The following article appeared in an advertising supplement to Playback.

The 350,000 or so viewers who tune into TVO every day for favourites like Polka Dot Door and The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon don’t carry a lot of clout commercially. Many have yet to celebrate a seventh birthday and their purchasing power depends almost entirely on the goodness of the tooth fairy.

Age notwithstanding, they are a discriminating audience who know quality when they see it. Children turn to TVO and its French-language counterpart La Chaine – recently renamed TFO – for vibrant, educational programming that captures their young imaginations and explores the undiscovered.

But children – while a major segment of the audience – are not watching TVO and TFO without their parents and teachers. As a total group, more than 2.4 million adults and children across the province tune in loyally each week.

That’s an 18.8% increase in viewership this year over last, says Peter Herrndorf, TVOntario’s chairman and chief executive officer. ‘And it comes in spite of – or maybe even because of – the growing number of choices available to viewers.’

Through its 25-year history, TVOntario has grown within the ever-changing dynamics of Canadian broadcasting. Today, as competition from mainstream and specialty services hikes up the heat in the Canadian market, Herrndorf says ongoing efforts to provide relevant, high quality programming are winning viewers who are looking for a non-commercial alternative.

On the prime-time schedule this fall, TVO is bringing back favourites in science and arts programming with titles like Inquiring Minds, Vital Signs, Journeys, Film International and Saturday Night at the Movies. TVO’s Studio 2 and Panorama on TFO each move into their second season in public affairs programming, while TVO’s View From Here and Human Edge showcase the best, and often most productive, in Canadian and international documentary production.

Don Duprey, managing director of TVO’s English programming services, says dramatic improvements in program quality, particularly in the evenings, are primarily responsible for the recent surge in ratings. ‘We recognized a need to ratchet up the prime-time schedule with different kinds of acquisitions,’ he says, ‘while continuing to respect our core educational mandate.’

Duprey points to last season’s enormously successful BBC police drama Inside the Line as an example of the kind of hard edge, well-crafted program that appeals to a broader audience. ‘We’re reaching out to programs that have the same values as before but that cross other audience demographics.’

Documentary commissioning editor Rudy Buttignol says TVO’s $3-million investment over three years in Canadian and international documentary production is reaching new audiences with a superb collection of films.

Documentaries on The View From Here often break into the top 10 in spite of their difficult and sometimes disturbing subject matter. ‘These are well-told, author-driven films dealing with the human condition,’ Buttignol says. ‘The response from viewers and critically has been fantastic.’

Titles for the fall include Time is on my Side which explores the lives of people employed in death industries; 10 -7 for Life which traces the final days on the beat for a disillusioned cop; Northern Justice as seen through the eyes of a young offender and travelling circuit court in the Northwest Territories; and The Champagne Safari, a feature about Charles Bedaux and his trek through the Canadian Rockies, which premiered at the Toronto film festival.

If distinctive, varied programming is the network’s greatest strength in prime-time, it’s also the biggest challenge. ‘We don’t have the Seinfeld or the big sports program on at the same time, each day, 52 weeks a year to establish set viewing habits,’ Duprey says. ‘Literally every hour is different.’

To build a sense of continuum into this season’s schedule, the network organized the fall block into bands of comedy, drama and current affairs running in designated time slots every evening. Studio 2 at 8:00 p.m. weeknights for example is anchoring people to the network and in many cases encouraging them to settle in for the entire evening.

That doesn’t mean the schedule has lost its flexibility, says John Gill, TVO’s head of schedule and acquisitions. ‘There’s no commitment to advertisers demanding that a program begin and end precisely at a certain time,’ he says. ‘We ask ourselves what the best viewing experience for the audience is and if that means extending a program and shuffling the schedule, we’ll do it.’

The schedules on TVO and TFO are changing significantly beginning Oct. 1 when the networks no longer switch signals on Sundays for cable viewers. Instead, each network will broadcast in the same language on its own cable channel seven days a week .

Sharon Salson, communications director, says the shift back opens up a whole new opportunity to reach audiences. ‘Sunday is a very big day for viewing television,’ she says, ‘so we’re promoting the slot aggressively and we’re confident that the move will attract new viewers to each network.’

