TVO has announced it will no longer produce new short interstitial segments of Gisèle’s Big Backyard, but will continue to air the daily programming block.

Approximately six employees and seven hours of in-house production will be affected by the cut.

“We have a fixed transfer from the province and rising inflation means we have to make some difficult decisions,” says Jeff Rohrer, director of communications at TVO, who stresses that the decision was not the result of a government funding cut.

Rohrer adds that TVO has a catalogue of more than 800 segments of Gisèle’s Big Backyard, which will be sufficient to serve its two- to four-year-old preschool audience during the 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. block for the coming years.

“Kids watch Gisèle’s Big Backyard to get ready for school and then once they hit the five-year mark they’re looking for a different kind of content experience,” he explains.

Production on the final segments of Gisèle’s Big Backyard ends in May. Rohrer says TVO will continue to work the new segments into the schedule in the next few months, before relying solely on classic segments. He adds that, given its financial constraints, the pubcaster is not looking for additional independent programming to fill the Gisèle programming slot.