"The tame current affairs programming is unviewable  ... "

Not quite unviewable but not as good as it could be. The real problem is that there is no acceptable alternative. I constantly check news on the internet so I don't "need" a nightly newscast but it's something I grew up with and it rounds my day off with a round-up of what's happening. I think that's valuable and more news and less fluff at 9pm would be greatly welcomed. I am sure most conservatives will show up their hands in horror but IMHO the best news available today in terms of both breadth and depth is streamed online by Aljazeera ... and before the muslim deriders throw up their hands in horror they should really check it out just once. Plummy British accents and not a hijab in sight. If the CBC could model that they would do themselves, and Canada, a lot of good.