The National
Encyclopedia
CBC News The National is the CBC
's flagship national television
newscast, broadcast from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre
in Toronto
. It reports on major Canadian
and international news stories, airing on CBC Television
weeknights and Sundays at 10:00 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. NT
). On Saturdays, a 30-minute edition generally airs at 6:00 p.m. ET during the season of Hockey Night in Canada
(or if other live CBC Sports
broadcasts are scheduled for that evening), and 6:00 local (7:00 AT, 7:30 NT) otherwise, except on certain stations carrying local newscasts in that timeslot instead. Since the fall of 2007, The National has aired in HDTV
, the first Canadian national newscast to do so.
The program is also aired on CBC News Network; on weekdays, the initial version that airs live to Atlantic Canada
on the main network is simulcast on CBC NN at 9:00 p.m., with several repeat broadcasts overnight. Until August 2005, The National was also seen in the United States on the defunct Newsworld International
channel; the program continues to air occasionally on C-SPAN
when that network wants to provide coverage of a major Canadian news story, or a Canadian angle for a world or American event.
The National and other CBC newscasts, including its "supper hour" local newscasts, are streamed on the CBC website.
Currently, the opening segment generally runs 15 to 20 minutes, followed by additional segments of varying length featuring additional stories or features. Long-form documentaries or feature reports are not as common as they were prior to 2009, but are still featured from time to time, with extended features typically airing during the Sunday edition. The broadcast contains some live inserts but most of the broadcast's segments are taped prior to the program's initial airtime.
Peter Mansbridge
, as chief correspondent for CBC News
, normally anchors the newscast from Monday to Thursday, but may host other nights if a significant news event has occurred. Wendy Mesley
has been the permanent Sunday anchor since September 2010, essentially a reprisal of her tenure as anchor of Sunday Report in the early 1990s. There is currently no permanent anchor for Friday and Saturday editions, with that role being filled by a rotation of CBC journalists including Amanda Lang
, Diana Swain
, and Kim Brunhuber.
Weekday airings on CBC Television O&Os currently end at 10:55 with the anchor handing over to 10-minute local news bulletins that overlap the normal 11:00 start time of the competing CTV National News
. On CBC News Network, the weekday editions continue to run a full hour, with the final segment being extended to include an additional story and the national weather forecast. Separate final segments, both pre-taped, are used for the 55- and 60-minute versions. Private affiliates, some of which had already been airing 11:00 p.m. local newscasts prior to the implementation of the current format, appear to have the option of carrying either the 55- or 60-minute version.
Similar local opt-outs are provided for the weekend editions, at 6:20 ET on Saturdays and 10:55 on Sundays. However, they are currently used by one station each, CBWT
Winnipeg and CBLT Toronto respectively. (CBLT preempts the Saturday edition altogether for a fully separate local newscast.)
decided to choose a single newsreader for the program in order to create continuity and hired veteran radio newsman Larry Henderson
to anchor the broadcast which soon expanded to nightly thirteen minute program airing at 11 pm. Henderson, who had hoped to become Canada's answer to Edward R. Murrow
, had spent several years travelling the world with his Headliners radio broadcast. He proved a temperamental newsreader who would occasionally swear on the air, respond in anger to cues to speed up his reading, and once walked off the set when a filmed segment was not ready on cue.
Henderson left the broadcast in 1959 and was succeeded by Earl Cameron
, who had been presenter of the National News Bulletin on CBC's main radio service, the Trans-Canada Network
, since 1944. Changes in the philosophy of CBC News led to Cameron, a professional announcer rather than a journalist, being replaced by journalist Stanley Burke
, in 1966.
Though journalists were now reading the news, union regulations required a journalist acting as news anchor to leave the journalists' union and join the announcers' union and thus prohibited the anchor from doing anything other than reading a script written by others. Burke anchored the show from 1966 until 1969 when he resigned in order to launch a public campaign on the Biafra
n civil war
. Burke was replaced by Warren Davis
, at which point the show was rebranded The National and the program was broadcast in colour. From 1970, the program was anchored by Lloyd Robertson
until he was hired away by rival CTV
in 1976, largely as a result of Robertson's frustration at not being able to participate in the writing of the newscast due to union rules.
Peter Kent
hosted the show for two years and, because he had worked as a senior correspondent with CBC News Magazine
and The National, he was allowed to report and write and anchor The National and CBC News Specials before leaving to return to work as a foreign correspondent. In 1978, Knowlton Nash
—who had been Kent's boss—became the newscast's new anchor. During Nash's tenure, the CBC was able to win "formal" concessions from its unions allowing working journalists to read the news, allowing Nash to assume the title of "Chief Correspondent" for CBC News. This allowed him to participate in the writing of the show's script as well as act as a news editor with influence over the stories selected for the newscast and other questions of editorial judgement. Nash stepped down as chief anchor in 1988 and was replaced by Peter Mansbridge
.
On 11 January 1982, The National was relaunched in the 10:00 PM timeslot with a modernized design and format. The Journal, a program that covered news stories in greater depth using interviews and documentaries, followed it at 10:22 PM.
