Interview: Richard Stursberg - Part One

Inside Television #600
Publication Date: 4-20-12
By: Hubert O’Hearn

I hadn’t realized until right now that this is the 600th television column I’ve written for you. It’s appropriate then that this week and next I’ll be presenting to you the results of an interview conducted on Wednesday of this week with a significant, senior player in Canadian broadcasting history. So sit back and relax on this 20th day of the 4th month and enjoy the buds popping on the trees in spring.

Richard Stursberg was the head of English services at CBC from 2006-2010. Previously the executive director of Telefilm Canada, he was hired by then-CBC President Robert Rabinovitch and lasted four years until he was fired by Rabinovitch’s successor Hubert Lacroix two years ago. I could describe the four years in between the two events as a turbulent time, however this is the CBC we’re talking about. Turbulence to CBC is what water is to fish - the natural environment for both, yet one that frequently leads to men desperately flapping their arms about while gulping for air.

Stursberg has written a book detailing those four years. Cleverly titled Tower of Babble: Sins, Secrets and Successes Inside the CBC, he presents a strong defence of the changes he made at the national public broadcaster. To run through even just some of those makes for quite a list and one that remains controversial.

When Stursberg was hired, while Radio One was strong, Radio Two was quite weak in the ratings. Now, it may seem inconsequential to some whether or not a radio service with no commercials had a decent listenership, his point was that why offer a service that no one was listening to, particularly when Radio Two’s classical music content could be offered on-line, any time one wished to seek it out. Instead, he began the shift in its programming to Canadian content (rather than dead Europeans) and not necessarily symphonic. That rattled more than a few bones.

The One that Got Away ...

Taking his theme from the BBC - truly the worldwide gold standard of public broadcasting - he adopted the Beeb’s slogan that Audience Matters as his mantra. As such, CBC TV began to feature - gasp! - sitcoms. It was interesting when Stursberg and I talked; when I asked him if there was any show he wished he could have secured for CBC, he mentioned Corner Gas which had already begun its long and successful run on CTV by the time he had the power to greenlight series. I told him that I had met Brent Butt around the time that he was preparing the pilot for Corner Gas and Butt had said, ‘Don’t ever waste your time pitching a sitcom to CBC. They’re not interested.’ Stursberg’s opinion was and is that some of the finest writing done anywhere in entertainment today is in the half an hour sitcom format and he points with pride at the early seasons of Little Mosque on the Prairie, which was, shall we say, one of his.

Still, many on the CBC Board of Directors were strongly averse to sitcoms replacing concert series (which no one watched) or Awards shows like the Giller Prize (which less than no one watched). Battle of the Blades? Dragon’s Den? Was this the ‘quality television’ that CBC was ‘supposed’ to be broadcasting?

To be honest with you, I think he mostly got it right. Next week, I’ll share with you Stursberg’s thoughts on the recent cuts, his surprising view on what Ottawa’s influence is and should be on the CBC, and the crisis to come when CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada contract runs out after the 2013-2014 season.

Until then, thanks for reading, farewell to the great Dick Clark and as always - be seeing you.