Canadians like home-grown TV by John McKay

by John McKay

Canadian viewers give high marks to Canadian prime time TV drama but they still prefer U.S. imports, says a new report prepared by the lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

Entitled It's Good and We Like It, Quality Television, Made in Canada, the report is being released prior to this weekend's Gemini Awards galas.

"Canadians have a strong connection to Canadian programs," Friends spokesman Ian Morrison said yesterday. "They like what they see and this report reveals remarkably strong marks on quality for Canadian television."

Previous studies by the FCB – a lobby group that has long been a fervent defender of public broadcasting in Canada – reported on the success of Canadian news and public affairs programming. But Morrison says this report also finds a strong viewer affection for such dramatic series as Da Vinci's Inquest, Wind at My Back and Cold Squad.

He added that it's encouraging to see so much high-quality Canadian content on TV, especially given the huge competitive budget and publicity advantage of U.S. network shows.

The study also says that a majority of respondents believed the CBC airs the best Canadian programs. Three to one they chose CBC over CTV, with only six per cent indicating Global carried the best domestic fare. But it also says when it comes to overall programming, viewers give Global TV the highest viewer satisfaction rating, slightly ahead of CTV with CBC the lowest of the three networks.

In fact, U.S. drama series carried on Canadian TV networks occupied the top five positions, with Da Vinci's Inquest coming in sixth, behind the likes of Law & Order and ER, but ahead of NYPD Blue and The West Wing.

The report draws heavily from a 1999 audience survey called QRS which was conducted for Nielsen Media Research and the CBC research department. It is also based on Friends' own analysis of Gemini Award winners and nominees.

The QRS survey was gathered from 2,160 English-speaking adults in October and November last year.

Wayne Grigsby, Halifax-based producer of such home-grown series as ENG and Black Harbour, said the report confirms what he's known for years.

"Initiatives that encourage more and better Canadian programming obviously have support from the viewing public."

Slawko Klymkiw, CBC-TV's chief programmer, said he sees the report as an endorsement of his all-Canadian schedule.

"It says to us we've done the right thing," he said.  "We need to stay the course."

Meanwhile, Morrison said he hopes the report will stimulate further debate about public funding for domestic TV fare.  He used the 30-page document to argue that tax dollars should be channeled back to CBC, questioning whether further aid should continue to go to well-heeled private broadcasters.

"In the shadow of recent media mergers, we need to ask new questions about the capacity of private broadcasters to deliver quality Canadian programs without recourse to public assistance," he said.

Morrison said he believes the money that now flows through Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Television Fund should be more focused, instead of being spread across the various new specialty channels with small audiences.

Back when the CBC had guaranteed access to half of the fund's coffers, he said, its publicly supported programs gathered two-thirds of the audiences."

"So there's kind of an argument that the CBC has been short-changed," Morrison added, "They're the ones who actually deliver more eyeballs."

Spokesmen for both Global and CTV declined to comment.  Heritage Minister Sheila Copps was unavailable.

Friends describes itself as a Canada-wide voluntary organization supported by 48,000 households.  It says its mission is "to defend and enhance the quality and quantity of Canadian programming."

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