One of the hosts of The Journal from the beginning was Barbara Frum
, who quickly became a symbol of CBC News as she was not afraid to tackle the toughest and most controversial of issues. Frum died suddenly in March 1992. Her final interview was with Canadian author Mordecai Richler
, which took place just days before her death.
That same year, the CBC, which was undergoing major changes, replaced The National and The Journal with Prime Time News
, an integrated package which aired at 9:00 p.m. with two hosts, Mansbridge and Pamela Wallin
. However, the show fared poorly in the ratings, and returned to the 10 p.m. time slot in 1994. During this time, the title The National was appropriated for a separate newscast on CBC Newsworld, hosted by Alison Smith
.
In 1995, the main-network program reverted to the name The National, hosted by Peter Mansbridge
, and was followed by The National Magazine, hosted by Hana Gartner
. Brian Stewart
later took the helm of the second program, which was retitled The Magazine. It continued as a pseudo-separate program until the start of the federal election
campaign of fall 2000, when the second half-hour was turned over to additional election coverage hosted by Mansbridge, under the moniker "Behind the Ballot". However, The Magazine did not return after the election, and Mansbridge continued to anchor the full hour. In early 2001, this integrated format was formally introduced as part of a revamp of the program; for a time, the latter part of the hour was often titled Documentary, on nights when such were featured; on other occasions, feature reports and/or panel discussions would be featured instead. The program acquired a new look and format in the eventful fall of that year with the CBC's latest corporate redesign.
Beginning in the late 1990s, in an effort to provide an 11:00 p.m. alternative to the now-dominant CTV National News
, CBC owned-and-operated station
s would repeat the news headline portion of The National at 11:00 p.m., followed (until summer 2000) by a half-hour local newscast at 11:30. This practice ended in October 2006, when The Hour began airing in that timeslot. Most private affiliates of the CBC did not broadcast the 11 p.m. airing.
On 9 January 2006, The National adopted a new look as part of a major rebranding for CBC News, stemming mainly from an extensive study by the CBC into how to make news programming more relevant, particularly in the face of stiff competition from CTV National News
and Global National
. The rebranding was originally scheduled for September 2005 but was postponed due to the lengthy lockout that had just concluded at that time. The primary colour of CBC News shifted from blue to red, not unlike BBC News
.
The CBC in summer 2006 briefly and controversially aired The National at 11 p.m. on Tuesday nights in the Eastern Time Zone, in order to simulcast the American airing of The One: Making a Music Star
. The One received very low ratings on both ABC and CBC, and after two weeks The National returned to airing at 10 p.m. five nights a week as of 31 July 2006.
In May 2007, The National launched a redesigned website featuring the latest broadcast and recent documentaries, as well as an extensive online archive that opens the floor for comments from the viewers. There is also a behind the scenes blog and video bios on many of the reporters.
The CBC announced a strategic revamp of The National in December 2008, under which the network's weekend newscasts Saturday Report
and CBC News: Sunday Night
will also be renamed The National in 2009. In September 2009 The National switched to a seven night a week format. In line with the scheduling of CBC's former Saturday Report, the program continues to air at 6 p.m. on Saturdays, rather than the 10 p.m. timeslot in which it airs on all other days, because of Hockey Night in Canada
.
The show's original opening, used from 1969 through 1982, was known as "the Bloops" and featured the title of the program in a "space-age" font in green on the bottom of the screen, superimposed over a wide shot of the set. Sometimes the program title appeared in the centre of the screen, with a black background. Accompanied by synthesized
beeps that resembled an old computer, different letters rapidly cycled from left to right until they spelled "The National".
An announcer, usually Allan McFee
, would intone "The National, with," followed by the name of the anchor, followed by a cut to a shot of the anchor beside a screen. The anchor of the program would then summarize the top stories as different slides appeared for each of them on the screen.
An internal study was conducted in July 1979 on whether to move The National to the 10 p.m. slot. This study group was composed of Bill Morgan, Mark Starowicz
, and Vince Carlin
.
On 11 January 1982, the CBC relaunched The National with a radically different format and presentation style that looked very hi-tech for its time. The intro started with a map of the world superimposed on a cube which began to rotate, splitting into smaller cubes as it did. The final rotation revealed the title of the show in shiny chrome lettering using the font Stop. The synthesized opening music featured a fanfare played by The Canadian Brass, called The National.
During the mid-1980s, Quantel
Paintbox was used to create many of the graphics for the stories.
In 1989, CBC updated the presentation of The National with more modern computer graphics. The logo used all upper-case letters in the typeface Times New Roman.
Between 1992 and 1995, the main network's newscast was called Prime Time News
; the name The National was retained on CBC Newsworld
.
From 1995 to 1997, the logo used the font Palatino
in upper-case for the words "The National", and Frutiger
in upper-case for the words "CBC News" underneath.
A new opening and look for the show appeared in 1997 that retained the style of the 1995 opening but used somewhat more sophisticated and modern computer animation
.
In 2001, a logo was introduced that used the typeface Microgramma
, centred on two lines, with the CBC News logo underneath in Frutiger. It was short-lived, lasting only a few months.
