Pomp galore but TV artists are starving

The 20th Annual Gemini Awards, Canada’s three- day celebration of its very own television, wound up Saturday night on, of all networks, Global. By now, Canada’s TV stars, or what passes for Canada’s TV stars since Canada’s TV stars are mostly American TV stars seen on Canadian screens, have now returned their borrowed gowns and rented tuxes and donned their day job duds, the ones they wear while waiting tables or tending bar. As for the producers of the nominated documentaries and drama, well, maybe they should be contemplating different careers.

That’s because, according to a study released last month by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association ( CFTPA), which represents almost 400 independent companies, the sector is close to death by starvation. Of course, tonight, between 7 and 8, designated primetime by the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission ( CRTC), three Canadian network entertainment magazines will tout the awards as if they were as hot as the Oscars, or the Emmys or Golden Globes. These shows, CTV’s eTalk Daily, on the air since 2002, and Global’s just-launched Entertainment Tonight Canada

and CHUM’s Star! Daily, count as Canadian content, two-and- ahalf hours each per week of it — cheap and risk- free compared to domestic drama.

They’ll make for very nice aren’t- we- good- cultural- citizen exhibits at licence renewal time. The irony is that these shows, which purport to promote Canadian stars, displace the shows that create the stars. They’re supposed to be part of the star building system but, in a perverse way, they’re helping to shoot it down. Now that the glitz and glamour are but blurring memories, time for a sober look at the sad state of Canadian programming and, in particular, drama series. These are labour intensive productions that employ actors, writers, directors, and crews of camera, lighting, design, costume and make-up people — not to mention drivers, onset caterers, and Portapotty suppliers.

They’re being killed off by a policy established in 1999 by the CRTC, the very institution that is mandated to protect them. Not only did that policy expand primetime to 7 p. m. from 8 so as to allow networks to continue simulcasting U. S. shows, it also relaxed the Canadian content rules in a way that allowed broadcasters to accumulate brownie points per hour of programming in primetime, rather than by how much was spent on domestic programming. That’s why they opted for low cost volume over high- priced drama. Not that the big private broadcasters are in the dumps, mind you. The CFTPA study reports that the big broadcasters ( CTV, Global, CHUM, etc.) “ generate levels of profitability well above the average for the Canadian economy as a whole.” Between 2000 and 2003, these broadcasters (some of which have newspaper and other media holdings) outpaced Canada’s all- industry average EBT by an average of 3.85 per cent per year.

Meanwhile, the EBT margin for the independent producers who supply the Canadian content ( which does not include in house-produced information and sports programming) not only ran well below the all- industry average, it trended straight down.

“ The higher- than- average profitability is likely due to the regulatory environment, which offers broadcasters some measure of protection from competition,” explains the CFTPA. “Canadian broadcasters also benefit from access to governmentsubsidized Canadian television programs in meeting their Canadian content requirements.” Which should be evident to anybody who has ever stuck around for the credits of Canadian movies and drama — endless scrolls of the names of federal and provincial funding agencies that directly finance the producers and indirectly finance the broadcasters.

Sweet for broadcasters but not for Canadian artists. In 2004, the networks spent four times more on foreign programming, largely of U. S. origin, than they did on independent Canadian shows, $535 million versus $ 124 million. As much as $354 million went to foreign drama, while only $68 million was invested in homegrown drama. That’s a 500 per cent difference. The study was clearly a CFTPA gambit aimed at focusing Ottawa’s attention on the failed CRTC policy, much like another report released in July by the Coalition of Canadian Audio- visual Unions, which includes the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of Canada. But that apparently fell on deaf ears in Ottawa, as has this latest CFTPA effort. The truth is, the big broadcasters have all the power on the Hill, and they know it.

I sure hope the indie folks enjoyed the weekend festivities because it’s going to be one very long cold and hungry year ahead. More Zerbisias at www. thestar. blogs. com