Viewership sinking

RE-EDITED TO FIX A FUNKY FONT CHANGE:

While we TV and media types have been yenting about the pathetic ratings for CBC's simulcast of ABC's The One: Making of a Music Star, reportedly one of the worst debuts in TV history, we completely let the Nielsen numbers for another CBC debut this past week slip right by us.

What It's Like Being Alone -- cool website! -- is billed as "a wondrous and fiendishly humorous stop-motion animation series about freak orphans who are desperately trying to get adopted."

Now I am not saying it's not "wondrous" or "fiendishly humorous'' since I did not see it. But apparently neither did you, or anybody else. It managed to draw a not-so-wondrous 78,000 viewers when it launched Monday at 9:30.

Here's the thing: The 13-part series was co-produced by Fred Fuchs, the guy who was recently appointed  executive director of CBC arts and entertainment programming. He's one of those new management types demanding that primetime entertainment series earn at least a million viewers to survive.

Given that The One, which was acquired by CBC-TV exec v.p. Richard Stursberg and the also-newish-to-CBC Kristine Layfield, executive director of network programming, averaged 222,000 viewers on each of its two outings this week, and What It's Like Being Alone managed a measly 78,000, where do these people get off expecting more from independent producers who are out there struggling?

I should add here that CBC communications management -- who managed to draw a crowd for What It's Like Being Alone -- have been mighty pissed with moi over this post about Media Profile getting a two-year contract renewal to handle CBC publicity last week. They were so pissed that they put out an internal memo to spank me. Here it is, in full, kindly forwarded by a friend on the receiving end:

I imagine that some of you have seen the piece posted on Antonia Zerbisias’s blog on Wednesday. I thought it was important for you to see our response to her, which you’ll find attached. (See below -- AZ)

It’s important to keep in mind that we have had many great successes in this department over the last year. It is unfortunate that items like these can diminish those successes for all of us, and in fact can leave people feeling demoralized.

It’s especially frustrating when opinion is presented as fact, and facts are either distorted or discarded on their way to publication. I want you all to know how much your hard work is valued, and how your excellence is recognized throughout this organization and particularly by CBC Television.

As someone wise in the ways of the world once said: This, too, shall pass.

John Bozzo

Executive Director

CBC Communications

And this was what was sent to me, signed by spokesperson Jeff Keay, to whom I spoke the night I posted the offending entry.

Several points in your recent CBC-related blog entries are incorrect.

You suggest that contracting out our publicity function has been a failure and that "promotion is down, but... costs are up."

Based on an independent year over year comparison, we've been very successful. While it's true the number of news releases distributed has gone down, the resulting coverage has gone up significantly* we see this as improved efficiency and better use of existing resources.

Volume of coverage, the number of publications where we’ve received coverage and the number of journalists reached have all increased. In 12 programs associated with the bulk of our news releases, we have determined that coverage was up approximately 140 percent. Some of this is attributable to the 2006 Winter Olympics, but even removing the Olympics entirely from the equation, coverage is up overall.

The equivalent advertising value of “earned” coverage has increased more than 25 percent and exposure to a CBC article increased 42 percent. We have established our presence in specialty magazines, moving from virtually zero to nearly 7 percent of content. CBC leads all the networks in visibility among Canadian TV guides.

Our relationship with Mediaprofile includes clearly defined points of contact internally (known as account directors, familiar with programs, content and personnel) whose responsibility includes an efficient exchange of information with production units and the best use of available (i.e. finite) resources.

Our decision-making model with regard to budgets has not led to any change in programming dollars being diverted to publicity. We are in the process of reviewing the past year's activities with the Mediaprofile team and look forward to working with them in the future. Notwithstanding the effects of last year’s lockout, annualized publicity costs overall are down.

The statement that the communications group lacks experience and is top heavy with “management” is wrong both in fact and tone*the management ratio is approximately 1:5 at the supervisory level and 1:22 at senior management level. Virtually all communications staff either play a front line role serving clients or provide support to those who do.

And finally, what is characterized as “a week-long conference at a swank Ontario resort” was in fact a two-day offsite strategic and operational review, commonplace among many organizations and something we’ve done periodically for about 15 years.

And this was my response this past Tuesday to his reply (I added a link for clarity here):

(1) You say ''coverage has gone up significantly.''
What does that mean exactly?
Is program coverage up significantly or is other CBC coverage up (ie. the lockout, or the aftermath, or the return of HNIC, or CBC's appearance before Heritage, the Senate report, or the fuss over The One or ...?)

How much of that is positive, neutral, negative?
How much of it comes from Media Profile or the unit publicists that producers hire separately? (Or Michael Levine leaks, or whatever?)

For example, the Trudeau story last week was leaked by Levine, and then Galafilm put out a release, say my sources. It got front page play. Was that Media Profile? Do you count it?

(2) Since Media Profile and this whole scheme began last May or June, I will assume that your increased coverage, year over year, includes the lockout, unless you tell me otherwise.

(3) When you talk about the 12 programs, I assume you mean such shows as Tommy Douglas or Air Farce, right? Again, both programs had freelance publicists attached to them so how much of the coverage came from them and how much from Media Profile and your people? So what do ''account directors'' do when a show has a publicict working, paid for by the indie producers?

(4) Who decides which shows get the bulk of the releases, resources, advertising and attention?

Before publicists used to compete with one another for covers and coverage. Now?
How does Media Profile fit in with all this? If they are brought in, do they start billing by the hour?

(5) You wrote: "Notwithstanding the effects of last year’s lockout, annualized publicity costs overall are down."
So what you're saying is, you're getting more bang for your buck? That this year, when there is no lockout, costs will be down too?

(6) By clients I gather you mean program producers? Then how come they are complaining to me and to TV writers?

(7) I asked you about the off-site. You could not confirm or deny.

(8) What is a ''specialty'' magazine? Weekly Scoop? If so, then if you're getting coverage in a mag that did not exist a year ago, well, of course your presence is up. What other specialty magazines are you talking about?

So far I have not received any answers.

Comments

[Dan Moss]

Hi Antonia

Just wondering if Fred Fuchs was related to that guy who owned a restaurant in Soho?

Thanks
Dan Moss

Antonia,

Do you know how much CBC paid to simulcast The One? For the rights to make their own version?

[Bill-Muskoka]

Antonia,

'DAMN people! Don''t they know what is good for them?' Probably heard in the CBC's Board room after the massive flop!

Such a shame people reserve the right to make up their own minds instead of listening to mindless manglers of the public psyche!

[sooey]

grr. bozzo screwed up the therapy process: 1) gather your thoughts together; 2) write them down in a memo; 3) RIP UP THE MEMO!!!!

you never, ever, send the memo. geez louise.

[True North]

How does it make publicity more efficient taking CBC publicists out of the CBC building and rehiring them at Media Profile several blocks away on Richmiond Street (as they did recenly with ex CBCers Tamara MacKeigan and Helicia Glucksman - both good people).

We have the same people doing the work off-site and billing hourly. How is that better?

Aren't these good people just being stiffed by being fired and rehired? Shame on CBC.

Why are CBC managers incapable of effectively managing the publicity function themselves? If so - fire THEM.

Looks like privitization fools gold - with CBC/tax dollars re-directed to private interests.

Who benefits? Not CBC.

[Bob LeDrew - Flacklife]

Oh God. "The equivalent advertising value of “earned” coverage has increased more than 25 percent..." Oh God.

They're using frickin' AVEs (Advertising Value Equivalencies)?!

AVEs are the biggest load of crud in the PR business. If John Doyle spends 1500 words totally eviscerating "The One", what's the ad value equivalency on that? Are they using multiples? What's the multiple?

Is it possible to compare 20 different stories with 20 different 'slants' on a CBC show to the same ad run in 20 papers? What about mentions on TV and radio?

My opinion -- AVE is an utterly discredited, utterly useless attempt to measure the value of PR. That CBC is using it saddens me.

For more on this, see the Institute for Public Relations: http://tinyurl.com/jkr4f

[Ouimet]

The Bozzo/Keay response to you is hilarious, totally divorced from reality and the opposite of what everyone else in the department tells me.

I have no idea if programming dollars are being diverted to publicity, but the management ratio is not 1:5 at the supervisory level. That's an outright lie.

[Lloyd Fister]

Now, the vowels in this guy Bozzo's name are long, aren't they?

[Antonia Z.]

I have no idea how much CBC paid for the rights to The One, sorry. I am sure that the answer to that is deep in CBC-TV's vault.

[vinb]

So in other words, watching What It's Like Being Alone is what it's like being alone.

Low blow. Actually, my kids and I haven't missed an episode. It's funny and sweet and gross.

Since John Bozzo appears to be a reader of this blog, I'd like to issue a challenge to him: meet with your clients -- both the CBC's in-house producers and the independents who produce programs for the CBC -- and answer their questions. Stop bitching about "unfair" criticism in the media, and talk to the people whose continued livelihood actually depends in part on the performance of your department.

[Joe Clark]

Does Keay realize that the statement “coverage was up approximately 140 percent” means coverage was 2.4 times what it was before? (The *increase* is 140 percent. If you started at 100 mentions, you end up at 240, not 140.)

Bozo for the next CBC president!

AT least the name will fit.

We've had Bozo's for years at the head of the corpse.

[Allan Sorensen]

BRAVO!
Three cheers for you, Antonia - the only critic in Canada, it appears, who is not afraid to seriously question the decisions and claims of network honcos.
From one coast of this country to the other, newspapers fill their pages with so-called 'television critics', who know nothing about the industry, really, and have never worked in broadcasting, and yet declare themselves more capable of telling the rest of us what's a good show.
Most often, they simply rubber-stamp a press release that says "watch this tonight'.
No actual critique of the industry any more than a bright 15 yr. old could do.
You, however, appear fearless, and ready to point out that the emperor has no clothes.
Now that's serving the public, and your country, as demonstrated by this piece.
Bravo, again. I love it.

[Darwin O'Connor]

What It's Like Being Alone sounds like something I would want to watch, being a fan of animation and darkness. I wish I heard of it earlier. I've seen posters of the charactors around Toronto, but I had no idea what it was about.

I suppose that tells you something about the effectiveness of thier communications.

Another beef I have with the CBC is that they've delayed thier broadcast of the second season of the new Doctor Who until October, even tho it has already been showned in its entirety in Britain. The problem is that its tech savvy audience will have downloaded it off the Internet rather then wait months and months to see it.

[bealefan]

Fred Fuchs was last seen at penny stock outfit Peace Arch Entertainment.