These 23 new licensees mean murky days for all, including producers.

With the exception of the fab four destined for analog – teletoon, The Comedy Network, The History & Entertainment Network and N1 Headline News – all in start-up mode with some idea of what programming they’re in search of and their independent production needs, everyone else is pretty much in limbo until the cable companies come up with a tangible plan.

What follows is an outline of all the licensees, including detailed information on the four guaranteed a Sept. 1 start-up.

For the 13 English-language services granted a licence to negotiate with cable, projected spending on Canadian programming and independent production is on paper, but with the caveat that the numbers are written in sand until a subscriber base and a launch date nailed down.

Other services

– TreeHouse TV

With the untimely exit of ytv president Pat Macdonald, who will head up TreeHouse tv has yet to be determined.

The service, owned by ytv, which is wholly owned by Shaw Communications, targets the tot set six years of age and younger, with commercial-free programming from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. After 9 p.m., TreeHouse takes aim at families with a mix of information and entertainment programming. By licence, none of the programs on TreeHouse can appear on ytv in the same month.

Canadian content levels begin at 60% during the day and 50% in primetime, rising to 70% of the day and 60% of primetime by its fifth year of operation.

Over seven years, TreeHouse will spend $22 million on Canadian programming overall. Acquisition product will run 60% Canadian, 20% u.s. and 20% non-North American, although the plan is to increase the Canadian percentage along the licence term, says Dale Taylor, vp programming and production at ytv.

Target expenditure for Canadian acquisitions is $3.6 million over seven years, with TreeHouse looking at $2,000 an hour for some of the older properties, less for non-North American product, although all purchases are driven by market realities, says Taylor.

Its projected Canadian production investment is $10.4 million over seven years, a total of 325 hours of original Canadian programming from independent producers. Roughly 66% of original on-air product will come from out of house, 26% will be produced in-house and 7% will be coproduced.

Licence fees for an equity position in higher-end product may be up into the $20,000 to $25,000 per episode range, with kids’ magazine talking head-type shows done for less than half that.

Ideal for the schedule is interactive programming, storytelling, live action and adventure, ‘participatory play-along,’ says Taylor. Its animation programming will be purely acquisition. Buying strategies will include locking in for more episodes up front and potentially sharing windows, since with niche services ‘exclusivity isn’t going to be that essential.’

It will take TreeHouse a minimum of six to eight months to launch once a distribution parking spot has been established. Fee for service is $0.20 per subscriber on basic.

– SportScope Plus

Ironically, it may be SportsScope Plus that ends up on the air first of all the new applicants. SportsScope Television, an alphanumeric sports information service, already has distribution in 1.5 million homes and negotiations are in process with the cable companies to replace it with SportsScope Plus. SportsScope is free-to-cable. The fee for SportsScope Plus will be between $0.10 and $0.20, says John Levy, of Western Co-Axial Cable in Hamilton, Ont. and head of SportsScope Plus.

The 24-hour, English-language, national sports information service offering graphical sports information, scores and stats, and sports highlights and commentary on a 15-minute wheel will be run out of SportsScope Television’s Markham, Ont. office.

Programming will technically be 100% Cancon over the broadcast day, with foreign-originated highlights rescripted and repackaged in Canada. SportScope will source out 60 hours of original production in year one, ramping to 120 hours annually by year seven.

It’s 1,200-2,400 ‘features’ will average three minutes in length, which the company plans to repackage into half-hour blocks for resale internationally.

The budget for these features is $300,000 in year one, rising to $800,000 by year seven for a total commitment of $4.1 million over the term.

In-house, SportsScope Plus is now in the process of hiring 37 full-time employees and four part-time permanent employees. ‘Essentially we’re building a full production studio and new administration arms. We’re looking for everything from soup to nuts,’ says Levy.

Owners of the service are Clairvest, a publicly traded Canadian merchant bank based in Toronto (66.3%); First Control, a subsidiary of Western Coaxial, a Hamilton-based cable operator (27.6%); and Digimation, a computer software company and developer of the technology for the existing service (6.1%).

– HGTV Canada

Life Network’s first offspring will crowd the Leslie Street building, so in tandem with looking for space on the dial, Life is shopping for new and bigger digs. HGTV Canada execs have yet to be nailed down, although Alexandra Brown has been promoted to executive vice-president of Life, leaving Life president Juris Silkans to concentrate on the launch of hgtv.

Another of the services able to fly with an American broadcast unit onside, hgtv is majority owned and controlled by Atlantis Communications at 80.2%. The remaining 19.8% belongs to the Scripps Howard Broadcasting company, owner of hgtv in the u.s.

Cancon is set at 50% of the broadcast day and in primetime. Canadian programming expenditure is 50% of the previous year’s gross revenue.

Programming will run to do-it-yourself information/entertainment shows spanning five major areas: building and remodeling, decorating and interior design, gardening and landscaping, crafts and hobbies, and special interest.

Over the licence term, the total financial commitment to original Canadian production is $30.4 million. In the first eight-month period, $2.1 million is budgeted for original programming, rising to $3.9 million in the first full year and $5.8 million by year seven. Acquisition of Canadian product will total $3.1 million.

