canadian funk/hip hop artist and passionate music fan Rich Terfry (he performs as Buck 65). The country’s premier destination for new music and emerging Canadian talent, Radio 2 Drive boasts 75 per cent Canadian content from a range of contemporary musical genres with a focus on singer-songwriters. From time to time, Rich will be joined in-studio by artists for interviews and live performances.

Farrago, hosted by Jurgen Gothe.
Farrago wraps up the weekend on Sundays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Jurgen Gothe presents listeners a medley of music drawn primarily from his own collection, accompanied by his unique and off-the-cuff commentary. Sophisticated and amusing, the program features new discoveries and unheralded gems presented within a new theme each week.

Note: All programs air one half-hour later in Newfoundland

What do you think of this new lineup?
(Please keep comments about the new shows, please.)

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 4:10 pm (19 Aug 2008)

Some people have asked if I can dig out some specifics of CBC’s recent commissioning of new musical works.

Here is the information provided to me by the CBC’s radio music department.

Hi Tod, Since 2005, we have engaged such notable composers as:

Tanya Tagaq, Veda Hille, R.Murray Schafer, Chan Ka Nin, Bernard Falaise, Owen Pallett, Phil Dwyer, Sarah Slean, Jonathan Goldsmith, Dinuk Wijeratne, Jesse Zubot, Martin Tielli, Odario Williams, Kyrie Kristmanson, Gavin Bryars, Waboowe Whitebird, Taqralik Partridge, Gary Kulesha, Kati Agocs, Robert M. Lepage, John Southworth, Glenn Buhr.

Commissions have supported CBC Radio 2 specials including Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Shostakovich Centenary, Glenn Gould 75th, Stolen Children: Truth and Reconciliation.

Commissions are very broad in their activity, ranging from orchestral commissions to jazz, and from world to and pop.

At a glance for fiscal 07/08:
Total # of contracts: 57
23 classical genre, 34 non-classical genre

Total # of minutes of music contracted: 416

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Music	Posted at 4:31 am (18 Jul 2008)

CBC Radio announced today the hosts for a number of programs slated to air this fall as part of the revitalized CBC Radio 2 schedule.

Tom Allen, Peter Togni and Jurgen Gothe will be returning to the network, to be joined by Julie Nesrallah, Molly Johnson and Rich Terfry.

• Monday to Friday from 6 to 10 a.m., Tom Allen will host CBC Radio 2’s new morning show, which will serve as the gateway to the new Radio 2 schedule and will feature a wide range of music.
• At 10 a.m., mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah will take the helm of the network’s new daytime classical show, airing until 3 p.m.
• Then at 3 p.m., Rich Terfry, better known as Buck 65, will host Radio 2’s new drive-time songwriter show until 6 p.m.
• On the weekends, Molly Johnson will host the new morning show airing Saturdays from 6 to 10 a.m. and Sundays from 6 to 8 a.m.
• Completing the weekend schedule, Peter Togni will be Choral Concert’s new host beginning in September, and Jurgen Gothe will host a new weekly show on Sundays from 5 to 6 p.m.

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Personalities	Posted at 3:58 pm (10 Jun 2008)

CBC Radio has announced two new music shows for CBC Radio Two.

Debuting May 31, from 5 to 6 p.m., is a new show from Calgary called In Tune. Hosted by classically trained musician Katherine Duncan, the program will focus on trends in classical music. Currently, Duncan is the Calgary host of Canada Live, and before that hosted Symphony Hall for 10 years.

Tom Power, a newcomer to CBC, will host Deep Roots. Based in Newfoundland, Power will offer listeners music in the roots/folk genres with a special emphasis on Canadian musicians. Deep Roots replaces I Hear Music in the 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. timeslot.Robert Harris, who had hosted I Hear Music since September 2000, will now produce documentaries for Radio 2. “Inside the Music is the likely spot for Robert’s new work,” explained CBC Radio’s director of programming, Chris Boyce. “But given his enormous talent, we have no doubt that Robert will be heard throughout the Radio 2 schedule.”

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Deep Roots, In Tune	Posted at 11:39 am (16 May 2008)

What’s on Winnipeg recently published an excellent article about CBC Radio’s new director of programming, Chris Boyce.

In it, Chris talks about the challenges he’s facing in the new job, particularly the hurdle of the format change of Radio 2.

