CBC vs. CTV vs. Global
Not sure if there has been something posted about this in the past, but which Canadian news network do you watch most or prefer, CBC, CTV, Global or something else?
I find that CBC outperforms CTV for national news, however for local news CTV is my go-to, I rarely watch Global so I can't comment. |
I haven't had cable for years so I don't really watch any of them, but I stream the evening news from CBC and NTV (Newfoundland Television). They're also the best for local shows, both good (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and bad (NTV's St. John's real estate agents reality shows).
To my knowledge we don't have a local CTV or Global network, though I'm sure NTV is aligned with one of them. The nearest ones to us would be whatever's in the Maritimes, and I imagine the American affiliates are all the Boston ones (they've tried changing us to Detroit and Buffalo but people keep complaining). |
CBC is the most Canadian of the three so that’s good but Global has a B.C. based all news channel called BC1 so its refreshing that it isn’t based on Toronto.
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Newfoundland is also the largest Canadian market that doesn't have CTV available on basic cable packages. If you don't have digital cable, you can't watch CTV (CTV2 is readily available to almost everyone though since Halifax's ASN was apart of basic cable packages in the 80s/90s). Compare that to the fact that a lot of places have 2 Global channels: the Halifax and Edmonton feeds (Edmonton's CITV was also a part of the basic cable package back in the day). I remember back in the day the American main channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS) were all from Detroit. It never made sense, considering Boston was closer to here. Except Fox....which for some reason we received the Rochester, NY feed. Supposedly, there are some Rogers cable customers in the province outside the city that still receive the Detroit feeds. EDIT: Kind to think of it, the PBS feed on Rogers cable here in St. John's is from Detroit. Saturday mornings I watch this old house on PBS, and eventually some show about exploring Michigan comes on. |
CBC is all social justice all the time.
CTV tends to be more balanced, and in the Maritimes, gives good regional coverage. Global has a minimal presence in the Maritimes (news program for the Maritimes is based out of Toronto), but I find the Global National News to be surprisingly good. Although I dislike the CBC television news (especially since the loss of Mansbridge), I really enjoy CBC radio for their news and public affairs coverage. |
For local and national news, I definitely prefer CBC. I'll often watch The National or just have CBC News Network on in the background while I do stuff around the house on weekends.
I watch CTV National News from time to time, but I seldom watch Global's news offerings. |
CBC, both on TV and online.
Seldom CTV, never Global. When I am down in the States, I do admit to watching Fox News - simply for the entertainment factor. |
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Even CNN is mostly talking heads for so much of the day. It makes me very grateful that Canada's main news networks focus on presenting actual news reporting and keep the opinion jibber-jabber to a minimum. |
I'll watch The National for national and international news, but don't find any of the local news broadcasts to be worth my time. I get my local news online and via twitter.
CBC Radio is my background when I'm doing things around the house. |
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I often get the sense that the CBC person reading the news or doing an interview is about to break down and cry any minute. And they're just talking about... expanding the parking lot for a ski hill or something like that. I find I can't even listen to stuff like As It Happens anymore... which is too bad 'cause the premise and research work that goes into the show is awesome. |
Generally speaking though my main TV news source is the French CBC's network (mainstream and all-news). I also watch TVA sometimes. (And I recently added France 24 to my cable package so I go there too for European and international.)
When I check out how the other three quarters lives I still go to the CBC first. The only other Canadian news channel in English I watch is CTV, but far less than CBC. I never watch Global. |
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I don't really watch TV but I also find CBC radio has shifted dramatically toward social justice issues during the past few years, and away from substantive news stories (international coverage or current events, deeper policy discussions, etc.). I am not against some coverage of social justice issues but they don't merit 80% of the airtime or whatever they get. I also find that the radio commentators tend to have fairly narrow political perspectives.
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There's a good explanation for the societal shift by Jonathan Heidt below (start at 11:30) Ignore the Youtube poster's ideology and listen to Haidt himself. |
I have a mixed relationship with CBC Radio. Nationally, they're almost all Newfoundlanders. Locally, they're all the mainland spouses of Newfoundlanders. I miss CBC Radio in Winnipeg when Gordon Pinsent was reading me stories about Fogo Island on my morning commute. Now the only Newfoundlander I hear regularly is Tom Power because they play excerpts of Q. And although this isn't the case in my daily life, on radio I need ANY accent other than that fake, faux-friendly one mainland CBC talkers use. It just grates on me. Robotic, disingenuous, pompous. It sounds like a local church lady on the phone with her bank.
Locally, VOCM is my go-to for talk radio (which has around 30% of the audience in NL, twice Quebec's, and orders of magnitude more than in the other provinces - it's entirely left-wing). Music, we have nothing here. Irish folk, top 40, country, classic hits, etc. None of it is anything you haven't heard before, or mentally enriching. You definitely can't use the radio to discover anything new. |
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