In a bid to increase its market share, generate new revenue sources, and increase the profile of French-language educational programming, Ontario’s tfo network is aggressively pursuing national distribution.

‘Our ultimate goal is to become a national broadcaster within two years,’ says Bruno Beaulieu, creative head information, culture and society programming of the French-language arm of tvontario, which is currently in advanced negotiations with several cable distributors in Quebec, including the largest player, Videotron, to carry the tfo signal. Beaulieu anticipates the network will be available in Quebec by Sept. 22.

Deals are also in the works with cablecos in Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island to offer tfo. It’s been carried by Cable Fundy in New Brunswick for nearly a year.

‘This is both a programming initiative and a business proposition,’ says Beaulieu, stressing that the extended reach reflects tfo’s mandate to serve the francophone market which has access to educational programming and that the export of the signal was initiated at the request of the Canadian Association of French Language Teachers and other educational groups, as well as cable subscribers in New Brunswick and the northern and eastern reaches of Quebec.

According to Beaulieu, the national effort makes sound financial sense at a time when the government-supported network faces dwindling grants (down from almost $70 million six years ago to its current level of $49.5 million), as well as an uncertain future with a government report due out this fall recommending ways to privatize the public broadcaster.

‘The bottom line is there has to be a profit. We can’t lose money on this deal. Expanding our signal is part of the strategy to get more money from a variety of sources and be less dependent on government while maintaining our role as a non-commercial, public educational broadcaster.’

To generate revenue, all the deals with cable distributors will involve tfo taking a percentage of subscriber fees. Its position, either on basic cable, first, second or the new third tier, may vary from province to province.

Fundy Cable, with a 180,000 subscriber base, has recently gone before the crtc for approval of a basic fee hike of which about 15 cents per subscriber will go into tfo’s coffers. A crtc decision is expected within the next two months.

tfo has developed a three-year business plan for the coast-to-coast initiative, and although Beaulieu won’t disclose the figures, projected revenues depend on level of penetration, the number of cablecos involved and, most importantly, the success of entry into Quebec. Over 50% of projected revenues from the initiative will come from distribution of the signal in Quebec.

But as an Ontario-based French-language network, the path into Quebec may prove to be far less smooth than the road paved into New Brunswick.

During the crtc call for submissions on the Cable Fundy rate increase, over 100 associations and individuals registered their support. Only one negative response was entered ­ signed by all of Quebec’s broadcasters.

‘If they were all opposed to us getting into New Brunswick, you can deduce what it will be like in Quebec,’ says Beaulieu.

That being the case, tfo will most likely be offered on first or second tier cable services in Quebec, so deals will not require crtc approval as would be the case to carry the signal on basic.

As a non-commercial network, tfo will not be a threat to Quebec broadcasters in the race for ad dollars. However, it will enter into competition for a share of the progressively fierce French-language market. The Quebec market is also served by Radio-Canada, tva, Television Quatre Saisons, and provincial educational broadcaster Tele-Quebec, which, according to the latest bbm numbers gathered by Beaulieu, holds a 2% market share of French-language Quebec. A few months earlier it was struggling with a 1.5% share. The average market share for a specialty in Quebec such as rdi and Canal d is 2%, Beaulieu indicates.

In Ontario, tfo has scored a much higher reach, averaging a 10% audience share between September ’96 and June ’97 among Ontarians watching French tv, according to Nielsen Media Research. tfo provides programming to 1 million to 1.3 million viewers throughout the province.

Audience measurements are not yet available for tfo in New Brunswick, but Beaulieu says audience response is positive. For example, of the 10,000 viewer responses for a live call-in special of teen series Volt in March, 40% came from New Brunswick.

The move may also strike political chords. The Quebec scene has heated up of late as new players compete for anglo and francophone eyeballs. Global Quebec is a new entry vying for the anglo market, and Jim Macdonald, president of wic, which owns cfcf in Quebec, has stated publicly that wic is counting on more francophone viewers to offset gains Global will make among English-speaking audiences.

