The site is a digital archive of CBC footage and includes thousands of historical milestones, including then U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate in which he implored Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

The site also contains historical anecdotes, like this one:

In a column for the Wall Street Journal 20 years after Reagan’s Berlin speech, his daughter, Patti Davis, wrote that both the U.S. State Department and the National Security Council vehemently opposed Reagan’s entreaty to Gorbachev. “They called it crude, unduly provocative, even unkind,” wrote Davis. “They argued that to speak about tearing down the wall would give Berliners false hope.”

The CBC also has a site dedicated to the fall of the wall, the site includes testimonials of people affected by the wall.

For a more innovative treatment check out this page from the BBC. It asks “Where is the Berlin Wall now?” and tracks down chunks of the wall that have been scattered across the globe.

If you can’t get enough of this kind of stuff, you may also want to check out this site from the New York Times that overlays photographs from 1989 with photographs from 2009. It’s a vivid way to present how much Berlin has changed in twenty years.

Our relations with the public and with those with whom we deal in business must be frank and firm on all occasions but they must also be always most courteous. We are in a rather vulnerable position because the public expect much of us. This, in a sense, is a compliment. The confidence which we enjoy places a heavy responsibility on all of us. It is not proper anywhere to ignore the complaints of even the remarks of individuals, friendly or otherwise. In our case it is disastrous.

A message from Gladstone Murray, the CBC’s General Manager in 1944, as the corporation undertook an major overhaul of its radio services. The message was printed in ‘Radio’ the CBC staff magazine in November, 1944.

I should bear this in mind when I’m commenting on the Tea Makers!

The Executive Vice President of English Services said it’s good when the updates are “non-events.” He said it indicates fewer concerns about the state of CBC finances.

Stursberg spoke at length about the general media environment in Canada prior to focusing on the CBC’s situation. He said the advertising market in Canada is facing a “structural decline” because of the recession. He added that the impact of the economy has been most acutely felt at Canwest, of which some units are now in receivership. Stursberg said the current economic environment strengthens the argument broadcasters have been making concerning the fee-for-carriage debate. It’s a “very very difficult environment, very tough economically,” he said.

Nevertheless he said CBC Radio has had the best summer on record, while on TV the numbers have “generally gone up,” based on the averages of the first three weeks since the fall TV season launched. He highlighted the ratings for Dragons’ Den, Heartland, The Rick Mercer report, and Battle of the Blades.

He also touched on the relaunch of CBC News, saying it has been a “gigantic undertaking,” while calling the criticism “pathetic” saying it “revolves around whether people are standing or sitting.”

“One thing we should remember is that the papers are owned by our competitors… so I think you can draw your own conclusions about where they are going,” Stursberg said.

Today at noon at the CBC Building in Toronto, Chris Straw, manager of in-house productions and Chris Boyce, the programming director of CBC Radio are holding a seminar on the inner workings of CBC Radio program development.

If you’ve always thought you had a great idea for a radio or TV show this seminar may be for you. The discussion will be held on the ground floor of the atrium near the front street entrance of the CBC building in Toronto. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis.

Unfortunately, I don’t think there are plans to stream the seminar online, however if I find I link I’ll post it here.

Greg Quill of the Toronto Star wasn’t overly impressed, in his article “CBC’s revamped The National glitzy but a little contrived” he wrote:

Reporters and host Mansbridge are a little overexcited with their impressive new circumstances and crackling format. There was certainly a breathless, first-date ambience to last night’s debut presentation, and a few smirks.

Meanwhile the Toronto Sun told the story of how “American consultants helped in CBC makeover”

Canada’s public broadcaster’s new look was partly crafted with the help of American consultants… CBC’s new focus on breaking news, faster graphics and personalities was evident on the first day of its re-launch. But some changes, such as anchor Amanda Lang’s clear glass desk with view of her legs, surprised industry watchers.

Over at the Maclean’s blog, Paul Wells wrote:

It needs to be said that the stem-to-gudgeon relaunch of CBC news today — radio, cable network, flagship newscast, website — shows a hearty re-dedication to the proposition that news matters, and that the public broadcaster should be putting news at the centre of its mission, that should be applauded….

