Quality of discussion, not format, blamed for drop in debate viewership

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – We’re now two debates in and seeing fewer Canadians tune in to watch federal leaders bicker ahead of next month’s election, when compared with the 2011 campaign.

The morning after this latest debate, the Globe and Mail Debate had 300,000 views on YouTube.

That’s a similar tally to the Maclean’s Debate online numbers, which had total viewership of 4.3 million — a 40 per cent dip in people watching when compared with the 2011 English debate, which had 10.6 million viewers.

Former BCIT broadcast journalism instructor George Orr blames a drop in the quality of discourse.

“I think it’s a damn shame that the politicians involved don’t actually discuss and debate and compare and contrast and have civilized conversations about process,” says Orr.

Some blame the lower numbers on the fact the two debates to date haven’t been organized by the traditional broadcast consortium — but not Orr.

“If it were made more accessible, I don’t think more people would be watching,” he insists. “I just don’t see the appetite for it, and I think some of the politicians have hit that on the head by going, ‘I’ll talk in this little debate, and that little debate, but I’m not going to sit down in front of the big cameras.'”

CPAC expects to have full TV viewership numbers next week.

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