Turned off politics: Voters are angry -- and they're taking it out on CPAC by Chris Cobb

Ratings on Canada's all-politics TV network plummeted during the Liberal sponsorship scandal as sordid detail oozed from the Gomery inquiry.

Canadians were not only turning off politics and politicians in massive numbers, but turning off the Canadian Parliamentary Affairs Channel (CPAC) too. The politics-are-us network, which became an accidental bellwether for Canadians' growing disaffection with all things political, hemorrhaged two-thirds of its audience last year -- from three million to less than one million.

Its audience for the daily House of Commons shindig, Question Period, dropped from 70,000 a minute to 14,000.

Frank Graves, president of the polling firm EKOS, said the public is irrationally angry at politicians, so it's not surprising that at least part of CPAC's problem stems from that.

"The public's mood is disconcerting and unhealthy," he said. "In our surveys, when we ask people to rate their own ethical standards, it's difficult to find anybody who won't give themselves top marks for being virtuous and without stain. But when we ask them to look at their political leaders, you get the reverse. It's like we've imported politicians from a penal colony on another planet. It's unbelievable."

So CPAC president Colette Watson -- a rarity, if not unique, among TV executives in that she admitted publicly and and without qualification that her network's ratings were in freefall -- commissioned audience research and decided that Ottawa comic Tom Green might be the man to help turn around their fortunes.

The research, said Ms. Watson, showed that "99 per cent" of the CPAC audience thought the network was owned and operated by the federal government -- a state broadcaster created to broadcast totalitarian-style propaganda. It is, in fact, privately owned by a group of cable companies.

The misapprehension, which was already accidentally damaging CPAC's credibility among politically disgruntled Canadians, intensified when the network regularly switched from live coverage of the Gomery inquiry to question period and other live proceedings in the House of Commons.

"We have to stay with House proceedings," said Ms. Watson, "because it's our mandate. But people decided we were co-conspirators with the government and trying to cover up the Gomery hearings. They were telling us 'you're only going to tell me what the government wants me to hear.'"

Viewers also complained to CPAC about the quality of debate during question period -- "as if it was our show," added Ms. Watson.

Research persuaded CPAC that a re-branding was necessary, and although the network's core audience is older, researchers said they detected a burning passion for politics among enough 18-34-year-olds to launch a concerted pitch to younger voters.

Enter Ottawa's own Tom Green, the wacky comic, Hollywood movie star and rap musician who got his start from Ms. Watson at Rogers Cable TV when she was in charge of the Ottawa station. "I gave him his first show," she said.

To launch the re-branding -- CPAC is now officially called "24.7 Politics TV" -- Ms. Watson wanted a series of commercials with a younger, recognizable face that would appeal to the younger demographic.

"We tried Rick Mercer," said Ms. Watson, "but his contract with CBC prevented him from doing it, and then I thought, 'how about Tom Green?' My staff hated the idea at first and thought he would irritate our older viewers."

But after some negotiation with Mr. Green's lawyers and agent, he was hired to appear in four commercials ("he gave us a good price," said Ms. Watson) written by Don Masters, president of the Ottawa company, Mediaplus.

Two of the Green commercials, filmed during one hectic day in late October on the streets of Ottawa and part of an $800,000 advertising campaign, are being shown in movie theatres across the country, at the Corel Centre during Senators hockey games and at B.C. Place. The others will be rolled out later.

Mr. Green was a magnet for onlookers during the shoot, said Mr. Masters. "Some street people came up to him and were quite belligerent," he said, "but Tom was so good with them. He talked to them, calmed them down and sent them on their way. We didn't have security, but he's a big guy, six-two or six-three, so I don't think much intimidates him. And other people were standing around watching or passing in cars, honking horns and shouting, 'hey Tom.'"

Mr. Green stuck to the script, said Mr. Masters, but all mugging to the camera was his own. CPAC has introduced some program changes, including election programming aimed at young viewers, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Question Period which, said Ms. Watson, is "very polite and substantial" and proving popular with viewers. (CPAC's audience has gradually climbed back from its sub-million low to around 1.4 million). "Our mission is to engage people in politics," said Ms. Watson, "and re-energize the political process in Canada. We are spending money on Tom Green to get young people out to vote but the main message we want to get across is that this is not a government channel."

CPAC's research sounds plausible, said Mr. Graves, the EKOS president and, given the widespread popularity of political TV in the United States, a rebound is possible.

"They have a branding problem," he said. "A lot of the stuff they put on seems more like public service than an attempt to draw viewers, but Canadians are no less interested in politics than Americans so I don't see why CPAC can't sustain an interest in this country."