Clauses preventing self-dealing are front and center in the licence, with Atlantis unable to access hgtv’s $200,000 per annum allocation to script and concept development for home and garden programs.

At least 69% of hgtv’s Canadian programming will be originally produced or commissioned by the two major shareholders. Of the schedule, 29% will be composed of original Canadian productions and 40% will be produced by hgtv in the u.s. Of the remaining 31%, 21% will be comprised of Canadian acquisitions and 10% foreign acquisitions.

– Prime TV

In need of two million subscribers to launch, there’s not much happening at the 100% Global-owned Prime tv until the cablecos form a plan. It had a ceo in place up until Sept. 16 when Joanne McKenna left CanWest. Who will head up Prime has yet to be determined.

On record with a $0.25 basic rate, Prime has committed to 50% Cancon during the day and in primetime, and will spend 40% of the previous year’s gross on Canadian programming.

Programming will be directed towards aging boomers 50-plus, with a sked built on an average of eight hours of original programming replayed twice each day. A total of 20 hours of original production will run each week.

The Canadian programming budget is projected at $60 million-plus over the licence term, with $50 million to independent production, $4.3 million on indie production in year one, and $2.7 million to acquisition of product.

At least 65% of Prime’s overall Cancon expenditure will go to ‘coproductions,’ labeled such because Global will probably throw in equipment deals with its own facilities, said McKenna. These coproductions will be arm’s-length partnerships where all copyright remains with the producers.

In the later years of the licence, some documentaries and drama could be kick-started for Prime. By licence, Prime is committed to provide more than $5 million exclusively to independent producers through equity investments in the last three years of licence.

The mix will balance information programming with entertainment programs, the former almost all homegrown and the latter from foreign acquisitions. Drama picks must have been copyrighted 10 years prior; feature films, 25 years.

When and if a green light comes, it will be a managed launch with a large library to draw from and information programming relatively easy to produce. Staff-up is a projected 74 full-time jobs.

– Report on Business Television

WIC Western International Communications surfaces in this new licence after its applications for regional news, comedy and an infomercial channel fell by the wayside, with programming on rob tv likely to compete with chch-tv’s new morning show, The Morning Market.

Globe and Mail executive Duncan McEwan says until the cable negotiations process points in some clear distribution direction, hiring is on hold. The digital price for rob tv sits at $2.95 per sub at the high end, but that is ‘very negotiable’ and depends on distribution and packaging. The rate is $0.25 per subscriber on basic.

The business and financial service is owned 50% by the Globe & Mail, 26% by wic, and 24% by Canadian Satellite Communications.

Canadian content runs 75% through the day with 50% of gross revenue the Canadian programming budget every year after the first full broadcast year.

The service will take feeds from the Globe’s newsroom, eight wic stations across Canada, Bloomberg Business News, news services and remote cameras. During the day, teletext market information, provided by Bloomberg, will be shown at the bottom of the screen.

– Odyssey Television Network

Odyssey Television Network is owned 45% by Peter Maniatakos, a well-known businessman in Toronto’s Greek-Canadian community who produces the Memories of Greece program aired on Citytv, cfmt-tv and chch-tv, as well as Rogers Cablesystems. The service will be distributed in Ontario only.

Maniatakos says he recently returned from an extended stay in Europe and has not yet committed to agreements with any independent producers. Staffing is yet to begin, but Maniatakos is still confident the service can be up and running by September 1997.

Its Canadian content level is set at 16% of the broadcast year, moving up to 22% by year seven of the licence. A minimum of 27% of its gross revenue from operations will go to Canadian programming following the first full broadcast year.

– South Asian Television Canada

South Asian Television Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Asian Television Network, is controlled by Shan Chandrasekar, and like Odyssey, will be available for distribution only in Ontario.

Prior to the Canadian launch, which Chandrasekar hopes will happen in 1997, atn’s u.s. service will be launched on Nov. 28, after which atn will begin Canadian staffing in earnest. Chandrasekar says satv is committed to ‘being one of the first services on the air.’

Construction is underway on a $2 million expansion of the company’s existing studio space, and work is expected to wrap before Christmas.

Prior to any promotion efforts, Chandrasekar says the company has received over 2,400 calls from potential subscribers. The goal is 25,000 subscribers by the end of year one.

satv is committed to Canadian programming in 17% of the broadcast year, 8% in primetime. A minimum of 15% of gross revenue derived from the operation will go to Canadian programming. atn already owns much of the programming scheduled for year one.

satv’s family-oriented channel will broadcast current affairs, high-caliber overseas dramas, children’s programming, educational programs to teach English as a second language, programs about culture shock, and heritage television for the youth to retain and celebrate their language and culture.

atn has allocated close to $1 million for coproduction with independent Canadian producers. Most programs will be subtitled, but the network wants to secure the dubbing rights so programs could air both in Ontario and overseas.

In two years, Chandrasekar anticipates working together with cbc, ctv, Global and tvo to dub their homegrown English-language programs. satv plans to create 45 jobs.