Big changes to the programming schedule are aiming to breathe new life into Life Network this fall.

As of October, gone are the network’s signature Monday to Friday theme days. Health, Habitat, Food, Explorations, and Relationships have been replaced by a more traditional horizontal sked, broken up into blocks, with an overall concentration on three themes: home and garden, the great outdoors, and, to a lesser degree, health.

Of the 10 original Canadian programs that went to air in January, Life is in renewal negotiations with nine. This fall, the goal is to air 10 new Canadian productions, about half the number they’d planned before the cable fiasco. ‘There’s absolutely no doubt our fall schedule has been kicked in the teeth,’ says Janice Platt, vp programming at Life.

Three new shows, two of which are Canadian, have already been signed: Pets & People, produced by Rob Mingay and Don Toffoletto in Vancouver; Body Break, produced by hosts Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod; and On The Loose, produced by Infinite Productions in California.

The idea of theme days, which looked good on paper, didn’t work in a practical sense from either the viewer’s or the programmer’s perspective, says Platt.

The theory behind the layout was ‘convenience television, to a degree,’ she says, a clear indication for viewers of when they could find specific types of programs. At the same time, it would help Life discover almost immediately which themes worked, and which didn’t.

‘But they really didn’t get it. They’re in tune to watching programs, not remembering things like Health is Monday. At the same time, it definitely made programming and scheduling more difficult because we didn’t have the flexibility to woo them when they wanted to be wooed,’ says Platt.

The beginning of the end of theme days came with changes to the programming sked that went into effect March 13.

Friday had proven the weakest ratings day, so Martha Stewart Living and Lynette Jennings Home, produced by Spring River Productions, two of the strongest shows on the schedule, were yanked out of Tuesday and slotted in to tap a Friday night audience.

At the same time, three new programs were launched: All You Can Be, produced by All You Can Be Productions in association with Spring River, and two British productions, Good Sex Guide and You & Your Dog, You & Your Cat.

With only two months on air and only short-term data available in from A.C. Nielsen’s figures, making changes mid-season was a controversial decision within the network. Viewer numbers fluctuated wildly for the first couple of months as people became familiar with the new services, a phenomenon that had more impact on Life after its channel position was changed by Rogers in mid-February for technical reasons.

A.C. Nielsen ratings for Lynette Jennings showed viewers 2+ at 92,000 and 71,000 for the weeks of Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, down by more than half from the 188,000 for the week of Feb. 6.

‘Ultimately we had to trust our instincts, take some chances, and look for some improvement before the September programming change,’ says Platt.

For specialty channel programmers, the reality is there is often little else to go on besides gut feel. Primetime is still the cornerstone for deciding on a slot for the best of the programming, but there is little counter-programming with the mainstream services, says Platt.

Weekends and Friday nights, typically downtime for bigger networks, will become increasingly important to the specialties because programs like Seinfeld aren’t available to corner the audience, but it’s a bit of a catch-22, says Platt.

‘The question is, do we try and increase our ratings by placing strong programming here, when traditionally it’s been a tough night for television. Is it worth it? For the specialties, maybe it is. We’re trying to determine that now.’

The end of theme days may be on the horizon, but block programming will continue being key to Life’s scheduling strategy. Monday to Friday’s 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. slot will be themed homes and garden. The hour before will look to the family audience with programming under the great outdoors category. To attract the Western audience, the whole 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. block repeats from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. est, so the Vancouver audience sees the primetime schedule in their primetime.

To maximize the appeal of primetime programming, the four six-hour rotating time blocks that the schedule used to move in, have been replaced by a more staggered program placement. For example, a Monday night primetime program will not show up again the same day, but will resurface later in the week on the daytime sked.

Like the rest of the specialties, Life is waiting for negotiations for payment from the cable companies to conclude before deciding how much Canadian content it will be able to continue producing. Negotiations are currently stalled with Rogers offering a 70% floor and the specialties vying for 75%.

However it plays out, clearly licence fees will have to come down from the 30% of the budget for a basic package of rights Life is currently paying, says Platt, although she isn’t yet sure what level will be realistic.

‘All of us have had a major reality check, and budgets in general for information/entertainment programming are going to be lower until everybody gets on their feet.’

In looking at new proposals from independent producers, Platt says she is looking for ‘imagination from the producer, from the creative side, as well as the financial side.’ Partnership between the broadcaster and the producer has become necessary to meet financing requirements in this environment, she concludes.

‘Producers have not always been willing to put their trust in the broadcaster, and sometimes justifiably so, but we’re trying very hard to be partners with them so that we get what we all want. We don’t have to be hidebound by the past.

‘It’s very clear that the story has changed over the past few months and we’ve all got to find ways of surviving.’