Well, once again you are being subjected to a column about the impending retirement of Peter Mansbridge.
And the reason is because I’m all worked up by Brian Zinchuk’s recent From The Top of the Pile column about Mansbridge.
Basically, Zinchuk blasted the CBC for creating a situation where the “best and the brightest” could never rise to the top CBC anchor job, because they kept Mansbridge on, forever.
By contrast, he said, chiefs of defence staff are there for only three years and then move on, allowing others to rise the ranks.
“It’s about bloody time,” Zinchuk wrote about Mansbridge’s departure. The headline said it all: “the glass ceiling, personified, is finally leaving.”
He no doubt will have the same reaction when Rob MacDonald finally leaves the anchor chair at CTV Saskatoon. Or when John Gormley leaves his show. “It’s about bloody time!”
I have a different take on it all. When you have a news anchor in place in an organization for a long period of time, that speaks to stability. It speaks to viewer loyalty. Viewers like to see familiar faces on the air. It is part of their routine. It also makes for good business for these TV stations.
By contrast, I can point to a multitude of TV stations that have revolving doors of anchors and reporters. One thing is common about most of them — they are in chaos. Their bad ratings reflect it.
This notion of “let’s rotate the anchor chair every three or four years to give other people a chance” is simply not going to fly with viewers who like to see the familiar faces.
Still, staying on the job as long as Mansbridge has is liable to get people hurling “glass ceiling” accusations at him.
The reality is many women, and others, have risen to prominence at CBC News, even with Mansbridge there.
Here’s one example. During the early years of Mansbridge’s tenure on The National, Mansbridge’s show was paired with another news show, The Journal, to make up the full 10 p.m. hour.
That show featured Barbara Frum, who was simply one of the most important, most fearless TV journalists this country has ever seen.
The country would tune in just to see Frum interview world leaders and other big shots. She took no prisoners in those interviews. It was riveting stuff.
She didn’t need the anchor chair of The National. Barbara Frum was “The Journal,” and journalism was better off because of it.
And then she died, prompting the CBC to make big changes.
It was decided in 1992 that Canada was ready for an hour-long prime-time national newscast — up against the sitcoms and dramas at 9 p.m.
They put on the air the CBC Prime Time News. They put Mansbridge on that show and paired him up with a female co-anchor, none other than Pamela Wallin, who had moved over from CTV.
When people look back on Mansbridge’s anchor tenure at the CBC, everyone forgets about Prime Time News, and for good reason. Prime Time News was supposed to be the new flagship national CBC newscast, but it was a complete flop at 9 p.m. Nobody wanted to watch a newscast at that hour.
Meanwhile, “The National” was consigned to Newsworld on cable, and was actually anchored by Alison Smith.
Nobody remembers that, either.
Anyway, by 1995 Prime Time News was history. It reverted back to its old name (The National), its old time slot (10 p.m.), and its old host, Mansbridge.
Wallin was fired, an unpopular move that drew outrage from her fans, especially here in Saskatchewan.
But things worked out for Wallin. She ultimately got a gig far superior to any job at the CBC —the Senate.
That beats the anchor chair of the National hands down. But I’m digressing.
The bottom line is, the notion of Peter Mansbridge sitting there in his anchor chair for three decades, blocking people from rising the ranks, doesn’t hold water, not with all the turmoil the TV business has seen, including at the CBC itself during Mansbridge’s own tenure.
Let’s give credit to Mansbridge here. Maybe the reason he bucked the trend and survived this long at the CBC has something to do with his credibility in delivering the news to millions of Canadians.
Incidentally, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, preventing the CBC from pairing a second anchor to share equal billing with Mansbridge on The National after Wallin left.
In fact, the CBC should probably have done it years ago. It would have set up a viable succession plan for Mansbridge’s departure, and might have even helped the ratings.
Lately, The National has been getting hammered by both CTV National News (Lisa LaFlamme) and Global National (Dawna Friesen).
So I have to agree with those who say it’s time for Mansbridge to go. People are tired of him.
The real problem for The National — and all these national newscasts, really — is the whole concept of getting your news from some half-hour or hour-long broadcast is antiquated.
We are in a 24-hour world now. You can access all-news channels on cable and live streams on your computer or iPad. Whether it’s terrorist attacks, political conventions or rallies, a hurricane hitting somewhere or any other big news, your Twitter or Facebook feed will let you know about it immediately.
By the time 10 p.m. rolls around, you already know what the news is. You don’t need to watch it again.
That is why Mansbridge’s departure really marks a turning point for the TV news business. It’s truly the end of the anchor era.
It’s also why aspiring TV news people might be better off sending their applications in to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a senate appointment, instead.
It’s a far better gig, anyway. Right, Pamela?