But the CBC relaunch is a bit of a mixed bag. The deeper news hole is, clearly, a hell of a challenge to fill on a day when there actually isn’t all that much going on in the world. And no amount of frenetic urgency from a dizzying succession of hosts, all of them bolt upright on hind legs as though they had been forbidden the use of their asses (jazz hands, everyone! Motion motion motion!) can substitute for the purposeful use of the extra time the network has allotted itself.

The pop-culture blog Mondoville says “it feels like the last stand — figuratively and literally,” while Bill Brioux wrote on his blog:

CBC made the leap into the age of short attention spans with the premiere of their new news look Monday night. Segments zipped by in the blink of an eye and the newscast seemed to pick up speed as it went along…. The crazy fast pace caught up with the news which flagged a bit towards the end. Still, a pretty impressive opening.

Finally, over at The National’s blog, viewers weighed in with a mix of comments, this being the most popular from Middlesister:

I really do not quite understand the logic of having Peter Mansbridge stand up, but honestly, LET HIM SIT DOWN……it is silly, don’t fix it if it’s not broken.

Calling it “biggest change in the history of CBC News,” Jennifer McGuire, general manager of CBC News today announced the revamp of CBC Newsworld as CBC News Network, a new host for World Report on CBC Radio, and a bunch of new shows that together dramatically change the face of CBC News.

Among other things, the revamp includes a bunch of new websites, including a revamped site for The National, a website for Mark Kelley’s new show Connect and a new politics portal.

“We are not content to sit back and passively let the revolution in the news industry hit us. Rather, we went looking for solutions so we could continue to set the standard for others in Canada,” McGuire wrote in a blog posting today.

“Watching two greedy parties battle each other for financial advantage and self-exculpation inspires revulsion. Finding their partisan propaganda about the righteousness of their cause ubiquitous is even worse. But Canadians are now bearing witness to a putrid campaign between the country’s television stations and cable providers.”

Blake Lambert on the fee for carriage battle between the cable companies and broadcasters. His full article on the subject is available here.

“We’re expanding the notion of what politics means to people. We won’t just cover the Hill but also how we interact with the rest of world, with businesses, with NGOs. Let’s be honest, buying a cup of organic coffee is a political statement, since that kind of act touches so many lives.”

Evan Solomon explains what viewers can expect from his new show, which launches today on CBC News Network (aka Newsworld) at 5 pm Eastern.

“I attempted to purchase tickets for the November 1st show. I went online and phoned the Ticketmaster number simultaneously at noon on Monday, October 19th. How the tickets could all be sold out at 12:01 is mystifying to me.”

Sharlene Kopec wonders how tickets to the live tapings of Battle of Blades could be sold so quickly, yet ended on online ticket sites the same day for almost 20 times the original price. She made the comments on the show’s Facebook page.

As you can see the news fonts have changed, as have the on-air graphics. You’ll also notice that there are a few shots in the video with the new look for Newsworld, I mean, CBC NN! Here’s a screengrab (sorry it was cropped in the original):

What do you think of the new look?

“We may start to play with how much of the country sees the Leafs or the Sens or the Habs based on team performance and matchup.”

Scott Moore, the executive director of CBC Sports said that Hockey Night in Canada is considering limiting coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs if the NHL team’s early season slide continues. He made the comments in an email to Sun Media this week.

“We are ready to make changes whenever we have to,” the show’s executive producer, Sherali Najak told the Sun. “We’ll watch every week and rely on the numbers, but what we’ve learned is that fans want to see some variety.”

Despite the awkward name, the small town was named “one of the top 10 most beautiful communities in Canada by Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine,” or so it says on the town’s song quest blog. So if you’re leaning towards Dildo, or any other of the entries, today’s the last day to make your voice heard. Voting closes at midnight.

“Late in the day, someone from CBC tweeted that some hostages had contacted us. We weren’t reporting the fact that we had become involved for a bunch of reasons.

But here is a really important principle. We should not tweet what we wouldn’t put on the air.

