Speeches and Interviews

March 10, 2006

CBC Television Programming Plans

On Friday, February 17, 2006, CBC Television Executive Vice-President Richard Stursberg addressed independent producers at the annual meeting of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association. At the meeting he outlined CBC Television's new approach to program development. The presentation marked the start of what is to be an ongoing dialogue between CBC Television and its most important partner, Canada's production community.

In the coming months and certainly at the Banff World Television Festival in June, CBC Television will be meeting with members of the independent production community across Canada to continue that dialogue and to share its expectations. The feedback we gather will be used to further inform our program development approach and to ensure that our relationship with Canada's production community is as successful and as creative as possible.

Following is an overview of Richard Stursberg's February 17 presentation.

The Challenge

The challenge CBC Television faces is to deliver great Canadian programming to Canadians - programming that captures their attention and their imagination...programming that speaks to their unique sensibility. We have already done this with television programs like Shania: A Life in Eight Albums, H2O, A Bear Named Winnie, and Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, to name a few - and we'll be doing more of it in the future.

It's always been difficult, but never more difficult than now. CBC Television operates in the most competitive broadcasting market in the world and Canada's proximity to the U.S., and the resulting flood of American programming that flows across our borders, is just one of the challenges facing CBC Television. Others include:

• Declining audiences;
• Increased audience fragmentation due to
• The emergence of new platforms and channels; and
• A sophisticated, diverse population whose needs and interests are constantly evolving.

And it's always been important - but never more important than now. CBC Television, as Canada's national public television broadcaster, has a cultural mandate to tell compelling, original, audacious and entertaining Canadian stories in a way that Canadians want to watch, and in large numbers.

The goal is to do it more consistently so that CBC Television becomes the cornerstone of Canadian dramatic programming, like the public broadcasters in the UK and in Australia where prime time schedules are dominated by domestic - not American - programming.

Our vision

We'd like CBC Television to be the most important and popular video platform for Canadian news, current affairs, and entertainment programming.

What does that mean?

It means that CBC Television wants to be:

• #1 in Canadian programming for pre-school children;
• #1 in Canadian drama and entertainment programming;
• #1 in Canadian news, current affairs and documentaries; and
• #1 in Canadian sports.

We'll measure our success in two ways: by the quality of our programs and, in turn, by the number of Canadians watching them.

Why does audience size matter?

It's true that, for a public broadcaster, audience size isn't everything. But you also can't be a public broadcaster without a public. If too few Canadians are watching, we're irrelevant. And, if we're irrelevant, Canadians are right to ask why they're investing the money they do in CBC Television.

More importantly, there is no reason why, as the public broadcaster, we cannot more consistently produce quality Canadian programming that people watch in significant numbers.

Audience size also impacts our commercial revenue - in both directions. When we lose ground - we lose the means to produce or procure content. We're forced to cut back our activity - even cancel shows. If, however, we're able to grow our audiences, the extra revenue gets put right back onto the screen as more great Canadian programming.

And to do it we don't have to match the huge audiences U.S. series are drawing on CTV and Global. We'll need to attract an audience of perhaps a million for drama or comedy programs, and 800,000 for documentaries and current affairs.

We'll know we've succeeded when one day you're sitting on the bus, or on the train headed for work and you overhear someone ask their seatmate "Did you see that great show on CBC last night?"

So how do we make that happen?

We start by doing what any other broadcaster, magazine or newspaper publisher does, and that is getting a better understanding of our audiences, their interests, habits and tastes. Simply put, we need to know who is watching what on television, and why they're drawn to one particular program or programming genre. We need to know for whom we are making our programs.

Historically, the television industry has talked about audiences in terms of broad demographic groups (Women 25 - 54; Men 18 - 35, etc.). But to move forward we need more insight than those groupings provide. Our research tells us that different people come to television with a variety of needs and motivations. Programming that responds to different needs attracts very different types of viewers.

For instance, one thing we discovered is that the range of people we've been reaching at CBC-TV has been, for the most part, narrower than is ideal. For example, CBC-TV's entertainment programs have tended to attract people who watch television largely to be informed ...that is news and information viewers. And of course we need to hold onto those loyal audiences. However, Canadians who watch TV primarily to be entertained are currently less likely to watch anything on CBC-TV. That means there is a significant portion of the Canadian television viewing public that is not currently being fully served by our programming.

As the national public broadcaster we need to do a better job of providing programming that responds to the interests and tastes of the largest possible range of Canadians.

