CBC wants to bring a 360-degree view of its content offerings to viewers as it heads into 2023 with its newly unveiled CBC Entertains brand.

CBC Entertains and CBC News will serve as two pillars under the larger CBC brand, EVP Barbara Williams (pictured) tells Playback Daily, with the former created to bring a higher level of recognition of the public broadcaster’s video and audio content and platforms.

Williams says while individual series or podcasts have garnered consumer attention, the wide range of the content available from CBC is “maybe not quite as understood or appreciated as a collection of amazing entertaining content” as the way CBC News is for its journalism work.

The promotion and marketing of CBC Entertains will begin in late January 2023 with the rollout of the linear primetime schedule, with a larger phased rollout to connect to brand to all of its content platforms still in the works, according to a spokesperson for CBC.

The CBC Entertains branding was announced during an event at Massey Hall on Wednesday (Nov. 30), where the pubcaster unveiled its winter 2023 lineup, including the premieres of new series such as Plan B (KOTV) and Essex County (First Generation Films) and returning titles Run the Burbs (Pier 21 Films) and Son of a Critch (Project 10 Productions).

Part of the problem is a generation gap, according to Williams, who says the pubcaster has “done a lot of research” that revealed “there’s a whole generation of people that, frankly, didn’t know a lot about the CBC at all.”

The hope is that CBC Entertains will direct audiences to the offerings available on all platforms, especially on digital with audiovisual streamer CBC Gem, which offers Canadian and international programming, and audio platform CBC Listen for radio and podcasts.

Another opportunity is in the free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channel space. Sally Catto, general manager of entertainment, factual and sports, is currently exploring opportunities to expand their entertainment offerings in the FAST format, following the launch of the CBC News Explore FAST channel on Wednesday (Nov. 30).

However, both Williams and Catto say that the best way to reach out to a wide range of age groups is to program content that is reflective of Canada’s diverse population, which Catto says is their “number one priority” as they look toward the 2023-24 content slate. She adds that they’re “always looking for a range of comedies, dramas and unscripted,” but they’re interested in seeing how their new series and returning comedies perform first.

Williams also discussed CBC’s commitment to “reflecting contemporary Canada” in light of their new broadcast licence, which is currently under review at the CRTC.

The licence was renewed in June with more flexibility in its linear and digital programming obligations, but quickly faced industry criticism, in part due to a change in their conditions of licence that set working with independent producers as an expectation, not a requirement. The decision was sent back to the CRTC for reconsideration in September following more than a dozen petitions sent to Canadian Heritage.

Williams says that in CBC’s licence renewal decision, the CRTC “understood… that programming on Gem is just as important and valuable as a program on TV.”

“For a whole variety of reasons, it’s going to have some reconsideration, and we will obviously follow that process and see what happens, and we will be responsible in our response,” she says.

Photo by George Pimentel, courtesy of CBC