One reason we didn’t let on is because we didn’t want every other news organization jumping in. Not for competitive reasons, but because the chaos could be dangerous…

What could we say about this that wouldn’t inflame the gunman? Are we putting the hostages more at risk if we report this conversation or anything we learn from it?”

Esther Enkin, the CBC’s executive editor of news operations, explains some of the issues that came up during the hostage taking in Edmonton when one of the hostages and the hostage taker himself contacted the CBC newsroom in Edmonton. Her full blog post is here.

The Current covered the conversation between some of the hostages and CBC producer Gareth Hampshire this morning. You can listen to that here.

Previously television and radio ratings were based on what a representative pool of people said they’d watched or listened to. It was a trust system. No longer. Now the ratings are collected via small pager-like device that detects what is what is on by listening for an inaudible signal embedded in the broadcast. And this new system is causing some pretty dramatic swings in the ratings.

Some shows, like sports, children’s and some prime-time programming have benefited handily. The Globe reported yesterday that the prime time numbers for both CTV and Global are way up for many top shows, House and Grey’s Anatomy up both up by more than 20 per cent. The season premiere of House drew 4.4 million viewers “audience numbers of that size have not been seen in years,” Grant Robertson wrote in Globe.

The system is also creating some losers though. The Weather Network has seen its ratings shrink by 10 per cent, and there’s some obvious concern at the CBC, where audience numbers for The National are down.

Today the some senior managers at the corporation sent out a note to staff in an effort to debunk some of the rumours that have been circulating about the new ratings system. Their “Myth #1″ was that The National “The National has taken a big hit under [the new system].”

There’s obviously some concern. The ratings for The National have dropped by more than 10 per cent. The average for September 2009 was 532,000 viewers. That’s well under last year’s average of 671,000 when Parliament was prorogued and Obama was elected. More worrisome though, is that the ratings have slipped since the summer, which is usually the low point of a ratings year.

“As we’ve been saying from the outset, we’re going to take some time before we draw any firm conclusions about what the numbers are telling us,” the letters says, “although we recognize the unease any downward movement can create.”

The managers said they’re hoping to see the ratings recover in the next few weeks, “As we said, we’re keeping a close eye on the numbers, but it’s still too soon to draw any conclusions.”

Some big announcements were made today at the CBC News renewal presentation. The presentation unveiled the on-air face of CBC News after months of work on the news renewal project and included a new look and format for The National, a new host for CBC Radio’s World Report and a name change for CBC Newsworld – which is to be renamed the CBC News Network.

As part of The National’s new look, which include a new set of graphics, opening animations and a set roster of 14 reporters, it was also announced that the show would release an early digital edition at 6 p.m. Eastern which will allow viewers to create their own lineups. “What Canadians are telling us is, ‘Let me decide what’s important.’” Peter Mansbridge said to cbc.ca.

“We’re constantly changing,” Mansbridge said, adding it is necessary to “understand our audience and the challenges we face in a constantly changing technological world.

“We had a disastrous relaunch in ‘92 or ‘93, after Barbara Frum died. The National went from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. with no research, no thought, just change for the sake of change — it was disastrous. But this doesn’t smell like disaster,” Mansbridge told the National Post.

The revamped show will include more business and consumer coverage, and Wendy Mesley will also be hosting a regular segment on the show that aims to discuss the main news story of the day.

The announcement also introduced three the names of three new shows, The Lang & O’Leary Exchange with Amanda Lang and Kevin O’Leary, Connect with Mark Kelly and Power & Politics with Evan Solomon.

“These are the most significant changes ever undertaken by CBC News,” Richard Stursberg, Executive Vice President, English Services, said “The new CBC News is the result of the single, biggest audience research project ever undertaken by CBC – Canadians told us what they wanted and we listened.”

The news renewal project has been ongoing for months with the aim of integrating radio, television and online news into a single operation and to provide more immediate news coverage to Canadians. The new look will launch of October 26th.

Here are some story links about the announcement:
National Post, there’s some great quotes here from both Peter Armstrong and Peter Mansbridge about their thoughts on the relaunch of The National and World Report: Mansbridge gets on two feet, Armstrong takes over World Report — details of the CBC News relaunch
cbc.ca: Changes to The National as CBC unveils new look
The Canadian Press: Move over CNN, BNN; CBC Newsworld rebrands all-news channel as CBC NN
Hollywood Reporter: CBC rebrands CBS Newsworld
The Globe and Mail: Changes coming at CBC News

The full press release is available after the jump.