Yet TVOntario’s prime-time schedule represents just a fraction of its programming output. According to its ceo, the educational broadcaster has endured and thrived in Ontario largely because it has stayed true to the principles on which it was founded.

‘We’ve adapted to changing times, new technologies, different educational and social demands,’ he says, ‘ but we continue to stick to our knitting with programming that informs, enlightens and educates our audience.’

More than 70% of the schedule is devoted to meeting the formal educational needs of the province: programming for preschoolers and children at home; curriculum programming; professional development for teachers; job skills training; home studies and accompanying adult education material. It is in programming that educates viewers in the home, workplace and in school where TVO and TFO will continue to place their heaviest investments.

Like its English counterpart, TFO enters the fall season refreshed with a new image that reflects the style and energy of a network that’s intent on competing in a multichannel environment. Culminating the image transformation of the French-language network was its name change from La Chaine to TFO.

Jacques Bensimon, managing director of French programming services, says the new name resonates in the francophone community and also connects the network more obviously with the TVOntario family.

French programming will not be affected by the change nor will the network’s mandate to service the unique needs of francophones living in Ontario. ‘TFO is very often the only French-language reference for news about government decisions that occur in Ontario,’ Bensimon says.

TFO’s focus on improving the prime-time schedule led to an audience increase of 30% over Fall 1994 last year.

‘We have really sharpened our touch, ‘ Bensimon says. ‘In the evenings, we’re providing an ongoing continuum of prime-time programming beginning with public affairs and following through with cinema which has become trademark of TFO.’

He adds that French-speaking children of all ages grow up on a steady diet of TFO programming in Ontario. ‘They literally start their lives with us with programs like Pingu and A la claire fontaine.’

In youth programming, TFO’s daily magazine Volt! is gaining growing popularity with teenage viewers who like the program’s tone and approach to every day concerns. While in the classroom, the network has been instrumental in developing learning systems which are quite distinct from those in Quebec.

As part of a renewed commitment to children’s programming in French and English, TVOntario has set up a special development fund to support new projects in children’s television. Sharon Salson says fund-raising efforts will be linked to various province-wide events marking the broadcaster’s 25th anniversary this year .

The fund is necessary, says Josh Morris, TVO’s executive producer of children’s and youth programming, because it channels money into an area of programming that, in spite of its importance, has limited revenue potential.

‘Shows like Dudley the Dragon, Polka Dot Door and even Sesame Street could never have existed without the support of public broadcasting,’ Morris says. Success over the long term and spin-off merchandising revenue often transform preschool educational shows into money-making ventures, ‘but in preschool programming, the financial incentive, at least in the short run, just isn’t there.’

Debuting on TVO this fall for preschoolers is the Nelvana series Scholastic’s The Magic Schoolbus, the award-winning Australian hit Bananas in Pyjamas and Sing Me a Story, a series combining live action and animation by Patrick Davidson Productions for Buena Vista Television. Also on schedule are new episodes of TVO’s Polka Dot Shorts and Breakthrough’s Adventures of Dudley the Dragon.

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, select episodes return of TVO’s Today’s Special, a popular and innovative preschool program that was first broadcast 10 years ago.

TVO has earned high marks around the world for the quality of its educational fare, yet misconceptions about the content and look of educational television prevail at home. Internationally, Morris says, educational shows are revered while ‘here, unfortunately, they’re not as supported by mainstream broadcasters.

‘We know from experience that hard core curriculum programming rarely works. Kids won’t come home from school and sit by the television with their notebooks. Our productions have to be vibrant and entertaining without losing their educational focus.’

Morris points to Disney’s Bill Nye the Science Guy, Ghostwriter and to TVO’s just piloted McCabe Mysteries as compelling examples of how programming can peak a child’s interest in a subject area within an upbeat, energetic context.

This season, the spotlight hits the tween set – kids ages 7 to 13 – with programs like Atlantis-produced Wildside, and CRO, a new comedy-adventure series by the Children’s Television Workshop. Returning is the ever-popular sports and information Insight series Pumped!

‘Kids in that age group are often abandoned by television,’ Morris says.