In the fall of 2001, the presentation of The National was updated along with the corporate redesign of the entire network to have one consistent branding. The New York design firm Razorfish designed the look of this and other network programs. The logo used the typeface Frutiger in upper case.
In late 2004 or early 2005, several graphics were modified, featuring more blue, less beige, and a slightly modified logo (with bolder type for "The National"). These changes were only implemented in selected sequences, sometimes leading to confusion - i.e. the older set of graphics was used at the start of the newscast's opening, and the new set was used at the end of the open.
The opening sequence started with the CBC News ID which flowed into the main graphic sequence, followed by Mansbridge or the fill-in anchor saying "Tonight ..." followed by a verbal listing of the main headlines and accompanying video and graphics. The title sequence would then continue, and cut to an aerial view of Toronto (new shot every Monday which then ran the entire week) and a Lisa Dalbello announcing up and under the theme saying "The National; from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre
, here is Peter Mansbridge."
In early 2006, the entire news division - including The National and CBC Newsworld
- received another update, including a new theme song and new title sequences, featuring the colours red, black, and white. From 2008 to the 2009 rebranding, Tony Daniels
introduced the show and the host.
After more than two years in the making, The National underwent sweeping changes on 26 October 2009. Host Peter Mansbridge began delivering all segments of the news standing up, a style pioneered in Canada by the Citytv
system. The set was redesigned and the colour blue was mixed into the previous channel's colours of red and white. A press release originally stated that the 2006 theme music would remain intact; however, new music cues by Eggplant Collective were created. Most of the logos and graphic fonts were changed to use Christian Schwartz's Stag typeface.
Other personalities who have anchored The National as weekend or substitute anchors include George McLean, Alison Smith
, Wendy Mesley
, Diana Swain
, Carole MacNeil
, Mark Kelley
, Brian Stewart
, Ian Hanomansing
and Heather Hiscox
. In 1974, Jan Tennant
became the first woman to anchor the programme.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's flagship national television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
newscast, broadcast from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre
Canadian Broadcasting Centre
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the broadcast headquarters and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language television and radio services...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. It reports on major Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and international news stories, airing on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
weeknights and Sundays at 10:00 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. NT
Newfoundland Standard Time Zone
Newfoundland Standard Time ' is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting 3½ hours from Coordinated Universal Time , resulting in UTC−3:30, or 2½ hours during daylight saving time...
). On Saturdays, a 30-minute edition generally airs at 6:00 p.m. ET during the season of Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
(or if other live CBC Sports
CBC Sports
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, with some additional broadcasts on bold, CBC.ca, and occasionally CBC Radio One...
broadcasts are scheduled for that evening), and 6:00 local (7:00 AT, 7:30 NT) otherwise, except on certain stations carrying local newscasts in that timeslot instead. Since the fall of 2007, The National has aired in HDTV
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, the first Canadian national newscast to do so.
The program is also aired on CBC News Network; on weekdays, the initial version that airs live to Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
on the main network is simulcast on CBC NN at 9:00 p.m., with several repeat broadcasts overnight. Until August 2005, The National was also seen in the United States on the defunct Newsworld International
Newsworld International
Newsworld International was a cable TV news channel broadcasting in the United States, whose content contained a mix of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and other international newscasts. The channel reached about 20 million homes and provided its audience with the news from a variety of global...
channel; the program continues to air occasionally on C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
when that network wants to provide coverage of a major Canadian news story, or a Canadian angle for a world or American event.
The National and other CBC newscasts, including its "supper hour" local newscasts, are streamed on the CBC website.
Format
The National originally ran a news headlines segment for 20 to 25 minutes without commercial interruption, a format that has been relaxed or reinstated at various points over the years. Subsequent segments would consist of documentaries or other feature reports, either in the form of a separate program (The Journal or The Magazine) or more recently as additional segments of the main program.Currently, the opening segment generally runs 15 to 20 minutes, followed by additional segments of varying length featuring additional stories or features. Long-form documentaries or feature reports are not as common as they were prior to 2009, but are still featured from time to time, with extended features typically airing during the Sunday edition. The broadcast contains some live inserts but most of the broadcast's segments are taped prior to the program's initial airtime.
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
, as chief correspondent for CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...
, normally anchors the newscast from Monday to Thursday, but may host other nights if a significant news event has occurred. Wendy Mesley
Wendy Mesley
Wendy Mesley is a host and reporter for CBC Television's consumer investigation series Marketplace. She is also a frequent back-up anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program The National. She also co-hosts Test the Nation with Brent Bambury...
has been the permanent Sunday anchor since September 2010, essentially a reprisal of her tenure as anchor of Sunday Report in the early 1990s. There is currently no permanent anchor for Friday and Saturday editions, with that role being filled by a rotation of CBC journalists including Amanda Lang
Amanda Lang
Amanda Lang is a Canadian journalist and senior business correspondent for CBC News. She anchors the daily The Lang and O'Leary Exchange on CBC News Network...
, Diana Swain
Diana Swain
Diana Swain is a television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . She has been the host of CBC News At Six, CBC Toronto's local nightly newscast, since September 2004...
