LOS ANGELES, Calif.–So how come on Air Canada when you dial up all the options on the LCD screen in the headrest in front of you there are no CBC options?
Winged it down to LA last night (in town for various interviews, including set visits to Dexter, Californication and Craig Ferguson) and decided to check out the Air Canada In Flight menu. Under the comedy category, you could choose from such shows as The Class (canceled over a year ago), The Big Bang Theory (watched episode three, which was pretty funny), The New Adventures of Old Christine, Everybody Hates Chris and Fox’s ‘Till Death. There were no episodes of Sophie or even jPod to select, not even Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Odd, since CBC News is the default Air Canada news option.
Forget watching such CBC shows as The Border or Intelligence at 35,000 feet. Instead, there are shows like Boston Legal, Chuck (a drama?), CSI: NY, Pushing Daisies, The Closer, Psyche and Ugly Betty under the “Drama” heading.
A canceled CBC show, Antiques Roadshow, turns up under the “World” TV category. Hidden under something called “Entertainment,” where you might expect to find eTalk or Entertainment Tonight Canada, were such outstanding U.S. cable gems as The Wire, Big Love, Entourage, Curb, Flight of the Conchords and new HBO stuff like In Treatment. Why not list these under comedy or drama, or even adult drama?
The Ar Canada menu also included plenty of XM radio channels. Smart marketing: people trapped on the five hour flight to LA get to sample satellite radio wares. I realize there are probably months when they do have a presence, but too bad CBC hasn’t been more aggressive about getting shows like The Border and Sophie in front of Canadians in flight.
10 Comments
Intelligence and Little Mosque were both on the inflight when I was on a AC flight last.
Intelligence struck me as odd since they chose a random ep from a heavily serialized show. Which is bizarre.
They absolutely should have Mosque, Heartland, Jpod, MVP, and The Border on the system.
Hell, if they were REALLY clever, they’d make Air Canada the first/only place you could see a sneak preview of upcoming show “The Session.”
The reason why they don’t? I suspect it’s the same reason why it’s so hard to find meticulously updated TV show websites in Canada: Nobody’s minding the store, there’s not the buget to update it often, and nobody takes enough pride in their work to make it happen.
Oh, and I betcha Fox returns Air Canada’s calls. As anyone who calls a TV station or distributor (or any other business, really) knows — in Canada, they don’t return your calls. Like, ever.
Back in my journo days I never had to wait more than an hour to get a callback from an American source.
Canadian? I’m still waiting for the majority of my calls from 1994 to be returned.
Bill Brioux 10:06 AM
“how come on Air Canada…. there are no CBC options”
The only way you can get someone to watch the CBC is to hold them hostage at 36,000 feet for five hours.
Maybe there are no CBC “options” because of all the complaints. Air Canada doesn’t want any trouble from its passengers on a long flight so it’s best to offer entertainment which doesn’t piss people off.
bip-bip-zzzhh-Gra-zzzp-bbb-ffft. Sorry Bill, just tuning the the crazy radio away…– the other thing I remember noting at the time from my seat at the back of the plane was that bycounting the screens, the two shows that everyone seemed to be watching were “CSI” and “Little Mosque.”
You’re right in that it’s a tremendous promotional opportunity. Shame that they’re not capitalizing on it.
dmc 1:33 PM
“that bycounting the screens, the two shows everyone seemed to be watching were, CSI and Little Mosque”
It’s a miracle that flight made it.
Forcing Air Canada passengers to watch the state funded cbc might not be such a bad idea as more Canadians watching those horrid state funded shows would ask themselves…”This crappola costs us a billion plus a year?, you gotta be kidding.”…which might accelerate its death.
Fuuuuuuccck…
Can one not discuss the CBC ever without the crazies descending???
Be fair, Will — it’s the only way they get to feel important.
uh, anonymously important.
Fuck. You’re right. It’s just sad.
I think you see in the traffic (everybody reads this blog!) to comment (nobody comments anymore) ratio what Bill’s decision to keep it up with the anonymouse option is doing…but hey, that’s the call of the man. And if that means getting to hear the same tired, witless shit over and over, hey — it’s still better than CPAC!
dmc 1:40 PM
“And if that means getting to hear the same tired,
witless shit over and over, hey – it’s still better than CPAC!”
Censor dissent – do not allow anyone to make an anonymous comment on a blog which is designed to promote Canadian state funded culture.
Good for you dmc for recognizing that we all need to feel important by posting anonymous comments?
And if anyone ever criticized Canada’s state funded culture and signed their own name dmc, willie dixon and the gang would be leveling personal attacks and worse just like the nazi’s did back in the ’30’s.
And isn’t it curious how dmc challenges the conservative government for their position on bill C-10 arguing that by denying financing to films which are socially unacceptable is censorship while those who post on a blog criticizing state funded culture should be censored.
What a fat hypocrite
dmc is a wannabe liberal elite that have hijacked the country from Canadians spewing their mantra – “this is for me and that is for you”…only problem for liberal bootlickers such as dmc is they ain’t got the cash, only the crumbs their masters toss them, sad really.
Pee Pee! Poo! CBC sux LOL o god it so fun 2B so pwrfull! cock! hee hee i am so bad!