The rapidly changing media landscape has seen unprecedented consolidation in broadcaster ownership, resulting in millions of “tangible benefits” dollars for domestic production up for grabs. What has it meant for the indies, and what happens when it ends?

Broadcaster consolidation has sent a chill throughout the production community. Remember when you could pitch to CHUM? Well, most of its specialties are now owned by Bell Media, while Rogers took over City. Alliance Atlantis? Sold to Canwest. Canwest? Bought by Shaw Media. Astral’s premium and specialty channels? Divvied up among Bell, Corus Entertainment and, likely soon, DHX Media. One needs a flowchart.

These moves have led to fewer outlets where producers can sell their wares, and the possibility of broadcasters spreading their shows around the greater number of channels they own, resulting in fewer overall commissions. To help compensate, the CRTC requires the new owner in a broadcaster sale to dedicate funds towards independently produced programs of national interest (PNI).

The commission defines PNI as “long-form documentary and drama and comedy, which are primary vehicles for communicating Canadian stories and values, as well as… award shows that celebrate Canadian creative talent.” The broadcaster is expected to set aside 10% of the transaction cost for “tangible benefits,” of which 85% must be directed toward programming and the rest toward social initiatives such as industry organizations, training, and visible-minority festivals.

The biggest player in all this is Bell Media, which, according to CRTC data, must spend $276 million on TV benefits by 2021, taking into account its CHUM and Astral deals as well as parent co BCE’s 2011 takeover of CTVglobemedia. Meanwhile, Shaw Media must spend $21 million on programming benefits by the end of fiscal 2014 to fulfill its obligations from the Canwest-Alliance Atlantis transaction, and $65.7 million by 2018-19 relating to its acquisition of Canwest. It projects to spend nearly all of that by 2016-2017, with $18.8 million to be spent in each of 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Brojects airs on Cottage Life

On a smaller scale, Blue Ant Media must spend $8.6 million on multi-screen programming by the end of the decade for its purchases of specialties Travel + Escape, Aux TV and Bite TV from Glassbox Television, Bold (now Cottage Life) from CBC, and four channels from High Fidelity HDTV. Rogers is nearing the end of its City benefits payout, with $579,000 left to spend on developing priority programming.

According to Boon Dog Professional Services’ 2014 tangible benefits tracking report, covering 22 separate packages, a total of $416 million must be spent on programming-related initiatives by 2021.

Producers have recognized the short-term opportunity. Corrie Coe, Bell Media’s SVP, independent production, acknowledges an uptick in pitches over the past couple of years and says Bell Media has prepared to ratchet up the dialogue with producers and deal with the volume of prospective projects for its various channels.

“We realigned our independent programming division so the people who oversee development manage a whole genre rather than a single [station] brand,” she says. “We also now have development managers in Vancouver to serve the Western region, in Winnipeg to build those relationships in the Prairies, and on the East Coast. This is in addition to the team at head office in Toronto.”

There is only so much space for Canadian series on Bell Media’s CTV and Shaw Media’s Global – both of which lean heavily on U.S. imports – so much of the benefits money goes towards developing shows for those broadcasters’ specialty channels.

Vikings

For 2012-13, three specialty shows were produced with support from a pool of $13.6 million from Shaw’s Alliance Atlantis benefits: three seasons of Showcase’s sci-fi drama Continuum (Reunion Pictures) and two seasons of Lost Girl (Prodigy Pictures), as well as two seasons of History’s Vikings (Take 5 Productions), which has a reported budget of US$40 million.

Meanwhile, Bell Media funded the now-cancelled drama Primeval: New World (Omni Film Productions) for Space and doc series Don’t Drive Here (Proper Television) for Discovery. Network scripted fare developed or produced with benefits dollars includes CTV’s Motive (Lark Productions and Foundation Features) and medical drama Saving Hope (ICF Films and Entertainment One) as well as Global’s comedy Working the Engels (Halfire-CORE Entertainment).

Coe says Bell Media has received pitches in PNI-qualifying genres from producers not normally associated with those kinds of programs. “Which is great,” she says. “It’s always good to hear ideas from different parties.”

Toronto’s marblemedia is best-known for kids shows such as the competition series Splatalot!, but co-CEO Mark Bishop says broadcaster consolidation has shrunk the kids market. So the prodco looks to embrace the upside of consolidation by building a scripted slate and chasing PNI cash. It is currently developing teen dramas and comedies as a stepping stone to older-skewing primetime drama and comedy, and says it will announce a green-lit teen drama this year.

marblemedia’s Mark Bishop and Matt Hornburg

The prodco is increasing its international presence with the hire of a Los Angeles development executive to work with marble co-CEO Matt Hornburg at finding U.S. partners for scripted projects. Bishop sees this window as a golden opportunity to put Canadian drama through the roof. After all, the production values of the benefits-boosted Saving Hope were deemed high enough for NBC, while ABC airs Motive.

“It’s important we as an industry don’t screw this up,” says Bishop, who is also the CMPA’s vice chair, new media and participates in a committee that provides input on how benefits dollars should be spent and ensures they go to indie prodcos. “Ten years from now I don’t want to look back and realize we squandered away this money. It’s a great catalyst to building great content, interesting coproductions and partnerships with American broadcasters, and a strong industry.”

Marblemedia benefitted from a stipulation in the Canwest-Alliance package whereby $1.5 million was earmarked for a project with programming and interactive components “designed to encourage learning about Canada’s history.”

Marble’s resulting series What’s in a Name? (the TV and digital media components of which cost an estimated $4.5 million) encouraged History viewers to vote online for the best potential names for items ranging from an electric car to a wrestler, a hockey team, a beer and even a baby. “It was much bigger in scale and scope than what you’d normally do for a traditional television property,” Bishop says.

Continued…

This article originally appeared in Playback’s Summer 2014 print issue.