LAUNCHING FOUR NEW FOREIGN BUREAUS IN 2008

INTERNATIONAL BUREAUS INCLUDE LONDON, BEIJING, NEW DELHI
AND JERUSALEM

TORONTO, June 4 /CNW/ - Global National announced today the launch of
four new international news bureaus, slated to open this summer. The Global
National foreign bureaus will be based in London, Beijing, New Delhi and
Jerusalem.

"Canadians recognize that events on the other side of the globe can have
a profound impact on their lives," said Troy Reeb, Vice President of Global
News. "With these new bureaus, Global National will bring its signature
storytelling to the world, with more in-depth coverage of global issues from a
distinct Canadian perspective. In a time when many other news organizations
are scaling back, Global National is doing the opposite by expanding our news
division and adding these bureaus."

Each foreign news bureau will be staffed by a team of talented Canadian
journalists with expertise in each region. The news team strengthens Global
National's positioning of "News Understood" - connecting with audiences
coast-to-coast, bringing clarity to complex issues and events of the day and
making them relevant to viewers.

About Global National:

Global National with Kevin Newman is Canada's most-watched national
newscast, reaching Canadians coast-to-coast (www.globalnational.com). The
multi award-winning half-hour newscast is broadcast live seven days a week at
5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. in the Maritimes) with news bureaus and correspondents in
every major city in Canada, as well as Washington, D.C. Global National
provides an early evening national news alternative for Canadians with a
distinctive voice and approach to the day's top stories.

Funny how Global keeps saying that news is draining budgets and they want revenue from cable and DTH providers that they continue to expand.  

Canwest is opening foreign bureaus so they don't have to pay Canadian wages. They'll be moving master control to China soon and set up broadcast centres in New Delhi where they'll broadcast Halifax and Winnipeg local news. We'll be able to pay our cable suscriber fees in rupees or yuans. Its a brave new world.

Classy guys...really classy. NOT!

Global has made huge strides with their National News package and is the only one of the 3 networks to make major gains in viewership. It's because they are giving viewers the kind of news they want to see (compelling stories that are relevant to their audience) at a time they want to see it (as people are getting home from work). Virtually nobody watches the late night packages from Lloyd and Peter any more, but Newman's numbers are solid. Troy Reeb has managed to lure some solid people away from the other guys (Eric Sorenson, for example) and injected a lot of credibility into their on-air product. This move to open foreign bureau takes it to the next level. Don't be surprised if some more good people jump ship from CTV or CBC, and dive into Global's foreign correspondent ranks.

Quoted from oldnewsguy

Classy guys...really classy. NOT!

Global has made huge strides with their National News package and is the only one of the 3 networks to make major gains in viewership. It's because they are giving viewers the kind of news they want to see (compelling stories that are relevant to their audience) at a time they want to see it (as people are getting home from work). Virtually nobody watches the late night packages from Lloyd and Peter any more, but Newman's numbers are solid. Troy Reeb has managed to lure some solid people away from the other guys (Eric Sorenson, for example) and injected a lot of credibility into their on-air product. This move to open foreign bureau takes it to the next level. Don't be surprised if some more good people jump ship from CTV or CBC, and dive into Global's foreign correspondent ranks.

Global National gets the vast bulk of its audience from the Lower Mainland, where it is sandwiched in between two popular news shows.  Anywhere east of Edmonton, and particularly in the Toronto-Montreal corridor, the ratings are virtually non-existant.

Because of the early filing deadlines, Global National can't cover most of the day's relevant news out of Ottawa or any of the major world news centres with the same degree of depth as CTV or CBC.  As a result, it tends to focus on the consultant-driven news stories that fill shows like "NBC Dateline".  These include the "Scary Disease of the Week....Do You Have Symptoms?" and "Do You Know What Incredibly Dangerous Thing Your Teenagers are Doing....RIGHT NOW?"

While it's true that Global has managed to snare a couple of competent, second-tier correspondents from other networks, I think this speaks more to its lack of bench strength in developing its own talent.  Keep in mind that in opening these four bureaus, Global is simply playing catch-up with both CTV and CBC, which have had bureaus in all of these cities for a number of years.