Areas of strength have guided Kaleidoscope’s 11 Category 2 digital specialty applications (all wholly owned by the Toronto company). For example, the application for GTV: The Girls’ Network was inspired by its business to date and by the fact that, they say, girls are an underserved audience.

‘What we do is very strong on kids programming – we’re essentially a television program distributor. We have many excellent programs that veer towards girls that won’t see the light of day otherwise. Our intent is to supply these targeted programs on our channels,’ says Kaleidoscope president Randy Zalken.

‘When you get to seven and older, you’ll find the bulk of activity skewed toward boys, and girls get shortchanged. Our intent is to provide positive role models. wtn doesn’t really cater to them. ytv determined the need for a preschool channel and got a licence. Why shouldn’t girls have their own dedicated channel?’

Kaleidoscope is not alone in its plans for a dedicated channel for girls: both Salter Street Films and Craig Broadcasting have applications that could construe a conflict. ‘Unfortunately, you never know what other applications are going to be in at same time,’ says Zalken.

The rationale for PAWS: The Pet Channel is similar. ‘We produce Life With Pets, so we already have experience related to that area and we’re familiar with the available audience and we know there’s a business there because we know there’s an audience there.’

Also in the basket of applications is one called On Trial: The Court Channel, which Zalken says is to include all elements of Courttv in the u.s., with the benefit of a local perspective.

We would provide information unique to Canada about legal areas. We watch so much American material the average Canadian wants their Miranda rights read to them. We want to offer an understanding of Canadian law as it relates to the average joe at home: property law, your rights as landlord and as a tenant, your rights when you buy a car.

‘Informational shows have the advantage of not being terribly expensive yet being terribly important in what they are imparting. We want to have a blend of entertainment and information, a call-in show like Larry King but relating to the area. We can also run drama, but only in so far as a trial or courtroom situation is germane to the primary action: theoretically we could run Perry Mason.’

The Reality Zone, another of Kaleidoscope’s 11 digital hopefuls, will serve up that current staple of network programming, the reality show.

‘Reality covers a very broad area, like magicians giving away the secret for this and that and the world’s worst drivers and caught on the job. And reality [programming] is in the process of redefining itself. The success of the Survivor series and a whole bunch of others that are coming up, like Boot Camp, have changed things. You have so many new multi-episode reality programming shows where a group of young adults get together in a house [or that focus on] cops and paramedics; they aren’t drama per se, but they are exceedingly dramatic.’

To Be Continued – The Soap Channel has had no interventions filed against it. Of the less lucky applications, Zalken is dismissive, saying he ‘had to separate the meaningful interventions from the frivolous and stupid.

‘It’s hard to believe that this country can support all these new channels. It’s microcasting. It all has to be done on spit and a prayer, with very slim budgeting. It’s going to be survival of the fittest.

‘Both of the movie channels [Astral and WIC Premium Television] were extremely vocal about any service remotely running movies, and wanted to restrict the movies people run. I don’t consider movies to be integral to some of the channels, but it is for Platinum [Platinum: The Television Movie Platform, a movie-based application]. Their objection would relate to movies that are made for u.s. cable services. They buy very few of those in relation to theatrical-run movies. That would also be small part of what we do.’ *

-www.crtc.gc.ca