As the broadcast landscape evolves, private station groups such as WIC Western International Communications, Craig Broadcasting and the CHUM Group are capitalizing on the holes in local news programming, while educational broadcasters are finding an increased role as outlets for regional info programming and documentaries.

However, local programming can be costly and often without the benefits of sales to other markets. Private, public and educational broadcasters, with a wide range of programming budgets, are facing an array of challenges in bringing these shows to the screen.

In this report, Playback talks to regional broadcasters across the country to see how they are meeting these challenges.

*SCN steps up branding efforts, lobbies for change

‘Regional programming is in crisis,’ says scn’s executive director of programming Richard Gustin.

‘It is no longer possible for a producer in Saskatchewan to get a regional licence from cbc or Baton or CanWest Global,’ he explains. ‘scn used to be able to partner up with the private broadcasters, each providing a licence and facilities, to get programs made.’

As the broadcast system has evolved, he says, regional responsibilities have fallen from the cbc and private broadcasters to the provincial educational stations.

But this has not included new money to execute these new responsibilities.

By example, Gustin points to the difficulty he is facing in trying to commission a series on Saskatchewan education and training issues to an independent producer.

Although Gustin plans to make the five-part series on the ultra low-budget of $150,000, the project currently remains in limbo because it is ineligible for production fund support, and due to the regional content, is of no interest to national broadcasters. scn does not have the resources to carry the costs of the entire budget, says Gustin.

Since 1990, scn has stepped up efforts to brand itself as a uniquely Saskatchewan service, committing over $5 million to more than 350 Saskatchewan-produced projects worth about $36 million in production budgets. Roughly $1.4 million of scn’s annual budget is allocated to local projects.

However, Gustin points out that regional info programming is expensive to produce on a cost-per-unit basis because there is little or no secondary market and it does not qualify for support through funds such as the Canadian Television Fund.

Commercial broadcasters license programming for 15% of the program’s cost, with much of the remaining budget made up in government funds, whereas a regional info program requires the broadcaster to put up 100% of the cost without any of the other available funding mechanisms.

Gustin says scn pays five times the licence fee for a Saskatchewan-produced program that it would for a program produced outside the province. To license a one-hour Canadian-produced info program for over four years, scn may pay up to $2,000, yet to license a one-hour Saskatchewan-produced info program, it could pay up to $10,000. Despite this, both programs would be assigned the same Cancon value, he says.

scn called for some sweeping changes in its submission to the crtc’s Canadian Television Policy Review, such as having regional info programming declared an underrepresented category and given similar access to production fund sources as children’s and drama programming.

The station is also calling for a dedicated regional production fund to support regionally specific projects with limited secondary market potential. scn also wants regional info programming to be assigned additional Cancon values, as is the case for drama and kids’ programs, with subscriber fees or a portion of advertising revenue dedicated to regional info programming.

*Knowledge taps B.C. stories

Community programming takes up the biggest block on b.c.’s Knowledge Network, says gm Bohdan Zajcew.

Programming about b.c.’s geography, culture, economy, history and public affairs is an area other broadcasters are not catering to, says Zajcew, who believes these types of shows will ensure Knowledge’s continuing significance in the multichannel universe.

The only stumbling block is the money required to produce this programming.

‘We are looking for ways through the Canadian Television Fund to have educational programming recognized as an underserved category deserving special consideration and acknowledgment of the unique role of educational broadcasters in the Canadian broadcasting system,’ says Zajcew.

The non-commercial educational service operates on an annual budget of just under $10 million, of which $5 million comes from the b.c. government, with the balance raised through corporate sponsorship, underwriting and public membership.

Roughly $5.5 million is allotted for programming, of which $500,000 is available for presales.

Partnerships with other regional broadcasters make licensing Canadian projects viable, says Zajcew, pointing to the ongoing collaboration between Knowledge, tvontario and scn for Breakthrough Entertainment’s Dudley the Dragon series.

Knowledge also stretches dollars through second windows, as in its arrangement on Pacific Profiles, a biography series on prominent b.c. individuals produced for vtv.

However, difficulties arise when first-window rights, particularly on time-sensitive documentaries and info programs, are locked up for two years.