, and Kim Brunhuber.
Weekday airings on CBC Television O&Os currently end at 10:55 with the anchor handing over to 10-minute local news bulletins that overlap the normal 11:00 start time of the competing CTV National News
CTV National News
CTV National News is CTV's flagship newscast, which airs at 11:00 p.m. local time on the CTV stations across Canada, and live at 10:00pm ET, with repeats hourly up until 2 a.m. ET on CTV News Channel, CTV's 24-hour cable news television channel, and the previous day's can be seen on the Internet. ...
. On CBC News Network, the weekday editions continue to run a full hour, with the final segment being extended to include an additional story and the national weather forecast. Separate final segments, both pre-taped, are used for the 55- and 60-minute versions. Private affiliates, some of which had already been airing 11:00 p.m. local newscasts prior to the implementation of the current format, appear to have the option of carrying either the 55- or 60-minute version.
Similar local opt-outs are provided for the weekend editions, at 6:20 ET on Saturdays and 10:55 on Sundays. However, they are currently used by one station each, CBWT
CBWT
CBWT is the CBC's television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the only CBC station in Manitoba, since Brandon's CKX-TV closed on October 2, 2009....
Winnipeg and CBLT Toronto respectively. (CBLT preempts the Saturday edition altogether for a fully separate local newscast.)
History
The National originated as The National News in 1954. Since 1952, there had been a five minute national news bulletin on the fledgling CBC Television service - each bulletin would be read by a succession of readers which, ultimately, CBC management realised resulted in a disjoined broadcast. Program director Mavor MooreMavor Moore
James Mavor Moore, CC, OBC was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator.-Biography:...
decided to choose a single newsreader for the program in order to create continuity and hired veteran radio newsman Larry Henderson
Larry Henderson
Larry Henderson was the first regular newsreader on the CBC Television's The National News, later rebranded as The National, from 1954 to 1959. He was born in Montreal....
to anchor the broadcast which soon expanded to nightly thirteen minute program airing at 11 pm. Henderson, who had hoped to become Canada's answer to Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
, had spent several years travelling the world with his Headliners radio broadcast. He proved a temperamental newsreader who would occasionally swear on the air, respond in anger to cues to speed up his reading, and once walked off the set when a filmed segment was not ready on cue.
Henderson left the broadcast in 1959 and was succeeded by Earl Cameron
Earl Cameron (Canadian broadcaster)
Earl Cameron was a Canadian broadcaster and was anchor of CBC's The National from 1959 to 1966.Cameron was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and, as a student, found a summer job at a local radio station, CHAB...
, who had been presenter of the National News Bulletin on CBC's main radio service, the Trans-Canada Network
Trans-Canada Network
The Trans-Canada Network was the name assigned to the main English-language radio network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to distinguish it from the CBC's second network, the Dominion Network. Today, it is known as CBC Radio One...
, since 1944. Changes in the philosophy of CBC News led to Cameron, a professional announcer rather than a journalist, being replaced by journalist Stanley Burke
Stanley Burke
Stanley Burke was a Canadian television journalist. He was the anchor of CBC Television's The National News from 1966 to 1969. The show was renamed The National after he resigned to launch a public campaign on the Biafran civil war....
, in 1966.
Though journalists were now reading the news, union regulations required a journalist acting as news anchor to leave the journalists' union and join the announcers' union and thus prohibited the anchor from doing anything other than reading a script written by others. Burke anchored the show from 1966 until 1969 when he resigned in order to launch a public campaign on the Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
n civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. Burke was replaced by Warren Davis
Warren Davis (Canadian journalist)
Warren Davis was a Canadian television journalist. He was the first anchor of CBC Television's The National, from 1969 to 1970. The show was rebranded from the earlier news program The National News....
, at which point the show was rebranded The National and the program was broadcast in colour. From 1970, the program was anchored by Lloyd Robertson
Lloyd Robertson
Lloyd Robertson, OC is the currently the co-host of CTV's weekly magazine series, W5. Robertson previously served as the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV's national evening newscast, CTV News with Lloyd Robertson, until September, 2011, when he retired from the CTV National News...
until he was hired away by rival CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
in 1976, largely as a result of Robertson's frustration at not being able to participate in the writing of the newscast due to union rules.
Peter Kent
Peter Kent
Peter Kent, PC, MP is a Conservative member of parliament for the riding of Thornhill, and the current Minister of the Environment in the 28th Canadian Ministry.Previously, he was Deputy Editor of Global Television, a Canadian TV network...
hosted the show for two years and, because he had worked as a senior correspondent with CBC News Magazine
CBC News Magazine
CBC News Magazine was a weekly Canadian news television series which debuted on CBC Television on September 8, 1952. The series presented the week's international news highlights and documentaries from CBC correspondents around the world...
and The National, he was allowed to report and write and anchor The National and CBC News Specials before leaving to return to work as a foreign correspondent. In 1978, Knowlton Nash
Knowlton Nash
Cyril Knowlton Nash, OC, O.Ont , commonly known as Knowlton Nash, is a journalist, author, and former long-serving senior anchorman of CBC Television's flagship news program, The National...
