What came first the program or the sponsor?

Saskatoon: Kendall Gibson, operations and program manager at cisa-tv Lethbridge, is unabashedly proud of his stance that no local program goes to air unless costs are covered and it makes money.

Though some of his initiatives brought boos and heckles from the audience at the April 9-12 CanPro ’94, in Saskatoon, he stands by them.

‘We’re at the point in broadcasting where I believe you have to be very mercenary in getting sponsors and accounts.’

cisa no longer gives time away, Gibson said. When the Kiwanis came to the station looking for a psa to hype their annual apple sale, Gibson’s question was: ‘How much you got to spend?’

CanPro delegates didn’t let up on that one, but Gibson told them the Kiwanis eventually came up with some money.

Ideas don’t come from within the station, Gibson said. They come from sponsors or the sales department.

‘If the sponsor had the idea, you can’t go wrong, if they’re going to pay for it.’

City-tv Toronto’s director of programming Jay Switzer doesn’t live by Gibson’s motto. His station is enjoying international attention with several shows, including FashionTelevision and New Music. The genesis for these programs came from within the station.

‘The production history of these shows began as local ideas. Staff members had a particular idea and passion.’

The pilots were produced with total investment by the station and treated seriously with time and promotion, said Switzer.

‘Budgets have nothing to do with the size (of a production). Quality and passion are what’s important,’ he said.

Creativity and inventiveness in the industry will come from local markets, agreed Ron Lillie of Summerhill Entertainment. But budgeting and the bottom line are still important.

When doing a program, producers have to look to at least break even in Canada, he said.

‘If I can’t see a way to sell the program in my own country, I won’t go through with it.’

Producing marketable programs is one of the way City makes money. Several of its programs have sold well internationally.

The networks are anxious to take full advantage of advertising dollars. The CTV Television Network developed TOPS – Total Optimization of Premiums and Specials. The best-known example was the ctv special Towards 2000, which was totally sponsored by Xerox.

ctv’s senior vice-president for marketing and programming Paul Robertson acknowledged this trend as a way of the future, but said advertisers must understand what their involvement is at the outset.

During the production of Towards 2000, Xerox knew it was at arm’s length from the editorial content, said Robertson. Editorial integrity is what’s important when it comes to news and information.

‘The sponsors understand this, because their credibility is at stake as well,’ he said.

ctv put tops to work on a more recent promotion involving Ford Motors and its launch of the 30th anniversary Mustang. The network tied the launch to the movie Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen and a 1964 Mustang.

Audience numbers were 15% higher than movie averages and Ford sales results exceeded expectations, Robertson said.

‘What’s important,’ he said, ‘is to demonstrate to the advertising community that we can produce something creative together and, at the same time, meet our respective goals.’