By all accounts, it had a rough start.
But CBC News Network, launched as CBC Newsworld in August 1989, has been going strong since then, though not without a few changes and bumps along the way.
According to reviews in the Toronto Star, shown below, the network’s first day was fraught with technical glitches, and the programming was uneven.
But that is expected in the environment of 24-hour news channels, which had gained popularity with the launch of CNN and is now an ubiquitous feature of the news landscape.
But to be always on the air poses unique challenges.
Sharon Musgrave worked at Newsworld since the year it came on the air.
She says it is difficult to maintain freshness when you are covering the same stories hour after hour.
However, she cautions, some repetition is inevitable.
“Viewers don’t watch CBC News Network for 24 hours…you have to assume the person who sees this hour doesn’t see the last hour,” said Musgrave.
Musgrave says, rather than keeping content fresh every time the team does a story, the focus with 24-hour news is to evolve the story throughout the day.
“We try and change it up every hour so that the hit at the end of the day looks nothing like the hit at the beginning of the day,” Musgrave said. This results in a long process where stories are constantly updated by reporters.
Musgrave started out as a technician, doing sound work. Over the last 25 years, she has climbed through the ranks at CBC and is now senior producer in charge of live elections coverage.
She says that although principles of 24-hour news coverage remain the same, the way reporters and producers at CBC gather news has changed dramatically since she joined the network.
“What you will never understand is there were no satellites and no iPhone coverage…you sent your people out to cover an event and they came back,” Musgrave said.
She contrasted that with the news environment of today, where virtually all reporters can file their stories on location.
“We had a young man last year covering the Senate scandal for us. He filed all of his stories on his iPhone,” Musgrave said.
It’s not only the method of filing that has changed. It is also the content and the way news is covered.
A laughing Musgrave said that “people were appalled,” by the introduction of the news crawl across the bottom of the screen. “If you look at it now, banners are always there,” said Musgrave. “They call it mute value.” The banners make sure people are getting news even when the sound on the TV is off.
The substance of coverage has also changed. The days of covering four-hour parliamentary committees are over, and the phone-in show Newsworld used to have in the afternoons would be unheard of today.
“We used to say ‘Okay, something’s happening but we’ll hold that for The National—now Paul Wells [of Maclean’s] has that and he’s tweeting it…you don’t hold anything back anymore,” said Musgrave.
With news becoming digital, and stories being broken online, it might seem as though 24-hour television news could become a thing of the past.
The future for CBC News Network looks precarious in light of job cuts announced at its parent network two weeks ago. The network announced it will cut more than 600 jobs over the next two years.
Last year’s annual report, shown below, said CBC News Network captured an audience share of 1.3 per cent. Its goal was 1.4.
Chuck Thompson, head of media relations for CBC, said in an email exchange that the cuts will affect all CBC News services.
However, he said that “it’s safe to say programming at CBCNN won’t be affected.”

A review of Newsworld’s first day, by Greg Quill:

An article about Newsworld’s first day by Antonia Zerbisias:

CBC’s 2012-2013 Annual Report, with information about CBCNN annotated: