Transformative Radio and Stubborn Audiences: A Tale of Two Cities

Abstract

A decade ago the regional programming of CBC Toronto successfully transformed itself with a new notion of community reflection that utilized a range of emerging digital platforms but put narrative radio storytelling at its centre. With the launch of CBC Hamilton in Spring 2012, as Canada's sole digital-only public broadcasting outlet (no over-the-air TV or radio), audio storytelling was conspicuously absent from the equation. Based on the only publicly available research conducted with CBC users and community leaders prior to and following both launches, the authors raise questions about audience conceptions and the enduring value of audio storytelling in an era of digital broadcasting and social media.

Notes

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the positions of any organization with which they are now or have been associated.

The authors thank McMaster University graduate student Mr. Tomasc Wiercioch (M.A., McMaster, 2012), who conducted some of the preliminary in-depth interviews and focus groups; Ms. Alyssa Lai (B.A., McMaster, 2012) who helped transcribe preliminary focus groups; and, to the McMaster University CMST 3K03 students who updated some of the fieldwork in autumn 2012; Ms. Katelyn Clutterbuck, Ms. Rachel Fish, Mr. Ryan Prance, Ms. Julie Truong, and Mr. Steve Watts.

¹Note that this CBC report was found by the authors in 2008, current CBC Web-published reports are only provided on line going back 10 years. One may contact CBC directly for historic reports at: CBC/Radio-Canada Corporate Communications, P.O. Box 3220, Station C, Ottawa, ON K1Y 1E4.

²Because CBC Hamilton does not have a CRTC licensed over-the-air radio or TV station, BBM does not collect audience data. BBM, or the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, is the national audience ratings company in Canada, which uses diaries and electronic portable people meters (PPM) to continuously measure Canadians' radio and television usage (BBM, 2012). Note that this BBM data was found by the authors in 2008; current BBM Web published data (http://www.bbm.ca/en/radio-market-rankings) only provides data back 3 years. One may contact BBM directly for historic inofrmation at: BBM Canada, 1500 Don Mills Road, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M3B 3L7 or telephone: [phone].

³At the time of publication the CBC did not make available to the public data on CBC Hamilton Web usage, generated either through subscription ComScore data or internal Web traffic measures.

⁴Community leaders were sent recruitment letters via email requesting their participation in an hour-long personal interview. The primary resource for potential contacts was the Hamilton-based Centre for Community Study.

⁵Interactive audiences of course pre-sage digital media; as far back as Shakespearean plays (where audiences cajoled players to change lines or actions) and the range of interactive and community based talk-back radio and local film co-ops throughout the twentieth century “mass media” era (Napoli, 2010).

⁶McLuhan also described darker aspects of radio's intimate power, which were felt to be more threatening than the emerging medium of television whose “cool” psychic properties would lessen “hot” tendencies: “The subliminal depths of radio are charged with the resonating echoes of tribal horns and antique drums. This is inherent in the very nature of this medium, with its power to turn the psyche and society into a single echo chamber” (McLuhan, 1964, p. 261).

⁷They also produce with the same staff a weekday morning program devoted to listeners in outlying Southern Ontario rural areas, adding another 15 hours of production.

⁸By federal legislation, statistics are generated on the basis of “self-declared” visible minority in internal surveys (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2007). It is widely recognized that the actual numbers of diverse ethnicity is under-represented (Susan Marjetti, personal communication, February 20, 2009).

⁹Insofar as the authors were aware; as of December 2012, based on a survey of the PSB/PSM scholarly literature.

¹⁰One local community activist wrote: “Is this all that a digital service can do? Likely not, as in the age of the Web, broadcasting is no longer limited to just over-the-air frequencies. Locally, Smooth Jazz, formally 94.7 FM broadcasts online. In fact, many CBC Toronto listeners access their local radio station though the Internet or smartphone via CBC apps. The infrastructure is already in place for audio online content for CBC Hamilton, so why not take advantage of it?” (Macdonald, 2012, para. 12).

¹¹The authors wish to express their gratitude to the McMaster University CMST 3K03 (Media Audiences and Effects) students who conducted the quantitative survey: Lisa Bifano, Holleh Rahmati, Navneet Randhawa, and Melissa Zazulak.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Philip Savage

Philip Savage (Ph.D., York University, 2007) is a professor of Communication Studies and Multimedia at McMaster University. His teaching and research interests focus on the changing nature of audiences and the relationship to both media content and policy. Savage worked for twenty years in broadcasting (1985–2005), including as Head of Research for CBC Radio and Senior Manager, Policy and Planning for CBC-TV and CBC New Media.

Kara Weiler

Kara Weiler (M.A., McMaster University, 2012) recently completed her Master's thesis, “The CBC Hamilton Experiment: From Expectations to Realities—Canada's Public Broadcaster in a Regional Digital World.” Weiler is a communications officer with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa.