Rob Germain: if there were a disruption in VANCOUVER because of a problem we could use a crew in one of the other broadcast centres to get on the air immediately to get the news out to our viewers.”
So 'splain to me again how this can be useful if something happens in VICTORIA? e.g. " ...we need a shooter right now to go to the big fire at Ron Eberle's house....!!!!!
Rob Germain: if there were a disruption in VANCOUVER because of a problem we could use a crew in one of the other broadcast centres to get on the air immediately to get the news out to our viewers.”
So 'splain to me again how this can be useful if something happens in VICTORIA? e.g. " ...we need a shooter right now to go to the big fire at Ron Eberle's house....!!!!!
The shooter is still in Victoria. That doesn't change.
If the fire tears down half of Victoria, then that's a different story. There's parts of the day where CHEK doesn't have staff manning the control room to do the newscast.
I grew up watching CHEK, dating back to when it was still a dual CBC-CTV affiliate in the 1970s, and I continued watching after the CBC affiliation was dropped in '81. As I see it, CHEK was a better station before CanWest took it over and turned it into CH in 2001...in fact, CHEK's program lineup in 1978 was light years better than the crapfest of celebrity gossip now being imported from the American E! channel, which now takes up a huge chunk of CHEK's sched.
I'd much rather see a locally-produced talk or entertainment show on CHEK, than watch the latest chapter of the downward spiral that has become Britney Spears' life or what kind of antics Paris Hilton is getting into lately.
I suspect that Global could morph this plan eventually to have the anchors in Vancouver do the Victoria broadcast in situations where they have down-sized to the point where they don't have enough people to present news on the weekends or at other times of the day or week. After all, it's a virtual set. With knowledgable anchors you have "video-voice-tracking".
And don't think that CTV isn't watching how Global does on this. They have shown in the past that local news in small markets can be fed a regional product from a centralized studio. It would not surprise me if CTV adapted this idea and put a similar virtual reality studios and produced A-Channel News from another city. If viewers will tolerate it and support it and it makes money, that's all shareholders care about.
Well if anyone is paying attention to Global National lately, the broadcasts from Ottawa (with Vancouver controlling the newscasts) have begun.
EDIT: There were two editions of Global National that aired on Sunday night... the first was the regular 5:30 edition with Tara Nelson from Vancouver... the second was with Newman from the new Ottawa studio, which aired as a filler while Global waited for the FOX simulcast of House to begin.
I grew up watching CHEK, dating back to when it was still a dual CBC-CTV affiliate in the 1970s,
GoLocal, if you were watching CHEK in the 70's, then you are not the young hip female demo the current CHEK wants. You've already locked in your purchasing habits. Audience numbers show a growing audience in a more advertiser friendly demo on E! Only the news numbers are showing decline.
Rob Germain: if there were a disruption in VANCOUVER because of a problem we could use a crew in one of the other broadcast centres to get on the air immediately to get the news out to our viewers.”
So 'splain to me again how this can be useful if something happens in VICTORIA? e.g. " ...we need a shooter right now to go to the big fire at Ron Eberle's house....!!!!!
It's not like these local guys chose to get rid of staff. They were given a mandate that the company was changing and centralizing some jobs, so they have to deal with it. I think you're calling out the wrong people here.
By Don Descoteau - Victoria News - February 13, 2008 Technical staff treated unfairly, says union
It’s a waiting game for 15 or so veteran CHEK-TV production staffers as CanWest Mediaworks prepares for technical upgrades to the way the station presents its local programming.
Formal six-month layoff notices are expected later this month for a group of directors, audio and graphics experts and other technical staff members, some of whom have upwards of 30 years time in at the station.
The move follows the company’s announcement last fall that the technical production of Victoria-generated programming will move to a revamped studio in Vancouver, one of four designated regional broadcast centres.
While Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union Local 815M president Richard Konwick sounded resigned to the fact change is coming, he is upset at what he calls the company’s refusal to offer longtime employees an appropriate severance package.
“The expectation is, you sign the contract, you honour the contract. It’s very, very frustrating and disappointing,” he said.
When the station saw its master control function – staffed by people who insert commercials and play back non-local programming – transferred to Calgary a few years ago, 15 affected staff members were offered severance based on a “transfer of work” provision in the contract, Konwick said.
He said that the scenario today is similar, since any technical staff who wind up accepting a position in Vancouver or one of the other regional centres will essentially be doing the same job somewhere else.
“It’s clear, if a director is directing a show in Victoria, then he is directing a show in Vancouver, it’s transferring the work,” Konwick said. “It’s just a slap in the face.”
While exact numbers were unavailable, the potential severance being talked about is less than under the transfer of work provision, he added. If no change to the severance proposal is made before staff are given their notice, Konwick said, then significant action may have to be taken.
“Whatever it takes to ensure that these people get what they are entitled to, we’ll make it happen. You’ve got a whole group of people who are too young to retire and perhaps too old to step into a similar level of job. That’s why this severance thing is so important.”
Brett Manlove, CanWest’s vice-president for broadcast operations in B.C., said the company plans to follow the collective agreement in place. He declined to comment about negotiations about severance due to privacy issues.
When the changes happen – cameras taping news anchors in Victoria will be operated remotely from Vancouver and graphics will be generated and aired on screen from there as well – the viewer will notice little difference other than a higher quality, more refined on-air product, CHEK news director Rob Germain said.
“News gathering is not going to change significantly,” he said. “Our reporters, photographers, editors will all be based here and will all be assigned from here.”
The technical changes, which include switching from an analog system to a digital one, are necessary to help keep the station competitive in a market where viewers are increasingly using online sources for news information, Germain added.
While CanWest has said 50 positions would be created at the regional centres, Konwick said it’s unrealistic that someone in their 50s with a family and home in Victoria would think of moving to Vancouver. A different union local is in place there, meaning their seniority would be lost, he said, and their rate of pay would likely be lower.
If there is a contract in place can't Canwest be made to follow the rules? Sheesh. Maybe those laid off can work for the government and get paid to volunteer at the Olympics. That'll tide'em over for 2 weeks.
It's the beginning of the long often predicted long awaited Canwest station in a box. Enough people to produce 15 minutes of local content then an hour and a half re-hash of NBC and CNN feeds that'll run on all the stations. That's the future of local TV.
If the purists and the CEP lackies had their way, the way television is broadcast would never change. There'd be no innovation.
Man... good thing these guys weren't around representing typewriter repairmen back in the day, otherwise none of us would be allowed to have a personal computer in our homes or (gasp!) this board!
The fact is technology is rendering studio camera ops, directors, switchers, sound engineers, and lighting engineers obsolete for simple local programming like newscasts. And the audience continues to prove that's pretty much all they'll watch produced by a Canadian broadcaster -- is their local newscast. So why continue to keep oodles of the broadcast equivalent of typewriter repairmen kicking around if there's a way it can be done better, more economically, and using new technology?
Nope... guys like Bruce and the CEP folks would have you believe that it's simply unacceptable. Innovate never! Stay the same!
I don't think CEP is quite the group of Luddites you make them out to be.
No-one is trying to hold back change or stifle innovation, what the union is attempting to do is to find an equitable settlement for people who in some cases have been with the station for upwards of 30 years.
The union, as I understand it, is simply trying to hold the company to the contract as it regards the payment of severance.
People want to keep their jobs. Nothing wrong with that. If they can't keep their jobs, then they would like to be fairly compensated. Nothing wrong with that either.
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