Broadcast lobby gives thumbs up to Canadian TV

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 adds 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.

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.

Friends describes itself as a Canada-wide voluntary organization supported by 48,000 households.

© Winnipeg Free Press