Stursberg suggests moving away from “tonnage” in bid to boost drama audiences

Veteran broadcaster Trina McQueen has her work cut out for her in trying to solve Canada’s ailing production and viewing of homegrown television drama. While there is consensus among the CRTC, government institutions such as Telefilm Canada, and producers (see Newsmakers column on page 8) that the drama genre needs to be revitalized, there is little agreement on how best to reach the goal. McQueen has been hired by the CRTC to develop options and proposals to create new incentives for Canadian drama (CCR, Oct. 24/02). In a speech November 20 at the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Speaker Series in Toronto, Telefilm Canada executive director Richard Stursberg advocated a move away from a "tonnage" model to one that emphasizes quality shows that win higher audiences. "We should no longer gauge our success by the sheer number of hours of television that we produce," Stursberg noted. "Rather, we should focus on how successful these programs are in attracting viewers." He suggested that it might be more appropriate to grant more government funding to fewer productions to ensure better quality. He also noted that more energy and money should be spent on the development side of programming. "In the U.S., the ratio of scripts to aired programs is at least 40:1 across all genres. In Canada, the ratio is about 2:1. And we rarely, if ever, make pilot versions of the programs," he noted in his speech.Stursberg’s comments were made on the same day as the CRTC released its third annual Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report, which reveals more TV viewing choices but fewer Canadians tuning in to homegrown programming. A trade-off of funding fewer productions, as Stursberg suggested, could open more "space" on Canada’s over-the-air and specialty television stations for yet more American programming. In an interview with Canadian Communications Reports, he conceded that production of many low-budget shows has worked in the Quebec market and has begun to turn Australians to indigenous productions as TV stations there pump out more domestic programming. But McQueen tells CCR that producing fewer Canadian shows will not necessarily mean more U.S. programming. "Canadian drama loses money because the audiences are small," she says. "If we could get larger audiences that would mean that Canadian drama would start to pay its way a little better. Then it might start to be something that broadcasters would look at and want more of…It’s a chicken and egg thing." McQueen and Stursberg point out that Canadian drama is also facing a harder time in the export market as other countries start producing their own shows. Why Canada isn’t able to have the success of other countries such as Australia, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom – which are producing more popular homegrown shows – remains a mystery. Seaton McLean, president of production at Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., blames the lack of drama production on Canada’s simultaneous substitution regulations. In an interview with CCR, he places drama’s woes on the broadcasters, which don’t want to commission homegrown dramas because U.S. programs net them big dollars due to the simulcast regulations. "The real question is why don’t broadcasters order more Canadian dramas? Because it’s not economically feasible and one of the reasons it’s not is because we have this thing called simultaneous substitution," he says. But McQueen disagrees. She says Canadian broadcasters make money from U.S. shows that they then reinvest in Canadian shows. She expects to have a draft report to the CRTC on how to boost Canadian TV drama by the beginning of February following industry consultations. She notes that she took on the job of coming up with a plan for Canadian drama in support of CRTC chair Charles Dalfen, whom she admires for taking the big leap of leaving his Toronto law practice to head up the CRTC.

Stursberg suggests moving away from “tonnage” in bid to boost drama audiences

News | 11/22/2002 5:00 am EST

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