‘cbc is a tough wall to break – they often tie up exclusive rights for two or three years. It is easier with the specialties,’ says Zajcew.

As a ‘test case in new ways to work with independent producers,’ Knowledge has taken a one-third equity stake in Dotto’s Data Cafe, a 13-part, half-hour program profiling developments in computer technology produced by Prime Time Creative and Galileo Productions.

Knowledge gave a cash licence and facility usage in exchange for distribution rights. It has sold the $400,000 series to 15 countries including Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia – and turned a profit. Dotto’s Data Cafe has also been sold to scn, access and tvo.

Knowledge prelicenses and acquires 13 long-form projects a year for its documentary strand Cross Currents, which has an annual budget of $200,000, and gives top priority to b.c. filmmakers. Acquisition prices for a regional broadcast of a documentary are generally $2,500 an hour while a second-window presale averages $4,000 an hour.

Knowledge also programs The Independent Eye series, which presents short films from indie producers. The broadcaster has sold this program to scn and is in negotiations for a sale to tvo.

*ACCESS partnering with educational institutions

In the last three years since Alberta educational broadcaster access was privatized, the station has been making links with post-secondary and other educational institutions to help provide the financial support for its programming.

The station has about $1 million a year available to independent producers to develop tv programs connected to courses of study, says programming manager Jill Bonenfant. Currently 33 projects are in production with support from the Ministry of Advanced Education.

Prebuys comprise roughly 25% – an average of 15 to 20 projects – of the programming schedule.

The results include a primetime strand which is part of the course Canadian Literature By Women. A series titled A Woman I Know is a cooperative effort between access, Athabasca University, Keyano College and local production company Big Frog Productions. The programs contain adaptations of Canadian fiction, biographies and documentaries, with a host introducing each program.

Another project, the 10-part, half-hour series Death: A Personal Understanding, has been produced by Sleeping Giant Productions in cooperation with access, Athabasca University, Guelph University and Vision tv.

One-off documentaries make up the bulk of the access schedule. ‘These programs are not commercially sellable and often miss out in the lineup for production funding,’ says Bonenfant. ‘If educational broadcasters do not support these projects they don’t get made.’

As access pointed out in its submission to the crtc at the Canadian Television Policy Review, with the incentive of a 150% time credit for drama, private broadcasters are even less interested in documentaries, making it difficult for indie producers to include conventional broadcasters in financing arrangements for non-dramatic programming.

‘We would like to see additional credits for documentary programming and ensured funding from the Canadian Television Fund,’ says Bonenfant.

*Output deals help TVO/TFO spread dollars around

Ontario educational broadcaster tvontario is faring well in the ratings game. Despite the launch of over 20 new channels in the last two years, tvo’s audience share has grown 4%, says managing director of English programming services Don Duprey. Over the past five years, he says, audience share has jumped 60%.

Kids’ programming and documentaries are pivotal to tvo’s niche in the Ontario broadcast market, says Duprey.

tvo programs an average of nine hours of kidcon a day, and Duprey says the Ontario public broadcaster will continue to build on its reputation for children’s shows that are both entertaining and educational, with the additional bonus that there are no commercial breaks.

Over the past few years, tvo has shifted from in-house children’s program production and straight acquisitions to developing output deals with Canada’s key kids’ shows suppliers such as Cinar and Nelvana.

‘Children’s programming is a cornerstone of our broadcast undertakings, and the degree to which we can continue to have access to independently produced material that is of high quality and also affordable is crucial,’ Duprey explains, adding:

‘These output deals have helped us spread the dollars around and given some long-term comfort to independent producers to plan ahead.’

Documentaries are another key facet of the tvo broadcast schedule, and Duprey is pushing for primetime tv docs to be recognized as 150% Cancon.

tvo’s point-of-view documentary strand is the principal trigger for Canada’s major documentaries, says Duprey, who also notes tvo’s willingness to work with other broadcasters to pull together national coverage as well as help producers pick up international broadcast licences.

‘Public broadcasters are the primary players driving independent Canadian documentary production and the genre needs more encouragement and recognition,’ says Duprey.

