Re: [Swprograms] thank you and program catchup

[jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

I think in general we can say that CBC Radio-produced current affairs 
programming is of a lesser quality and less daring and provocative 
than it once was.  I did read somewhere some time ago that the number 
of people working at the various current affairs programs like AIH, 
Sunday Edition, The Current and Sounds Like Canada is considerably 
reduced from the staffs that used to produce shows like Sunday 
Morning, Morningside and AIH.  This is due, of course, to budget cuts; 
but also to some rather damaging changes in programming philosophy 
after the retirements and passings of truly legendary figures (like 
Gzowski, Frum et al) that helped to shape and produce that great CBC 
radio renaissance of the 70s.  It also puts the lie to the statement 
that one can always do more with less.

To me, the Sunday Edition's precursor--Sunday Morning--was a stronger 
program and at its best when Ian Brown was the host.  IMHO, Enright 
had some problems fitting into the Sunday morning format initially 
(having been the voice of AIH for some time with its harder edged 
approach), but over time he and the program have sort of form fitted 
to one another to the point where I agree with Joe... he is one of the 
finest interviewers on radio today.  The Sunday Edition is not nearly 
as compelling a listen  as Sunday Morning was, but Enright has done a 
good job working with the resources he has.  It's a different program, 
but I like it all the same.  I just don't feel as bad about missing it 
as I did when I missed hearing Sunday Morning on a given week.

The daily morning programs now aren't even a shadow of what 
Morningside once was.  Anna Maria Tremonti is good, but the format of 
the The Current doesn't use her talents to their best effect IMHO.  
Shelagh Rogers would have seemed to be the natural heir apparent to 
Gzowski, given her long association with his show and her experience 
with its strengths; but these haven't been translated into Sounds Like 
Canada.  Rogers seems a fish out of water in SLC, which is probably 
more due to the rather fuzzy focus of the program and its more limited 
budget (viz Morningside) than it is to any shortcomings of her own.  
At least that's how I see it.

John Figliozzi
Halfmoon, NY

----- Original Message -----
From: Joseph Buch <joseph.buch@xxxxxxx>
Date: Friday, May 6, 2005 8:47 am
Subject: Re: [Swprograms] thank you and program catchup

> At 05:58 AM 05/06/2005, Richard Cuff wrote:
> 
> >Joe, what makes AIH less compelling nowadays?
> 
> I remember AIH as a really bold program which spared no expense to 
> bring live, spontaneous interviews with world leaders to the 
> CBC/RCI audience.  I even remember one day they called the Vatican 
> to get an interview with the pope.  The pope was not available but 
> you have to give them an "A" for cajones.  
> 
> I noted that about the time of the first CBC budget cuts I started 
> to lose interest in AIH.  When I first began posting advance 
> program info on CBC programs to this list, AIH topics to be 
> covered in the next day's program were included in the daily 
> hotsheet releases.  The omission of such advance detail happened 
> right after the cuts and I sense a cause and effect relationship 
> between the two events.  I get the impression AIH cannot predict 
> what they will cover tomorrow because they are not doing as in-
> depth a job of  reporting so they need not make assignments as far 
> in advance. Thorough research and production is not required if 
> stories concentrate on shallow fluff.  
> 
> I also noted a shift at about this time in focus from world and 
> international issues to covering internal Canadian issues.  I 
> think that shift in emphasis occurred about the same time CBC 
> realized that most Canadians were not listening to CBC so, in 
> order to survive, CBC management decided to make their content 
> more relevant to their Canadian audience.  Having once lived in 
> Canada for three years, I am probably more interested in Canadian 
> topics than the average US listener, but I am not interested 
> enough to tune in regularly.  
> 
> Michael Enright is one of the best interviewers I have ever heard 
> on any radio service.  He is right up there with BBC's David Frost 
> and ABC-TV's Barbara Wawa in my opinion.  Michael Enright was 
> moved from AIH to the Sunday morning Sunday Edition graveyard when 
> Peter Gzowski (sp?) retired as I remember.  I still listen on 
> Sunday Mornings at least to the first hour of the Sunday Edition 
> show to hear Michael Enright's opening commentary and his listing 
> of what will be heard on that day's program.  
> 
> Neither Enright nor any contemporary CBC person can compare with 
> the delivery of a previous AIH host, Alan Maitland, who has now 
> been relegated to a Christmas Eve ritual reading of John 
> Forsythe's story of the RAF aviator lost in fog over the North Sea.
> 
> Last but not least, when AIH is on the air at 1830 local, it is 
> competing with the evening network TV newscasts, Nightly Business 
> Report on PBS, and reruns of old Simpsons episodes.  The 
> rebroadcast on RCI is so poorly received recently since they 
> dropped the 49 meter band frequency that it is hard to listen to 
> even though it does not compete with other programs of interest at 
> that hour.  With no advance tease of what AIH will be covering on 
> any given evening, I just forget to tune in.  I should probably 
> record the show for later playback but I'm just not that motivated 
> anymore because I have gotten out of the AIH habit.
> 
> 
> Joe Buch
> 
> 
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