CBC/Radio-Canada 2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC-Rad2 18-05-2011 F – English-language Radio Networks – Radio 2 1 OF 8
F. ENGLISH-LANGUAGE RADIO NETWORKS
RADIO TWO
9. Undertakings to air News and Other Spoken Word
Please specify the undertakings the Corporation is willing to make, for each broadcast week;
The minimum level of programming drawn from content subcategory 11 – News will be ______(hours:minutes) of the broadcast week.
The combined minimum level of programming drawn from content subcategory 11 – News and sub-category 12 – Other Spoken Word will be: ______(hours:minutes) or _____% of the broadcast week.
Submit your responses to these questions as part of the document entitled “2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC- Rad2”.
ANSWER
The Corporation does not believe that an undertaking of the type identified by the Commission is necessary.
The amount of News and Other Spoken Word on Radio 2 will reflect the fact that the primary focus for Radio 2 is music. Currently, the Radio 2 schedule includes 5:15 (hours:minutes) of News and 6:11 of News and Other Spoken Word per broadcast week. It is not our intention to vary substantially from this level of broadcast time during the next licence term and do not feel it is necessary to make a commitment in this area.
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10. Undertakings to air music
a) Please make a minimum commitment (hours, percentages) with respect to the main musical content categories proposed for each broadcast week :
Category 2 – Popular music
Subcategory hours : minutes % of music
21 Pop, rock and dance
22 Country and country-oriented
23 Acoustic
24 Easy listening
Category 3 – Special interest music
Subcategory hours : minutes % of music
31 Concert
32 Folk and folk-oriented
33 World beat and international
34 Jazz and blues
35 Non-classic religious
b) Provide a description of the music Radio Two intends to air, including references to plans and policies for each of the aforementioned music content subcategories for which you have made a commitment.
Submit your responses to these questions as part of the document entitled “2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC- Rad2”.
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ANSWER
Radio 2 will continue to adhere to its current Canadian content requirements of 50% or more Canadian content for category 2 music selections and 20% or more Canadian content for category 3 music selections. These are substantial commitments and exceed those of private radio broadcasters. CBC/Radio-Canada is not prepared to make specific commitments to musical content subcategories on Radio 2.
Radio 2’s programming mandate is to serve the needs of Canadian listeners and promote the work of Canadian creators in a wide variety of genres. The current schedule for Radio 2 (see response to question D-4) illustrates the broad range of music genres the network covers. The popularity of these genres and the body of work produced by Canadian creators in these genres follow cyclical patterns.
For example, during the course of the last license period, the popularity of rap and hip-hop has declined substantially while mainstream pop music has increased substantially. Hard rock and classical have also declined while country grew in popularity. Any reflection of the tastes of Canadian listeners and the music being made by Canadian creators in 2011 will be out of date next year and runs the risk of being completely misaligned toward the end of the next licence period.
It is for this reason we are not proposing any commitments for specific sub-categories of music. Our programming strategy for Radio 2 is to program the widest spectrum of Canadian music possible to form a coherent service. We will also program to maximize the benefit to new and emerging Canadian artists in these genres.
Attached at the end of this section are the conditions of licence CBC would be prepared to accept for its Radio2 service.
11. Non-Canadian content
The maximum number of programs not produced in Canada aired during each broadcast week is ______(hours:minutes) or ______% of all programming.
Submit your response to this question as part of the document entitled “2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC- Rad2”.
ANSWER
At the present time, Radio 2 is not scheduling any non-Canadian programs during the broadcast week and it is not our intention to significantly alter that strategy at any point in the future.
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12. Reflection of regions on network
Indicate how programs produced in the various regions will be integrated into the network’s programming schedule. Specifically, describe:
a) the location and number of complete programs produced in the regions;
b) locally produced program segments, such as recorded concerts and other types of performance programming that will be integrated into the network schedule
Submit your responses to these questions as part of the document entitled “2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC- Rad2”.
ANSWER
Radio 2 is a national network. While some of these network shows will be produced in centers other than Toronto, there are no specific commitments to locations or amount of content in this regard. In the current schedule, the following network programs are produced outside of Toronto: Tempo, Tonic, In Tune, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, Deep Roots, Saturday Night Blues, Choral Concert, In Concert, A Propos, and Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap.
The reflection of the regions on Radio 2 will be the airing of content, both live and studio recordings, from all regions of Canada to serve listeners in all regions and reflect music-making in Canada in all provinces and territories.
13. Local programming
Decision CRTC 2001-530, in renewing the licenses of the stations affiliated to the Radio Two network, outlined the amount of time devoted to local programming by each station. It stated that “The Commission expects the CBC to maintain the levels of regional and subregional programming currently broadcast on each of these stations. The Commission strongly encourages the licensee to surpass these levels during the new licence term.”
In relation to each Radio Two station, please provide information relating to the fulfillment of this expectation over the past decade, and the level of regional and subregional programming planned for the upcoming licence term.
Submit your response to this question as part of the document entitled “2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC- Rad2”.
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ANSWER
In the last renewal decision for the CBC radio stations affiliated with the Radio 2 network (Decision 2001-530), the CRTC noted that most of each stations programming originated with the Radio 2 network. If there was any local programming provided by any of those stations it was a negligible amount. Radio 2 is first and foremost a national network service. As a national network, Radio 2 is not making any commitments to local programming in the next licence term. Radio One is the radio platform for delivering significant levels of local programming. Radio 2 is CBC’s key platform for delivering Canadian music.