—who had been Kent's boss—became the newscast's new anchor. During Nash's tenure, the CBC was able to win "formal" concessions from its unions allowing working journalists to read the news, allowing Nash to assume the title of "Chief Correspondent" for CBC News. This allowed him to participate in the writing of the show's script as well as act as a news editor with influence over the stories selected for the newscast and other questions of editorial judgement. Nash stepped down as chief anchor in 1988 and was replaced by Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
.
On 11 January 1982, The National was relaunched in the 10:00 PM timeslot with a modernized design and format. The Journal, a program that covered news stories in greater depth using interviews and documentaries, followed it at 10:22 PM.
One of the hosts of The Journal from the beginning was Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum, OC was a Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Personal life:...
, who quickly became a symbol of CBC News as she was not afraid to tackle the toughest and most controversial of issues. Frum died suddenly in March 1992. Her final interview was with Canadian author Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version,...
, which took place just days before her death.
That same year, the CBC, which was undergoing major changes, replaced The National and The Journal with Prime Time News
Prime Time News
thumb|Title screen used from 1992 to 1994. A different opening used for the 1994-95 season was essentially identical to the open used by The National from 1995-97...
, an integrated package which aired at 9:00 p.m. with two hosts, Mansbridge and Pamela Wallin
Pamela Wallin
Pamela Wallin, OC, SOM is a former Canadian television journalist and diplomat. On January 2, 2009, she was seated in the Canadian Senate, where she sits as a Conservative.-Early life and career:...
. However, the show fared poorly in the ratings, and returned to the 10 p.m. time slot in 1994. During this time, the title The National was appropriated for a separate newscast on CBC Newsworld, hosted by Alison Smith
Alison Smith
Alison Smith is a Canadian television and radio journalist and anchor. She graduated in 1972 from Southern Okanagan Secondary School in nearby Oliver, where her father Bruce Smith was a guidance counsellor...
.
In 1995, the main-network program reverted to the name The National, hosted by Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
, and was followed by The National Magazine, hosted by Hana Gartner
Hana Gartner
Hana Gartner is a Canadian television investigative journalist, best known as the host/interviewer of several programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation....
. Brian Stewart
Brian Stewart (journalist)
Brian Stewart, one of Canada's most experienced journalists, is host of the foreign affairs show CBC News: Our World as well as senior correspondent of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship news hour The National....
later took the helm of the second program, which was retitled The Magazine. It continued as a pseudo-separate program until the start of the federal election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
campaign of fall 2000, when the second half-hour was turned over to additional election coverage hosted by Mansbridge, under the moniker "Behind the Ballot". However, The Magazine did not return after the election, and Mansbridge continued to anchor the full hour. In early 2001, this integrated format was formally introduced as part of a revamp of the program; for a time, the latter part of the hour was often titled Documentary, on nights when such were featured; on other occasions, feature reports and/or panel discussions would be featured instead. The program acquired a new look and format in the eventful fall of that year with the CBC's latest corporate redesign.
Beginning in the late 1990s, in an effort to provide an 11:00 p.m. alternative to the now-dominant CTV National News
CTV National News
CTV National News is CTV's flagship newscast, which airs at 11:00 p.m. local time on the CTV stations across Canada, and live at 10:00pm ET, with repeats hourly up until 2 a.m. ET on CTV News Channel, CTV's 24-hour cable news television channel, and the previous day's can be seen on the Internet. ...
, CBC owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
s would repeat the news headline portion of The National at 11:00 p.m., followed (until summer 2000) by a half-hour local newscast at 11:30. This practice ended in October 2006, when The Hour began airing in that timeslot. Most private affiliates of the CBC did not broadcast the 11 p.m. airing.
On 9 January 2006, The National adopted a new look as part of a major rebranding for CBC News, stemming mainly from an extensive study by the CBC into how to make news programming more relevant, particularly in the face of stiff competition from CTV National News
CTV National News
CTV National News is CTV's flagship newscast, which airs at 11:00 p.m. local time on the CTV stations across Canada, and live at 10:00pm ET, with repeats hourly up until 2 a.m. ET on CTV News Channel, CTV's 24-hour cable news television channel, and the previous day's can be seen on the Internet. ...
and Global National
Global National
Global National is the national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Dawna Friesen anchors the program's weekday edition from the Global BC studios; Robin Gill currently anchors the weekend edition...
. The rebranding was originally scheduled for September 2005 but was postponed due to the lengthy lockout that had just concluded at that time. The primary colour of CBC News shifted from blue to red, not unlike BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
.
The CBC in summer 2006 briefly and controversially aired The National at 11 p.m. on Tuesday nights in the Eastern Time Zone, in order to simulcast the American airing of The One: Making a Music Star
The One: Making a Music Star
The One: Making a Music Star was an American reality television series that aired in July 2006 on ABC in the United States, and CBC Television in Canada. The show was hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos, known to Canadian viewers as the host of CBC's The Hour...
