Now that he’s got it, Serge Bellerose still isn’t sure what to do with Toronto 1. But that’s okay, he says, no rush. There won’t be any real changes at the struggling station until fall, which gives him and the other brass at Quebecor a bit of time to figure out what went wrong and how to set it right.

TVA and Sun Media, both arms of the Quebecor empire, bought the station from CHUM Ltd. late last year and will spend the better part of 2005 running market research in the Ontario capital, he says, examining public perception of the station and its programming, which failed to attract significant viewers or advertisers after an ambitious launch in late 2003.

‘There will not be too many changes until then,’ he says.

But Bellerose, SVP of specialty channels and business development at TVA, already has a few ideas – Toronto 1’s fall budget for both in-house programming and acquisitions will be increased (he doesn’t say by how much) and the station will probably keep its slot of primetime movies, one of its few money-makers. He is looking at keeping pro sports – although high licence fees and the hockey strike are making it difficult – and is also toying with the idea of introducing a Quebec-style low-budget sitcom, something akin to TVA’s Caméra Café.

‘There are concepts with which we’ve had a lot of success within the French market that could potentially be adapted for the English market and that could be produced at a reasonable cost,’ he says.

The station is looking to hire a new programming and acquisitions exec, and will continue to target adults and young adults in the Toronto region with a heavy slant towards multicultural programming, entertainment and local news, as spelled out in its original licence, he adds. He has no plans for any major staff changes.

Toronto 1 is an important move for the Quebec media giant, which has long sought to enter English Canada, just as the now-ruined Craig Media wanted to break into Ontario.

Most observers agree that Craig Media sealed its fate by underestimating the level of competition in the Toronto market, thought to be the fiercest in North America. The western station group was put up for sale just months after its Toronto debut and was bought by its rival CHUM, which then sold T1 for $46 million on orders from the CRTC.

‘A big problem that Toronto 1 had in year one was there was not a lot of promotion,’ Bellerose offers. ‘It was a stand-alone and they were not able to promote the station as they should have. We intend to correct that.’

The new Toronto 1, if it keeps the name, which it may not, will be heavily cross-promoted with the Toronto Sun and other Quebecor properties, such as the local commuter paper 24 and the Canoe.ca websites.

Bellerose believes the station could be profitable in two or three years. T1 says it now brings in about one million viewers in the 18-49 demo per week and is seeing improvements in its ad revenue, mostly around its movies.

‘We do not need a six or seven share. Having a three in two or three years would make the station profitable,’ he says. ‘We’re modest in our ambition to turn it around and I think we will be able to do so.’

David McFadgen, an analyst with Sprott Securities, thinks T1 will lose between $5 million and $10 million a year for the next two years, after which it will probably be in the black. But he doubts the station will ever be a significant money-maker and suspects Quebecor will sell within five to 10 years.

‘I’m not very optimistic on that asset,’ says McFadgen, pointing to the crowded market and lack of projected growth among advertisers. He says the station is useful as a foothold in English Canada, but otherwise is not a good purchase ‘It’s a money-losing exercise at the end of the day,’ he says.

Station manager Barbara Williams has been working closely with Bellerose on the T1 overhaul and, clearly, wants to get her station out from under the cloud of Craig Media. ‘There was this huge business story above us all year and it was not a story that was in our control,’ she says, recalling the station’s turbulent first year. ‘But underneath that there is a TV station with a really committed team of people, doing better and better as each quarter goes by.’

Bellerose seems to sympathize. ‘Those people had a tough time. They were struggling. They didn’t know what the future would be and now I think they’re really proud of being in a larger group and they’re going to see the future in the right way.’

-www.toronto1.tv

-www.quebecor.com