The CRTC wants to know what the public thinks about TV, and has put out a call for comments about how to boost production and viewership of homegrown English-language drama.

It is the latest in a series of efforts by the feds to turn around Canada’s sagging drama scene, which has dropped through the floor in recent years, rattling nerves across the industry. There are only six one-hour dramas on the network skeds this season, one of which, CBC’s Wonderland, has yet to air. These shows rarely draw more than one million viewers, a fraction of their U.S. counterparts.

The feds also want to know how to maintain the popularity of French shows, which consistently outpace those in the rest of Canada.

The deadline for comments is Nov. 14, after which the CRTC may draft new regulations.

ACTRA was quick to applaud the move, but chastened the CRTC for not acting sooner. ‘In recent months we’ve been swamped with reports documenting what we’ve been saying for years,’ says national exec director Stephen Waddell. ‘It’s time for the CRTC to take action and fix its policies before drama disappears for good.’

The CRTC has been widely blamed for the slump, which appears to have sped up after the introduction of its 1999 Television Policy, in which the feds removed expenditure requirements for broadcasters and de-emphasized dramas by putting them in the same category as regional programming and entertainment magazine shows.

Since taking over in 2002, chairman Charles Dalfen has repeatedly talked up the importance of Canuck drama but downplayed the impact of the Television Policy.

But lobbyist Ian Morrison, frontman of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, sees this latest move as a tacit admission that the system is broken. ‘Reading between the lines, we can deduce that the CRTC has recognized that the [Television] Policy is not working,’ he says. ‘Nobody can read that document and think all is well.’

CFTPA head Laszlo Barna is optimistic that things are turning around – ‘This is really important, no question,’ he says – but notes that, at best, the effects of any coming regulatory changes won’t be seen on screens for three or four years.

Several industry groups earlier this year called for sweeping changes to the broadcast system, including early licence renewals for the big three networks and a freeze on CTF cuts. A trio of CRTC reports – by broadcast experts Trina McQueen, Barry Kiefl and Guy Fournier – also addressed the drama problem in June. A study by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage also asked the feds to rethink their policy.

McQueen’s recommendations included a new $30-million fund and looser regulations. The CRTC and Telefilm Canada are expected to announce their thoughts on her report before the end of the year.

Send comments to: procedure@crtc.gc.ca.

-www.crtc.gc.ca