ANNEX TO THE LPIF ANNUAL REPORT FORM FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 AUGUST 2011 QUALITATIVE REPORTS STATION: CBCT-TV CHARLOTTETOWN CBC/Radio-Canada is pleased to submit its second annual qualitative report which demonstrates how the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) has improved the quality and quantity of local programming on CBCT-TV Charlottetown. In BRP 2008-100, CRTC created the LPIF to help support local television production in non-metropolitan markets. As required by BIB -333, CBCT-TV s LPIF Annual Report demonstrates the importance of LPIF funding to its local television activities, using the CRTC s indicators of success: increases in the quantity of local programming broadcast; expansion of news bureaus; evidence of audience success and viewer satisfaction; increases in local advertising revenues; increases in original local news stories; and the number of local news stories that are picked up nationally. In BRP -406 the Commission determined that television stations would be able to draw on the LPIF to maintain their spending on local news and other types of local programming. Therefore, in addition to the areas noted above, the Annual Report also reviews how the LPIF has improved the quality and diversity of the station s local programming. The Corporation believes these are also important factors in measuring the success of the Fund. 1. Broadcast of Local Programming CBC PEI (CBCT-TV) produces a variety of news & special programming. Through the contribution of the LPIF, the station has expanded regional news coverage. The station broadcasts to the entire province with the main production facility located in Charlottetown. : Compass launched a 60 minute supper hour newscast in mid-2008. The creation and distribution of LPIF funds allowed the station to expand news production in September of. It added an additional 30 minutes of news at the supper hour, allowing audiences to view stories from their province at 5:00, 5:30 & 6:00 PM. In total, the presence of the LPIF allowed the station to program an additional 30 minutes per day of news content, Monday to Friday that s a 50 per cent increase. : Compass now produces 7.5 hours per week of programming, compared with 5 hours per week prior to the introduction of the LPIF. : Compass contributes to the late night regional newscast for the Maritimes broadcast from Halifax. The station has been able to maintain that level of scheduled TV news production through 2011.
In Charlottetown, we run a weekday local news show for 90 minutes and a 10 minute late-night local newscast every day from Monday through Friday. As well, CBCT-TV repeats the prior evening s local newscast each morning from Tuesday to Friday. In addition to CBCT-TV s local newscasts, the station also contributes news items to The National, and. Other local programming included the Easter Seals Telethon. : Compass also produced a 2.5 hour special on election night in PEI, featuring experts & in depth analysis of the results. In addition, : Compass has been able to strengthen and expand the station s political coverage with the assistance of the LPIF. Last year, it broadcast a 2 hour television special on the leadership convention of the PC party. Overall, there were 572.7 hours of local programming aired on CBCT-TV in -11 an average of 11 hours per week. Almost all these programming hours 568.9 hours consisted of local news. Since, as a result of the LPIF, CBCT-TV s local programming expenditures have increased by 40%. This in turn has permitted us to improve the local programming we offer Canadians in Prince Edward Island. For details see Part A and B of the LPIF Annual Report Form. 2. Local News Bureaus CBC/Radio-Canada s mandate is to represent all regions of the country. Our local newscasts focus strongly on the region in which they are produced. The presence of local journalists ensures viewers are made aware of local events and news from a local perspective. Out of a station complement of 30.36 (FTE), CBCT-TV has 20 journalists who cover PEI and produce our local newscast. The continued funding from the LPIF in -2011 ensured that CBCT-TV was able to maintain a broad journalistic presence across the province. 3. Audience Success and Viewer Satisfaction In Charlottetown, CBCT-TV s 6:00 PM local newscast dominates with a 56% share, which is down slightly from the 3 previous survey periods. The earlier two half-hours achieve a little more than half the share of the 6 PM news. The late news measured from 10:45-11:15 PM has a 7% share, which is likely attributable to the fact that CBCT- TV s late night newscast currently comes from Halifax. Overall it reflects strong viewer satisfaction with the programming supported by the LPIF 2
CBCT-TV Charlottetown Share of Total Tuning by Daypart All Persons 2+ Source: BBM 2008 2011 Mon-Fri 5:00-5:30pm na na 33 36 38 36 Mon-Fri 5:30-6:00pm na na 34 37 41 38 Mon-Fri 6:00-6:30pm na na 60 64 62 56 Mon-Fri 6:00-7:00pm 59 56 na na na na Mon-Fri 10:45-11:15pm na na 8 7 9 7 The third half-hour CBCT news audience at 6 PM is 29,000 which is almost double the earlier two half-hours. Audiences are on par with last 's numbers. CBCT-TV Charlottetown Extended Market (EM) Audience (000 s) All Persons 2+ Source: BBM 2008 2011 Mon-Fri 5:00-5:30pm na na 12 14 14 15 Mon-Fri 5:30-6:00pm na na 14 15 17 17 Mon-Fri 6:00-6:30pm na na 29 33 30 29 Mon-Fri 6:00-7:00pm 41 43 na na na na Mon-Fri 10:45-11:15pm na na 2 2 2 2 Audiences engage with CBCT-TV in a variety of ways beyond watching our programs on television. For example, in an average week, about 3,000 Compass newscasts are either downloaded or streamed live. In addition, with the help of the LPIF, we have been able to both maintain and strengthen our commitment to community engagement and outreach and thereby strengthen our local programming. 3
