CBC French service backpedals on name change from Radio-Canada to ICI

CBC French-language service says it will now keep Radio-Canada in its name after facing criticism for a rebranding exercise that would have the public broadcaster drop Radio-Canada in favour of ICI.

Initially Radio-Canada was rebranding its radio station as ICI Première, its television service as ICI Télé and its website as ICI.ca. On Monday, CBC president Hubert Lacroix backpedalled, saying the three platforms will now be known as ICI Radio-Canada Première, ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and ICI Radio-Canada.ca respectively.

CBC French-language service says it will now keep Radio-Canada in its name after facing criticism for a rebranding exercise that would have the public broadcaster drop Radio-Canada in favour of ICI.

Initially Radio-Canada was rebranding its radio station as ICI Première, its television service as ICI Télé and its website as ICI.ca. On Monday, CBC president Hubert Lacroix backpedalled, saying the three platforms will now be known as ICI Radio-Canada Première, ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and ICI Radio-Canada.ca respectively.

“Though this week's launch did not have the impact we would have liked, we are confident that our approach is the right one and that our audiences will appreciate the new experience we are providing,” the CBC said in a press release sent last week.


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"All across the organization, Radio-Canada is working to redefine itself in order to remain a relevant public broadcaster that thinks about, produces and delivers content effectively in a multiplatform world,” Radio-Canada executive vice-president Louis Lalande said in Monday’s statement. “A large part of our audience no longer consumes these products in a traditional manner. That's why it's essential for us to adopt a common denominator like ICI to identify everything we're doing in a rapidly evolving media market."

The CBC also defended its spending of $400,000 to two private firms for the rebranding as a “reasonable figure.”

“We are also aware of the financial challenges we face as well as the importance of living within our means. That's why almost all the creative work associated with this rebranding exercise was done in-house by dozens of employees,” the press release stated. “The expertise they [the private firms] provided helped our teams develop the brand architecture, related logos and on-air graphics of Radio-Canada's ten platforms, and ensured a coherent approach to our visual identity and advertising campaign.”