With the continuous growth in the specialty universe, audience share for Canadian channels has doubled in the past five years, with very little ‘cannibalization’ of audiences by newer stations.

Instead, the addition of new channels has caused watchers to surf to new and different places higher on the dial, which in turn has led to a rediscovery of other specialties perhaps not previously explored.

A growth in advertising and viewership has also resulted from the added services. According to Jane Logan, president and ceo of the Specialty and Premium Television Association, last year saw a 31% growth in ad revenue. The more established services alone saw a 16% jump, meaning, in terms of growth, specialty services are ahead of the rest of broadcasting.

‘I think we will also see continued horizontal integration,’ says Logan. ‘It will give the industry the economies of scale and the ability to move forward in the digital environment and to develop micro-niche formats.’

Since many of the services are small and lack in-house production facilities, the need for outside production by the specialty sector has had a large impact on Canadian independent production, and although the specialty industry is smaller than that of conventional broadcasters, specialties are the biggest purchasers of programming from independent producers.

Last year, the specialty sector spent $127.6 million on Canadian-acquired independent production, a 17% increase from the previous year, while the private conventional TV sector spent $87.5 million.

‘It is incredibly important that Canada has the first opportunity to roll out new services, and moving forward with the whole digital agenda is a big priority,’ says Logan.

The ratings

According to Nielsen Media Research, tsn comes out on top for the period of August 31, 1998 to May 30, 1999, with an audience share of 4.0%.

ytv comes in next, at 1.9%, followed by Teletoon, at 1.3%. CTV Sportsnet, which made its debut in October 1998, is at 1.2%, and Space: The Imagination Station and Discovery Channel are neck and neck, at 1.1%, as are Showcase and Newsworld, at 1.0%.

Rounding off the list are The Weather Network, MuchMoreMusic, Outdoor Life and CTV N1, with 0.3%. Headline Sports is at 0.2%, while Treehouse tv and Home Shopping come in at 0.1%.

tsn boasts 7.5 million subscribers, and is available to 90% of all English households. On average, 8.7 million people watch the network 2.2 hours per week, mostly males ages 18 to 49.

The most widely watched events on the network continue to be live major sports, which remain the most important part of its schedule and garner the highest ratings.

New to the schedule this year, and already under way as of July 18, is 100 Years of Canadian Sports, a show looking back at the greatest sports legends of the century, which will wrap on Boxing Day.

ytv has been around since the first generation of specialties, and until about two years ago was the only one targeting children. With the addition of Teletoon to the dial, ytv has had competition and has revamped its program schedule and made changes to the broadcast environment.

In an effort to keep on top of what kids want, ytv set up the YTV Tween Report, a comprehensive study of attitudes and consumer trends, to help it monitor its audience. What it found is that one of the top concerns for kids is Canadian unity.

In response, the network stepped up its Canadian content, bringing it close to 200 original hours, and started putting a small Canadian flag icon on all Cancon shows.

This season, the sked calls for 221 hours of Canadian programming. Primetime will air 80% Cancon, the most it has ever had in that slot.

While ‘You Rule’ was the station’s original cutline, now, after a study found that ‘weird’ is a commonly used word in any number of circumstances among eight- to 12-year-olds, the channel is going with ‘Keep It Weird,’ which is exactly what it’s doing with its new lineup.

Some of the shows hitting ytv’s airwaves this season include I Was a 6th Grade Alien; animated Weird-Ohs; Big Wolf on Campus, about a kid who turns into a werewolf; plus fantasy series Back to Sherwood.

‘Last year was experimental for us because we were looking for a new direction after being beaten by Teletoon. We were looking to reclaim a different kind of programming,’ says Peter Moss, vp of programming and production at ytv and Treehouse tv. ‘We are presenting a different kind of protagonist in a slightly different flow pattern and are looking for a slightly different demo, more equally balanced between boys and girls.’

Teletoon president John Riley says he is pleased with the way things have been going for the animation station so far and has no major plans for change, but will be improving the schedule by adding some new shows.

One he is expecting will be a hit is Decode Entertainment’s Angela Anaconda. Other new shows include Mega Babies, about superpowered, crime-fighting babies, out of Montreal-based Cine-Groupe, and Cybersix, a 3D animated series from Vancouver’s noa.

According to Riley, Teletoon spent $5.4 million on Canadian programming this year, and next year, is looking to push that to $9 million, at which point 50% of the schedule will be produced here.

Space: The Imagination Station will be bringing back Lexx and First Wave and adding Relic Hunter and Earth: Final Conflict in addition to Angel, a one-hour drama from the creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

While Space has no direct competition in the specialty domain, director of programming and acquisitions Isme Bennie says, with all the successful sci-fi shows such as The X-Files, running on conventional tv, there has been a broader interest in the genre. Once people have had a taste of it from other channels, they turn to Space for ‘one-stop shopping,’ she says.

A Tuesday night time slot has been designated for miniseries, the first of which will be Cruel Earth from the u.k., followed by From the Earth to the Moon, executive produced by Tom Hanks.

Based on the success of travel series Lonely Planet, the most popular show in its lineup, adventure will be the main thrust at Outdoor Life Network, as it moves towards a more distinctive schedule unique to the channel.

‘As far as ratings go, the adventure programming has been our saving grace,’ says programming manager Dave Purdy. ‘Our viewers are telling us they want more of it.’

Action sports like skateboarding and snowboarding and adventure sports such as triathlons and mountain biking will still be on the sked, but anything new will be in the adventure domain.

Two hours of primetime adventure a night will be added, basically doubling the number. Extreme sports, the rush-hour block, will make the move from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. and fishing will move out of primetime.

The outdoor sports block will move to 7 p.m., which, Purdy says, will be a better lead into the adventure programming, which will run from 8 p.m. to midnight and will eventually make up half of the network’s programming.

Some new shows in the lineup include 16mm, which Purdy calls ‘the Siskel and Ebert of action sports films,’ and Horizons, a cross-Canada tour on an ultralight plane.

The network is also in the process of acquiring a number of adventure-based docusoaps, real-life soap operas revolving around things like canoe and white-water rafting trips.

According to Purdy, a lot of the programming in the past had great visuals but lacked strong story lines. By adding docusoaps to the sked, he is hoping to broaden the audience, as well as the appeal of the featured sports.

MuchMoreMusic hit the airwaves less than a year ago, and according to Denise Donlon, vp, gm and director of programming for MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic, it is exactly where it expected to be at this point and is hitting its targeted demo of ages 24 to 35.

As for programming, the music station will be ramping up SpeakEasy, during which hostess Jana Lynne White has a conversation with a ‘master class artist’ such as Elvis Costello or Phil Collins, and new shows added to the sked will include trivia game Rock’n Roll Jeopardy.