Chris Boyce started out with Definitely Not the Opera, the Saturday afternoon pop culture show on CBC Radio One. He then had an idea to create The Content Factory [disclosure: I work in the Content Factory group], a group of writers and producers who generate cross-format content for all of the CBC. This caught the attention of CBC headquarters, and Chris was then given the job of manager of program development for the CBC.

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Executives	Posted at 1:38 am (01 May 2008)

There has been lots of talk recently about the forthcoming changes to CBC Radio 2, the dismantling of the CBC Radio Orchestra, and more.

So last week, I sat down (via phone) with Chris Boyce, CBC Radio’s director of programming, and Mark Steinmetz, director of music, to get some more details and address some of the concerns raised.

The interview text is below and the audio of the interview is coming soon.

Please note: There are some crappy edits in the audio — all were from my end (coughing, taking a phone call, and editing out my mangling of questions and stumbling over words <grin>). At no time has Chris, Mark, or anyone at the CBC asked for anything to be taken out.

Maffin: There’s been lots of chat these days on the blog, and in the media, and inside the CBC around the changes to CBC Radio Two, specifically the reduction of classical music being played, the addition of a streaming classical music station online and closing the closing the CBC Radio orchestra. It’s been very contentious, and I’ve got a couple people with me from the CBC who will hopefully shed some light and maybe explain some of this. One is Mark Steinmetz. Hi Mark.

[Read more →]

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two	Posted at 4:16 pm (28 Apr 2008)

CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two together captured record spring share of 13.3%.

• Radio One now reaches nearly 3.2 million Canadians
• Radio Two reaches 1.1 million listeners (consistent with past spring reach levels)

Radio One gained over 50,000 new listeners versus a year ago and now reaches 3.2 million people while Radio 2 reached 1.1 million listeners overall, which is consistent with past spring reach levels.

CBC Radio’s excellent performance extends to the regions as well with Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria breaking their own records.

• Calgary is now ranked #1 overall with at 9.8 % share up from its 7.3% share captured a year ago. The morning show, which continues to show significant improvement, is also ranked #1 with an impressive 14.6 % share, up four share points from S1 2007.
• Vancouver’s overall ratings jumped two full share points to a 10.7% share and maintained its #2 ranking in that market. The morning show maintained its #1 ranking and also saw a year-to-year share jump from 13.8 to 15.4%. In the noon period the station achieved a 7.8% share…its highest this decade.
• Victoria continues phenomenal growth reaching an 11.7% share overall… up nearly 3 share points from last spring. The morning show ranks #1 with a 17.1 % share… up close to 7 share points from a year ago. In the afternoon drive period, Victoria has nearly doubled its share.

CBC Radio now has 13 of 18 morning shows ranked in the top three in their markets and seven are #1 including the key markets of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 8:34 am (08 Apr 2008)

Somebody at the CBC apparently has leaked the CBC’s “talking points” around changes to Radio Two to 31-year-old Saskatchewan resident Peter McGillivray. He posted it in a Facebook group formed to protest the changes.

Among the points:

Claim: Live performance broadcasts of classical music have been significantly cut back.
Fact: Last fall Radio 2 introduced a new, weekly four-hour classical performance show called Sunday Afternoon in Concert - New nightly program The Signal (10pm - 1pm) regularly airs contemporary classical performances from across the country.

Claim: Degradation of Good Music
Fact: Let’s not confuse quality of music with style of music: CBC is committed to introducing Canadians to quality Canadian Music. it’s a key value that drives all decision-making; We’re broadening the genres we play in order to better meet our mandate of representing all regions and the broad range of music performed by Canadians.

Claim: Focus on commercially lucrative music
Fact: - In fact, we’re doing the exact opposite: Commercial radio only plays .8% of the Canadian music produced in any given year; We’re going to go deeper exposing a lot more recorded Canadian talent that deserves to be heard; As a public broadcaster Radio2 doesn’t, has never and has no plans to run advertising on air.

Claim: CBC’s abandoning mandate by moving away from Classical Music.
Fact: Untrue. CBC’s mandate is to reflect the regions, the people and the music of this country: By broadening the range of music we play we will do a much better job of meeting our mandate.

