Although the Canadian specialty universe is about to expand exponentially, stepping up competition for both ad dollars and audience share, the incumbents aren’t losing sleep.

‘I don’t stay awake nights worrying about History,’ says Bravo! gm Paul Gratton. ‘We’ve built a unique micro-niche. I just don’t see anybody taking a run at that.’

With schedules for the English fab four surfacing and a combined September promotions budget ready to eclipse the fall offerings of the tier-two pack, there is little about the addition of the new puppies rattling the established channels. Despite requisite increases in promotions budgets and increasing pressure to acquire programming faster and on longer term contracts, specialty execs are more optimistic than anxious about the fall.

Discovery Channel president Trina McQueen says every service in the tier was chasing the same audience two years ago. ‘Now the new ones are saying the same thing. I don’t see reason to be concerned. Matter of fact, I think the more light viewers that are attracted to television, the better it is for all of us. Like they say, open a sh’e shop beside another sh’e shop.’

McQueen says Discovery won’t be outspent on promotion after the initial trial-period flush. Although she acknowledges the ad clutter will up-skew the playing field for eyeballs next season, she adds that there’s a piggybacking element to the big picture that makes the competition a little easier to swallow.

‘Bringing in more viewers is good for everybody, and frankly I think they’ll be doing some work for us. I look forward to them spending a lot of money.’

Sked shifts

After two-and-a-half years on air, the tier-two group has established some beachheads. Weekends are prime specialty territory; Showcase and Bravo! duke it out for late night with international film strands and strips the likes of Dame Edna respectively; Life Network is maximizing daypart; wtn is drawing the retro viewers with syndicated funny women strips; Discovery is chipping away at the primetime audience with @discovery.ca in an early evening slot and some high-production value documentary programming.

With more competition looming, there is little thought being given to defensive scheduling. According to program execs, three to five years of consistent scheduling are required before beginning to take risks with a schedule. Coming up on year three, the agendas in place are staying the course.

Showcase president Phyllis Yaffe says the Showcase sked will integrate more events-oriented programming, following on the success of short yet well-promoted packages along the lines of this season’s Bleu, Blanc, Rouge telecast.

September will bring a host of film festival themed programming, tracking the national and international festivities. Foreign programming will be front and center, including the Britflick Trip Trap about wife abuse and Kids, a controversial American docudrama about teens, drugs and aids which will run during AIDS Awareness Week. ‘Essentially we’re going forward with what has worked,’ says Yaffe.

What is changing is the program buying side of the business. All are moving faster to acquire programming, although Bravo!’s Gratton says he’s not seeing an increase in acquisition prices for feature films. Inevitably there’ll be some overlap in the textures of History Television and Bravo!, but there are ‘thousands and thousands’ of movies out there and ‘I won’t be changing my prices or increasing my budgets,’ says Gratton.

‘My view is that if I can’t get one title, then I’ll get another. It’s more about relationships than price anyway, and since Showcase is concentrating on the recently released Carlton films, I think we’ll complement each other. I can’t think of a single title I’ve cried over because I didn’t get it. It’s a big world.’

The Zen approach is a little less tangible in terms of series with network branding potential. teletoon is locking its new series in for the duration of the licence term. Bravo! has Dame Edna in a long-term, five-year deal. The two new, unidentified series which will man the TV Too Good For TV late-night slot (home of Monty Python’s Flying Circus) have been capped for a similar duration, with a rights clearance issue in the u.s. inhibiting the yearning for an even longer term agreement.

Similarly, ytv is seeking exclusivity on its primetime branding offerings, including Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps. ytv is focusing on key partnerships on the distribution side of the business, says president Paul Robertson.

‘In the past we’d take one from here and one from there. Now we’re looking for stronger ties. We’re never surprised when a conventional broadcaster takes an interest in one of our programs. Some we win, some we don’t. It’s a judgment call every time on whether you want to up the ante.’

Along the same lines, Robertson says ytv is looking for greater equity in its commissioned original programming. ‘Certainly we’re looking for opportunities which would allow us greater equity. We want to support the independent community, but we’d rather have a smaller piece of a bigger arrangement than just acting as the exhibitor of the programs.’

Despite the inevitable encroachment of teletoon on its primary 2-11 audience in some slots, Robertson says ytv isn’t obsessed with keeping the dogs at bay. Rather, it will increase the push to extend the share of the primetime audience. ‘The question is: how long can kids control the television?’

ytv’s primetime branding envelope, Shift, new this season under Robertson, will consist of family-friendly drama, featuring new series like Deepwater Black, Cinar Films’ Lassie, and new episodes of ReBoot and Beasties. ‘We’ve been developing total family viewing target after six o’clock. It’s a key time for advertisers that have a family-oriented product. With Shift running 52 weeks this year, we’re going to drive it out to nine o’clock to see if kids can control the dial for a longer time in the evening.’

In tandem, ytv is extending its Out of the Box initiative. This summer it will run painted vans, tent displays, a Speaker’s Corner knock-off to give kids a chance to be on television, events sponsorship, and the new Uh Oh The Game Show, a traveling community-based program that will give ytv the chance to gather kids at the grassroots level. Merchandising is on the schedule, with a retail presence targeted for next fall.

Entering the next phase of the maturation process, Showcase, along with the rest of the tier-two group, will delve deeper into image and style. ‘It’s essential to develop a clear sense of how each service is different,’ says Yaffe.

Asked to pinpoint the best new audience prospects, Yaffe says it’s the mainstream television audience. Promotions will focus on getting outside the specialty viewer marketing base, which for Showcase means radio.

‘We’re resoundingly committed to using radio. Drama is very hard to promote unless you use a dramatic medium.’

McQueen veers more to the uncabled masses as the audience with growth potential, pointing out that if the some one million cable-free homes are picked up by mmds and dth in the short term, the telcos down the line, it’s a potential 15% growth in the English-language market for the specialties. Also this year, a best-case scenario will see the cablecos and the services do some targeted marketing in individual cities like Barrie, Ont. and Burnaby, b.c., where penetration is stagnating at about 50%.

Bravo!, which is registering a 13% growth in the 25-54 demo for the first 20 weeks of this year, will continue promoting inside the bubble to expand its penetration of the arts audience. Its program guide is increasing circulation as an insert in arts-specialized magazines. Events sponsorship will play a bigger role after the success of Bravo!’s investing in Karen Kain’s last tour as the media sponsor in every city except Toronto, where Baton Broadcasting had the rights.