I support this petition.
If I want mindless chatter, I have only tune in to virtually any commercial radio station -- but I'm an adult now and I'd thought the CBC was for me. I guess I was wrong as, more and more frequently, I find myself punching away from Radio One -- and not just in the afternoon.
I support this petition. I was raised in northern BC with CBC Radio as my only source of aural culture. Thanks be to the goddess for Rawhide! Nowadays I love Global Village, and if we want to have more music programming, couldn't we have more exposure of Canadian indy music, using a similar format? Even DNTO is more mindless than it used to be.... The other thing I want to say about the increasing commercialization/mainstr eaming of CBC generally, is it is getting harder and harder to distinguish CBC news coverage from the completely reactionary stations. *sigh*
I support this petition. Down the years there's been a long tradition of CBC Radio management trying to reach a wider (or younger) audience by introducing more "accessible" programming. That's their word for it. Discerning CBC listeners call it something else: "dumbing down" the network. Pop music has always been high on management's "accessibility list, but it has never worked as a ratings booster. But unique, informative programming unavailable elsewhere always has kept CBC's audience growing - and more importantly, maintained its relevance as Canada's voice.
I support this petition. Freestyle, the National Playlist, and GO should easily be dropped in favour of more stimulating programming. At the very least, give us back the phone-in (in the GTA) from 1 - 2 p.m. Kudos for shows such as As It Happens, The Sunday Edition, The Vinyl Cafe, The Current, and many others -- let's have more of them that provide intelligent, witty, humorous, thought-provoking programming.
I support this petition whole-heartedly. In recent weeks,I am surprised at how many times I have turned off the radio and put on a CD during the afternoon - Freestyle is not thought-provoking, amusing or eclectic
Not worth listening to. A first for me with CBC!
Since the lock-out ended, with the exception of regional programming in the mornings, my radio is silent these days. How sad that CBC is not providing the thought-provoking and intelligent radio that it once did, no so long ago.
I support this petition. The thoughtful and thought-provoking morning program time of Sheilagh Rogers, for example, has been steadily and seriously eroded while CBC Radio One tries much too hard to be "hip" to a younger audience. You used to "learn things" from CBC; now, it's mostly spoken and musical pablum. I had already tuned out the afternoon shows for that reason, anyway. The news shows are o.k., at best, but they are sometimes "mere shadows of their former selves."
Please, please, CBC, bring back the strong content that made you famous!
We must support any attempt to create a distinctly Canadian identity on our air waves.
Sadly, if our own radio is not there to back us up, what chance do we have?
Let`s hope this petition will be heard and respectfully considered.
thank you
I support this petition.
CBC Radio has been on our dial for years and years. I'm not sure of the date but when the CRTC approved the CBC to change its format to Hip Hop and Rap and 100% Cdn content, we moved the dial to 96.3FM and at the moment couldn't care less if they survived or locked out the idiots.
I support this petition. We who have supported CBC Radio for many years did so because of thought provoking, intelligent programs and intellectually challenging interviewers such as Barbara Frum. CBC Radio is at risk of losing its purpose and its listeners.
I support this petition.
Who is the ass that thought up this one? Haven't we got enough stations with this same type of programming? Bring back "Madly Off" from where-ever it has been banished. Don't touch "the Vinyl Cafe" or there could be talk of revolt in our house.
I support this petition. There are plenty of stations playing this type of music that people can listen to but none like CBC used to be . So I have no other alternative to listen to. Please return to a more intelligent programming.
I support this petition. The National Playlist is bad enough, but I can do something other than listen to radio for 1/2 hour. But the addition of two hours of Freestyle--silly, irrelevant clutter--and the deletion of an hour of Round Up with its Ontario-relevant information, interviews, call ins--leaves me strongly disaffected.
I support this petition. I used to have to turn CBC off on Saturday afternoons because of bad programming. Now it's seeped into the week! The National Playlist is terrible. I don't care what any person thinks should be in the top 10 or top 40. Bring back intelligent programming, interviews!
