CBC Television Local Newscasts - History

History

Prior to fall 2000, CBC stations produced local newscasts under a variety of titles, including Broadcast One at CBUT, 24 Hours at CBWT Winnipeg, CBC Evening News at CBLT Toronto, and Here & Now at CBNT. These were typically one-hour broadcasts aired at 6:00 p.m. local, 6:30 NT. 30-minute late local newscasts, in many cases titled Newsfinal, were also aired in most markets at 11:30 local / midnight NT. The late newscasts were abandoned briefly during the Prime Time News era, resumed in the mid-1990s, and cancelled again in 2000.

In early 2000, the CBC (under president Robert Rabinovitch) announced a plan to eliminate local newscasts, believing that the dominance of private competitors had made these programs redundant. Local newscasts were to be replaced by a national supper-hour program with limited local inserts. This plan, and particularly the fact that exceptions would not be made for the CBC's highly-rated newscasts in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, led to protests across the country, and most strongly in those two markets.

As a compromise, that fall the corporation instead launched a hybrid local-national news hour Canada Now, with a 30-minute national program hosted by Ian Hanomansing in Vancouver at 6:00, followed at 6:30 by 30 minutes of local news produced at each station (the order was reversed in Atlantic Canada). This, too, was applied to all CBC stations. While the PEI newscast remained relatively strong (as the only newscast produced on the island), ratings dropped across the board, most dramatically in Newfoundland where CBNT's local news ratings decreased by more than 50% between 2000 and 2004.

By 2005, the CBC had decided to rethink this strategy and began to expand local news again at certain stations, beginning with CBNT, where an hour-long Here & Now newscast resumed on November 7. In most other markets, local news returned to the 6:00 p.m. time slot in early 2006, mainly under the banner CBC News at Six, although these remained as 30-minute newscasts. (Canada Now was retained as a separate 30-minute national newscast at 6:30 p.m., as well as the title of the integrated local/national newscast aired within British Columbia.)

Montreal's anchor, Dennis Trudeau retired shortly before the launch of CBC News at Six, having hosted the local bulletins for many years.

On November 10, 2006, it was revealed that Janet Stewart would host CBC Winnipeg's edition of News at Six starting in January 2007. Stewart was a popular anchor at top-rated rival CKY-TV and her move to News at Six surprised many in the local media.

On November 30, 2006 it was announced that as part of its focus on reinvigorating local news, CBC News at Six would expand to a full hour in February 2007, signalling the end of the national Canada Now program (although that title was temporarily retained for CBUT's local newscast).

During summer 2007, CBC News' Vancouver operation became a test-site for an experimental newscast bringing together staff from local CBC radio, television and online services to create an interactive local newscast that employs a concept called 'civic journalism.' If successful, the format was then to be gradually be applied to CBC News at Six programs across the country over a three-year period. Former Canada Now anchor Ian Hanomansing was reassigned to co-host the new Vancouver program on CBUT, alongside Gloria Macarenko (he has since been reassigned to The National as reporter and substitute anchor, replaced in Vancouver by veteran anchor Tony Parsons).

In September 2009, CBC expanded its local news programs again to 90 minutes, running from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. local time on most stations, with exceptions as noted above (this allowed CBC to carry Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in the 7:00 p.m. hour—with the corresponding simsub privileges in many markets—preceded by Coronation Street, which formerly occupied the 7:00 p.m. time slot, at 6:30 p.m.). This was followed on October 26, 2009 by the return of late local news on most CBC stations with a ten-minute bulletin following The National. Until that date, only CBUT carried a brief 11 p.m. post-National local newscast.

On September 17, 2012, CBC's late local newscasts were expanded to a full half-hour in major markets, including Calgary, Edmonton, the Maritimes, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. The majority of CBC stations now also air local or regional newscasts at weekends.