14. Significant changes to the programming strategy
In 2007 and 2008, significant changes were made to the music programmed on Radio Two.
Please describe the changes that were made, the reasons for the changes, and the objectives that you set at the time. Have the Corporation’s objectives been met?
Submit your responses to these questions as part of the document entitled “2011-0288-9-CBC-SRC- Rad2”.
ANSWER
The National Stereo Service (later called Radio 2) was launched in 1984. The original plans, as noted in the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors meeting from November 1983, intended that the service “will attempt to primarily reach an audience within 24 to 35 years age group… Programming will largely concentrate on Canadian fare featuring extended pop concerts, jazz and folk festival material. This development will also provide a mechanism for discovering, developing and promoting talent which otherwise might not be heard… (it) will also showcase a full range of very listenable material from classics to Canadian (popular) music.”
In the early 90s’, the service changed to become primarily a fine arts service with a large component of classical music and jazz. It remained that way for just over a decade.
The process that resulted in programming changes to Radio 2 four years ago actually started with extensive analysis and research in 2003 and 2004, followed by wide-ranging and extensive consultations with songwriters, musicians and various arts organizations in all regions of Canada in 2005 and 2006.
New shows were piloted and launched throughout this period, broadening the format to include a greater variety of Canadian music. Changes to the morning and afternoon drive time periods began in 2007. A format with a broader selection of music (contemporary, acoustic, folk, world, jazz, blues, classical, etc.) was restored to the network reflecting the roots of the service.
The reasons for change were many and varied, but three issues were the main drivers.
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a. As a public broadcaster, we were devoting 50% of our broadcast resources to genres that represented less than 20% of the music being produced and less than 10% of the music being sold. A vast number of Canadian releases found no place on the airwaves, either on commercial radio or the CBC.
b. Secondly, the content was serving a small minority of Canadian listeners to the exclusion of other taxpayers.
c. Finally, research indicated the format had serious issues with audience sustainability. The average age of Radio 2 listeners had increased 20 years in the last two decades: it was the same audience getting older. The proportion of listeners over the age of 65 was growing at a rate 20 times that of the population in general. A format with those trends would result in the virtual extinction of its audience in a short period of time.
Success was defined by three measures:
a. A more accurate reflection of Canadian music with a significant increase in the number of Canadian artists and songwriters exposed.
b. A sustainable audience demographic.
c. Audience growth. The results have been very encouraging. The total number of artists and tracks exposed on the service has increased many times over. At a time when a typical radio library might include 300-600 tracks, we estimate well over 7,500 Canadian tracks in all genres were exposed on the service in the last twelve months. Hundreds of Canadian acts are featured live in concert every year. Virtually all major Canadian acts and genres are represented.
The audience trends have been reversed and, in fact, our audiences have been getting younger. Growth and demographic trends are more reflective of the population as a whole. Current demographic makeup is sustainable.
Recent ratings information shows the total number of Canadians listening to the service is the same as it was in previous years, although the amount each person spends with the network has declined as might be expected with a more varied block programming service as each listener finds what they’re looking for and then moves on.
Still, like all our services, Radio 2 is evolving and continues to be a work in progress. We continue to improve and make adjustments to better serve Canadian listeners and better promote talented Canadian creators.
At the same time, the environment continues to evolve. Almost a decade has gone by and the world today is much different than the world of 2003. When this process was begun, CD sales were still healthy. Social networks did not exist. Peer-to-peer sharing wasn’t dominant. Radio consumption among younger demos was just beginning to erode. Singles had now overtaken albums as the primary format.
The world of music is a highly dynamic one, and the biggest change in consumer behavior is the increasing use of a variety of platforms. A purely Radio-centric music policy no longer meets the needs
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of Canadians. Radio is one tool used for discovery and passive listening, but music is now a much more interactive experience. Listeners use TV for music purposes. They use Wikipedia to seek artist information. They identify new songs they’ve heard by Googling some of the lyrics. They comment and post their likes and dislikes on sites devoted to communities of interest. YouTube is now the most used music platform in the world, supplying audio and video on-demand.
Radio is still the primary source for music discovery and used by over 90% of Canadians, but it is now combined with many other sources. So to meet the changing demands of Canadian listeners, CBC is developing a new music strategy that reflects that behavior. While Radio 2 will continue to expose the greatest number of Canadian acts possible, the new strategy will combine the use of Radio, TV, Digital and mobile platforms in an integrated strategy. We are adding video to our audio concert recordings and with a new Music Portal, we will develop passionate communities of interest around a variety of Canadian music styles the way we have done for independent music with Radio 3.
We will extend our work onto new platforms, following where our listeners take us. We will take all steps necessary to ensure the continuing relevance of Radio 2 in the broadcast landscape.
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Proposed Conditions of Licence for CBC Radio2
1. The licensee shall not broadcast any commercial message of category 5 except:
a. during programs that are available to the network only on a sponsored basis, or
b. as required to fulfill the requirements of the legislation of the Parliament of Canada pertaining to elections.
2. The licensee shall ensure that 50% or more of the category 2 music selections broadcast each broadcast week be Canadian.
3. The licensee shall ensure that 20% or more of the category 3 music selections broadcast each broadcast week be Canadian and that these selections be scheduled in a reasonable manner throughout the broadcast day.
4. The licensee shall adhere to the standards set out in the CAB’s Equitable Portrayal Code (Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-23, Equitable Portrayal Code dated 17 March 2008), as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
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