Web the next big thing for Canadian producers, broadcasters

Canada’s broadcast industry is taking steps toward a new distribution system – television programming streamed to computers. Not only are many broadcasters now offering their hit shows on their websites, but producers are also beginning to create webisodes tied to TV programs. In September, Canwest’s Global Television began offering US network NBC’s version of the game show Deal or No Deal on www.globaltv.com. The free, advertiser-supported Web portal also offers Canadian shows such as Falcon Beach, The Jane Show, homegrown documentaries from the Global Currents library, and daily editions of Global National with Kevin Newman. The Global shows are available online following their TV broadcast, with select episodes archived. "It’s a tremendous opportunity for our team to deliver premium US and Canadian content on this emerging platform, and work with exciting new advertisers and content partners to extend the Global Television brand," says Kathleen Dore, president of television and radio at Global Television parent CanWest Global MediaWorks Inc. CTV Inc. is also delivering content via broadband, including hit comedy Corner Gas, teen dramas Degrassi: The Next Generation and Instant Star, the TV drama Whistler, entertainment show e-Talk Daily, programming from its W5 current events show and Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet on its broadband network. "Currently, CTV Broadband and MTV Overdrive are the leaders in ‘programmed’ distribution of long and short-form television on broadband in Canada. In fact, there are more hours of full-length television shows on CTV and MTV Overdrive broadband sites than on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox combined," states CTV’s September 1 submission to the CRTC on the future broadcast environment. CHUM Ltd., now owned by CTV parent company Bell Globemedia, also offers on-demand access to MuchMusic programs such as VJ Search and Canada’s Next Top Model, plus Citytv news headlines and mobisodes of several shows online. To date, CTV offers about 30 hours of long-form programming online and its specialty TV channel MTV offers about 600 hours. Complementary webisodes of Degrassi and Whistler are also available only on the Internet. Epitome Pictures executive producer Stephen Stohn has given CTV permission to stream Instant Star and Degrassi on the Canadian broadcaster’s Internet site – as well as to AOL and Yahoo through US broadcast partner, Viacom International Inc.’s teen network The N – on a revenue-share basis. "The CTV stream is gated – it’s not 100% perfect – but for the most part if you are not in Canada, you would not be able to pick up the CTV stream (of the two shows)," he says. "AOL is also able to restrict access because it knows where its subscribers are coming from. Technology has advanced a great deal from five years ago." CTV, for example, recently announced Free Jack, an online tie-in to The Comedy Network’s animated show Odd Job Jack. With the application, animators can download, edit and animate master artwork from the show to create their own animated stories. New master Flash files are released online following each episode that airs on TV. Another viable strategy, according to CTV, is narrowcasting on broadband, or providing niche programming online that would be too specialized for traditional TV. CTV’s strategy involves distribution of both top shows and niche content to computer screens. The network points out that it has "ambitious plans for its rollout of digital media in 2006 and beyond," including splitting the news and entertainment sections of CTV Broadband. Its online entertainment channel will have enhanced features and more programming depth, and it is also planning new broadband TV channels for several of its specialty TV channels. The news and public affairs programming of various Québecor Media Inc. properties – including TVA Group Inc., LCN, and LCN Argent – as well as must-carry public affairs broadcaster CPAC are also streamed online. In fact, CPAC is the only Canadian broadcaster to offer 100% of its programming online: the cable TV channel began simultaneously streaming its broadcast signal on its website in English in August 1999, and in French one year later. Some of CPAC’s programming, such as PrimeTime Politics and Talk Politics, is archived on its website; it also runs CPAC2, an online-only channel streaming live exclusive content when the House of Commons is in session. Specialty channels such as Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. are also in the game, with full episodes streamed of Naked Josh, a show that aired on Showcase channel but has been cancelled. The specialty TV broadcaster currently offers unique webisodes for Rescue Me and next season will stream content from HGTV’s Junk Brothers, produced by Ottawa-based Knight Enterprises. Executive producer Chris Knight says the webisodes will be put on Alliance Atlantis’ website in January, when the second season launches. "Our crew and directors are having fun with the webisodes. It allows them to be a little more zanier than in the television program," he notes. In conjunction with Alliance Atlantis, Knight Enterprises is also developing a TV docu-soap about the making of a cooking show, which will be followed by the actual cooking show airing on the Internet. The yet-to-be titled TV show for The Food Network will have podcasting and mobile content as well, according to Knight. "It is the first time that I know of that broadcast, webisode and mobile content have all been contemplated as part of the base storyline creative from the outset," he says. Knight hopes to begin shooting the new show in November and to deliver the first episodes for broadcast, Internet play and podcast in April 2007. "This is turning out to be more expensive than a US movie. There are three different crews, 16-to-20-hour shooting days, and it’s hugely complicated