I WANT TO BELIEVE in the CBC Etan Vlessing sees, which he wrote about here last week. I want the public broadcaster’s recent risk-taking with more cable-like shows to pay off with solid ratings and meaningful buzz. But the truth is, the “smarter, funnier, edgier” shows are what critics like to talk about, while the “comfort food” shows like Murdoch Mysteries and Heartland (pictured) are what CBC audiences like to watch.
I like the bold new CBC. I want them to stay the course and continue with their vision for a mix of these steady performers along with heavier fare such as This Life and The Romeo Section and niche programming in arts and lifestyle. But let’s not pretend everything’s rosy with the transition, or that CBC isn’t quaking at the thought that those shiny new shows Tara Ellis is promoting will do as poorly in the ratings. We can have hope for what’s to come without ignoring the past couple of seasons of disappointment.
This fall, despite far more substantial marketing campaigns than any other CBC shows, This Life and The Romeo Section attracted ratings mostly in the quarter million range – and I put it that way because a quarter million sounds better than 250,000 – which is a fairly dismal number for expensive hour-long dramas. That’s single-season-then-gone Strange Empire-sized numbers, and Strange Empire was supposed to be the vanguard of this new CBC approach. General manager of programming Sally Catto has said the twisted, female-centric Western's cancellation wasn’t purely about ratings, but what if it was partly because they thought they had This Life and The Romeo Section as stronger contenders waiting in the wings?
The Book of Negroes the winter before did well over a million viewers but was a limited-edition, big-budget co-production. We can’t expect The Book of Negroes II to boost ratings anytime soon. Well-regarded lifestyle programs such as Keeping Canada Alive and Hello Goodbye have been met with unimpressive viewership. Ratings for acquisitions such as Jekyll and Hyde, Midwinter of the Spirit and the City-original Young Drunk Punk range from not-great to barely there. Schitt’s Creek is doing okay, though it lost about half its audience from last year’s premiere of 1.4 million. Comedy’s not dead on CBC, but let’s not bring up Mr. D with its sub-400,000 viewers as a prime example of how it’s thriving, either.
What shows are CBC’s bread and butter now? The same shows that have been for the last several years: the decidedly un-cable-esque dramas Murdoch Mysteries and Heartland. Both series are now in their ninth seasons and holding strong. Each has faced formidable timeslot opponents with aplomb. Heartland came close to a million viewers in its January return, and even against the Super Bowl managed 765,000. Murdoch Mysteries is regularly well above a million viewers in overnights (2+), even against The X Files, which has been the most-watched series in Canada since its return. Other old stalwarts such as The Rick Mercer Report, 22 Minutes and Marketplace and The Nature of Things are doing fine.
There should be a place on our public broadcaster for the kind of Canadian shows a private network won’t touch. There should be a place for shows that have niche audiences. However, a network can’t build a strong future when the core of their audience is only watching shows in their second, third, fifth decades — and it can’t build a future with cable-like shows unless it will accept cable-like ratings.
Diane Wild is an award-winning communications professional and freelance writer who has worked in the arts, health care and for a giant multi-sport event (yes, that one). She launched the TV, eh? website in 2006 to shine a spotlight on homegrown shows that were often overshadowed by their American cousins.
