Montreal: Radio-Canada’s programming team has commissioned seven new drama series this season, perhaps the most significant turnover in many seasons.

src’s vp television Michele Fortin says the new drama production represents the first year of a major two-year transition program highlighted by new ‘discoveries’ in terms of formats, performers and writers. The network’s programming team, itself largely made up of newcomers, has offered enhanced licence fees for many of its primetime series as a way to ensure participation of the Canadian Television Fund.

Both src and primary competitor Reseau tva are trying extra hard this season to capture a younger audience – the 18-to-40 demographic – of strategic interest to advertisers.

In pursuing a strong schedule, src has invested up to 20% more this year in ctf-funded programs, up to $28 million in the form of licence fees and other incentives, says Daniel Gourd, src’s director-general of programming. Gourd says the increased investment is needed to maintain a leading market share, about 25% of the primetime tv Quebec audience.

‘We went after [ctf funds] because we had no choice. That is the way the system is organized,’ says Gourd. ‘The system is much more competitive. The private sector is more competitive and is going for more Canadian programs. Specialty channels are also very aggressive and they’re buying a lot of quality [foreign] programming, which has created a very high level of challenge.’

New drama series

New dramas include the family comedy Le monde de Charlotte (Sphere Media), the street gang chronicle Tag (Motion International) and Fred-Dy (Pixcom), a series about an extended east-end working-class family.

Mon meilleur ennemi (src), a Louise Pelletier/Suzanne Aubry teleroman about a comfortably married woman whose life is turned upside down when an old flame shows up, stars Macha Grenon in her first lead role in a teleroman.

Also new for fall are six hours of the high-tech espionage series Haute Surveillance (Motion International); La Vie la vie (Cirrus Communications and Lux Films), a 39 half-hour dramedy closer in tone to thirtysomething than Friends; and the Guy Fournier-scripted sequel Sous le Signe du Lion ii (Zone3).

Top-rated returning src shows like the sitcom Un Gars, une fille (Avanti Cine Video); the teleroman 4 et demi (src), in its seventh and final season; and the musical game show La Fureur (Guy Cloutier Productions) are also in the sked.

Also renewed are the Fabienne Larouche-scripted daily soap Virginie (src), Victor-Levy Beaulieu’s Bouscotte (src), the family teleroman Catherine (Avanti) and Fernard Dansereau’s Caserne 24 (Productions Sovimage), set in a community fire station.

src believes it has improved its information and variety show lineup with more resources and better scheduling.

Highlights include a revamped L’Ecuyer (Avanti), the network’s flagship talk show; the new public affairs and news parody series Infoman (Stephane Laporte/ Zone3), hosted by Le fin du monde est a 7 heures alumnus Jean-Rene Dufort; and a new Saturday night talk/comedy sketch show, On fait ca seulement le samedi soir (Laporte and Zone3), broadcast live from src’s Studio 42.

A significant number of episodes of the $25-million src/cbc historical series Le Canada: Une Histoire Populaire, a third financed by src, will air on Les Beaux Dimanches, the pubcaster’s Sunday night cultural showcase.

src has expanded its children’s primetime schedule, starting at 6:30 a.m. with La Dimension Jeunesse and several new animation series: Rolie Polie Olie (Nelvana), Papyrus (Dupuis/Medver/TF1) and Mona Le Vampire (Films Cinar), among others.

Au M@x (Zone3-IV), adapted from the popular To The M@x series and hosted by comic Steeve Diamond, and Sciences point com (Productions R. Charbonneau), a science-drama series, are both aimed at stimulating youthful curiosity and are also new this season.

src may have upped the ante to secure ctf funds for its current programming, but Gourd says the revised ctf system puts private broadcasters in a privileged position.

He says broadcaster affiliate producers can access up to one-third of Licence Fee Program funds, which are not available to public broadcasters, who don’t have production affiliates.

Another ‘inequity in principle,’ he says, is that private broadcasters can develop a project and then transfer it to a producer who’ll apply for ctf money, an option not available to public broadcasters.

Canadian Association of Broadcasters members led the charge against the now-discontinued reserved ctf envelopes for cbc and src, but the private-sector advantages have remained, a condition Gourd sees as both ‘discriminatory and unacceptable.’

src anticipates a decision shortly from the crtc on its Tele des Arts application. ‘With Tele des Arts we’ll be able to do more cultural programming on [src] as we were able to do more news and current affairs when rdi [Reseau de l’Information] was launched,’ says Gourd. *

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