Television networks and specialty channels are responding to a trend for all things green, but programmers warn that finger-wagging, doomsday scenarios and apocalyptic visions about global warming and excessive consumption don’t fly with viewers.

‘People don’t want gloom and doom,’ begins Paul Lewis, president of CTV’s Discovery Channel Canada. ‘It turns them off. They turn to us for positive stories that can’t be seen anywhere else.’

Lewis says that audiences have seen enough smokestack images to last a lifetime. ‘Those kind of documentaries are dead. The audience is more sophisticated now. They know what the problems are. What they want to know now is how to change things,’ he elaborates.

Canwest’s VP content at HGTV Anna Gecan agrees. ‘People don’t want to watch shows that are too directive. They want programs that subtly demonstrate how they can incorporate Earth-friendly ways into their everyday lives.’

Last January, HGTV launched a two-hour block of half-hour eco-friendly shows billed the Green Space on Sunday evenings. It wasn’t the success with viewers programmers had hoped. Two of the shows, now cancelled, were international properties: Eco House Challenge followed two Australian families trying to reduce their energy consumption, and No Waste Like Home looked at a British family trying to cut down on waste and save money.

‘We learned that we don’t need to ghettoize green programming,’ says Gecan. ‘The formats were successful in the U.K., but a bit too challenge-oriented for the Canadian market.’

HGTV now programs shows that incorporate ‘green elements’ but aren’t necessarily focused on environmental issues, says Gecan. ‘HGTV is green. This isn’t a trend for us; it’s a message that’s embedded in all our shows.’

Launched in October, HGTV’s Pure Design, a 13 x 30 from Omni Film Productions, focuses on remodelling projects using natural materials and less waste. ‘The host provides lots of subtle guidance and price options,’ says Gecan.

Also popular is Cineflix’s World’s Greenest Homes, a 13 x 30 produced in association with HGTV Canada and Discovery Planet Green in the U.S.

‘It’s a great show. We tour the most beautiful green homes in the world,’ says Gecan, adding that the show, launched in March, is in repeats and a second season is planned.

Rather than preach, Discovery Canada also wants to entertain its predominantly male audience. It is launching a nine-part series called Project Earth, which features scientists testing theories on how to save the planet.

‘Men tend to be interested in engineering projects,’ explains Lewis. ‘Our audience doesn’t just want to hear about stuff; they want to see it in action.’

In one episode, scientists cover a section of Greenland with a massive blanket to prevent polar ice from melting.

In March, the channel will also premiere a new six-part Canadian series from Proper TV called Junk Raiders, which follows a group of contractors and designers testing the theory that everything needed to completely renovate an apartment can be found in what would otherwise end up in landfill.

‘Junk Raiders is a classic example of how we are making successful reality series formats green,’ says Lewis. ‘It gets people thinking about the stuff they are throwing out every day.’

Last June, Canwest’s Global News also got on the green bandwagon as stations across Canada dedicated a day to environmental issues and eco-friendly topics in order to ‘provide Canadians with ways to reduce their carbon footprints.’

The ‘Global News Goes Green’ initiative featured stories of ways to help protect and conserve the planet and success stories of local heroes making a difference.

Environmental issues figure prominently in Radio-Canada’s current affairs programming because ‘the news has become green,’ according to Robert Nadeau, director of the pubcaster’s all-news channel RDI.

RDI plans to rebroadcast Planète prise 2, a 13-episode series on eco-friendly living that aired last year. It will also air Humanima (Productions Nova Media/National Film Board), a 13 x 30 series produced in collaboration with France’s TV5 about people who have an intimate relationship with animals, nature and the environment.

RDI is also developing a series on sustainable development with France’s Ushuaïa TV.

SRC has also produced three one-hour docs on climate change in the Arctic, which will air on The Nature of Things and the French-language science show Découverte, likely in 2009.