JULIE BRISTOW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT

A FOCUS ON FACTUAL:
The amount of factual programming on the CBC continues to grow every year, Bristow says, with the main nights for factual being Sunday and Monday. Sunday nights this fall will be devoted to the second, expanded season of Battle of the Blades and the new 8×60-minute home series All For One with Debbie Travis.

Starting in January, Monday nights will be home to the new series Village on a Diet, which will see an entire town take on a fitness and weight-loss challenge.

“In addition to the series in daytime and primetime, we have dozens of one-off specials in development and production at any given time,” says Bristow.

WHAT SHE’S LOOKING FOR:
The Canadian pubcaster looks for programming that will attract the broadest possible audience, with more than 50% of the channel’s viewership falling into the 25-54 age demo.

“What works for CBC are large-scale social experiments like The Week the Women Went or Village on a Diet,” says Bristow. “Live event television that brings the country together is a perfect fit for CBC TV.”

While CBC does program one-offs, Bristow is looking for more repeatable series for primetime and daytime hours. For primetime, repeatable series of 10 hours or more work best for the channel. This will also be the first year CBC will be commissioning music and arts programming, says Bristow.

HOW TO PITCH:
Bristow would prefer producers send a one-page description of their program to Andrea Kadis, executive assistant, factual entertainment (factualpitch@cbc.ca).

Bristow also regularly attends markets such as the Realscreen Summit, MIPTV and MIPCOM, the Banff World Television Festival and the LA TV Festival.

More information on how and what to pitch is available through CBC’s producer’s site.

From realscreen magazine.