Over the past two years the program schedule at Ontario French-language broadcaster tfo has shifted towards an increased number of coproductions and exclusive first windows, says Bruno Beaulieu, creative head information, culture and science programming. As well, documentaries are cropping up more often in the lineup and this season saw the launch of a new history strand.

Whereas acquisitions used to account for 75% to 80% of the documentaries programmed, this season the number has been pared down to a mere 15%.

tfo is involved in 29 prebuys for the current and following season, 15 of which the French-language public broadcaster is coproducing.

As the competition for programming has heated up, tfo has established a number of output deals with indie producers and distributors in Canada and Europe to secure exclusive or first windows.

‘We negotiate long-term agreements which give us first option and exclusive rights to new projects,’ explains Beaulieu. An example is a deal with Paris-based Doc and Company, which gives tfo first right of refusal on new projects from the eight French producers the company represents.

Another incentive to snag projects, tfo is offering producers use of its technical facilities on top of licence fees, says Beaulieu. tfo is increasingly looking outside the French-language market for projects, and in exchange for Canadian rights, absorbs the costs of adapting and versioning the programs for the francophone market, then returns the French version to the producer or distributor for sales to other French-language markets. Seven one-offs on tfo’s 1998/99 schedule are a result of versioning arrangements.

An example is the 40-hour series Explore, produced by National Geographic for Turner Broadcasting. tfo was able to pick up rights to the big-budget series by producing the French-language version itself, which was then sold by National Geographic to French broadcasters.

tfo is also producing French-language versions of Cinenova Productions’ docudrama series Escape from Earth (tfo will broadcast the world premiere) and Nuclear Sharks. tfo has also taken a prebuy on the French-language version of Tom Hanks’ hbo series From The Earth to The Moon for air next September.

When it comes to major science and history series, Beaulieu says tfo prefers to coproduce in order to be involved in shaping the content.

tfo is the executive producer of an international version of the 10-hour doc series Century of Discovery. The three-way coproduction involves pbs, French educational network La Cinquieme and tfo. tfo is adapting the American-centric content into a more worldwide focus and is taking Canadian rights. It will broadcast the series next year. Budget of the French-language version is $250,000.

Alliances with other broadcasters are also helping tfo stretch programming dollars. Many of its history series are financed with History Television taking English-language rights.

Working with Canal v in Quebec, tfo has licensed a $4-million, 13-hour human sciences series titled Ecce Homo, to be produced by Montreal’s Coscient.

This season marks the first dramatic mini-series to be prebought by tfo. Produced by Greenspace Productions, Operation Tango is a $5-million, five-part miniseries set among peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia.

*WIC establishing its brand

With CanWest Global and ctv focusing on a national identification, WIC Television president Jim Macdonald says wic is positioning itself in much the same way that Procter and Gamble is associated with Crest toothpaste.

‘While the local station is predominant, we have attempted to create a relationship between the stations and wic as the parent brand.’

wic currently owns stations in b.c. (bctv, chek-tv, chbc-tv), Alberta (citv Lethbridge, citv Edmonton, ckrd-tv Red Deer), Hamilton (OnTv ) and Montreal (cfcf-tv). In its presentation to the Canadian Television Policy Review, wic stressed that local service such as news ‘should not be taken for granted’ and expressed concern over the notion of devaluing certain types of programs in favor of others, particularly the idea of focusing on categories 7, 8 and 9.

‘As we move forward it will be even more important for conventional broadcasters to be able to differentiate themselves from each other. Not only is this important for the broadcasters themselves; it is also important for the system.’

The wic presentation went on to stress its view that the greatest diversity in the system will be found by establishing the simplest possible rules to ensure equitable contribution from each of the broadcast players and ‘allowing the individual entities in the system to find their own niches.’

At the same time, the wic statement pointed out that creating a level playing field is no easy task. While the cost of acquiring an equal number of hours of the same genre of programming is similar for each station group, the revenue base over which these costs are amortized is very different, with the smaller groups bearing a cost relative to revenue that would be significantly higher than for the larger groups.

*CHUM beefs up local programming

‘As everyone else goes national, we are beefing up local production and filling the local void,’ says CHUM Television’s vp of programming Jay Switzer.

