PRODUCERS looking to cash in on the deluge of new digital services should not hold their breath, as most of the new channels are drawing on low-rate programming acquisitions to fill their schedules and offset their projected losses.

‘Distributors have asked us to give up one third of our revenue,’ says Alison Clayton, general manager of the Biography Channel, TechTV and MSNBC, explaining the financial challenges faced by the digi-nets.

The new digital services will absorb the cost of offering the channels for free for a three-month preview period this fall. In addition, distributors have asked for another free month, as well as an introductory four-month free period to be offered to any new subscriber to the digitals in the next five years. ‘We knew we would have to offer the three months,’ Clayton says. ‘But we didn’t know we would be asked for the rolling free preview. It does give people a chance to sample the services.’

Clayton’s comments were heard at a July 31 meeting at a downtown Toronto café organized by the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, which brought together roughly 60 producers and eight representatives of new digital channels to discuss plans and challenges associated with the digi launch in September.

‘If we are successful, we are going to have 500,000 subscribers at the end of the first year,’ says Clayton. And with 500,000 to 1,000,000 subscribers, ‘You’re just covering the costs of transmission,’ adds Mark Prasuhn, general manager of One: Body, Mind & Spirit.

As a result, most of the first year of programming on the Category 1 channels will be drawn from acquisitions and in most cases, the majority of proposals for new commissions will only begin to be considered in October.

However, a few broadcasters are launching their services with original, commissioned shows and others are considering proposals imminently. Pride Vision TV is looking for ideas now, says Bruce Glawson, vice-president of programming. TravelTV and MenTV have commissioned several original series, all of which will be on the air within the first six months of the services’ launch. And TravelTV is actively seeking material for its daily half-hour travel magazine, added Marni Bacharier-Schulman, director of programming.

Either way, the digi-nets are scurrying to fill their skeds.

‘If anybody here has got anything anywhere please send it along,’ pleads Christina Pochmursky, programming director for The Documentary Channel. The network is currently paying from $2,500 to $3,000 for one hour of acquired programming on a non-exclusive basis and expects to offer up to $25,000/hour for original programming, again on a potentially non-exclusive basis. Pochmursky says the channel plans to commission 15 docs a year and will begin looking at proposals in October.

Channels reported they would favor proposals for series over one-offs, except in the case of the Documentary Channel.

Other rates range from Pride Vision’s $350 to $4,500 for acquisitions and $5,000 to $10,000 for commissions; to TravelTV’s $500 to $5,000 for acquisitions and $15,000 to $20,000 for commissions; and TechTV’s $5,000 to $10,000 for commissions. But reps for all the channels say that to make up for the relatively low rates, they are committed to unconventional scheduling agreements, such as sharing windows with other digi-nets and analog services. Likewise, producers should try to propose series that can screen on several of Chum’s services, such as Fashion and Bravo or Star!, says Marcia Martin, the channels’ vice-president and general manager.

‘Many of us have bought the same programs,’ Clayton says. ‘With the deals we offer we have to let producers get more sales.’

One area most channels do not plan to focus on until later is interactive programming, although Pride will be airing an Internet show on its companion website. ‘No one has figured out what the value of Internet content is to us and once we gauge that we’ll be able to decide how much our licence fees will be and what to commission,’ says TravelTV’s Bacharier-Schulman.