TVO goes digital; eyes provincial funding increase

TVOntario has taken a critical step to migrate its content to the Internet, mobile devices and other distribution platforms, announcing earlier this week that its transition to full digital production will be complete early next year. TVO CEO Lisa de Wilde says generating new revenue streams and increased net earned revenues are key to building a sustainable business model for the publicly funded educational broadcaster. At the same time, she still hopes to persuade the Ontario government to increase its base funding for TVO, which has remained constant at about $30 million for several years. "That's something that we have been exploring. Over the last couple of years we've been going through a transitional phase. One of our objectives is to get TVO on a solid financial footing so there's lots of work going on in that area. That's also where the business development activity ties in," says de Wilde, a veteran broadcast executive who took over the top job at TVO in 2005.TVO has been undergoing several major changes over the past year, including the spin off in April of French broadcaster TFO into an independent operation. While other broadcasters, including CBC, have already made the leap to digital, TVO's limited funding prevented it from following suit until now. In 2006, the province provided one-time capital funding of $10.4 million, and $7.5 million over two years in transitional funding to transform TVO into a fully digital production, archiving and distribution facility. TVO says its Toronto studios will be ready for full digital HD-production by early 2008 and that it will soon be digitally producing shows such as TVOKids and the online webcast Your Voice and The Agenda with Steve Paikin."I'd say we're playing some serious catch up ... it was overdue that we take this organization and make it relevant in the world of digital media. I think there's a huge opportunity for TVO to have focused educational content and to use digital to really increase its impact in the province dramatically," says de Wilde.The government's transitional funding is also enabling TVO to introduce a Digital Asset Management system, which will give its staff and the public access to 37 years of archived content. "Over the next 18 months, consumers will begin to be able to build their own TV experience from our inventory of educational in-house content: video clips, curriculum-based kids' Web games and activities, research articles - almost anything we've produced can be made available," she says.The changes at TVO follow a 2006 strategic review conducted at the request of the provincial government, which wanted to ensure it is getting full value for TVO's funding, and that its activities align with the province's education priorities. At the time, the McGuinty government made it clear that it wanted TVO to return to its roots as an education channel for children and adult learners.Expanding beyond TVTVO has already made several forays into multi-channel distribution. All of its in-house programs for adults are available as Podcasts, with its lecture-based Big Ideas program consistently among the top three Podcast downloads in the higher education category of iTunes. Last year, it signed a revenue-sharing deal with QuickPlay Media to offer TVOKids programs on mobile devices. Also, in mid-October, UK-based Inuk Networks began using the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) in a pilot project offering a small group of students living in residence at the University of Waterloo access to TVO and 10 other channels on their computers, using Internet Protocol TV.About 80% of TVO's budget comes from the Ontario government, with the remaining revenue generated from other sources, including donors, sponsorships and rental of transmitter towers. "That's something that we are focusing on - how do we monetize more of the assets that we currently own. The new platforms are a slow build and we're in the same situation as everybody else, exploring what there is to do and how quickly you can bring those revenues on stream," adds de Wilde.In July, TVO tabled its financials with the Ministry of Education for year ending March 31. The numbers will be made public once they're tabled in the legislature. TVO's broadcasting licence comes up for renewal next year and de Wilde says not to expect any significant changes when they apply to the CRTC.TVO StatsTVO averages a weekly audience share of 2% in Ontario, equivalent to most Canadian specialty and digital channels.In the 2007-08 broadcast season to date (September to present) tvo.org has had more than 1.8 million page views, and almost 400,000 unique visitors. Each month there are over 5 million page views and more than 200,000 unique visitors to TVOKids.com.

TVO goes digital; eyes provincial funding increase

Broadcast | December 6, 2007

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