Broadcasters south of the border have always looked to Canada for certain types of programs. But despite the growth in specialty cable in the u.s., and a new tier of digital channels on the horizon, producers and distributors of the lifestyle genre haven’t yet experienced the boom they were expecting. They report that the u.s. services are not buying much – and they are not paying much for what they are buying.

The key to sustaining a viable business in this genre, according to Michael Shepard of Toronto’s Canamedia, is volume. ‘You have to have a lot of shows on a lot of channels,’ he says. ‘You just have to slug it out.’

Most channels will pick up lifestyle-oriented shows for as little as us$1,000 (ca$1,500) per half-hour, though the average seems to be between us$3,000 (ca$4,500) and us$5,000 (ca$7,500). Shepard says the market appears stable and licence fees have not gone up.

Lifestyle producers say the key to getting a foot in the door of the u.s. specialty cable market is to focus on pitching formats and ideas with a goal of getting commissions or coproductions rather than producing on your own and licensing. Ownership of programs – and the ancillary revenues – are more important than ever to the specialty channels.

Most specialties surveyed were fearful of encouraging an onslaught of pitches and almost all refused to talk budgets. But there is hope in the u.s. cable landscape as a handful of channels seem open to seeing what Canadian producers and distributors have to offer.

Following is a rundown of what the key u.s. specialty lifestyle channels are looking for and who to contact.

(Editor’s note: Producers may find the Canadian arms of Discovery Channel, Home and Garden Television and The Outdoor Life Network a more direct access route)

– Discovery/The Learning Channel

7700 Wisconsin Avenue,

Bethesda, md 20814

Tel.: (301) 986-0444

Discovery production contacts:

Completed shows: Rebecca McCullough, senior programming coordinator, ext. 5815

Proposals: Lisa Beard, development coordinator, ext. 4597

General info: Nanette Jasper, ext. 5708

TLC production contacts:

Courtie Bassarab, scheduling coordinator, ext. 5672

David Jones, development coordinator, ext. 4745

Producers attempting a pitch to Discovery Channel or its Learning Channel are likely going to strike out unless they are prepared to accept a coproduction deal with the broadcaster.

Chuck Gingold, senior vp and gm of daytime programming at Discovery (launched in 1985) and tlc (launched in 1991) u.s., is aware that a lack of back-end means most producers have little to gain but exposure.

‘I love to coproduce because for me it means the potential for larger budgets,’ admits Gingold, ‘but unless there’s a lot of money to be made in home video, there isn’t much in it for the coproduction partner.’

Discovery/tlc is adamant about maintaining ownership of its programs and strives to find programming that can, in essence, build its own brands. ‘The thing I’d like to see us get involved in more is gardening shows,’ he admits. ‘It’s difficult to deal with because of seasonality.’

But don’t put a rush on that gardening pitch just yet. ‘Until we’re able to be a little more timely and topical, it’s not something we’re going to be able to deal with,’ Gingold adds.

– Food Network

1177 Avenue of the Americas,

New York, ny 10036

Tel.: (212) 398-8836

Fax: (212) 736-7716

Production contact: Eileen Opatut, senior vp of programming, production and operations

New York-based Food Network produces over 95% of its own programming.

Food spokesperson Kelli Stich says the net produced more of its own half-hour series last year than ever before. But that doesn’t mean it won’t look at new shows from outside producers and distributors, she says.

The programming department suggests producers should not focus on cooking shows. Pitches for programs about food that are entertainment-driven or historical in nature are more likely to get the channel’s attention.

– Gay Entertainment Television

7 East 17th Street,

New York, ny, 10003

Tel.: (212) 255-8824

Fax: (212) 989-9332

Production contact: Marvin Schwan, president and ceo

One of the newest specialty services in the u.s., New York-based Gay Entertainment Television, has thrown open its closet doors for pitches from producers and distributors, according to Marvin Schwan, president and ceo.

get, which is scheduled to launch on 65 cable systems in September, plans to acquire just two hours of programming a week in its inaugural year.

Pitching how-to and lifestyle concepts may prove to be fruitless, though, since Schwan says he’s focusing on picking up movies and documentaries. He’s open to looking at other kinds of programming, as long as it has gay themes or sensibilities.

