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By Harvey Oberfeld
July 31st, 2015
CTV local Vancouver news has cut the ratings/audience gap separating it from Global BC AGAIN … achieving its BEST results ever.
In July, 2012 Global BC had a lead of 4.3 ratings shares over CTV; that slid in July 2013 to 2.9 shares; in July, 2014 to 2.7 shares and this past month that dropped again …to only a 1.46 share gap.
(From Nielsen: ”Ratings and share are percentages not flat numbers. A 4.4 household rating/8 share means that 4.4% of all households (that is to say homes with a TV set, not total number of people) watched the indicated program, while among those households watching TV at the time 8% of them watched.”)
CTV says its July overall ratings for its News at Six in the key Adult 25-54 year old demographic averaged 2.15 … its BEST July in the station’s history and it’s BEST month in more than 8 years.
Global Newshour’s July average was reportedly 3.61 …a gap of 1.46 … which CTV says is “the smallest ever between the two stations”.
I’ve also heard that last Monday, CTV actually beat Global at BOTH 5 p.m. AND 6 p.m.
CTV at 5 p..m scored a 2.2 rating, compared to 1.7 for Global and at 6 p.m., CTV News captured a 3.4, beating the Newshour’s 3.0.
The brass there say there has been an upward trend of 6% in CTV Vancouver’s “2+ rating over the same period last year” … while Global News experienced “an overall decrease of 11% during the same period”.
These numbers SHOCK me … even though I have pointed out so many times (and been castigated for it by some) how Global, in my view, has watered down, damaged its product and, in my view, disrespected its viewers.
But the results give me no ”Schadenfreude” satisfaction: it actually hurts to see the once MIGHTY Newshour … where more than 600,000 (and MORE) British Columbians tuned almost every night … reduced to its current state.
While our arch-rival competitor, CTV, grows and closes the gap!
I blame management … or should I say mismanagement: poorer hiring; poorer producing; poorer story selection; poorer writing; poorer supervision …and what looks to me sometimes as just laziness.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Global had what I believe COULD have been a great story, but left incomplete: how Cambie Street assembled properties have been left to languish in an unkempt mess. The story included unhappy neighbours, but even though there was a huge sign identifying the developer … there was NO visit to the developer’s office … no doubt pretty tidy digs ….. where they could have demanded, with cameras rolling, an explanation and a cleanup. Or what about a visit to City Hall!
Or another possible really good story, left incomplete: about BC rolling in a BILLION DOLLARS of profit from increased gaming. The story included a casino business spokesperson and a spokesperson worried about excessive gamblers … but I did NOT see anyone chasing the Minister responsible, demanding to know WHERE IS THAT BILLION BEING SPENT? ON HEALTH CARE? Or the Opposition raising its concerns. Terrible omissions in my opinion … especially since the Legislature was in session in Victoria. Could have made the story great!
That would NOT have been left out under Cameron Bell and Keith Bradbury … who took the Newshour to the TOP.
I’m not sure why the Global show/operation has become so slack … but clearly the viewers … or should I say former viewers … have noticed.
However Newshour fans may still take heart: there is a NEW news director now in charge, Jill Krop, an experienced journalist, anchor; and they’re about to get a new Assignment Editor … a very key newsroom job … so station stalwarts are looking for big “changes” this Fall.
Hopefully those “changes” will be in the upward direction … and I won’t have to watch my alma mater slip further into a hole … as CTV continues to celebrate.
It may be too late for Global, Gailus, Krop et al. CTV’s operation just has a smoother look to it and the news sounds more like news rather than entertainment.
I couldn’t agree with Harvey’s insight more. He’s dead on. I can talk from the sales/revenue side of Global that is understaffed, where sales people and sales assistants (most of them actually) are off on stress leave and not being replaced – where it takes weeks to get a proposal – sloppy management in the extreme. Compare that to John Voiles’ team at CTV – one of the sharpest and most professional sales organizations in the city – in Western Canada actually. CTV deserves the wins – they’re working harder for them – in my opinion.