Here's what we're looking for:

To help us to better reach more Canadians with more of our programming we've identified specific characteristics for each programming genre that will help us attract more viewers to that genre.

In the future, as we meet with independent producers to develop and commission new programs, we'll be looking for these characteristics in the programs that are pitched to us.

In drama we'll be looking for more programs which:

• Are audacious, engaging and compelling.
• Offer positive, redemptive stories with strong, straightforward plots, peopled with characters whose appeal balances aspiration, escapism and realism, and to whom audiences will respond on an emotional level.
• Are not explicitly issue-driven or dramatizations of news and current affairs, but rather emphasize universal themes, such as the nature of heroism, success, loyalty and integrity in a world where the good guys (and girls) do not always appear to finish first; the sometime allure of wealth, fame and power; the mystery of the unknown; and the bonds of human relationships.
• Favour contemporary Canadian settings rather than historical or period pieces.
• Predominantly feature Canadians.
• Offer high production values rather than a provocatively low-resolution approach or a gritty feel.
• Are fast-paced, clearly structured and unambiguous in their resolution, employing storytelling vocabularies that are familiar to our viewers.

In comedy we'll be looking for more:

• Narrative comedy, rather than political satire, stand-up or sketch comedy.
• Humour that is accessible and that arises from universal themes (like the dynamics of human relationships, and the differences - and similarities - between the sexes, cultures, faiths and classes), identifiable concepts and clearly defined characters, rather than darker humour that comes from extremity or discomfort.
• Programs with a traditional television format and story structure: clear stakes, jeopardy and a satisfying resolution.
• Programs that define their scenarios and characters in a manner that is easy to embrace, even for viewers who find the programs mid-season, or watch them on an occasional basis.
• Projects showcasing current comedic stars or proven comedians with a well-crafted stage persona.

In documentary we'll be looking for:

• Provocative narrative-based programs with strong, simple plots built around compelling central characters that draw the viewer into a more personal experience of the story.
• More adventure and romance that allows audiences to step outside of their everyday lives.
• Active, experiential narrative devices that show audiences rather than tell them what to think.
• Documentaries that are informative, insightful, and revealing. As the public broadcaster we're mandated to provide programming that enlightens. Audiences should be able to turn to us for informative, enlightening programming that also engages and entertains them.

In current affairs we'll be looking for:

• Episodes more clearly formatted or structured.
• Stronger narrative, simple constructs.
• More accessible, personally relevant, emotional and "real" programs, but also
• Courageous and informative programming that includes a sense of justice and of revelation.

In addition, we'll be continuing to expand our reach into Canadian audiences by enlarging our genre mix. We will be looking for program pitches for both prime-time reality series and daytime lifestyle programming designed to connect with Canadian viewers by reflecting their daily lives.

These are just some of the programming genres we'll be looking at. In the coming months, we'll share more information with producers about the characteristics CBC Television will be looking for in these and other genres or categories - including variety and children's.

How will we work together to get more of these programs to air?

We know we need to improve the decision-making process at CBC Television. We know we need faster turnaround times for decisions and we want to work with the production community to improve the process so we need to hear from you. We need to know what's working, what isn't and what else we could be doing.

We also know that we need to bring renewed vigor to the program development process. In addition to improving our turnaround time for pitches, we need:

• To reduce the ratio of development to production. While we will continue to develop a broad number of concepts at early stages of development (e.g. treatment and outline), we will reduce the ratio of development to planned production for later stages (e.g. draft scripts) to about 4:1. Focusing on fewer proposals at an earlier stage will allow us to strengthen the commitment we make to and the resources we invest in those projects.
• More concrete detail in order to move forward with a project:
  
  
  • We'll need a detailed business plan that includes financial details; lists of partners or sponsors, if any; multi-platform opportunities; merchandising opportunities; product placement, etc.
  • If it's a series we'll need a pilot and a program test.
  • We'll need audience targets and a clear sense of where the project fits in our schedule.

Where do we go from here?

This is just the first stage in a longer process for CBC Television. We know where we need to go. We also know that we need to work closely with independent producers, the most important partners we have. We need to listen to what you think, hear what you need from us, and to find out what else we can do to ensure our priorities and plans are clear to you.

In the coming months and in Banff at the Festival, we will be meeting with members of the independent production community to continue this dialogue. We intend to organize meetings with producers across the country to get their feedback on the directions outlined above and to answer any questions they might have. Ultimately, we hope to define a development process that provides independent producers with timeliness, clarity and transparency, while it delivers the best possible projects and mix of programming to the CBC Television schedule.