‘We’re going to see what’s out there,’ he explains, adding get is willing to buy from outside the u.s. Schwan says there is some development money in the bank which he’d be willing to invest in some shows depending on their stage of development.

– Golf Channel

7580 Commerce Center Drive,

Orlando, fl 32819-8947

Tel.: (407) 363-4653

Fax: (407) 363-7976

Production contact: Peter Gordon, senior director of programming.

Getting a show on the Golf Channel is harder than getting a hole-in-one, since the Orlando-based service produces about 95% of its informational programming in-house.

Peter Gordon, senior director of programming, says Golf was forced to create its own shows since there wasn’t much related programming of good quality out on the market when the channel was born in 1995.

Like Discovery, Golf also likes to own its programs so it can cash in on licensing them to other markets, including its own channels here and in Asia.

But Gordon says he may move towards more acquisitions or commissions as in-house production resources become maxed out. Producers with great ideas can request a submission package from the channel, but Gordon hints that producers pitching how-to shows are going to get stuck in a sand trap.

‘I expect we will continue to evolve and move in the news and information direction,’ he says.

– Hobbycraft Communications

990 Highland Dr.,

Suite 212,

Solana Beach, ca 92075

Tel.: (619) 259-2305

Production contact: Steve Matela executive vp

Of course there’s no better place for how-to programming than a channel with the word ‘hobby’ in its name. Hobbycraft Communications, a San Diego-based company, is putting together its schedule in preparation for a fall launch on cable systems across the u.s.

Executive vp Steve Matela says, in its early stages, Hobbycraft will be acquiring most of its shows on a licence fee or barter arrangement.

‘Some producers have heard of us and have come to us trying to get their shows on the air,’ says Matela.

He’s looking for programs about any kind of hobby – from beer making to model railroading – and crafts ranging from needlework to painting. So far, Matela is pleased with the mix of shows he has lined up, but he admits ‘there will be hobbies and things that people are interested in that we’ll be missing.’

Hobbycraft hopes to get into coproductions and in-house programming later in its first year.

– Home and Garden Television

9701 Madison Avenue,

Knoxville, tn 37932

Tel.: (423) 694-2700

Fax: (423) 531-8933

One of the biggest homes for how-to programming is Home and Garden Television of Knoxville, Tennessee. The specialty channel now reaches viewers in the u.s., Canada and Europe. (Atlantis Broadcasting is the controlling shareholder of HGTV Canada.)

But according to the senior vp of programming, Burton Jablin, the entire primetime schedule is made up of original commissioned shows.

‘The rationale is to have producers all over the country working on programs,’ explains Jablin. ‘We want to make sure we have a broad national appeal.’

There are a handful of acquired how-to shows in the daytime schedule, including pbs strips like Victory Gardens, This Old House Classics and New Yankee Workshop.

The fact that hgtv has, from its very beginnings, commissioned at least 80% of what it airs, means Jablin is constantly getting pitches from producers wanting a piece of the action.

‘There’s never been a national venue for this kind of programming before,’ he explains. ‘Now that we’ve got a lot of shows, it’s harder to get a show on hgtv.’

Jablin says commissioned half-hours can fetch as much as us$30,000 (ca$45,000), though most shows are making less than us$10,000 (ca$15,000). He says us$50,000 (ca$75,000) is the high end for one-hours. Licence fees for acquired programs are ‘considerably less.’

hgtv has established strict rules for producers and distributors. Number one, unsolicited pitches are only considered if they come from producers with national or major-market credits. All submissions must include completion of a legal release form, as well as budgets and detailed descriptions of each episode.

‘We were getting a lot of people coming in with pieces of paper with one-sentence descriptions,’ recalls Jablin, adding his small programming staff is designed to supervise productions, not process submissions.

‘It’s hard for producers to know what we’re looking for,’ says Jablin. ‘It’s hard for us to explain.’

The future holds some promise though, as hgtv is poised to launch the Do-It-Yourself network on the digital tier sometime this year. Jablin says it’s too early to know what kind of commissions or acquisitions diy will be offering, but he expects most of the schedule will be filled with shows from hgtv’s extensive library.