TVO’s new live variety program Off the Hook speaks the same language of kids in the 10-13 age group and explores topics of concern in a style that’s humorous and upbeat. Since viewer participation is essential in the format, Off the Hook invites young people to join the live studio audience or to call in, write, fax or send comments through the Internet.

The afterschool marathon of children’s programming is tied together and packaged by TVO Kids Kevin, Joe and Patty who help bridge the age gap between younger and older viewers. This block has become so popular with young viewers, it received a 29.3% share in the 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. slot – last fall Patti, Kevin and Joe are now bonafide stars, adored by kids all across the province.

Staying in touch with everyday practical applications is a tenet that runs throughout the network’s programming, but particularly so in science. Wally Longul, who heads up TVO’s science programming, says that in his 25 years with the network, he’s discovered through trial and error and in discussions with other broadcasters what works and what doesn’t with audiences.

‘Doom and gloom programming about the environment, for example, that doesn’t offer a solution or at least a direction to a solution doesn’t work,’ says Longul, adding that the TVO’s highly acclaimed Inquiring Minds enjoys such wide appeal at home and abroad because ‘it’s a science show about every day science. It’s the kind of program that asks and answers why the sky is blue.’

In addition to content, a program’s packaging and presentation can often set it apart from the mainstream. As an example, Elwy Yost’s Saturday Night at the Movies transforms the viewing of classic films into a learning experience by exploring their social context and relevance to society today through follow-up discussion.

Similarly, the introduction and discussion that followed TVO’s presentation of the Good Sex Guide strengthened the series and enhanced its value as a public service.

Wally Longul’s preview of the BBC series occurred by chance in London. ‘The head of marketing asked me to take a look at the tape,’ he recalls, ‘but he said it would never run in Canada.’

Ultimately, the Good Sex Guide became an incredible success for TVO, generating over 600,000 viewers for a single episode, widespread positive feedback and more than 1,500 calls to counsellors per episode in follow-up discussions hosted by Rob Buckman.

Meeting the more formal needs of educators and students in the classroom, workplace and in the home remains a central mandate of TVOntario.

In curriculum programming specifically, the network is in the midst of an ambitious multiphase project in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Training to ensure programming for grades one through nine remains aligned with the new directions taking place in Ontario’s classrooms.

Leading the project is Dr. Ron Wideman, who also coordinated the development of The Common Curriculum, Grades 1-9 in Ontario while he was with the Ministry of Education.

‘Education in Ontario is undergoing major changes as we try to better equip students for the 21st century,’ Wideman says. ‘That means greater accountability, closer partnerships with parents and an approach that connects what is learned in the classroom to the realities of every day.’

The project team is reviewing TVO’s existing in-school programming to ensure the material and approach are still relevant. Following the initial assessment, the team will consider how to enhance the inventory of programs, often through the use of interactive technologies. Finally, the curriculum project is studying methods of packaging and delivering the materials so that teachers and parents can access and use them effectively.

Television and the technologies which accompany it have become almost indispensable in the delivery of education, Wideman says. ‘We’ve gone way beyond traditional means of print to a whole new generation of multimedia materials incorporating videodisc, CD-ROM and on-line networks.’

Worksearch is the first of two flagships being launched by the curriculum project in the fall. The project started in TVOntario’s existing video collection of more than 100 career programs. In partnership with the Ministry of Education, TVOntario distributed a work booklet to every grade 7 student in the province in 1994 which guided them through a series of self-assessment activities. Through Worksearch, the booklet is available on disk and CD-ROM, allowing students to gage individual aptitude and interest in a more accessible and cost-effective format.

Our Fragile World, the second project, originated in TVO’s Global Family science series, which explores the interaction of species within their own ecosystems. In development are four new 15-minute programs which will be accompanied by a CD-ROM data disc containing related stills, sound effects and music. Our Fragile World encourages students to use the CD-ROM material along with an authoring program to create their own multimedia presentation.

‘It’s an opportunity for students to share their observations, exchange information and enter into further discussion,’ says Wideman.

For students outside the classroom, TVOntario’s Distance Learning division is striking partnerships with businesses and associations and developing skills training courses for people to view in their homes or at work. More than 20,000 people have taken the courses in the last two years.