In the Meantime ... Some Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. CBC Television's program characteristics look more like those attributes of popular U.S. programming. How do they distinguish CBC Television as a public broadcaster?

A. Our objective as the national public television broadcaster is to broadcast compelling, interesting and entertaining Canadian stories made for Canadian audiences. We're hoping that by focusing on some of these characteristics we can do it in a way that appeals to more Canadians. This is a key responsibility for the public broadcaster.

Q. Can you share with us the audience/segmentation research that lead to the characteristics/conclusions you've drawn?

A. That information is proprietary and competitive. However, our objective is to broadcast compelling Canadian stories that Canadians want to watch in larger numbers. To help make that happen we will, throughout the commissioning and development process be sharing with our production partners the level of information and detail required to improve our ability to do just that. We will not be making the detailed conclusions of our research widely available though.

Q. How can I set up a meeting with CBC Television to discuss my project? Provide input? Ask questions?

A. While we continue to define a refined development process, producers should continue to pitch their projects and ideas according to the process currently in place. To inform producers about planned new processes and obtain input, CBC Television intends to meet with producers from across the country throughout April and May to gather feedback, and answer any questions they might have. More details on when and where these meetings will take place and how you can get involved will be made available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, producers should continue to pitch their projects and ideas according to the process already in place.

Q. The program characteristics you describe are largely different from those that define programs currently on CBC Television. Does that mean you're no longer interested in the kind of programming you're already broadcasting?

A. No. We'll continue to commission highly distinctive pieces unlikely to appear on commercial services due to their more limited audience potential.

As Canada's public broadcaster, we understand our mandate to licence and promote programs of significant cultural value, whether they be adaptations of important Canadian literary or theatrical works or original and/or innovative works from both emerging and mature film and television artists.

By identifying the characteristics that we have we're saying that we're looking for more programs like that. We're not saying that we are not interested in, for example, historical dramas or comedies that contain more provocative, audacious and politically incorrect content and multi-layered storylines and levels of humour.

What we're saying is that we already have a tradition of doing those and we need to look for dramas and comedies with other characteristics in order to increase our audiences for those genres.

Q. Above and beyond demonstrating that it understands the characteristics, etc., you're looking for in new programs, will a production company's track record still count when you're considering new programs/projects?

A. Absolutely. We value our existing partnerships and we look forward to continuing to work with some of those partners.

Q. What role or place will the performing arts have on your schedule?

A. As Canada's public broadcaster, we will continue to licence and promote programs of significant cultural value, whether they be adaptations of important Canadian literary or theatrical works or original and/or innovative works from both emerging and mature film and television artists.

Q. What role or place will children's programming have?

A. We remain committed to children's programming and intend for CBC Television to remain the place parents turn to for a safe, educational and entertaining viewing environment for their children.

Q. What about documentaries on the main network?

A. As the public broadcaster, documentaries remain an important part of the programming mix for us - our interest in them has not diminished. In fact, we'd like to air documentaries that even greater numbers of Canadians want to watch. That's why we're re-focusing on the characteristics of the documentaries we'll be looking for.

We'll look forward to more conversations with the documentary community about these issues.

Q. Can you tell us about pilots? Who will pay for them? Are you talking about broadcast pilots?

A. If we intend to broadcast a pilot we will produce it with tax credit and Canadian Television Fund (CTF) funding in addition to financing from CBC Television and other sources.

If we do not have sufficient CTF funding to finance all pilots and/or we anticipate that we may not telecast a particular pilot, CBC Television will be the predominant source of financing.

Q. How will you improve the decision making process? What will you do to turnaround decisions faster? Who will make the decisions?

A. We've acknowledged that the process can be slow at CBC Television. That's where the production community has a role to play. Tell us what we can do differently, and how we can improve the development relationship.

Q. How do/will you prioritize programs for promotion?

A. We have four levels of priority, and promotional weight is determined based on where a particular program or project fits into that list of priorities.

We have to be more focused in our promotional efforts deploying our limited resources to our highest priority programs. The end result is that we'll be investing more money on a more focused number of programs.

Q. CBC Television has always played an important mentorship role for the production community. Will you continue to do that in the development process?

A. We recognize that, as the national public broadcaster we have an important mentoring role to play in the industry. We will continue to play that role but want to engage the production community in a discussion to see how best we can fulfill that role.