At the recent CFTPA Prime Time conference in Ottawa, CBC TV boss Richard Stursberg told a roomful of producers what the pubcaster’s new regime wants in its programs.

The Ceeb commissioned some research and has concluded that it does not want documentaries that are preachy, boring and highbrow. It does not want comedies that are unfunny. What it does want are dramas that are entertaining, enjoyable and well written. One can only hope that the network’s previous brain trust did not think differently.

Stursberg went on to say that all CBC dramas should draw one million viewers, and documentaries 800,000. He looks at CTV and sees that Corner Gas gets seven-digit audiences, and so why shouldn’t CBC shows do likewise? Well, one can’t help but admire the man’s audacity. While everybody would be happy to see the pubcaster enjoy this level of success, and while the occasional event miniseries or MOW will certainly meet this standard, drama series will have a much harder time hitting the mark.

With Da Vinci’s City Hall, This Is Wonderland and The Tournament all getting the axe, what scripted series CBC will have on its fall lineup remains a big question mark, with the exception of the Chris Haddock crime thriller Intelligence, which continues from a two-hour pilot that aired back in November.

First of all, this is a curious choice for the green light. While Stursberg says it’s all about numbers, the Intelligence MOW – a typically well-reviewed offering from Da Vinci’s creator Haddock – drew under 500,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, the cancellation of Da Vinci’s City Hall after just one season is disappointing. The Ceeb says the show was pulling in an audience of about 400,000. But the program was handicapped right out of the starting gate, having debuted a mere two weeks after the end of the CBC staff lockout. Two weeks is not enough time to build substantial viewer awareness of a series. And, admittedly, City Hall was not the most commercial of series, neither in subject matter – the politics of the mayor’s office – nor in its mumbly, fly-on-the-wall approach that owes much to 1970s cinema. It is television that makes you pay attention – a far cry from the garishly hued, melodramatic CSI franchise that’s a cash cow for CTV and Alliance Atlantis.

But it’s fine for CBC programs to stand in sharp contrast to those from the private broadcasters. Our public broadcaster should not be run like CTV or Global, nor, ultimately, is it able to go head-to-head with them on a level playing field.

Where CBC shows will continue to be challenged in matching the Corner Gas standard is in the network’s limited promotional and scheduling power. CTV has the advantage of being able to promote Corner Gas – and, for that matter, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Instant Star, Robson Arms and the forthcoming Whistler – around its top-rated American shows, such as CSI, American Idol and Desperate Housewives. CBC never has the attention of that many eyeballs to sell its dramatic wares.

There’s always Hockey Night in Canada, but on an average Saturday HNIC draws half of what CSI does on a weekly basis. And CTV can use hit U.S. shows like Jeopardy! – a regular Top 20 show in Toronto – as a lead-in to Cancon like Corner Gas, an option the CBC doesn’t have.

As for which shows the CBC will be pushing, few – if any – know for sure. On one hand, Stursberg says he does not want to divulge anything, which would give advantage to his ‘competitors.’ (Although, given its mandate, the Ceeb should not look at itself as being in direct competition with the private casters.) But then, by calling a meeting to tell producers what the CBC is looking for suggests the net might not have a firm plan in place quite yet.

One thing for sure is that producers of the 40 to 50 projects CBC reportedly has in development are getting antsy waiting to hear where they stand. It wouldn’t be prudent to delay decisions much longer and have to rush programs into production ahead of a fall launch.

Everybody should wish the pubcaster and all its new shows plenty of eyeballs, but by setting the bar as high as he has, Stursberg could be in store for a big fall.