TORONTO – To stretch its programming dollars, the CBC has acquired a raft of UK and Australian dramas and comedies and aims to profit from upcoming Toronto Pan-Am games coverage during the rest of 2015. Despite huge, well-documented challenges, the creative minds at the CBC aren't ready to wave the broadcast white flag just yet.
The CBC, previewing its fall 2015 season at its Toronto headquarters Thursday, unveiled 11 new original and acquired series and renewed another 14. That output comes in the face of the public broadcaster, already beset by budget cuts, this past season losing due to lowing all Hockey Night in Canada revenues, while still airing the NHL via Rogers.
To remain in the creative game, Heather Conway, executive vice-president of English services at the CBC, told Cartt.ca that the pubcaster continues to secure cost savings behind the camera to preserve and protect its precious programming budget. "We want to reduce what we're spending on infrastructure in order to secure dollars for the screen," she said.
Those dollars over the coming 2015-16 season have gone into homegrown original series like The Romeo Section, a serialized espionage drama from showrunner Chris Haddock (Da Vinci's Inquest) and This Life, a family saga based on the original Radio Canada drama.
But to stretch those programming dollars still further, the CBC has acquired a number of UK and Australian dramas and comedies like Banished (pictured above), a period drama from Cracker creator Jimmy McGovern, and Please Like Me, starring Australian comic Josh Thomas.
The stretching has also come from a CBC no longer relying on repeats to drive its summer schedule. Instead, it will complement new homegrown shows like the hidden camera comedy Fool Canada and the Jonny Harris-starrer Still Standing with the Aussie drama Love Child on Saturdays and Hallmark Channel's When Calls the Heart on Sundays.
"The biggest change is the injection of new programming into the summer schedule, both originals and acquisitions," Sally Catto, general manager, programming for CBC English Television, told Cartt.ca.
The CBC's new full, year-round schedule means the CBC can't rely only on indie production and has gone to foreign acquisition titles for bench strength. Catto added the CBC is also not shrinking from dark and edgy one hours, as it targets audiences embracing golden-age cable dramas.
"You're really only talking about one (cancelled) drama, Strange Empire. Nothing else has changed. We all know Chris Haddock's work, that it will go to those dark places as would a premium cable drama," she insisted.
The stretched programming dollars are also increasingly going into cross-platform programming. That includes a digital-first series like Exhibitionists, which showcases emerging Canadian artists. Jennifer Dettman, executive director of unscripted content at CBC Television, told Cartt.ca the pubcaster was chasing artists and audiences engaged by them where they are in an increasingly digital landscape.
"They're on Instagram, they're on Facebook, they're creating and sharing art, and so we want to be part of that conversation and that experience," she said.
"It's like a drug. After the withdrawal, you realize you can live without it.” – Jean Mongeau, CBC
Exhibitionists, which debuts on October 4, will first distribute bite-sized content on varied platforms before a half-hour series appears on the main CBC network. "It's about feeding it out using social networks and, for this to be successful, we have to reach audiences where they are already engaged," Dettman said.
The CBC's diversified drama, comedy, documentary and arts offerings also comes after the pubcaster lost a key piece of its funding puzzle last year, revenue from NHL telecasts. But for Jean Mongeau, general manager and chief revenue officer at CBC/Radio Canada, losing Hockey Night in Canada revenues has allowed the pubcaster to offer advertisers more than just hockey.
"It's like a drug. After the withdrawal, you realize you can live without it," Mongeau said of the CBC realizing it has more to offer advertisers than just Saturday night and spring hockey.
The CBC's diversified programming offerings, aimed at an upscale, educated audience, has meant advertisers have stayed with the network after Hockey Night in Canada. Conway told Cartt.ca that although the conventional TV ad climate remains challenged, her network is set to reach its ad sales target for the first half of 2015.
That's despite the CBC also a year ago enjoying ad revenue from FIFA World Cup games.
Mongeau also expects the CBC to profit from its upcoming coverage of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am games. "It's about the content and what we're bringing as value to our clients," he said of reaching Canadians on their TV sets and digitally with a major sporting event on their doorstep.
"There is life after hockey," Mongeau added.