CBC News today previewed the much anticipated transformation of its news programming, just days before its official unveiling for CBC audiences on Monday, October 26.

The new CBC News is the result of comprehensive research asking Canadians what they want from their public broadcaster. The result: an updated CBC, designed to keep Canadians informed across all platforms and modernized with a new look and sound for The National, Newsworld and World Report.

The National with Peter Mansbridge is transformed with an expanded roster of correspondents – among the most trusted, experienced journalists in Canada. CBC Newsworld has a new schedule, format and a new name – CBC News Network (CBC NN). CBC Radio’s World Report launches with a new format and new host, veteran foreign correspondent Peter Armstrong. And in locations across Canada a brand new late night local newscast will air on CBC Television.

“These are the most significant changes ever undertaken by CBC News,” said Richard Stursberg, Executive Vice President, English Services, CBC/Radio-Canada. “The new CBC News is the result of the single, biggest audience research project ever undertaken by CBC – Canadians told us what they wanted and we listened.”

CBC’s research also found people want more control over what, when and how they access CBC News. The new programming will engage people across all CBC platforms so they feel more empowered and well informed while making the news more personally relevant.

“The people we surveyed said they want a more transparent and ‘open’ CBC so we’re bringing the news closer to our audiences, in our presentation and by allowing audiences access to the news gathering process,” said Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief, CBC News. “We are excited to showcase not just a ‘new and improved’ CBC News, but a revitalized CBC News that will keep Canadians engaged and well-informed with timely accessible information across all platforms: television, radio and online.”

At the heart of the change to CBC News programming is an integrated approach to news gathering with a multi-platform assignment desk called The Hub. The Hub will assign and direct all reporting resources (radio, tv, online) including content units arts such as entertainment, health, business, sports, and environment. Two other units, investigative and consumer, are managed by CBC flagship programs, the fifth estate and Marketplace respectively.

Here are some details about the new CBC News:

THE NATIONAL

Hosted by Peter Mansbridge, CBC News Chief Correspondent

• Peter Mansbridge joined by 14 correspondents
• Adrienne Arsenault (based in London)
• Neil MacDonald (Washington)
• Nahlah Ayed (Montreal)
• Terry Milewski (Ottawa)
• Wendy Mesley (with a provocative new program segment)
• Amanda Lang (Senior Business correspondent)
• Gillian Findlay (Investigative correspondent)
• Rex Murphy (returning with his unique point-of-view)
• Susan Ormiston (Toronto)
• Mellissa Fung (Toronto)
• Reg Sherrin (Winnipeg)
• Kim Brunhuber (Calgary)
• Duncan McCue (Vancouver)
• Krista Erickson (Consumer Affairs correspondent)
  • New format – including a new feature several times a week with Wendy Mesley seeking answers to the provocative question of the day
  • In addition to an enhanced program website, The National will have on-demand and mobile versions available by 6 p.m. ET, which will also soon be customizable and available in different languages
  • Seven nights a week
  • Monday-Sunday 10 p.m. (10:30 NT) on CBC-TV
  • Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on CBC-TV
  • CBC News Network at 9 and 11 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT
  • Program wraps with local news coverage

CBC NEWS NETWORK

• Formerly CBC Newsworld
• Seven days a week, 24 hours a day
• Dayside on the network is known as CBC News Now, showcasing the best of CBC journalism with more live coverage from CBC bureaus across Canada and around the world
• CBC News Now with Heather Hiscox from 6-9 a.m. ET
• CBC News Now with Anne-Marie Mediwake from 9-11 a.m. ET
• CBC News Now with Suhana Meharchand from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET
• CBC News Now with Carole MacNeil from 2-4:30 p.m. ET

The Lang & O’Leary Exchange

• Hosted by Amanda Lang, joined by Kevin O’Leary
• Monday-Friday, 4:30-5 p.m. ET
• CBC NN’s new business show bringing the day’s breaking business news, complemented by astute analysis, lively debates and key interviews

