Economic turmoil is like an earthquake. It disrupts organizations and makes weaker ones collapse. That is happening to radio, television and newspapers, “the traditional media.” But the economy is only half of what Al Kapp called a “double whammy”. The other whammy is the internet.
The CBC recently announced cutbacks that will severely weaken their Saint John and Moncton stations and others across the country. The CBC depends heavily on government funding, which has been affected by the economic slowdown and by a federal Government that seems to hate publicly funded services. It is made even worse by what looks to outsiders like a pompous and arrogant head office that does not care what happens outside Toronto. CBC management made some bad decisions in recent years. Classical-oriented CBC “Radio 2” tried to find new markets by playing jazz and other styles of music. The change drove traditional listeners to recorded music, to the internet, or to satellite radio – including CBC Galaxy, a classical channel operated by the CBC in competition with Radio 2.
CBC has also dumbed down “Radio 1” with silly daytime programming on the national network except for about an hour at lunch time. Some people I talk to think the best thing the CBC could do is broadcast more of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) from the USA. So much for Canadian content!
The CBC is not alone in its struggle to adjust to change.
CFBC in Saint John, formerly one of two dominant stations, gave up their populist morning talk show, surrendering that audience to the low-budget Rogers FM station “News 889”. Along with their long-time practice of broadcasting old hit music in low fidelity, it is no wonder they have all but disappeared. But the story does not stop in Saint John.
Reports of financial trouble in the media are everywhere. Big newspapers and cable TV companies in the United States are losing advertising revenue and trying to deal with competition from the internet. SONY will soon offer some free movies on You Tube. Daily papers in Seattle, Ann Arbor and San Francisco, have gone out of business or are close to it. The Vancouver Sun is reportedly in trouble. Even the New York Times is facing serious declines in advertising, the lifeblood of daily newspapers. A commentator in England said recently that two or more of the big London dailies may go out of business.
The internet has had a big impact on radio, newspapers and television. A big new hybrid change called “internet radio” will appeal to traditional radio audiences. It has been possible for some time to hear radio stations on your computer, offering all types of programmes, with reasonably high quality. Now it is possible to buy something that looks like a radio, and tunes like a radio, but connects to a searchable list of about 17,000 stations from all over the world, all free once you have paid for your internet connection and the radio.
One thing that mass media, including the internet, have not been able to replace yet is local reporting and local programming in small municipalities. Perhaps oddly, this is one of the areas the CBC has cut most. While it is a big loss for the CBC, it does mean that there will be more opportunities for local stations. It might even lead to the creation of stations funded by listeners, like PBS in the USA.
Another opportunity is in what you are reading now. Small local newspapers serve local audiences and are gaining popularity. They deal with issues that are important to residents but to few others. Small local advertisers can afford to reach potential customers with advertising tailored to the local market. This is happening in more places than this River Valley. In London, England, for instance, riders boarding public transit are offered five or six free papers with agendas ranging from business to social issues.
In Saint John the “Here” newspaper is given away free of charge, even though it is owned by the owners of the Telegraph-Journal. Its existence probably discourages others from starting free papers, but I think that is temporary and the Telegraph-Journal will lose revenue. Dailies need large circulation. Before long New Brunswick will only have one daily newspaper.
People I talk to hope that the River Valley News becomes a weekly paper so it can keep updating readers on current topics of interest. This may not happen for a while, but I think it is almost inevitable.