In addition to cable revenues, nationwide broadcasting will open up corporate underwriting opportunities in new markets for tfo and offer potential sponsors the enticement of wider audience reach.

Combined, tvo and tfo (both the English- and French-language networks funnel all monies into one pot) have increased self-generated revenues by 15% every year for the past four years, with the ’96/97 fiscal standing as a benchmark.

Of tvo’s overall $65 million ’96/97 budget, $13 million or 20% was raised from outside revenue, 50% (or $6.5 million) of which came from membership and fundraising, 8% ($1 million) from corporate sponsorship and 42% ($5.5 million) from program sales to 136 countries. Le Cinquieme, the educational broadcaster in France, is tfo’s biggest customer.

In anticipation of coast-to-coast penetration, tfo is purchasing Canadian rights (as opposed to Ontario rights) for all programs on air as of this September, which has doubled primetime acquisition costs from roughly $2,000 per hour to $4,000 to $5,000 for Canadian rights.

However, tfo’s programming allotment has not increased, and in order to bolster programming quality its $11-million budget is being divvied among an increasing number of coproductions and prebuys, up from 54 hours in ’96/97 to 119 hours for the ’97/98 season, and less acquisitions and in-house projects

‘Copros are allowing us to invest less and get better programming,’ says Beaulieu, who calls tfo’s ’97/98 fall lineup the best ever in the history of the 10-year-old network.

tfo is currently involved in 29 different projects with independent producers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, France and England representing a total investment of $2.5 million for projects worth over $16 million.

Of these programs, 22 projects worth $9 million and involving $1.7 million worth of tfo investment will air in the upcoming season. Six projects worth $7 million are slated for the ’98/99 schedule and one budgeted at $500,000 for the 1999/2000 season.

tfo is also looking to shared windows as part of its programming strategy. The network is coproducing the 13 one-hour Turning Points series with Toronto’s Barna-Alper Productions and will broadcast the French version with History Television as the English-language window.

Other copros and prebuys tfo is sharing with History Television include six hours of The Sexual Century, with Barna-Alper and Carleton Television, London, Eng.; The War of 1812, a four-part, one-hour series with Montreal’s Galafilm; and Les Francais en Amerique, a five-hour series with Montreal’s Pixcom.

Other licensed projects include Le Grand Cano, a 3 x 60 with Ottawa’s Amerimage Communication; Boite a Chansons d’Aujourd’hui, a 26 half-hour variety series with Toronto’s Mediatique and Moncton-based Connexions; Le Grenier de Biosu 2, a 26 x 15 series with Media Solutions in Toronto; and Picoli et Urabo, a 26-part half-hour series with Productions Megafun in Montreal.

A $2.2-million, four-part, one-hour series on viruses is being produced with Rigaud Productions in France.

With an eye to reducing acquisition costs, tfo has opened an in-house French versioning unit, cutting deals with international distributors to pay less for rights in exchange for doing the versioning itself. Over 36 hours of versioning has taken place this past summer. As well, the use of tfo hosts and the addition of commonly used French-Canadian expressions stamps a tfo brand on the acquisitions, says Beaulieau.

Ironically, the expansion efforts and new initiatives come during a time when the educational broadcaster is under intense political pressure. Paul Currie, head of the privatization secretariat in the Ontario government, recently announced that a dozen private sector broadcasters and other groups are interested in government plans to privatize part or all of tvo’s operations. A report is expected in September which may determine the fate of the network.

tvo’s board under chairman Peter Herrndorf has also submitted a proposal calling for a not-for-profit corporation which would seek donations and sponsorship, but not advertising, and receive grants from the government to run educational programming.

‘The bottom line is we think this idea makes sense from a programming and financial end ­ whether we end up a private or public network,’ says Beaulieu. ‘We had to make the choice, to wait until our future is decided for us or move forward now.’