Power & Politics with Evan Solomon

• Hosted by Evan Solomon
• Monday-Friday, 5-7 p.m. ET
• CBC NN’s new political show from Ottawa covering stories of policy, power and the people who make Canada run, both on the Hill and across the country

Connect with Mark Kelley

• · Hosted by Mark Kelley
• Joining Mark will be Reshmi Nair, formerly with CFTO-TV (CTV) in Toronto
• Monday-Friday, 7-9 p.m. ET (repeats at midnight PT)
• CBC NN’s new news talk show covering breaking events in Canada and around the world – the show takes a personal perspective on the news and looks at stories through people

Weekend daytime programming has the same emphasis on live coverage on breaking news stories. Weekend anchors are Nancy Wilson, Dianne Buckner and Jacquie Perrin

CBC NEWS WORLD REPORT, CBC Radio One

• Hosted by Peter Armstrong
• Monday-Friday at 5, 6, 7 and 8 a.m. ET
• Saturday at 6, 7, 8 and 9 a.m. ET
• An additional national report has been added for a total of four 10-minute live morning newscasts that cover breaking news and updates and developing stories in Canada and around the world

CBC LOCAL NEWS

On August 31 supper hours were expanded to 90 minutes

The local news footprint is expanding with more online coverage and more local radio newscasts – an update at 6:30 p.m. and a newscast at 7 p.m. on CBC Radio One

CBC News Late Night – a 10 minute newscast following The National will begin on October 26

CBCNews.ca

A new political portal will launch on October 26 and will include blogging by Kady O’Malley, and others including well-known veteran Ottawa journalist Don Newman

A new website for The National also launches on October 26 and will offer viewers additional opportunities to get the program online

Bernstein, a former television producer who worked at CBC, says the email is “a terrible indictment of where CBC News is at today. Low morale, poor leadership, and a general malaise have overtaken the place.”

I cannot verify that the email is authentic, although I find it surprising that news staffers would misspell John Cruickshank’s name as “Crookshank”. Further comments over at the Tea Makers also raise doubts about the authenticity of the letter, one commentator says “Are you joking? This wasn’t written by anyone who was in the station that day,” while another chimes in “I can’t believe anyone has fallen for this.”

Now John Doyle at the Globe and Mail has picked up on the thread and wrote about the letter today.

Do you work at CBC News, if so what are your impressions? Is this email an accurate representation? Or is it a fake?

The full email is available here.

The CBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics lead the way with five awards, including best live sporting event, best analysis, best feature, best play-by-play and best reporting.

The Fifth Estate also won four awards for best writing, best direction, best host and best news information series in an information program.

The Tudors won four Gemini awards. The historical drama about the life and times of Henry the VIII won for best photography, best editing, best production design and best sound in a dramatic series.

The Tudors is a CBC co-production between Peace Arch Entertainment, Reveille Eire in Ireland, Working Title Films in the United Kingdom and the CBC. The show is shot in Ireland, with most of the post-production work done in Canada.

The industry event, held over two nights in Toronto, celebrated the best Canadian youth, comedy, drama, variety, news, sports, documentary and lifestyle television. The rest of the awards will be presented on November 14th in Calgary.

The full list of awards associated with the CBC is after the jump. Let me know if I’ve missed any.

Best Talk Series
The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
(CBC-The Hour)
Jennifer Dettman, David Freeman, George Stroumboulopoulos

Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
Debra DiGiovanni – Ha!ifax Comedy Fest 2008 – Episode 3

Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Fiction Program or Series
Tom Conroy, Colman Corish – The Tudors – Episode 204

Best Cross Platform Project
CBC News: Ormiston Online (CBC)
Susan Ormiston, Allison Brachman, Karl Delgadillo, Paul Hambelton, Jeff Wyonch

Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series
Ousama Rawi – The Tudors – Episode 201

Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series
Wendy Hallam Martin – The Tudors – Episode 207

Best Pre-School Program or Series
Kids’ Canada (CBC)
Phil McCordic, Sid Bobb, Erin Curtin, Nadine Henry, Marie McCann, Patty Sullivan, Jim Taylor