. The One received very low ratings on both ABC and CBC, and after two weeks The National returned to airing at 10 p.m. five nights a week as of 31 July 2006.
In May 2007, The National launched a redesigned website featuring the latest broadcast and recent documentaries, as well as an extensive online archive that opens the floor for comments from the viewers. There is also a behind the scenes blog and video bios on many of the reporters.
The CBC announced a strategic revamp of The National in December 2008, under which the network's weekend newscasts Saturday Report
Saturday Report
Saturday Report was the primary Saturday newscast aired on CBC Television and CBC Newsworld from 1982 to 2009. Jacquie Perrin was the program's most recent regular anchor, although that position had rotated frequently among CBC personalities in the newscast's later years...
and CBC News: Sunday Night
CBC News: Sunday Night
CBC News: Sunday Night was a television newsmagazine series in Canada, which aired on Sunday evenings at 10 p.m. on CBC Television. It was, essentially, the Sunday night equivalent of The National, although it took a more features-oriented approach than its weekday counterpart. The program also...
will also be renamed The National in 2009. In September 2009 The National switched to a seven night a week format. In line with the scheduling of CBC's former Saturday Report, the program continues to air at 6 p.m. on Saturdays, rather than the 10 p.m. timeslot in which it airs on all other days, because of Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
.
Presentation
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
beeps that resembled an old computer, different letters rapidly cycled from left to right until they spelled "The National".
An announcer, usually Allan McFee
Allan McFee
Allan McFee was an often irreverent announcer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio and television networks. Born in Belleville, Ontario, he joined the CBC in 1937, and remained with the network until his retirement in 1989....
, would intone "The National, with," followed by the name of the anchor, followed by a cut to a shot of the anchor beside a screen. The anchor of the program would then summarize the top stories as different slides appeared for each of them on the screen.
An internal study was conducted in July 1979 on whether to move The National to the 10 p.m. slot. This study group was composed of Bill Morgan, Mark Starowicz
Mark Starowicz
Mark Starowicz, is a Canadian journalist and producer.Born in Worksop, England, the son of son of Polish émigrés, he and his family immigrated to Montreal in 1954. He received a B.A. from McGill University in 1968. In 1964, he started as a reporter for the Montreal Gazette...
, and Vince Carlin
Vince Carlin
Vincent A. Carlin is a retired Canadian civil servant. He was the ombudsman of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from January 2006 to December 2010, serving a five year term with the Corporation. Carlin has since been succeeded by Mr. Kirk Lapointe....
.
On 11 January 1982, the CBC relaunched The National with a radically different format and presentation style that looked very hi-tech for its time. The intro started with a map of the world superimposed on a cube which began to rotate, splitting into smaller cubes as it did. The final rotation revealed the title of the show in shiny chrome lettering using the font Stop. The synthesized opening music featured a fanfare played by The Canadian Brass, called The National.
During the mid-1980s, Quantel
Quantel
Quantel is a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designs and manufactures digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries...
Paintbox was used to create many of the graphics for the stories.
In 1989, CBC updated the presentation of The National with more modern computer graphics. The logo used all upper-case letters in the typeface Times New Roman.
Between 1992 and 1995, the main network's newscast was called Prime Time News
Prime Time News
thumb|Title screen used from 1992 to 1994. A different opening used for the 1994-95 season was essentially identical to the open used by The National from 1995-97...
; the name The National was retained on CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
.
From 1995 to 1997, the logo used the font Palatino
Palatino
Palatino is the name of a large typeface family that began as an old style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf initially released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry.In 1999, Zapf revised Palatino for Linotype and Microsoft, called Palatino Linotype...
in upper-case for the words "The National", and Frutiger
Frutiger
Frutiger is a series of typefaces named after its designer, Adrian Frutiger. Initially available as a sans serif, it was later expanded to include ornamental and serif typefaces.-Distinctive characteristics:Characteristics of this typeface are:...
in upper-case for the words "CBC News" underneath.
A new opening and look for the show appeared in 1997 that retained the style of the 1995 opening but used somewhat more sophisticated and modern computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
.
In 2001, a logo was introduced that used the typeface Microgramma
Microgramma (typeface)
Microgramma, a typeface similar to Eurostile, which was based upon it, is a sans serif font which was designed by Aldo Novarese and Alessandro Butti for the Nebiolo Type Foundry in 1952...
, centred on two lines, with the CBC News logo underneath in Frutiger. It was short-lived, lasting only a few months.
In the fall of 2001, the presentation of The National was updated along with the corporate redesign of the entire network to have one consistent branding. The New York design firm Razorfish designed the look of this and other network programs. The logo used the typeface Frutiger in upper case.
In late 2004 or early 2005, several graphics were modified, featuring more blue, less beige, and a slightly modified logo (with bolder type for "The National"). These changes were only implemented in selected sequences, sometimes leading to confusion - i.e. the older set of graphics was used at the start of the newscast's opening, and the new set was used at the end of the open.
