After six seasons with CTV and The Comedy Network, Mike Bullard has network-hopped himself right off Canadian airwaves, failing to last a full season after defecting to Global.

The network abruptly canceled The Mike Bullard Show March 12, saying it just wasn’t making the cut despite a ‘major promotion effort.’ Global says it remains committed to getting back into late-night as soon as possible.

According to Ron Waksman, executive producer, news and special projects at Global, a new show is currently in the works, but details were unavailable at press time.

Bullard switched to Global in fall ’03, setting off and losing a ratings war with CTV, which replaced him with The Daily Show with Jon Setwart.

The Daily Show is attracting between 250,000 and 300,000 viewers nightly to CTV, while Bullard struggled to bring in more than 100,000 on Global.

According to Ed Robinson, senior VP comedy and variety programming for CTV, one of the things that makes a late-night talk show difficult is the lack of star structure in Canada to draw on for guests. But he also says that CTV remains committed to providing a forum for showcasing Canadian talent, pointing to the network’s entertainment magazine eTalk Daily, which attracts between 600,000 and 700,000 in its 7 p.m. timeslot and more than 150,000 when repeated after The Daily Show’s midnight slot.

In addition, a new comedy variety show is also in the works at Comedy. Test pilots are currently being shot for Pop Cultured, hosted by Elvira Kurt, which aims to get into the grit of celebrity culture. According to director of programming Brent Haynes, if all goes well, the new show should air this fall.

As for traditional late-night talk shows, CTV and Global agree it may be time to try something new.