Letter to Globe & Mail columnist regarding CBC drama performance
February 20, 2006
RE: It's easy to bash CBC, but not always fair (John Doyle, Globe & Mail, Feb. 20, 2006)
Hello John:
The CMRI data measured all drama series aired in the 2004 and 2005 broadcast years. The definition is from CRTC, not your tastes or mine. You dismiss CTV's "Sue Thomas: FB Eye", but I think you have previously critiqued CBC's "72 Hours". CBC's total includes 21 episodes of "Ciao Bella", a show which was made for Radio-Canada. The point is: the data compare apples to apples.
CTV has substantially out-performed CBC in series drama over the most recent two broadcast years, to the surprise of many observers. CBC-TV has aired only an average of one hour of drama a week (including repeats) over the two-years. During the same period, it aired 550 hours of prime-time foreign drama series and movies, an average of five hours per week.
We think management should be held accountable for these results.
Regards!
Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting
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