Bruce D

I rather like the format of “The National,” now running for a year, and I have a certain amount of respect for the four “anchors” who present fairly balanced and sometimes personal points of view on many issues, regional and national. There are some aspects of “The National” that I find both distracting and annoying, however. First: At the half-hour mark, the viewer is faced with seven or eight commercials, followed by the announcer advising what is coming next. But the viewer has to sit through another seven or eight commercials before the program resumes. While I understand the necessity of commercial support, the heavy dosage of commercials, some of questionable taste, is difficult to sit through. Second: “Here’s what else we are working on tonight” is a veritable time-waster. Why does the viewer have to sit through several minutes of thumbnails of what immediately follows? Is s/he assumed to have such short attention spans that s/he need this “hook” to keep watching? This segment is always accompanied by highly annoying, rhythmic background music (“music” for lack of a better word) that has one reaching for the mute button. Third: On a similar note, many segments that might be labelled “human interest stories” are also accompanied by background music. The music is often not only distracting, but it also occasionally interferes with the dialogue. Why do producers of these segments feel this is necessary? Fourth: I hope that the CBC will soon cease repeat broadcasts of segments shown earlier in the season. Most viewers who try to remain faithful to “The National” certainly don’t need to see repeat broadcasts of episodes aired months earlier. It makes one think that the CBC is filling time for lack of real news to report. Fifth: I don’t feel that round-table discussions on pop culture have any place in a serious news broadcast unless “The National” is trying to mix entertainment with news, a bad mix in this viewer’s opinion. On a “good” night, perhaps 30 minutes of “The National” merit my attention. Thank you.