CBC News produces a variety of local newscasts for CBC Television's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os) throughout Canada. On most stations, the local news operation is branded with standard, regional titles such as CBC Toronto News. However, there are variations to this naming convention for northern Canada and certain markets where the CBC has historically been strong in local news, such as Here & Now in Newfoundland, Compass on Prince Edward Island, and Northbeat on CBC North.
Overview
Currently, most CBC O&Os produce either a full-hour or a 30-minute local newscast during the early evening on weeknights. In addition, most stations air a late-night newscast for ten or thirty minutes at 11 p.m. following The National. This schedule varies for some stations depending on available resources or local considerations. CBET-DT Windsor previously aired its 90-minute evening newscast at 5:30 p.m. until the revamping of CBC's local news operations in October 2015 (it now airs for 30 minutes beginning at 5:59 p.m.), while CBNT-DT St. John's formerly aired CBC News: Here & Now - Early Edition at 5:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time until October 2015, followed by the hour-long CBC News: Here & Now at 6:00 p.m. NT.
Local evening newscasts are produced in all three Maritime provinces, but a single late-night newscast for the region is produced at CBHT-DT Halifax. Likewise, the Alberta stations in Calgary and Edmonton produce their own evening newscasts, but a single late-night provincial newscast is produced in Edmonton at CBXT-DT.
Due to unique circumstances and needs in Northern Canada, two local television newscasts are aired by CBC North in that region. The 30 minute-long CBC News: Northbeat (5:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. ET) features local news in English and several Aboriginal languages (translated with English subtitles). This is followed by a 30-minute newscast in Inuktitut, Igalaaq (ᐃᒐᓛᖅ, "Window"). CBC North does not carry a late-night newscast of its own, and simulcasts CBC Edmonton News instead.
Until 2011, CBUT-DT Vancouver was the only CBC O&O to produce weekend newscasts, with half-hour programs on Saturday nights at 10:30 p.m. (after Hockey Night in Canada) and Sundays at 11:00 p.m. On October 15, 2011, CBLT added a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast on Saturdays, and a ten-minute news bulletin on Sundays at 10:55 p.m.; CBRT-DT Calgary would also join CBUT and CBLT in carrying weekend local news programming during the fall of 2011, and CBNT-DT St. John's launched a local weekend newscast in the spring of 2012, as part of a five-year strategy by the CBC to improve its services to six million Canadian homes unserved or underserved by CBC's radio, television and internet services.
On September 2, 2013, CBET Windsor expanded its early evening newscast to 90 minutes from 5:30 to 7 p.m., while its 11 p.m. newscast was replaced by CBLT's newscast at that time, differing from most CBC O&Os in other markets where the station carries both an early and late evening newscast of its own. Asha Tomlinson became anchor of the expanded newscast, replacing Amanda Ferguson, who became anchor during Susan Pedler's maternity leave.
History
Prior to fall 2000, CBC stations produced local newscasts under a variety of titles, including Broadcast One at CBUT, 24 Hours at CBWT Winnipeg, CBC Evening News at CBLT Toronto, Compass at CBCT Charlottetown, and Here & Now at CBNT. These were typically one-hour broadcasts aired at 6:00 p.m. local, 6:30 p.m. NT. 30-minute late local newscasts, in many cases titled Newsfinal, were also aired in most markets at 11:30 p.m. local / midnight NT. The late newscasts were abandoned briefly during the Prime Time News era, resumed in the mid-1990s, and cancelled again in 2000.
In early 2000, the CBC (under president Robert Rabinovitch) announced a plan to eliminate local newscasts except in Northern Canada, believing that the dominance of private competitors had made these programs redundant. Local newscasts were to be replaced by a national supper-hour program with limited local inserts. This plan, and particularly the fact that exceptions would not be made for the CBC's highly rated newscasts in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, led to protests across the country, and most strongly in those two markets.