About six weeks into the new fall season and the Canadian ACNielsen top 10 ratings charts are a virtual prototype of last year.

The X-Files, er, Friends, Frasier, et al are moving like a herd of turtles out of the top slots, with abc’s Spin City, distributed by ctv, the only one of the new ’96/97 shows cracking the top 10 in ACNielsen’s Toronto/Hamilton People Meters the first week in October, the most recent ratings data available.

u.s. election-centered events playing havoc with the simulcast schedule, World Cup Hockey, John Larroquette newly on hiatus, Ted Danson back to the drawing board, and an enormous amount of new programming on the screen from both the private broadcasters and the specialty channels are combining to leave audiences frustrated, confused, and slow to grab onto the new season fodder.

‘Other than Michael J. Fox, we’re not seeing any hits yet this year,’ says ctv’s Arthur Weinthal.

‘But it’s a little early. There’s so many new programs, when you add in Fox and upn and Warner Bros. and the specialties coming out with more and better programming. I think the sampling time gets a little longer and the success stories will take longer to emerge. It’s not like six or eight years ago when Roseanne came out, and boom, it hit the chart.’

Ditto CanWest’s Doug Hoover, who says between Fox’s baseball agenda and election debates holding back u.s. new releases, it’s been ‘horrendous trying to maintain any level of consistency.’ The schizophrenic start may not play out well for drama as the season unfolds, says Hoover.

‘It’s difficult to get patterns established in this environment. It’s particularly hard for sophisticated drama to develop a following if it’s not consistently presented. Millenium isn’t launching (in its regular Friday slot) until the baseball season is over because no one’s willing to risk it to inconsistent play.’

Meanwhile in the numbers game, establishing a ratings equilibrium for the Canadian market is like nailing down Russian borders. ctv and cbc both subscribe to national ratings which are available in total audience figures. CanWest, Baton Broadcasting and WIC Western International Communications, all with representation in most of the major markets, do not subscribe to weekly national ratings.

Ratings system

The only gauge of all the incumbents is the ACNielsen Toronto/ Hamilton People Metre, which includes all the private broadcasters in the key southern Ontario market, but is measured on a ratings system, not total audience numbers. A rating point equals the percent of a population viewing a tv program during an average minute. The population for the Toronto/Hamilton demo is 5.9 million.

New Canadian fare, nowhere to be found on the Toronto/Hamilton charts for the weeks of Sept. 23 through Oct. 6, comes close in the Nielsen Top 20 Network Programs measurement, with the Fireworks Entertainment-produced fx ranking 12th with a 990,000 audience 2+. Overnights for the Oct. 5 broadcast show an increase to 1.3 million viewers, 721,000 of them in the key 25-54 demographic.

The new and improved version of W5 is taking ratings up early, with its season premiere showing its 25-54 audience up to 587,000 viewers over last year’s launch at 379,000.

Other ctv Canadian product is bringing in less stellar performances. Two, produced by Stephen J. Cannell and running opposite Chicago Hope in the Monday 10 p.m. slot, registered a total 2+ audience of 547,000 nationally, with less than half, 248,000 viewers, in the 25-54 demo.

The two-hour premiere of Poltergeist, The Legend, up against the last game of the World Cup Sept. 14, pulled in 571,000 nationally from the 25-54 crowd, a total 2+ audience of 751,000, putting it 20th on the national top 20.

According to Weinthal, Poltergeist is ‘a perfect example of don’t bother me now, I’ll know in January.’

‘I believe it will grow. After baseball and skating settle down, we’ll be at a time when the audience is hunkering down to watch television. It has a good brand attached to it and is in that genre the audience is strong on right now.’

While Global remains king of the hill with top 10 primetime u.s. product, Traders continues its uphill battle against er. Toronto/Hamilton overnights show a 3.0 across the board Oct. 3, holding the Sept. 19 season premiere, which ran a 2.8 in the 18-49, and a 3.3 in the 25-54 demo. Both are up over earlier September numbers which show, for the entire Ontario market, Traders pulling a 195,000 total audience 2+ for the week of Sept. 16.