Claim: Competing with private radio for pop music crowd
Fact: Not true: Private radio plays select few, in focused genre, in regular rotation; Radio 2 morning and drive programs wil play more emerging Candian talent in genres ranging fro blues to jazz to folk to roots and more; in between, five hours per day, we will continue to feature classical music.

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two	Posted at 11:30 am (01 Apr 2008)

CBC Radio Two listeners opposed to the changes to the network, specifically the reduction of classical music, are planning to march on the CBC Vancouver building Tuesday morning.

On Friday morning, a similar group is planning to protest at Maison Radio-Canada, the CBC Montreal building.

“The CBC has been taken over by a group of people dedicated to removing nearly all Classical Music,” the Vancouver group’s description reads. “They feel it is old fashioned and irrelevant to the ‘new demographic’ that they wish to attract. We feel this is misguided at best, suicidal at worst.”

Another group has been started to launch an email campaign campaign.

UPDATE: It is reported that the Music School at UBC is asking faculty to cancel classes and go with their students to the demonstration.

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Montreal, Vancouver	Posted at 11:11 pm (30 Mar 2008)

Listeners to CBC Radio Two will hear a different sound starting Labour Day. Three new shows will take over the airwaves during the day, with considerably less classical music in the morning and none in the “drive time” afternoon.

The new weekday shows are:

• Mornings (6-10): Less classical, more light contemporary like Diana Krall and Joni Mitchell. About half of the music will be Canadian. No decision yet on who the host will be.
• Mid-day (10-3): Entirely classical, both recorded and live music. About 40% Canadian content.
• Drive time (3-6): No classical — instead, a wide variety of genres from world music to blues to contemporary. The show will spend more time on emerging artists and recently released songs.

In addition to the all-classical time block from 10am to 3pm, CBC will launch three new Internet-only radio stations — classical, jazz, and singer-songwriter.

CBC’s head of radio, Jennifer McGuire, reports that ratings haven’t dropped as much as was forecasted with the previous schedule change, indicating that while some people (perhaps skewing older) leave the station, new listeners join in.

So what do you think? Are we making the right decision here with these three shows?

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	CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two	Posted at 1:37 pm (06 Mar 2008)

You’ll be seeing advertisements on CBC Radio web pages soon.

The increase is necessary to pay for increasing costs in streaming CBC Radio online and producing and distributing podcasts, CBC Radio head Jennifer McGuire told staff yesterday.

“We cannot grow in these spaces at the expense of our existing programs and schedules,” she said in a staff memo. “To date, we have managed to keep in step with technology and listener/user demands by stretching existing resources to cover other platforms. As a startup strategy this has served us well, but it is not sustainable and is certainly not a formula for growth. The hard reality is that we need additional revenue to do this important work.”

To gain that revenue, McGuire says CBC will be extending the banner ads you currently see on CBC.ca pages, such as the News and Entertainment pages.

Traditionally, CBC Radio has kept itself free of any commercials or sponsorships. Last year, CBC Radio began adding short sponsorship messages at the beginning of some podcasts, also to help pay for them.

CBC Radio currently has 54 podcasts, making it the largest single podcasting organization in Canada. The CBC Radio 2 portal page, with Concerts on Demand and live streaming, attracts more than a million page views per month.

What do you think? Given that CBC Radio just can’t produce and distribute podcasts at no cost, was this the right way to increase revenue? If not, what revenue source would you have found if you were in charge?

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, Podcasting	Posted at 11:40 am (15 Jan 2008)

Today’s BBM ratings for fall 2007 had good news for CBC Radio. According to CBC Radio executive director Jennifer McGuire, Radio One and Radio 2 reached over 3.9 million Canadians (12+) in an average week. Radio One’s 3.2 million listeners is up 140,000 from last year, while the combined reach of 13.4 per cent is the highest ever. The morning programs in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver gained ground (with Ottawa Morning up 8.6 per cent to a 29.5 per cent share). Afternoon shows also gained ground, as did The Current, As It Happens, The Sunday Edition and Vinyl Tap with Randy Bachman. Radio 2 “remains stable in an environment of significant change. All demographic groups are on par with last year at this time.  The Radio 2 share and reach remain constant.” BBM’s S4 2007 Top-Line Radio Reports are now avaiable on their site in .pdf.

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	Asides, CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 5:36 pm (03 Dec 2007)