TVO’s Distance Learning division has branched out with advancements in interactive learning though satellite. Professional development courses for educators and parents remain a central focus for the division as do TVO’s home studies courses and its increasing range of high school and university credit courses.

A mandate to produce high quality educational programming has not insulated the networks from the economic realities of the bottom line. Over the last few years, TVOntario has absorbed a $9.5-million budget reduction, a combination of government cutbacks, the cost of unfunded inflation and the Social Contract. As a result the organization was forced to cut administrative staff and long-term infrastructure costs. Of this year’s $80-million budget, $66-million comes from government with the remainder contributed by a membership base of 71,000, corporate underwriters, merchandising, and program sales.

Recognizing a need to become more self-reliant, the public broadcaster is revealing an entrepreneurial side with an ambitious campaign to increase privately generated revenue by 15% each year. If successful, total reliance on government funding will drop from the current 82% to 50% by the year 2002.

Herrndorf describes the private revenue drive as ‘a survival strategy. It’s simply not realistic to expect that in this day and age, the public treasury can continue to provide the same level of funding as it did in the past,’ he says.

With two on-air membership drives scheduled and a direct mail campaign, the network is determined to add another 15% to membership revenue on top of last year’s only on-air increase. The 1994/95 on-air campaign raised an additional 26% in revenue over the previous year. Audiences seem to be responding with their pocket books to keep TVOntario strong.

Licensing and merchandising toys, videos and CDs associated with programs like Polka Dot Door is a new and promising source of funds which has already proven itself.

‘Polkaroo dolls have been on the market for a year and we’re very pleased with the results so far, ‘ says Cindy Galbraith, licensing and merchandising manager. She says expansions into other product lines in cookware, gardening and fitness are also moving ahead.

In addition to funds generated through product merchandising and membership contributions, the broadcaster hopes to add to the $4-million currently generated by various forms of corporate underwriting throughout the schedule.

TVOntario’s greatest potential for growth, however, comes from viewers who sit outside traditional provincial boundaries. As broadcasters everywhere turn the spotlight on the global audience, TVOntario has been at the forefront, exporting knowledge-based products and forging strong and lasting partnerships with broadcasters around the world.

Years of programming against a cross-border flow of U.S. television may in fact have primed the network to thrive in a competitive international arena. For TVOntario, adapting to a 60-channel universe is a next, natural step in its growth as an educational broadcaster.

According to Pat Fillmore, director of international marketing, TVOntario is the second largest supplier of curriculum-based programming to the U.S. instructional television market and has just unseated the BBC as the largest foreign supplier of curriculum programming to the Australian market.

‘We’re well aware that the most popular entertainment programming anywhere is American, but we have also recognized a solid need for documentary educational programming,’ Fillmore says. ‘In countries where cable is proliferating at an enormous rate, there is almost always one if not two channels designated for educational content. And they’re buying by the ton – often 50 to 100 hours.’

Sales of TVO’s Inquiring Minds took off into the stratosphere, particularly in the U.K. where it’s ranked consistently in the top 10 on Discovery. Inquiring Minds was also the first program of many TVO has sold in China as part of a recent and gainful alliance with Shanghai Oriental Television.

Bill Roberts, director of international relations, says that no other broadcaster in North America enjoys such a profitable branch of international activity. TVOntario’s programs have been sold in 104 countries, generating $22-million over the last five years.

The broadcaster’s foray into multimedia technologies is creating new opportunities with private and public partners, particularly in North America. While it often supplies entire educational packages, TVOntario also works in tandem with partners and provides separate elements – such as a teaching guide or the video component – to augment existing packages.

‘We have gone past the point of straight product sales,’ Roberts says, ‘to striking strategic alliances with various international broadcasters and educational communities. As the Canadian market becomes saturated, it’s in these kinds of partnerships where TVOntario will find its future.’

They’re also a prominent part of its past. TVO’s first ground-breaking partnership was struck in 1982 with NHK broadcasting in Japan.

Wally Longul recalls how the agreement to coproduce a two-hour adaptation of Alvin Toffler’s book The Third Wave became a model for the more than 100 science coproductions that were to follow with NHK.