Psi Factor scores

On a brighter note, the Atlantis Communications-produced Psi Factor hit a 5.3 rating with the key 25-54 demo in its premiere Oct. 5, running in its established Saturday night 10 p.m. time slot. Hoover, fielding heat for running Cancon in the weekend ghetto primetime, says CanWest’s 10 p.m. slot is locked in Monday to Friday and that a Saturday airing has its advantages.

‘Yes, the viewing is down, but the competition isn’t nearly as wicked as it is in other nights. hut levels are lower overall, but what else is on other than hockey? There are a lot of kids and teens and males available.’

The X-Files premiere in its old Friday 9 p.m. time slot landed an outstanding 25 rating in the Toronto/Hamilton market, and will be packed with Atlantis’ Outer Limits when it moves to Sunday nights once Millenium launches at the end of October.

In the meantime, Outer Limits has been holding its own, hitting a 544,000 audience 2+ for its season premiere Sept. 22 and maintaining a 6.0 rating in both the 18-49 and 25-54 demo Oct. 6.

Over at the cbc, Phyllis Platt makes the point that it’s a little early to look at the all-Canadian season, but is thrilled by the excitement around This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which drew a 1.4 million audience for both its new episodes. Wednesday night repeats puts them over 2 million viewers. ‘They’ve just completely come into their own and will be a powerful opening for The Newsroom on Monday nights,’ says Platt.

Monday’s comedy night is pulling its weight, with Comics hitting the 830,000 mark, up over last season’s 625,000 average audience. Just for Laughs is reaching 700,000 nationwide, which Platt calls ‘solid.’

‘Overall the night is a bit of a relief because we did have some concerns about what kind of effect taking the American programs out of that night would have.’

Snid the Goat-produced Gullages, which premiered with a total 2+ audience of 489,000, jumped to 585,000 in its second week, which Platt says is satisfying. ‘It’s a quirky little drama and we didn’t expect it to have huge numbers.’ Gullages has been greenlit for six new episodes.

Fog Bound Films’ Black Harbour will fill the Wednesday night slot once the original six of Gullages wraps, and Platt says she hasn’t made a slot decision on where the new episodes of Gullages will run.

The launch episode of Life and Times profiling Roberta Bondar came in with a total 2+ audience of 615,000. The second in the series, the life and times of Don Cherry, did 1.3 million.

cbc’s new best of the world slot Friday nights is a less golden story, with Cold Lazarus pulling 200,000 viewers or less over the past few weeks. ‘Until X-Files moves,’ says Platt. Roads, the bbc/cbc/pbs/South African Broadcasting coproduction will air in the slot through November and December to take on Millenium.

‘We’re all fascinated with what Millenium will do or not do,’ says Platt. ‘It could be a monster hit or not make it in the same way as The X-Files at all.’

Priority over the next few months will be continuing to build its Canadian fare, particularly on Tuesday nights, which is turning into a ratings hotbed for the private broadcasters and is cbc’s current affairs night. ‘We’re going to make sure we give it a lot of promotional support. Getting through the thicket is difficult right now. But an awful lot of promo dollars are being spent by our private sector colleagues and we just don’t have that.’

Survival of the fittest

Global continues to virtually own the Toronto/Hamilton top 10, with even a repeat of X-Files leading the pack the week through Oct. 6 at a 18.7 rating for the 2+ demo. Friends follows in second at 13.1, Seinfeld in fourth at 11.4, The Single Guy in fifth at 11.3, and Frasier, Chicago Hope, 20/20 and 3rd Rock From the Sun rounding out the eight-pack.

ctv’s er occupied third spot with an 11.5. Spin City, its premiere drawing an even 1.8 million nationally for ctv in both the 18-49 and 25-54 demographic, ranks sixth on the Toronto/Hamilton chart at a 10.6 rating.

The High Incident premiere hit 927,000 with the 25-54 crowd in a Tuesday 10 p.m. slot Sept. 17, but lost ground in its regular slot Thursday at 8 p.m. opposite Friends, coming in at 484,000 that same week.

ctv’s returning u.s. sitcom fare is holding its own. The er ’96/97 premiere is on par with last season, hitting the 2.1 million mark with its core 25-54. The Cybill audience is up significantly over last year, premiering with 1.4 million viewers 25-54 versus last year’s 784,000, and Murphy Brown is up slightly to 1.5 million viewers over last year’s premiere at 1.3 million.

America’s Funniest Home Videos continues reining them in, hitting 892,000 nationally versus 894,000 last year. Other season highlights to date include the 1.7 million audience gathered around The 10th Annual Canadian County Music Awards, the highest audience ever for a Canadian awards show.

At the other end of the spectrum, the ice is wearing thin on Roseanne, which premiered with a national 25-54 audience of 739,000 Sept. 17, almost half of last season’s 1.4 million.

Baton is excited with much of its mainstream fare including Home Improvement, which waxes on the edge of the People Metre top 10 in 11th spot, pulling in a 7.8 rating for the week ending Oct. 6. The Drew Carey Show is also on its way to top 10 standing, showing up in 12th position that same week with a 7.7 rating.

The Ellen/Townies combination is working towards taking the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot, with Ellen registering a total Ontario audience of 778,000 viewers and Townies 802,000 viewers for the week of Sept. 16, although both were bumped by the cbc mow Uncle Buck, which hit 931,000.

Men Behaving Badly took the top of the 9 p.m. hour that same week with 901,000 viewers 2+ in Ontario, followed at the bottom of the hour by Carey, which did a 1.0 million total audience.

On the Canadian side, bbs is boffoed by its in-house produced entertainment program, eNow, which captured 490,000 in Ontario in its Saturday at 7 p.m. slot Sept. 14 and continues to build.

At WIC Western International Communications, its new program selections broadcast via its flagship Ontario affiliate chch have yet to penetrate the Toronto/Hamilton top 10, but the return of Brooke Shields in Suddenly Susan is drawing the highest numbers of the pack.

Airing Tuesdays in the 9:30 p.m. slot, Suddenly Susan pulled a 535,000 audience 2+ for the week of Sept. 16, 370,000 in the 25-54 demo.

It’s not unexpected that chch is still outside the top 10 Toronto/Hamilton loop, says chch’s Jim Macdonald.

‘Dynamiting shows out of the top 10 is going to be very difficult. But certainly Suddenly Susan is the first show we’ve seen in the top 20 for quite some time, and you build it one brick at a time.’

Also at the higher end of chch’s new fodder is The Pretender, Tuesdays at 8 p.m., which drew 435,000 audience 2+ for the same week, Profiler, which latched 314,000, and wic’s contribution to the paranormal factor, Dark Skies, airing on Saturdays at 8 p.m., is drawing a 266,000 2+ audience, 169,000 in the 25-54 skew.

The Nash Bridges numbers have also improved post the moving of Outer Limits to Sunday night, bringing in a 222,000 audience for the same week.

On the other side, Pearl, being bounced around the cbs sked as it finds replacements for the as yet unaired Ink, is feeling the ratings pinch, running a total Toronto/Hamilton audience of 224,000 for the week of Sept. 16, 134,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Nanny numbers are down slightly over its Monday runs on cbc last season, but remain a solid 338,000 in its new Wednesday slot on chch for the same week. Madison, new to chch this season, hit a dismal 41,000 audience 2+, but may improve when the schedule mayhem settles down, says Macdonald.

In the meantime, wic is adding to its Canadian quotient with Linehan, a half-hour series featuring entertainment journalist Brian Linehan. Produced by Electric Entertainment, Linehan will launch with a one-hour special Nov. 16, followed by a half-hour series. Later in the spring, wtn will take a second window on a short turnaround.

As the 1996/97 season unfolds, Thursdays and Tuesdays will be an ongoing challenge. ‘We own a third of Thursday; we don’t own the other two-thirds, and we’re going to have to keep punching,’ says Weinthal.

‘But this is a business that thrives on failure, so when it’s better than that, we’re doing well, and overall things are pretty good. Last year we had one program in the top 10. This year we have more. You’re not always going to hit a home run. Sometimes it’s accomplished in smaller plays.’