The opening sequence started with the CBC News ID which flowed into the main graphic sequence, followed by Mansbridge or the fill-in anchor saying "Tonight ..." followed by a verbal listing of the main headlines and accompanying video and graphics. The title sequence would then continue, and cut to an aerial view of Toronto (new shot every Monday which then ran the entire week) and a Lisa Dalbello announcing up and under the theme saying "The National; from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre
Canadian Broadcasting Centre
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the broadcast headquarters and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language television and radio services...
, here is Peter Mansbridge."
In early 2006, the entire news division - including The National and CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
- received another update, including a new theme song and new title sequences, featuring the colours red, black, and white. From 2008 to the 2009 rebranding, Tony Daniels
Tony Daniels
-Voice Acting Roles:-References:*...
introduced the show and the host.
After more than two years in the making, The National underwent sweeping changes on 26 October 2009. Host Peter Mansbridge began delivering all segments of the news standing up, a style pioneered in Canada by the Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
system. The set was redesigned and the colour blue was mixed into the previous channel's colours of red and white. A press release originally stated that the 2006 theme music would remain intact; however, new music cues by Eggplant Collective were created. Most of the logos and graphic fonts were changed to use Christian Schwartz's Stag typeface.
Anchors
- 1954–1959: Larry HendersonLarry HendersonLarry Henderson was the first regular newsreader on the CBC Television's The National News, later rebranded as The National, from 1954 to 1959. He was born in Montreal....
- 1959–1966: Earl Cameron
- 1966–1969: Stanley BurkeStanley BurkeStanley Burke was a Canadian television journalist. He was the anchor of CBC Television's The National News from 1966 to 1969. The show was renamed The National after he resigned to launch a public campaign on the Biafran civil war....
- 1969–1970: Warren DavisWarren Davis (Canadian journalist)Warren Davis was a Canadian television journalist. He was the first anchor of CBC Television's The National, from 1969 to 1970. The show was rebranded from the earlier news program The National News....
- 1970–1976: Lloyd RobertsonLloyd RobertsonLloyd Robertson, OC is the currently the co-host of CTV's weekly magazine series, W5. Robertson previously served as the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV's national evening newscast, CTV News with Lloyd Robertson, until September, 2011, when he retired from the CTV National News...
- 1976–1978: Peter KentPeter KentPeter Kent, PC, MP is a Conservative member of parliament for the riding of Thornhill, and the current Minister of the Environment in the 28th Canadian Ministry.Previously, he was Deputy Editor of Global Television, a Canadian TV network...
- 1978–1988: Knowlton NashKnowlton NashCyril Knowlton Nash, OC, O.Ont , commonly known as Knowlton Nash, is a journalist, author, and former long-serving senior anchorman of CBC Television's flagship news program, The National...
- 1988–1992: Peter MansbridgePeter MansbridgePeter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
- 1992–1995: Alison SmithAlison SmithAlison Smith is a Canadian television and radio journalist and anchor. She graduated in 1972 from Southern Okanagan Secondary School in nearby Oliver, where her father Bruce Smith was a guidance counsellor...
- 1995–present: Peter MansbridgePeter MansbridgePeter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
Reporters
- Adrienne ArsenaultAdrienne ArsenaultAdrienne Arsenault is a foreign correspondent with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation .Arsenault joined the CBC in 1991, as an editorial assistant and night assignment editor for CBC Toronto. She has had numerous other positions with the CBC. She spent three years as the foreign correspondent...
, London, United Kingdom - Nahlah AyedNahlah AyedNahlah Ayed is a foreign correspondent with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation .Ayed was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is of Palestinian descent, and is fluent in both Arabic and English. She joined the CBC in 2002, having previously served as a parliamentary reporter for the Canadian Press...
, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... - Kim Brunhuber, CalgaryCalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
- Gillian FindlayGillian FindlayGillian Findlay is a Canadian television journalist who has worked for the CBC and ABC. She studied history and literature at Simon Fraser University and she holds a degree in broadcast journalism from the British Columbia Institute of Technology....
, TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... - Mellissa FungMellissa FungMellissa Fung is a Canadian journalist with CBC News, appearing regularly as a field correspondent on The National.- Education and career :...
, Toronto - Ian HanomansingIan HanomansingIan Hanomansing is a Canadian television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . He currently reports for CBC Television's nightly newscast, The National.-Early life:...
, VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... - Amanda LangAmanda LangAmanda Lang is a Canadian journalist and senior business correspondent for CBC News. She anchors the daily The Lang and O'Leary Exchange on CBC News Network...
, Toronto - Neil MacdonaldNeil MacDonaldNeil Macdonald is an award winning Canadian journalist who works for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently The National senior Washington correspondent....
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... - Claire MartinClaire MartinClaire Martin is the name of:* Claire Martin , Canadian author* Claire Martin , British-born meteorologist who now lives in Canada* Claire Martin , English jazz singerSee also:* Clare Martin, Australian politician...
, Vancouver - Duncan McCueDuncan McCueDuncan McCue is a Canadian TV reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who is based in Vancouver, British Columbia.McCue graduated with a degree in English course from the University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, then completed a degree in law at the University of British...