I have reduced by half the amount of time I spent listening to Radio One and now tune in much more to CFMX at 96.3 in the Golden Horseshoe area where they treat listeners as adults. And it was substantial time, from 5:30 am until at least 5:30 pm. Now it is from 5:30 until 11:30 except for newscasts and the first hour of Ontario Today. That is mostly because of trashy "Freestyle" and the elimination of the phone-in portion of Ontario Noon. I am sure that the juvenile audience the CBC brass is fishing for is largely in high school during the day or working where they can't listen to the radio anyway. As well, if they listen to radio at all, they have their own favourite rock stations and it won't be CBC. But then, most are plugged into their i-pods, and CBC management is so far behind that they haven't yet twigged to that fact.
Bumping the best comedy show in Canada, "Madly Off" from Sunday at 1:30 to heaven knows when, is a real travesty. And call it what you like, but Roundup was informative, fun and intelligent, and most of all, it was Canada-wide and for everyone. But what do we get in return? Mindless juvenile commercial-radio programming from 11:30 to noon, and from 1:00 pm to 3:00, before a tailored-to-Toronto drive-timer takes over. And don't even ask about that all-American Band Stand noise from 11:30 to noon. You can be sure that "Quirks and Quarks" and Stewart McLean are also on the exit list. Any other good stuff? Gone!
I think CBC management is just trying to punish us for supporting the real people during the lockout.
If they won't give us back the decent and entertaining programming they stole from us, why don't they increase the power of a sister station in southern Ontario so we can still get a complete and intelligent two hours from Alan Neal. Why isn't there a separate frequency with targeted programming for
I support this petition.
I am enraged that my tax dollars are being used to support inane programs such as Freestyle. That particular one is an insult to the intelligence of CBC listeners.
I support this petition. The CBC is being 'dumbed down' to cater to a younger hip audience. CBC audiences have over the years enjoyed a fabulous variety of information and discussion programs which reflectthe richness of the country - including a variety of music both old and new. I find it very sad that I have to turn off CBC 1 when it has been my lifeline to the pulse of Canada.
I support this petition.I strongly object to the Mid-day Ontario Today program being removed from Toronto 99.1 and hate the crap music that has replaced a sensible enjoyable phone-in show.
I support this petition.
I have always enjoyed the history and interesting stories on cbc...if I want to listen to mainstream (which I don't) I can turn the station, but I won't get the quality cbc station which is your mandate????
I agree with this petition. I discovered CBC Radio when I was in my twenties and have stayed tuned ever since. But despite my passion for rock, it wasn't "pop music" that pulled me to the CBC, it was the extraordinary insights I learned about my country thanks to Peter Gzowski's 3 hour morning shows ... the in-depth interviews, with time to really learn about the subjects, on Vicki Gabereau's wonderful afternoon sessions ... and the brilliant, off-the-wall humour of Prime Time With Ralph Benmurgui (and will somebody PLEASE put him back on the radio.)
While Peter Gzowski may indeed be a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, SURELY the CBC is capable of giving us the kind of in-depth programming that helps us to understand our country and feel proud to be Canadians.
If we want music, we know where to get music. Only the CBC has the ability to give us the kind of programming we not only want but NEED. Now, as never before.
PS: It would be wrong to suggest ALL of CBC's new shows are sadly lacking. Randy Bachmann has turned out to be a wonderful find, and his Saturday evening show is the only glimmer of hope I've seen on CBC for a very long time (Then again, I AM a Baby Boomer, and I DO love rock and roll .)
I support this petition. I used to love listening to Ontario Today and the call-in shows in the second hour. Now, in the GTA, CBC has replaced the second hour call-in shows with "Freestyle", while the rest of Canada gets to hear the second hour of Ontario Today!!!When Freestyle comes on, I turn the radio OFF.
What an abomination. The hosts are straight out of community-cable land when it comes to presentation and charisma. Boring. The musical choices seem to be the most obvious ones - nothing you wouldn't hear regularly on a middle of the road commercial radio station. Very sad. The idea might be a valid one, but the execution and realization is poor.
Change: Get entertaining, intelligent, funny hosts and tap a little bit deeper into the musical echelon - stuff you wouldn't hear, or at the very least hear regularly, on commercial radio.
The National Playlist is sometimes interesting, but it's time for people inside the CBC to realized that people outside the CBC don't think Jian (don't call me John!) Ghomeshi is particularly entertaining. Too smug and self-satisfied for my liking.
I support this petition.