– Lifetime

(New York office – all programming but movies)

Worldwide Plaza,

309 West 49th Street,

New York, ny 10019

Tel.: (212) 424-7000

Fax: (212) 957-4448

Production contacts:

Todd Schwartz, director of programming, series

Beth Sosin, director of programming, daytime

Rosemary Sykes, director of programming, intimate portraits, documentaries

Steve Warner, vp of programming acquisitions

(Los Angeles office – movies only)

2049 Century Park East,

Suite 840,

Los Angeles, ca 90067

Tel.: (310) 556-7500

Fax: (310) 557-8964

Production contact: Marian Effinger, director of programming, movies

Lifetime of New York, which is dedicated to providing programming of particular interest to women, has ditched most of its how-to and lifestyle shows in favor of more movies and specials.

Publicist MacLean Guthrie says Lifetime’s viewers simply didn’t want to see lifestyle programming. ‘We just stay in tune with what our viewers want,’ she says.

Guthrie says although the channel is producing and coproducing more shows, it remains open to pitches from all over the world. ‘The focus must be on women or topics of interest to women,’ she adds.

Lifetime commissioned more than 60 hour-long docs about women for its Intimate Portraits strip last year, and Guthrie says this is the type of programming producers and distributors should focus on pitching.

– The Outdoor Channel

43445 Business Park Drive,

Temecula, ca 92590

Tel.: (800) 770-5750

Fax: (909) 699-6313

Production contact: Shannon Pagett, director of programming

Getting a show on The Outdoor Channel is relatively simple – if you can cut a cheque. As of last January, the Temecula, California-based specialty service has been selling airtime to producers and distributors, charging up to us$1,500 (ca$2,250) per half-hour. In exchange, the producer gets up to six minutes of commercial time.

Shannon Pagett, director of programming, explains Outdoor simply does not have the budget to pay licence fees. Launched in 1993, the channel used to operate on a barter system, sharing commercial time with the producers of its shows.

For us$1,500 (ca$2,250), the producer gets three runs on Outdoor, which reaches about a million cable subscribers, and all six minutes of commercial time. For us$500 (ca$750), the producer gets three minutes of time.

Outdoor’s schedule is made up primarily of shows about fishing, hunting, prospecting, boating and recreational travel. Right now, Pagett is looking for children’s programming and an outdoor cooking show. Producers need only send a Beta copy of their show for consideration.

– The Outdoor Life Network

2 Stamford Plaza,

281 Treser Blvd.,

Stamford, ct 06901

Tel.: (203) 406-2500

Fax: (203) 406-2534

(Must get a waiver from the programming department, ext. 2517, before submitting any proposals.)

The other outdoor channel, The Outdoor Life Network, acquires the majority of its schedule, offering producers either licence fees or barter deals. Director of program planning Jeff Goldberg says only about 40% of his schedule is original commissioned product, but that figure will likely increase in the future.

‘As we go we continue to build up more of our original programs,’ explains Goldberg. ‘That’s always been the plan. It builds equity and we can control the shows – they become our shows.’

Goldberg says it makes good economic sense to fill the daytime schedule with inexpensive acquired fare and focus on creating original shows for primetime.

Launched in 1995, the Stamford, Connecticut-based specialty channel has no obvious gaps in its programming, says Goldberg, but producers and distributors are welcome to pitch their ideas. ‘We’re always looking for good programming,’ he says.

– Speedvision

2 Stamford Plaza,

281 Treser Blvd.,

Stamford, ct 06901

Tel.: (203) 406-2500

Fax: (203) 406-2601

Production contact: Lou Occhicone, supervisor of programs and acquisitions

‘We have it pretty well covered,’ is the familiar refrain Lou Occhicone, supervisor of program acquisitions at Speedvision, uses when asked about the kinds of shows he’s seeking to stack his schedule.

The Stamford-based channel has several how-to shows on its schedule – and the highest ratio of acquired versus original programming, picking up about half its programs from outside sources. Occhicone figures that ratio will continue for the foreseeable future.

He says most of the pitches he received this year were marine- and automotive-themed. Producers should provide detailed descriptions of a concept, a breakdown of each episode and some samples of their previous work. And the shows can come from anywhere.