CBC Prime Time News

Overview

CBC Prime Time News was a Canadian nightly newscast which aired on CBC Television from 1992 to 1995. For the previous ten years, the CBC's nightly newscast, The National, had aired at 10 p.m., and was followed by a 40-minute newsmagazine package called The Journal, which was hosted by Barbara Frum. However, following Frum's death in early 1992, the CBC took the opportunity to revamp its flagship newscast. On November 2, 1992, Prime Time News debuted with Peter Mansbridge and Pamela Wallin as equal cohosts of a package which replaced both The National and The Journal, combining news and Journal-style features into a single integrated program which aired at 9 p.m. The approach proved unpopular, both within the CBC and with network audiences. The National had been produced by the CBC's news department, while The Journal belonged to current affairs, and bringing the two departments together was fractious. As well, the on-air rapport between Wallin and Mansbridge was visibly tense at times. As well, because the program aired at 9 p.m., it was competing in one of the most heavily-watched timeslots on the commercial networks. Although The National and The Journal had faced commercial competition at 10 p.m., they had been much more successful at carving out their own niche because in that time slot, almost all of the commercial networks were airing drama series. At 9 p.m., Prime Time News had to compete with popular sitcoms such as Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld and Murphy Brown.