TORONTO — Three Canadian shows – Intelligence, MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives, and jPOD – have been axed by the public broadcaster and will not be airing this fall.
The decision has outraged the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), who called it a “clear example of inexperienced CBC executives who don’t understand their mandate to support Canadian programming, especially drama.”
ACTRA National president Richard Hardacre stated Monday in a media release, “The CBC is a public broadcaster, and they have a responsibility to actively support and promote Canadian critically acclaimed series like Intelligence, and work to build a bigger market share for new, distinctive and creatively exciting programming like MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives and jPOD.”
ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell added, “Canadian TV screens are swamped with U.S. programming that private broadcasters are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on to buy and market in Canada. We need our public broadcaster to show more commitment to supporting Canadian production, which is critically acclaimed around the world.”