‘We spent a year working on the project – three months on the road – and got to know each other quite well,’ Longul says of the two production units. ‘We disagreed a hell of a lot but we realized early on that our differences were cultural, not production oriented.’

For the venture to be a success, TVO and NHK post produced their own versions for their respective audiences, but co-developed and co-shot the programs.

In 1989, TVO and NHK embarked on their first coproduction of Global Family, By 1994, they had produced 80 half-hour episodes shot on location in Africa, Asia, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. TVO has the distribution rights for North America and all French-language markets and shares in sales to more than 50 countries.

In addition to programming, the TVO/NHK alliance established ScienceView as an international forum for broadcasters and independents to exchange ideas and strike partnerships for coproduction. According to Longul, delegates from 20 countries attended last year’s conference in Hong Kong and more than 80% of science programming around the world originated in that group.

ScienceView is set to take place Oct. 7 this year in Paris immediately ahead of MIPCOM.

TVOntario’s science programming opened the door on the international market and paved the way for breakthroughs in other areas. In addition to agreements with educational communities in Korea and Mexico City, TVOntario is working on several productions with more than two dozen PBS stations, ABC in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand.

In France, the broadcaster played an instrumental role in helping to define and launch that country’s new public broadcasting service called La Cinquieme last January. TVO representatives, working with industry and government officials in France, provided consulting support and ultimately championed the introduction of the new channel to more senior levels of government.

Representatives from both sides are finalizing a major three-year agreement which sets a framework for coacquisitions, coproductions and program sales. Tobin says that plans for multimedia developments and comarketing representation are also included in the agreement.

The latest thrust, a multi-year partnership with Shanghai’s Oriental Television, has opened up a market of 120 million people to TVOntario. In addition to sales of programs and distance learning material, the accord has triggered some coproduction activity.

Work has started on a major documentary called a Tale of Two Cities which explores the similarities and differences between Shanghai and Toronto. Describing Shanghai as a city in renewal, Wally Longul says, ‘Going into China and getting to know them culturally was our first priority.’

The partners are consulting with each other during shooting in Shanghai and Toronto and in all other stages of development. Editors and technicians from Shanghai TV will be in Toronto in the fall learning from TVO’s editors and production crews. A Tale of Two Cities is slated for a January release.

Bill Roberts did the initial research into finding a potential partner in China. ‘We started with a network of roughly 800 stations and whittled it down to 12 finalists over a period of several months,’ he remembers. It was an exhaustive process that involved consultation with the Chinese community in Toronto, Chinese government trade officials and Canadians representatives in China.

‘On a global campus, we are enormously respected and can hold our own with organizations like the BBC or PBS that employ thousands of people,’ Roberts says. While at home, many people may be surprised to hear ‘that little TVOntario is right up there in a leadership role, often providing a model for other public broadcasters.’

Wally Longul says TVO’s involvement in international consortia has allowed the broadcaster to produce programming that it could not have otherwise afforded. ‘TVO isn’t necessary the poor boy on the block, but when you’re negotiating with the BBC which has a much higher production budget, ‘ he says, ‘it can take some clever manoeuvring to get them involved in a project.’

Reaching out to its viewers and educators over 25 years, TVOntario was not only fulfilling its mandate as an educational provincial broadcaster, it was embarking on its own path of learning. Today it’s applying what it has learned and forging partnerships that draw on the best talents of everyone involved.

Bill Roberts says that TVOntario’s own culture and experience make it a conducive participant in developing coproduction arrangements. ‘We’re flexible,’ he says, ‘we’re

patient and we have a knack for finding a way of turning $1.50 into a $5 note.’

TVOntario

25 Years

in the Making

TVOntario’s first signal hit the airwaves on Sept. 27, 1970 at 2:00 p.m. and ran just over three hours. Today the schedule runs from 4:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. seven days a week.

Initially the signal covers only the Toronto area. By 1995, the signal broadcasts over 97% of the province.

The first year TVOntario broadcasts 500 hours of programming. Two years later, output jumps to 5,000 hours. By 1993, the number of hours broadcast are 12,898 – 6,845 on TVO and 6,053 on La Chaine.