I don't want my national radio station to be "watercooler fodder"" I want intelligent discussions; Canadian music I don't get to hear anywhere else; Canadians of every age group, ethnicity, and religious belief speaking about what matters to them.
Pandering to the "top 40" crowd does not equate to attracting a younger audience, merely a less thoughtful one. Younger audiences have all the music they want at their fingertips with the downloadable tunes on the Internet, so why would they want to tune into the CBC to listen to it when they've already got it on their iPods and MP3 players? I believe that they care about social, cultural, and political matters more than you're giving them credit for.
I support this petition. I am tired of having CBC pander to the elusive 30something audience and leave us older, loyal listeners out in the cold. Pop lite and inconsequential blather should not be the product for this publicly funded corporation. I miss the segments where Canadians across the country could have their voices heard. They allowed me to identify with people from other provinces and really made me feel part of the whole.
I support this petition.
CBC RADIO One was my refuge from radio with too many commercials and mainly American playlists. I have always believed that radio was capable of being more than
a music box. But the CBC is now run mainly run by "former"
journalists who grew up with commercial radio.
Very few actually have any experience in the
non-musical side of the entertainment industry. (theatre, circus,etc)
I support this petition.
CBC RADIO One was my refuge from radio with too many commercials and mainly American playlists. I have always believed that radio was capable of being more than
a music box. But the CBC is now run mainly run by "former"
journalists who grew up with commercial radio.
Very few actually have any experience in the
non-musical side of the entertainment industry. (theatre, circus,etc)
I support this petition.
Apparently (according to Dec 28 Star) Freestyle is "water cooler fodder at its finest". Well they got the fodder bit right. It sure sounds like aural mash intended for bovine listeners. That says something about their opinion of the audience.
I support this petition. I don't listen to CBC anymore because of this. There is enough moronic ramblings with dull people on the air already. What do the people who are not at work, who do not want background music, supposed to listen to. I'm sure that there are many retirees who are in aggrement with me, please give us something at least half intellegent to listen to.
I strongly support this petition. Since those of us not in offices (and thus with only 1/2 our brain on the radio) would still like content based programming, what do you propose to air for us? The quirky humour of "Round Up" is sadly missed!
We support this petition.
It seems as if CBC management used the lockout to mess around with programming in the misguided attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. Their choice of programming says it all about their opinion of that demographics' interests and intelligence. Freestyle is just a terrible show that is no different than what is on commercial radio. While I enjoyed 50 Tracks, The National Playlist is just another formula show. There is nothing wrong with Radio Noon as it was before. The Radio Noon Book Club brought out the best in listeners while the regular experts were interesting and informative.
There is no need to give us an extra half hour of rush hour news from Toronto.
Our suggestions: Return the second hour of Radio Noon; bring back The Roundup; expand Sounds Like Canada to noon; move Galloping Off in All Directions back to Sunday at one and get rid of that wretched show, Wiretap - truly the worst show in the schedule!
And please, give young people credit. They want more than what they can find on other stations when they listen to CBC. They are not the shallow mindless individuals you seem to think they are.
Freestyle is an abomination. I have tuned in a few times to check to make sure that I was not too hasty in my condemnation. Each time it has lived up to the awful perception that I formed on initial listening. I like Jian and really enjoyed 50 Tracks. I am afraid that The National Playlist does not seem to be working, but would be willing to give it some time. The real offense is that a really bad programme - Freestyle - is replacing really good programming - The Ontario Today Phone In in the GTA and The Roundup across the country. (I was fully prepared to hate The Roundup when the idea was first announced. Once it was on the air I really liked it. I was prepared to give Freestyle a chance after I heard Kelly Ryan perform admirably on The Current last summer. It was after hearing this abomination that I dislike it so much. Two final points. It is highly offensive that CBC Management says that the only problem is that (we) CBC listeners are intolerant of change. The problem is that Freestyle is avery bad show. Finally, GTA listeners with Internet access can listen to the Ottawa feed and hear the Ontario Today Phone In. (Just remember you are on the internet and don't be alarmed by the weather reports.)
Freestlye: What an abomination. The hosts are straight out of community-cable land when it comes to presentation and charisma. Boring. The musical choices seem to be the most obvious ones - nothing you wouldn't hear regularly on CHUM FM or Q107. Very sad. The idea might be a valid one, but the execution and realization is poor.