Without a doubt I have been a life long BCTV/Global Newshour viewer like the majority of British Columbians, but now more than ever before I find myself turning on CTV-9 and staying on the channel for the duration of the news and wow, closing the hour with Mike McCardell. What a foolish move that was on Global’s part to fire the man. His time has obviously not run out. The presentation is slick, clean and NEW. Methinks CTV will become the Victor. Its been a long time coming and I can only imagine the elation in the old Vancouver Library building on Burrard.
Globalbc is suffering from the same disease as CKNW. It’s called SHAWITIS. Some symptoms are absence of experience in key areas: heavy reliance on interns; and not reinvesting profits that presently go to Mr &Mrs Shaw. I still prefer Globalbc news but just a preference.
Glad to see this. Global “News” has become an absolute joke. They report very little of value and always go for the low hanging fruit.
CTV deserves the win!
Global does not do any real investigative journalism, as they once did. Really sad. As for CTV,
personally cannot take Taggart, would prefer Lynda Steele in that slot, but then I hear that she may be leaving for Global. Would be a gain for global. Jill Krop as the News Director at Global has not changed anything. They need “news hounds” on staff, people that dig for the stories.
Lynda Steele, as reported elsewhere on this site, is headed for CKNW, along with stints on BC1 (it would seem that Steele’s new Twitter handle is already waiting at lyndasteele980). Global has this problem with BC1 not being carried on Telus TV.
This is good news. CTV has been a scent of fresh air for some time. Shaw has killed Global BC, I don’t think they can ever bounce back. They lost my families viewership long ago. Lazy reporters, unskilled photographers, and adolescent news desk. CTV since Olympics, has improved its overall look, the photographers are clearly experienced, and they’re journalist take after go getters such as Lisa Rossington and peter grainger. I hope they pay every employee what they deserve so they don’t jump ship and become huge assets to global. I will enjoy the coming years as CTV continues to rise the bar and ratings.
I wonder what Global will do….. Does Jill Krop have the authority to do something or are the big wigs at SHAW going to shut her down. Seems like SHAW is a downward spiral with people cutting the cable with them and going to Telus or just streaming on line. And with SHAW raising there rates very soon other will follow…..
Global has far more production problems due to the fact that they’ve cut technical staff to the point that their shows are basically done by three people. Their virtual sets are horrid, and when a problem comes up, they have nowhere to go due to excessive automation. Further, their older reporters like John “Herb Welch” Daly, Ted Chernieki, etc. are really just mailing it in now. The only thing that Global does vastly better at is Sports. They destroy CTV there.
Basically, they are so news heavy that they are unable to really dig into stories due to lack of people! They are quickly swimming to #2.
Wow -hard hitting news story. Global is now doing HOROSCOPES on their news segments…
http://globalnews.ca/news/2144293/august-horoscopes-with-georgia-nicols/
Unreal what is considered “news” today. It’s no wonder I’ve given up cable – this is trash.
And to think…. Shaw is going to raise the rate of cable this fall……. I guess it is to cover losses by Global TV in Vancouver. I think CTV is going to be on top for a very long time.
Global needs to bring in some heavy hitters to bring it back up to par. Pros like Gordy Tupper, Eric Dwyer and Pia Shandel would be a good start.
Seems some revamping underway there on all the other news broadcasts besides the 6-7 slot. And is BC1 getting the axe?
When you’ve made silly money by simply installing cable and then charging shake-down fees (without competition), it’s easy to convince yourself you can run a TV network and newsrooms. But SHAW has no track record in major market-leading, investigative TV reportage, let alone putting together decent morning, noon, evening and late-night news shows. Jill Krop doesn’t have the skill set to fix this mess, nor the gumption (or authority) to clean house of ill-placed ‘personalities’ and news readers such as Steve Darling and Lynne Collier.
CTV’s evening newscast is fine and may win this thing by default, but I prefer CBC’s Andrew Chang, who not only tells us what’s happening but shows his interview and ad lib chops every night. That, plus CBC’s stories are far more interesting and less predictable than CTV and Global.
I must say, as substantially as I eneyjod reading what you had to say, I couldnt help but lose interest after a while. Its as if you had a good grasp on the topic matter, but you forgot to include your readers. Perhaps you should think about this from far more than 1 angle. Or maybe you shouldnt generalise so much. Its better if you think about what others may have to say instead of just heading for a gut reaction to the topic. Think about adjusting your own believed process and giving others who may read this the benefit of the doubt.