Less than 200,000 viewers tuned in weekly to TVOntario in the first two years. Latest audience figures show 2.4 million people watching programs on TVO and TFO in any given week.

Total start-up budget in 1970 is $9-million. Today’s $80-million budget receives $58.4-million as it’s provincial operating grant with the remainder generated by the membership, program sales, corporate underwriting and product merchandising.

In 1974, Elwy Yost’s Saturday Night At the Movies debuts and becomes a programming fixture on TVO.

Broadcasts of Polka Dot Door begin in 1967 on TVO’s predecessor, ETVO, a government branch of the Ministry of Education. The preschool program becomes the network’s longest running show and is still overwhelmingly popular. Now in repeat broadcast, Polka Dot Door is being revitalized with new episodes slated for the 1996 fall season.

First membership drive in 1982 draws in approximately 18,000 contributors to TVOntario in the first year. By 1995, the membership base has grown to almost 71,000 people.

In 1982, the network enters into its first co-venture with public broadcaster NHK in Japan. The partnership lays the groundwork for more than 100 science documentaries that were later coproduced with NHK. Coproductions and program sales represent a significant part of TVOntario’s current international activities.

In 1987, La Chaine – a fully dedicated French-language network – is set up to service francophones living in Ontario. By 1995, La Chaine, renamed TFO, becomes the largest French-television network outside of Quebec and a broadcasting staple in more than one million francophone and francophile homes in Ontario.

The

Celebrations

Begin

To salute 25 years of broadcasting, TVOntario is extending an open invitation to people across the province to join in a series of special events this fall and winter.

Sharon Salson, the network’s communications director, says that while the events mark a network milestone, more importantly, their public forum is bringing TVOntario, directly to the communities it serves.

‘We’re reaching out to people in every corner of this province ,’ Salson says, adding that all 25th anniversary events will also promote a new Children’s Programming Fund. Organizers hope to generate $1-million for the Fund this year.

Open House

The doors swung open on TVO’s Yonge and Eglinton headquarters in Toronto Sept. 16 to more than 35,000 wellwishers who were anxious to take a peek inside the facility.

The open house, the network’s fourth in as many years, drew record crowds to a carousel of attractions that jampacked the day. Sharon Salson says that in addition to studio tours inside, ‘we essentially turned the parking lot into a fairground with live stage shows, an athletic centre for kids and a makeshift TVO Kids and Volt studio.’

Much of the fanfare surrounded a penny drop into the Fountain for Youth which officially launched the children’s programming fund.

Road Shows

TVO cameras are rolling in communities around the province this fall starting with a visit to Ayr for that town’s celebrated Plowing Match Sept 18-23. TVO, a media sponsor, will broadcast a special segment of TVO Kids from the festival site.

Network spokespeople have started visits to 80 cities and towns around the province in an effort to spread the word about TVO/TFO. The information exchange, called Speakers’ Bureau, invites local residents to participate in a two-way dialogue with on-air personalities, programmers, producers and senior corporate directors from the networks. For more information, call (416) 484-2646.

TVOntario also hopes to implement a special education project in all the elementary schools across Ontario. Negotiations are underway for a sponsor and details of the project – another fundraiser for the Chrildren’s Programming Fund – will soon be released.

In February, it’s on to Ottawa for Winterlude, a three-week festival sponsored by TVO with special on-site broadcasts by TVO Kids, and in February Volt and Panorama to tour the East.

Also in February, network stars from TVO and TFO will race ‘Across the North’ in their first-ever snowmobile rally. Reporting from the field, each team will stop briefly at check points covering the province and raising funds for the children’s programming Fund along the way. The network is on the lookout for a sponsor to move ahead with this initiativem which will also feature special programming highlighting the people and places of the north.

On-Air

Campaigns and Membership Sweepstakes

Stepping up the push for funds and new members, TVO will run two on-air campaigns in its anniversary year – one in November, the other in February 1996. Winners of a special sweepstakes for existing and former members will be drawn on the air in November. The grand prize is a trip to Hong Kong.

Gala Fundraiser

In March or April 1996, anniversary celebrations will come to a dramatic close at a TVOntario fundraising gala where final contributions to the children’s programming fund will be collected and tallied for the year. Venue and exact date to be announced.