, Vancouver - Wendy MesleyWendy MesleyWendy Mesley is a host and reporter for CBC Television's consumer investigation series Marketplace. She is also a frequent back-up anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program The National. She also co-hosts Test the Nation with Brent Bambury...
, Toronto - Rex MurphyRex MurphyRex Murphy is a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters.Murphy was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, 105 kilometres west of St. John's and is the second of five children of Harry and Marie Murphy...
, Toronto - Susan OrmistonSusan OrmistonSusan Ormiston is a Canadian television journalist, currently a correspondent for CBC Television's The National and guest host for several CBC radio and television programs...
, Toronto - Saša PetricicSaša PetricicSaša Petricic , is an award-winning Serbian Canadian journalist. He is currently a correspondent and videojournalist for CBC Television's The National. He is based in Ottawa but has filed news stories and documentaries from more than 30 countries on every continent during his career...
, OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario... - Reg Sherren, WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
Other personalities who have anchored The National as weekend or substitute anchors include George McLean, Alison Smith
Alison Smith
Alison Smith is a Canadian television and radio journalist and anchor. She graduated in 1972 from Southern Okanagan Secondary School in nearby Oliver, where her father Bruce Smith was a guidance counsellor...
, Wendy Mesley
Wendy Mesley
Wendy Mesley is a host and reporter for CBC Television's consumer investigation series Marketplace. She is also a frequent back-up anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program The National. She also co-hosts Test the Nation with Brent Bambury...
, Diana Swain
Diana Swain
Diana Swain is a television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . She has been the host of CBC News At Six, CBC Toronto's local nightly newscast, since September 2004...
, Carole MacNeil
Carole MacNeil
Carole MacNeil is an award-winning television journalist and producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She is the host of CBC News Now from 12 to 3 p.m. Eastern Time Zone on the CBC News Network....
, Mark Kelley
Mark Kelley
Mark Kelley is a Canadian journalist. Formerly a correspondent and substitute anchor for The National and a host of CBC News: Morning, he is currently the host of Connect with Mark Kelley on CBC News Network....
, Brian Stewart
Brian Stewart (journalist)
Brian Stewart, one of Canada's most experienced journalists, is host of the foreign affairs show CBC News: Our World as well as senior correspondent of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship news hour The National....
, Ian Hanomansing
Ian Hanomansing
Ian Hanomansing is a Canadian television journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . He currently reports for CBC Television's nightly newscast, The National.-Early life:...
and Heather Hiscox
Heather Hiscox
Heather Hiscox is a Canadian news anchor who hosts CBC News Now from 6 to 9 a.m. on weekdays on CBC News Network. She was also the host of the CBC's former flagship morning television program CBC News: Morning which became part of CBC News Now when the network re-branded itself in 2009.Hiscox was...
. In 1974, Jan Tennant
Jan Tennant
Jan Tennant is a Canadian television journalist. She joined the CBC in 1966 as a unit secretary. She soon became a script assistant for The Way It Is and The Nature of Things and then moved into announcing for both radio and television...
became the first woman to anchor the programme.
Commentators
- Keith BoagKeith BoagKeith Boag is a Canadian senior journalist with CBC Television. He worked with The National as the chief political correspondent, CBC News: Sunday and other current affairs programs, as chief political correspondent, based in Ottawa....
appears frequently as parliamentary bureau chief - Bob McDonald is the newscast's science commentator.
- Gwynne DyerGwynne DyerGwynne Dyer, OC is a London-based independent Canadian journalist, syndicated columnist and military historian.Dyer was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at the age of sixteen...
appears occasionally, commenting on world and military affairs. - Rex MurphyRex MurphyRex Murphy is a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters.Murphy was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, 105 kilometres west of St. John's and is the second of five children of Harry and Marie Murphy...
contributes a weekly commentary on a segment entitled "Point of View", which runs just before the end of the broadcast. - A political panel titled "At Issue" airs weekly except during the summer. The regular panelists are columnists Andrew CoyneAndrew CoyneJames Andrew Coyne is the national editor for Maclean's, a weekly national newsmagazine in Canada. Previously, he was a columnist with the National Post and an editor-in-chief of the University of Manitoba's newspaper, The Manitoban.-Background:Coyne was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Hope...
and Chantal HébertChantal HébertChantal Hébert is a Canadian columnist and political commentator.-Life and career:Hébert was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She is the eldest of 5 children. In 1966 her family moved to Toronto where the 12-year-old was enrolled in École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-de-Charbonnel...
from Maclean'sMaclean'sMaclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
and the Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
respectively, and Allan GreggAllan GreggAllan Gregg is a Canadian pollster, political advisor, and pundit.-Early life:Gregg was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the eldest child in his family which consisted of four boys and one girl. Gregg graduated from Harry Ainley High School at the second top of his class with honors...
, of Decima ResearchDecima ResearchDecima Research is a public opinion and market research company in Canada, founded in 1979 by Progressive Conservative Party of Canada strategist Allan Gregg....
.
Awards
The National is the recipient of numerous awards including Geminis and foreign awards.External links
- Official website on cbc.ca
- The latest newscast available online
- The National and The Journal - The Museum of Broadcast Communications