In -2011, our outreach activities included the traditional Turkey Drive, which takes place in most major towns in PEI, with the proceeds going to Food Bank locations across PEI. This year the Turkey Drive raised $93,400. CBCT-TV also provided coverage for the PEI Easter Seals Telethon. All of these events both engaged the local community and fed in directly to our local programming either in the form of news coverage or other more focused programming. We have also been using social media as a way of both engaging our viewers and enhancing our programming. Social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter provide a mechanism for audiences to comment on and become part of the conversation around local news and events. As of September 2011, CBCT-TV had 3,493 Facebook followers. These individuals interact with CBCT-TV journalists and staff and thereby help shape our local programming in much the same way as old style investigative journalism dug up ideas and information by getting out into the streets and speaking with the public. CBCT-TV's ability to continue to tap into social media is critical to its enhanced local presence and its local programming. Our local news program : Compass receives thousands of web page hits monthly. Finally, we receive direct feedback from our viewers through letters and calls. Overall, we welcome, encourage and facilitate community engagement whenever we possibly can and the availability of LPIF has been an important source of support in helping that to continue. 4. Local Advertising Revenue The Commission has asked LPIF recipients to report on increases to local advertising revenue. While CBC/Radio-Canada is providing the requested information for the 2008-09, the -10 and the -11 broadcast years, we would note that changes in advertising revenues generated by stations in any given year are the result of a variety of factors and cannot be attributed solely to LPIF support. Local Station Advertising Revenues: to 2011 CBCT Charlottetown 1 2011 Local Sales ### ### ### National Sales ### ### ### Total Station Sales ### ### ### 1 The figures for the broadcast year have been adjusted from those previously filed as part of the annual financial returns for individual TV stations. Previously, local sales included all revenue booked into the local market by network and local sales representatives. Based on the CRTC s definition of "Local Time Sales", station figures now include all revenues (direct / local and agency business) booked for the local station only. Figures reported for and 2011 are consistent with this approach. 4
5. Original Local News Stories While the Commission determined that the LPIF can be used to maintain spending on local news and other types of local programming, it has asked LPIF recipients to report on the increase of original local news stories. CBC/Radio-Canada has the following two comments. First, absent an incremental spending requirement for broadcasters, there appears to be no connection between the objective of the LPIF and this reporting requirement. Second, the current logging requirements do not contemplate logging segments within a program. We do not regularly track the number of, or the length of "program segments". Nevertheless, CBCT-TV has prepared a special analysis of original local news stories based on a one-week sample of original local news broadcast the weeks of April 8-14, 2011. Title/Subject of each story Length (mm:ss) Picked up by network Stations that picked it up Students at Greenwood elementary dye hair blue to support student with chronic arthritis pain. The two major French fry processors in the province are reducing the number of potatoes they're buying from Island growers :30 High prices for beef hurt ailing beef processing plant Sask Tabi retail store goes out of business 1:30 One year anniversary as burned down community rink rises again UPEI creates its own book-making machine to reproduce some classics Summerside concert lawsuit update, motion to dismiss from promoter :20 Summerside park plagued by graffiti and kids drinking NB Federal advance polling available on Sunday, some voters displeased Provincial government considers combining English school boards Indian River historic church gets makeover Coyote survey in community complaining about coyotes PEI man fights medical marijuana case in Ontario Lobster fisherman won t reduce trap numbers despite recommendations 5
Title/Subject of each story Length (mm:ss) Picked up by network Stations that picked it up East Coast Music Awards, we profile the visiting bookers Harness drivers now have to wear safety vests Bell Aliant mistakenly charges wrong taxes on local bills Battle over guardianship of elderly woman decided against abusive son New ambulances provide unique, safer, more useful equipment Local NDP create online attack ad against Liberal candidate Young Summerside people tackle vandalism problem Two communities in eastern PEI consider where to put skate park Incorporated community dissolved :20 Dead man charges admission to his own wake, as fundraiser New operators take over decades old resort hotel Voters in western PEI complain about harassing pre-election phone calls Dog escapes kennel at airport, delaying flight :30 CBC learns of major fish plan not reopening, Oceans Choice Parks Canada repairs boardwalks, beaches after extensive winter damage NB 6. Local News Stories that are Picked Up Nationally The Commission has asked LPIF recipients to report on the number of local news stories that are picked up nationally. As discussed above, broadcasters do not regularly track the number of, or the length of "program segments. The table above indicates which local news segments in that sample week were picked up either by the network or another CBC station. In all 10 of 28 stories produced in PEI were broadcast nationally. This represents a significant increase from -. CBC Television has recently begun tracking the source of local segments that appear on its flagship national nightly news and current affairs program, The National. The process used to obtain this data was developed to calculate the local-for-network regionality of News programming for the company s Semi-annual Report Card. The Report Card is 6
used by the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors to track the progress of our five-year plan: Strategy 2015. Data for CBC Television News was obtained from an internal editorial and production software system. As the business processes enabling the capture of these data have been established since April, 2011, only 5 months of data is available for analysis with increasing compliance by production teams over time. Included in the count of these "measured segments" are live interviews, visuals with background sound and news clips, which represent the significant elements in news programming. The total number of these items from the LPIF station is compared to the grand total number of Canadian items broadcast in The National to arrive at a percentage of local news segments from the eligible LPIF television station that are picked up on The National. Between April 1, 2011 and August 31, 2011, 14.4% of all measured Canadian segments aired on the National were from LPIF eligible stations, including 0.3% of all Canadian measured segments originated from the Charlottetown television station. 7