Change: Get entertaining, intelligent, funny hosts and tap a little bit deeper into the musical echelon - stuff you wouldn't hear, or at the very least hear regularly, on commercial radio.
And for god's sake, why keep recycling that pompous hack Jian (don't call me John!) Ghomeshi. He was in a mediocre Canadian novelty band.
I support this petition. Ever since Freestyle started, I find myself turning off my CBC station and searching for something more palateable. The inane drivel that now fills these hours is too hard to listen too. Bring back programming that involves the people of Canada - nothing was better than "listener participation" via letters and phone calls. We got to listen to Canadians from every nook and cranny of this vast country - something we can't do in real life but could do "virtually" through the airwaves of CBC. PLEASE RETHINK this latest programming!!!
I support this petition. I find that Freestyle is a total waste of time. I would like the rest of the Radio Noon phone in back as well as Roundup. I would also request that the Toronto afternoon "rush programme" go back to its original 4:00pm to 6:pm time slot. It is filled up what too much drivel at the current length. What ever happened to intelligent radio in theis country? If I want top 40 drivel I will turn into a commercial station or is this what the CBC management has in mind?
I support this petition.Get rid of the National Playlist and Freestyle which is nothing but inane drivel. Bring back Roundup or something comparable.I miss the phone-in programme with a different expert each day. Please return to intelligent,national,thou ght-provoking programming.
First, the CBC brass deprived us of our programming; now, they are destroying it.
You folks making the programming decisions atCBC Radio are running the risk of becoming as irrelevant as CBC TV. You are going to lose your base demographic and fail to get a new one.
May the Sad Goat butt your sorry arses until your brains move to where they should be.
I support this petition. BUT it has been going this direction for many years. Round-Up was of the same sophmoric crap that is prevalent throughout the CBC programming. My one feeling is that Roundup and FreeStyle are essentially bad College Radio. While Canadian college radio does provide some very good programming you do get many shows where the announcers are more involved in the own patter than with broadcasting. Sheila Rogers is the absolute worst for this!!! Its a non-stop giggle fest with her. I don't really care to know about her old friends. Instead of serious interviews of important authors like we got with Gzowksi (and still do with Writers and Company) we get Canada Reads which involves "celebrities " telling us what to read. And of course it is the model for 50 Tracks and National Play List where the usual suspects, people who already get to much chance to pontificate like Ben Rayner, get more air time. I originally turned to CBC radio to get away from the oppressiveness of commercial radio, to escape the ubiquitous top 40, but now we have it on National Radio. Radio Two has also been wrecked. I have tapes from 1980 and one used to get serious classical music, entire pieces, now its snippets intermixed with the some of the same pop from Radio One and "smooth jazz". Its "smooth classical" for the office I guess. The announcers also behave in the same sophmoric College Radio style inane patter and pandering.
Kelly and Cameron are nice people, but "Freestyle" is pure drivel. And to deprive us of Roundup, which was the only programme in the country to bring together people from coast to coast and from all walks of life, was utter inanity. Then to cut more than half the audience for Ontario Today in the Golden Horseshoe area of southern Ontario was another gross and ill-considered error. It is the best series of educational and entertaining phone-ins was another gross error. Why bait us by giving back only half of the call-in, and choppin the rest? While we're at it, bring back the final half hour of Sounds Like Canada. The replacement is more pop pap.
I very much like some of the less traditional CBC programs (like DNTO), but Freestyle is just inane. And it's time to kill the National Playlist idea. CBC should try to produce intelligent, quality programming, not lite entertainment.
I support this petition. When I want to listen to programing such as freestyle, I can tune anywhere on the dial. This not what when I tune on CBC. Bring back the goat (or something like it).
I support this petition.
I agree that "The talents of many dedicated and world-class Canadian writers, composers, producers, and artists are being further replaced by commercial content that can be found on any number of mass audience radio stations." This should not be allowed to continue.
I support this petition.I depend on the CBC to keep me informed of national and world events, not mindlessly entertained by drivel. CBC is quite capable of producing excellent and thought-provoking dramas such as Midnight Cab and Diamond Lane.
