What’s mine is yours

There was a tad of tension at last month’s Canadian Institute seminar when The History and Entertainment Network vp programming Norm Bolen detailed the parameters for programming under the then mandate. The litmus test is this: Did that person live? Did these events happen? If the answer to either question is yes, it has then potential.

Bravo! gm Paul Gratton, moderating the panel, raised an eyebrow and asked if an Elvis anthology would be something they’d take. It’s a lovely illustration of a growing dilemma. Whether Newsworld will get to keep This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Royal Canadian Air Farce could set a precedent at an interesting phase in the game. The cbc appealed the crtc decision in favor of chum, Baton and the cab, which had filed a complaint that Newsworld is casting entertainment as commentary and analysis.

Eyes are on the decision for a gauge of how short or long a leash the commission is keeping on its program mandates.

The Partridge Family is the stuff of a music program channel. wtn already has The Backyard Grill and is premiering a gardening show and a home reno program, on April 7. One station’s lifestyle show is another’s women’s programming. You say commentary and political satire; I say comedy. And Monty Python’s Flying Circus airs on the arts channel.

With an undetermined number of specialties coming down the pike, all grabbing at programming like it’s the last Eggo in the box, genre interpretations are bound to be stretched. As are any gentlemen’s agreements to stay clear of one another’s turf; the new status quo means all bets are off.

But while tension mounts over who owns comedy, there are signs that nets can share nicely in new adventures in programming.

The Never-Endum Referendum doc from High Road Productions marks the first window collaboration for Baton and Radio-Canada.

Baton vp original programming non-dramatic Suzanne Boyce says it seems unusual, but it isn’t: ‘We believe we’re public broadcasters at a private station; the airwaves belong to the public. I thought this was interesting because we haven’t seen the human face of the referendum.’

The addition of Bill Mustos to the Baton programming team adds to evidence supporting indie optimism as to the nature of the network’s interest in more new national Canadian-based material.

Last year’s efforts were focused in-house, and while the lineup draws criticism as derivative of u.s. fare, Baton can counter with certain successes in repatriating eyeballs. The Jenn Beech children’s block phenomenon (sort of a Commander Tom for the ’90s) has caught on, Camilla Scott has drawn a strong young audience to triple-whammy Ricki Lake, Dini has upped its audience by a third since it added more Canadian guests, and E-Now is the only national hour-long Canadian-based show of its kind.

Things like Never-Endum, Bred in the Bone, and Suzette Couture doing dramas for Baton should stretch the labels as to what the net will be interested in looking at now.

And perhaps alter perceptions. ‘More Canadian stories,’ sums up Boyce, ‘in whatever form.’

Now if only les autres could follow suit and connect the two solitudes.