After a slow start out the gate, HD production is picking up steam in Canada.

‘Demand across the board has increased dramatically over the last year,’ says Rob Sim, owner of Toronto-based video equipment rental house Sim Video.

While Sim says most of his HD customers typically work on dramatic series and feature films, this year, for the first time, a wider range of TV projects is shooting on the new format.

‘We are getting a lot more documentaries and specialty channel shows, such as cooking and home improvement series, that want to shoot in high definition. Even commercials and corporate videos are going HD,’ he says.

Michael McEwen, head of Canadian Digital Television, an industry group charged with guiding the transition to digital TV, agrees that the production community has increasingly embraced HD.

In 2005, less than 7% of Canada’s total production output was in HD, he notes, adding, ‘But that is changing. Most Canadian broadcasters are now asking for all their primetime TV shows in hi-def, and that is creating the environment where producers are realizing if they want to stay in the business, they have to start producing in HD.’

Vancouver’s Omni Film Productions is one prodco shooting its entire 2006 slate in HD.

‘Most broadcasters are asking for shows in HD, but it’s also our preference to shoot on HD,’ says company VP Brian Hamilton. ‘In some cases we have pitched broadcasters on why it is worth the extra cost to go HD.’

Omni’s HD programming ranges from scripted series (CTV’s Alice, I Think and Robson Arms and the CBC mini Dragon Boys) to docs (Slammin’ Iron: Rebuilding the World and Stuntdawgs) and lifestyle series (Namaste).

At this point in the game, Hamilton says there is no point shooting a series that isn’t in HD.

‘In a couple of years, viewers are going to demand high definition, so why not start now, as opposed to getting into season three and suddenly having to make the switch?’ he queries.

Another key factor is that HD improves opportunities for international sales – foreign markets are hungry for HD material – and increases a program’s shelf life.

‘It gives us a competitive advantage,’ says Hamilton. ‘We have made international sales we might not have otherwise made because our show was in HD.’

Canada’s digital TV strategy has essentially been to follow the American rollout by two years or so. In the U.S., the FCC has mandated that broadcasters be completely switched over to digital by 2009, a target that McEwen expects the Americans will easily meet. In Canada, the CRTC has instead adopted a ‘wait-and-see’ approach.

U.S. casters have built up their transmitter system so virtually all American broadcast outlets are sending out a digital signal, says Sim. And satellite and cable companies are offering a huge array of HD packages.

The Americans are also outpacing Canada in sales of HD sets. According to McEwen, 20% to 25% of Canadian households have an HD set, compared to about 40% of the American market.

Canadian broadcasters that have set out an HD plan early on are finding themselves well positioned to meet the growing demand.

Astral Television Networks, for example, began developing an HD strategy more than six years ago, and launched The Movie Network HD, a 24-hour HD channel, in May 2005, followed this January by MHD, a movie channel that offers select HD simulcasts of ‘classics’ from Astral channels Mpix and Mescape. The broadcaster plans to introduce an HD VOD service over the next several months.

‘Our approach is that this is value-added for subscribers, so we don’t charge extra for these HD channels,’ notes Chris Bell, Astral’s VP of technology. ‘Over time, our whole service will migrate to HD, although the timing for that isn’t clear as yet.’

All original programs on TMN, including the returning drama series ReGenesis and new shows Bon Voyage and Durham Country, are now being delivered in HD.

The cost of producing in HD rather than standard definition adds between 5% and 10% to the budget, but Bell says TMN isn’t necessarily topping up licence fees for HD product.

‘In my discussions with producers, it hasn’t been a significant issue,’ he says. ‘It is the price of doing business. We negotiate a licence fee on a project-by-project basis, and there is always some going back and forth. The reality is our licence fees, over time, have been going up.’

And while major Canadian networks including CTV are asking for independently produced programming in HD, broadcasters are also gearing up to convert their in-house newscasts to HD.

Citytv recently announced plans to shoot its BT-Breakfast Television show in HD, along with CityLine and CityNews at noon, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

TSN, meanwhile, is planning to relaunch SportsCentre, its flagship daily news and information show, in HD by late fall. It already broadcasts many of its live sports programs and indie productions in HD with Dolby 5.1 surround sound.

Given that a wide HD screen shows the viewer one-third more of an ice hockey surface or football field, and its high-resolution picture gives more of a sense of actually ‘being there,’ the station thinks its programming is perfect for HD.

‘We think that sports is a driving force of HD, so we want all our major properties to be in that format,’ says Rick Chisholm, VP of programming at TSN.

Once the revamped SportsCentre is on air, 50% of TSN’s overall programming will be in HD.

About 30 of 50 CFL games on TSN this year will have been shot in HD, and at least half of its 70 NHL games next season will air in the format, says Chisholm. TSN broadcasts of the NBA, the IIHF World Junior Championship, Blue Jays baseball, golf, NASCAR, U.S. college football and poker are also shot in HD whenever possible.

TSN rents mobile production studios from Dome Productions, and with only three HD units available, the challenge has been availability and getting the mobiles to games across the country.

Indie producers who come knocking on TSN’s door should expect to pitch HD projects only, Chisolm adds.

‘We certainly hope, in terms of our mobiles and major productions, to be 100 percent HD two years from now,’ he says.

McEwen has several recommendations to ensure Canada’s HD rollout continues at a strong pace.

He suggests the federal government offer a tax incentive to help broadcasters offset the costs of conversion, and that Canadian funding programs prioritize HD productions.

He also believes Canada should – and will – reconsider its ‘marketplace approach’ to complete HD conversion, and set a more rigid timeframe.

‘Realistically, I think that date will be a few years after the U.S., perhaps 2011 or 2012,’ he says.

But developing a regulatory framework may not be so easy among broadcasters. In fact, Canadian Digital Television is closing its doors at the end of August, in part due to the lack of consensus among broadcasters on issues surrounding an analog cutoff.

www.simvideo.com

www.cdtv.ca

www.omnifilm.com

www.themovienetwork.ca

www.tsn.ca