Global Television's atrocious Yankee Doodle U.S. branch plant programming

by Television Research Staff

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The Global Television Network (more commonly called 'Global') is a major English-language television network in Canada, owned by CanWest Global Communications.

Backgrounder

Global Television first launched in 1974 with the launch of CKGN-TV, later CIII-TV, an independent channel based in Toronto and serving the province of Ontario with rebroadcasters. The station soon ran into difficulty, and was purchased by Izzy Asper, a Manitoba politician-turned-broadcaster who already owned an independent station in Winnipeg through his company then known as CanWest Capital.

Asper went on to acquire additional regional broadcast networks in Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Maritimes. Although Asper's regional networks always purchased programming rights as a collective, they did not share common branding until 1997, when the Global name was extended across the country. In the same year, Global broadcast in Quebec for the first time, when it acquired the assets of a former CBC affiliate in Quebec City, CKMI-TV, after the CBC took over CKMI's original VHF channel for its own English-language station. Initially a limited partnership with the French-language TVA network, Global Quebec was wholly acquired by the main network in 2002

In 2000, Global acquired the conventional television assets of Western International Communications (WIC), which owned a regional network in Alberta, and those stations were branded as Global on 4 September 2000. As well, WIC owned the CTV affiliates in Vancouver and Victoria. Since Global already owned a station in Vancouver, ownership of both would contravene the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission guidelines on market penetration. However, the WIC station, CHAN-TV, was much more powerful and highly rated than Global's incumbent CKVU-TV, so Global placed CKVU-TV in trusteeship, kept CHAN as the new Global affiliate, and rebranded the Victoria station into the CH television system. The CTV affiliation moved to CIVT-TV, which was already owned by CTV but had previously operated as an independent station. CKVU was sold to Citytv.

Although Global network service is not available off-air in Newfoundland and Labrador, the independent station there, NTV, airs much of the Global network schedule. Since CanWest's purchase of Southam Newspapers and The National Post from Conrad Black in 2001, their media interests have been merged into Canwest Global under a policy of cross-promotion and synergy. Journalists from the Post and other Canwest papers have made frequent appearances on Global's news programs, passengers on the serial drama Train 48 have taken a habit of reading the Post, and Global programs are promoted in Canwest Global newspapers.

News programming and controversies

In 2001 Global started a national newscast, Global National, anchored by Kevin Newman. Some critics charge that Global's news programs have become more conservative, and in particular more supportive of Israeli and American government policy in the Middle East. Global television news has also developed links with the controversial Fox News Channel. Global's Middle East correspondent Martin Himmell's documentary Confrontation at Concordia, on conflicts between pro- and anti-Zionist students at Concordia University, was strongly criticised for bias and selective reporting but was aired serveral times in prime time by the network in 2003. Its coverage was the subject of a formal complaint by the Canadian Muslim Forum.

Global has also been criticized for having racially discriminatory practices in the selection of on-air reporters and anchors. Global hired more visible minorities in the last couple of years, in apparent response to such criticism. However, Global is far behind such hiring when compared to progressive broadcasters in Canada like Citytv.

The network attracted controversy when its Manitoba station aired its usual programming schedule on the night of the 2003 provincial election rather than providing any special news programming, and its flagship Ontario station bumped its own election night newscast to CHCH in order to avoid pre-empting Survivor.

Entertainment programming

Global has built its business on commercial profitable entertainment programming produced in the United States, and has long been criticized for not investing enough in Canadian content. Its Minimal "legally-defined "Canadian content" carried on the network, such as a revival of 1960s American science fiction series The Outer Limits, or the Chicago-set drama Zoe Busiek: Wild Card, has often avoided Canadian themes.

Its American shows currently airing on Global include first-run episodes of Survivor, Will & Grace, The Simpsons, That '70s Show, and Everybody Loves Raymond''. The station often adds "on Global" during programs' opening credits.

Global's Apparent U.S Continentalistic Agenda

Global's lack of investment of into vibrant Canadian-inspired content, is consistent with its apparent Conservative Party of Canada affiliation though CanWest Global. Global abuses CRTC regulations by reaping massive financial profits from "commercial substitutions" that are not re-invested into Canadian-inspired television. "Commercial substitution laws" enables Global's to inject its commercials into television programs that are being simultaneously aired by U.S. television broadcasters. CRTC designed this "substitution policy" for help prevent Canadian television broadcasters from losing commercial revenue money to American television broadcasters that are imported by Canadian cable television companies. The CRTC policy envisioned that protecting such commercial revenue would further enable these Canadian television broadcaster to have money for the vital development of Canadian-inspired programming.

CHUM Limited which owns Citytv (with TV stations across Canada), and a great variety of national speciality cable services, is a great example, the kind of quality Canadian-inspired programmes that a responsible and progressive Canadian private broadcaster can accomplish, which respects the integrity and ethos of CRTC substitution policy. CHUM could be viewed to be the exact opposite of CanWest Global.

Global Television could be viewed to be the television broadcast front of Conservative Party interests which advocates the socio-cultural, political, and economic assimilation of Canada into the United States.

The apparent intent of Global's almost exclusive American entertainment programming is to implicitly propagandize to Canadians that Canada is "a mere satellite of American cultural norms, with no culture that is worthwhile presenting."

The apparent intent of Global's accompanying news programming is to sell Canadians on the alleged merit of adopting American private healthcare two-tier system, replacing the Canadian Dollar with the U.S. Dollar, privatizing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), surrendering an independent Canadian foreign policy to U.S. President George W. Bush's American foreign policy agenda, and whatever other political agenda that is supported by the Conservative Party of Canada. The so-called "Conservative Party of Canada" which implicitly advocates the U.S. annexation of Canada, is in turn, linked to American Big Business interests, and the Republican Party in the United States.