because I need three directors ," he states. The online delivery of TV content is not without its challenges. Broadcasters must protect their content against piracy and monetize it across as many platforms, including online, as possible, writes Bell Globemedia president and CEO Ivan Fecan in the CRTC submission. Broadcasters must be diligent and police sites distributing full-length shows with embedded network branding (which has usually been stolen by someone who has downloaded the show to their personal video recorder and from there transferred it to computer), notes the CTV submission. The network further states that content for which CTV has the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights has been posted illegally, complete with CTV branding, on the YouTube.com website. The submission specifically cites the example of Degrassi: The Next Generation appearing on YouTube.com with ads served by Google and monetized by YouTube and/or a third party. Another concern is the technical quality of the streamed video. Internet video currently relies on a bitrate that is about 20% of the bitrate for standard definition television and 2% of the bitrate used for high-definition television. As well, Internet video costs increase with the number of viewers – something that doesn’t happen with TV broadcasting. Nonetheless, Stohn says broadcasters must become involved in online delivery, otherwise programming will get there illegally. US broadcaster NBC has decided to deal directly with YouTube, inking a deal to supply the site with clips from some of its TV shows to create a buzz and entice Internet surfers back to television. US networks are also buying high-traffic Web sites to leverage their video content and market their TV shows. For example, News Corp. bought MySpace.com, which has 46 million monthly visitors, and is using the site to market its shows. US broadcasters are also using cyberspace to test early releases of pilot TV shows. Epitome and CTV are also experimenting in similar ways with Instant Star. The TV show is streamed simultaneously with the TV broadcast, but it is also available on the Internet 24 hours earlier. As well, the CTV submission states TV broadcasters can also take the best of what is online and turn it into product for the traditional TV platform. The CBC show Chilly Beach is an example, having moved from its Internet roots to television. "Our theory is that will increase the TV viewing because it will be the real fanatics who will watch it, and they will tell their friends about it, and maybe even watch it again on the broadcast and it will help build the TV audience," states Stohn. "This is more of a test. I think these kinds of tests are going on all across the world as broadcasters are looking at their first-run primetime programming and trying to…utilize the website, and go where there audience wants to go." Canadians appear more willing to view streamed video than Americans: the US, along with the UK, leads the way in e-commerce. Canadians, meanwhile – like the Chinese and South Koreans – are more likely to use broadband for entertainment activities such as games, downloading music and videos, according to Forrester Research’s April 2006 report, North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific Consumer Technology Adoption Studies. CTV notes that the Canadian version of MTV Overdrive outperforms its US counterpart in terms of time spent on the site per user, with the average unique visitor spending 24 minutes per day on its site compared with 14 minutes on the US MTV site and eight minutes on the UK MTV site. CTV says it is using its MTV online presence as a template for all of the network’s websites and broadband channels going forward. The consumption of Internet video, streaming and downloading, is increasing as more and more Canadians subscribe to broadband. About 15% of Canadians report they have streamed video and 10% download video, with Internet video being especially popular with adults aged 18 to 34, according to data cited in the CBC submission. Toronto-based Marblemedia and Sinking Ship Productions are eyeing an even younger demo by streaming live-action episodes of This is Daniel Cook and the spin-off This is Emily Yeung pre-school TV series on the Web. Episodes of This is Emily Yeung are available for download on Corus Entertainment Inc.’s new digital video storefront TreehouseDirect.com. This is Daniel Cook was also streamed online. "The Daniel Cook webpage actually has downloadable and streaming episodes of the television program that allows children to watch whenever they please. With the home-use broadband so widespread this means that many children can watch this program with virtually the same audio-visual quality as it appears on television," states Telefilm Canada’s submission to the CRTC. "This is Daniel Cook, a television program, can be watched online without the need of a television set at all. Granted that the online version of this program is limited in the amount of episodes available, it is nonetheless, a new way to watch TV." As more eyeballs turn to the Internet, so do advertisers. A study released in August by the Institute of Communications and Advertising, which looked at Canadian marketing practices, reveals that some advertisers are shifting from traditional advertising vehicles to other disciplines, including the Internet. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, online advertising will account for nearly 7% of all ad revenue in Canada in 2006. Indeed, Denver CO Molson Coors Brewing Co.’s Coors Light brand is the lead sponsor on The Comedy Network’s companion site to Odd Job Jack. "It’s an evolving marketplace. Trying to find out where is going to go is fascinating. But I’m not sure anyone knows how it is going to evolve," sums up Stohn.

Web the next big thing for Canadian producers, broadcasters

Broadcast | November 7, 2006

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