Innovation at CBC — Introducing CBC News for Alexa Routines

By Farai Zvobgo, Product Designer, Digital Strategy & Product, CBC

Here at the CBC, one of our long-standing collective goals is to integrate CBC News into the daily routines of our audiences. We’ve conducted spirited research projects, brainstorming workshops, experiments and more but the solution to our conundrum remained elusive until now. Introducing CBC News for your Alexa daily routine! With this innovative new feature, users will be able to program into their Alexa device the ability to play CBC News as part of their regular day-to-day Alexa routine.

If you’re unfamiliar with Alexa, it is Amazon’s virtual assistant that can be found in mobile devices, Echo devices and other speakers, and even in thermostats. It’s designed to make your life easier by providing you with entertainment, reminding you to perform tasks, doubling as a GPS and so much more.

Alexa routines are essentially custom tasks that are grouped together so you can save time by not having to activate them individually. In simpler terms, they are playlists that consist of actions rather than music only. This could include, for example, a timesaving routine in which Alexa helps you start your day by ringing your morning alarm, turning on the lights throughout your home, playing invigorating music or motivational affirmations and turning on your coffee machine.

And now, playing the latest CBC News can also be a part of that routine so you’ll have all the information you need to navigate the day ahead. Once a routine has been created in your Alexa device, it can be triggered by certain phrases such as simply saying “Good morning” to your Alexa device or setting it up so that it is triggered when your morning alarm rings or at a predetermined time each day.

The ability to incorporate CBC News into Alexa routines was the brainchild of the Voice Platforms and Applications team at CBC and specifically, the team’s Developer, Larry Chong and summer intern, Julia Zhu.

“This feature is designed to enhance Canadians’ access to the latest news by seamlessly integrating it into their daily routines through Alexa routines. It empowers our users to stay informed about global events from a Canadian perspective. Notably, Julia, our co-op team member, played a significant role in the development of this feature.” — Larry Chong, Senior Developer, Digital Development, Digital Strategy And Product

In their quest to incorporate CBC into our audiences’ day-to-day lives, Larry and Julia felt that making it possible for users to be able to add CBC News to their Alexa routines would allow them to “set it and forget it”. This, in turn, would draw in a wider audience-base while automatically increasing the loyalty of current CBC audiences by making CBC News part of their lifestyles.

While this innovative new feature, which launched on October 6, 2023, is now live and expected to increase audience engagement, developing it was not without its challenges. A major roadblock Larry and Julia encountered was the problem presented during the testing phase of the feature’s development. When attempting to put it into testing, Larry and Julia discovered the absence of an environment that was conducive for the implementation of the feature. This was due to the fact that the Alexa routine is still a fresh innovation and testing can only be conducted within a skill that is already existing, certified and in production. Since no such skill existed, Larry and Julia were faced with a significant roadblock during the testing phase of this project.

Fortunately, the dynamic duo was able to overcome this obstacle by redirecting the skill to a different url for testing. This allowed them to manipulate the feature so that it became flexible enough to still be implemented in a less-than-ideal environment.

So, how can you begin enjoying CBC News as part of one of your Alexa routines? If you don’t already have routines set up on your Alexa device, start there. If you’re unsure about how routines are set up, please visit this Amazon Help Article.

Once you have a routine set up, it’s time to add CBC news to it by following the steps outlined in the article How to add CBC to your Alexa device hosted on the CBC Help Centre.

And just like that, CBC is now a part of your Alexa routine. If you have any questions about CBC News for Alexa or any comments or feedback about this new feature, please visit the CBC Help Centre.