Best Sound in a Dramatic Series
Jane Tattersall, Daniel Birch, Yuri Gorbachow, Goro Koyama, Martin Lee, Kirk Lynds, David McCallum,
Dale Sheldrake – The Tudors – Episode 210

Best Documentary Series CBC News: The Lens (CBC Television) Andrew Johnson, Charlotte Odele, Catherine Olsen, Angelina Stokman

Best History Documentary Program China’s Earthquake: The People In the Pictures (CBC) Susan Teskey, Diana Dai

Best Writing in an Information Program or Series Gillian Findlay – CBC News: the fifth estate – A Death in the Family

Best Direction in a Live Sporting Event Ron Forsythe – Hockey Night in Canada on CBC: 2009 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic

Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series Harvey Cashore – CBC News: the fifth estate – The Chess Master

Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series Gillian Findlay – CBC News: the fifth estate – Powerless

Best Live Sporting Event 2008 Beijing Olympics (CBC Toronto) Trevor Pilling, Don Peppin

Best News Information Series CBC News: the fifth estate (CBC) David Studer, Sally Reardon

Best News Magazine Segment Frédéric Zalac, Kris Fleerackers, Doug Husby, Georges Laszuk, Alex Shprintsen – CBC News: The National – The Taser Test

Best Newscast CBC News: The National (CBC) Mark Harrison, Mary Mather, Heather McLennan, Fred Parker, Greg Reaume

Best Reportage Neil MacDonald – CBC News: The National – U.S. Economic Crisis

Best Sports Analysis or Commentary Program, Series or Segment Hockey Day in Canada 2009 (CBC) Michael Dodson

Best Sports Analyst Byron McDonald – 2008 Beijing Olympics

Best Sports Feature Segment Natalie Tedesco, Mark Kelley, Catherine Legge, Aileen McBride – 2008 Beijing Olympics

Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer Steve Armitage – 2008 Beijing Olympics

Best Sports Reporting Elliotte Friedman – 2008 Beijing Olympics

The contract affects Radio-Canada employees in Quebec and Moncton and sees a 1.5 per cent pay increase for the three-year term and some concession for contract and temporary employees.

The Canadian Press has more on the contract here.

In Canada, there may be an exception to that rule.

It seems that in this frosty and mostly frozen land, just about anything that has anything to do with hockey does well in the ratings. The latest show to prove the point is Battle of Blades.

‘Battle’, as it’s being called in the corp, is getting a lot of attention from the media. Last week the Toronto Sun even put the show on the front page of their tabloid. I can’t remember the last time that happened for a CBC show.

The ratings have reflected the media coverage. The opening episode on October 4th drew 1.95 million viewers, which is the highest ratings for a debut episode on the ceeb since Little Mosque on the Prairie. Those numbers were only eclipsed by, you guessed it, hockey. The first game of the season for Hockey Night in Canada drew 2.5 million viewers.

Jon Doyle, the Globe’s TV critic, called the show hokey, wholesome and ‘a gimmick’. Nevertheless, the next week’s broadcast, on thanksgiving Sunday, pulled in 1.56 million viewers. The show, for all it’s hokeyness, appeals to a lot of people. Which to me is curious. Why is it that in Canada anything to do hockey scores with viewers? Are we really such a nation of single-minded hockey-crazed fanatics that we’ll swarm to a show like ‘Battle’ while generally ignoring some of the other excellent dramatic shows produced in this country? It’s an open question, feel free to comment.

O’Malley’s has been blogging for MacLeans for the last three years, prior to that she freelanced for the Hill Times. In more than 10 years of working on the Hill she’s earned a reputation for cutting through the crap and speaking plainly about politics. O’Malley is also a geek – she prefers the term ‘blogatrix’ to describe her work – but either way O’Malley is technologically savvy and immediate - she blogs using two Blackberry’s simultaneously because there is no wireless internet coverage on Parliament.

“What I love about live blogging is that it’s kind of without a net, which means that when something happens I write what my immediate reaction is… I love the fact that it is real time,” she said in this video.

In addition to blogging at cbc.ca O’Malley will also be contributing to radio, television and online.