Local programming is the building block of the schedules at the chum-owned stations – Toronto’s Citytv, The New vr in Barrie, Ont., southwestern Ontario stations The New pl London (cfpl), The New wi Windsor (chwi) and The New nx Wingham (cknx) andThe New ro Ottawa (chro). This means pumping increased resources into community specials, local event television and news documentaries, says Switzer.

Echoing the concerns of other regional broadcasters, Switzer says he does not want to see initiatives put in place which ‘force national productions at the expense of regional programming.’

The recently acquired Ottawa and southwestern Ontario stations have been given autonomy to develop programs that reflect their specific communities, particularly local news and information programming.

At the Ottawa station, original programming includes the morning show Rise Up Ottawa and call-in hockey program Fan Network, both produced in-house, and from indie producers, Aboriginal Voices and In Good Faith, a half-hour religious show.

Operations and program manager Anna Mary Burke says the station is also looking at picking up another hockey-related show titled Overtime, produced by Rogers Television.

Don Mumford, program and promotion manager for The New pl, The New wi and The New nx, says the southwestern Ontario region has most of its info programming and news piped in from Toronto, increasing the importance of the local mandate for the chum stations.

‘We are the only ones providing real coverage of the southwestern Ontario region,’ he says.

The London station’s 6 p.m. newscast pulls in 200,000-plus viewers, says Mumford, and has an over 50 share in the London region. The New pl produces 17 hours of local original news per week, The New wi produces 10 hours and The New nx, five hours and 40 minutes. The stations are also required to produce eight hours of local reflective programming per week.

Programs launched so far include The Business of Farming, Inquiry Weekly, a half-hour debate format program, and the half-hour political summary People’s Business.

Mumford is in the throes of planning a 7-9 a.m. morning show to launch in 1999. The program will cost in excess of $500,000 and will consist of live segments from all three of the southwestern Ontario markets, covering a range of topics from local sports, lifestyle, health, business, politics and human interest stories.

While these programs are produced in-house, Mumford has commissioned outside producers for Speakers Corner and multi-faith religious program Life and Faith.

The southwestern Ontario chum stations have access to an independent production fund of $900,000, of which $782,000 is allotted to presale licences and the balance to script development.

‘The mandate of the fund is to direct money towards local indie producers or other producers producing material relevant to the local community,’ explains Mumford. Among the projects funded to date are the one-hour documentary Stoned: Hemp Nation on Trial, produced by Russel Bennet. In development is a stand-up comedy series to be produced by Gavin McGarry and Craig Thompson of Toronto. The show will feature taped stand-up comedy performances held at college and university campuses across Ontario.

Mumford says he is now focusing his attention on securing some long-form drama projects with producers in the Greater London area.

Community calendars, local interstitials and regional news flashes between acquired programming help brand the station, says Mumford, and offers southwestern Ontario viewers a reason to choose the chum stations over the many other offerings.

*A-Channel takes partnering strategy

Craig Broadcast Systems’ A-Channel, broadcast out of stations in Edmonton and Calgary, is celebrating its first anniversary and flagging that in little over a year it has prebought 12 films, an investment of $3 million in licence fees and representing $35 million in production budgets. Of these projects, eight have been produced so far.

The A-Channel programming strategy is to take Canadian rights on these projects and then sublicense out to other broadcasters and pay-tv networks.

Programming for A-Channel and Craig Broadcasting’s group of Manitoba stations, mtn, often involves partnerships with other regional broadcasters, particularly CHUM Group.

A-Channel, chum and CTV Sportsnet have partnered on the 22-episode extreme ski series Edge, produced by Rap Productions in Calgary. A-Channel has also licensed four new series in tandem with other broadcasters for this season, The Crow, First Wave, The Raven and Dead Man’s Gun.

chum supplies roughly half of A-Channel’s schedule, says Drew Craig, president. ‘Some programs we acquire in concert with chum and others we acquire on a sub-licence basis.’

In addition to a strong lineup of long-form drama, local news is a key component of A-Channel’s schedule, as evidenced by the recent expansion of the Big Breakfast morning show which now runs from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.