Last week, the CBC announced its schedule for the upcoming television year. The CBC needs to solve some short-term and long-term issues and problems: money is a major player in both sets of issues.
We kindly offer up a few thoughts on helping the CBC on the TV side. The radio programs get more love and the TV side needs more help.
Previous coverage:
CBC should give Don Cherry 30 minutes on Friday nights
Harper government's 10% budget cut pushes down an already weakened CBC
Everyone with a keyboard has offered up their own help. These suggestions comes from an American who thinks the idea of CBC is wonderful and a national treasure and wishes there was something similar in the States.
We will run a few installments based on themes. Part I addresses adding more Canadian content to the CBC.
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Show Canadian films
Films fit well in the 2-hour Monday-Friday prime time slot. The flexibility of films can fill holes with the loss of Hockey Night in Canada special games during the week and the necessity for reruns.
The major drawback is running commercials during films. Some films are better suited to run with ads; other films wouldn't go over well in that format. If the CBC can justify a commercial free run of a film or run ads before and after a film, that would open up some wonderful Canadian films to run on the CBC.
The CBC showed hockey films during the NHL lockout. And the network used to run films late at night.
City TV runs "Great Canadian Films." Something similar should be CBC's motto.
CBC could work with Starlight, the channel that shows Canadian films, to sponsor a Canadian film night.
The CBC runs kids shows without commercials during the day. An occasional ad-free run can show Canadians that CBC cares about Canadian talent more than profit.
Showcase Canadian short films
If running 90 minutes of Canadian film without commercials scares the pocketbook of the CBC, then the network can run short films with ads in between the films. "Canadian Shorts" or "CBC Shorts Theatre" would make for a great 30-minute weekly show or as filler instead of reruns. Introduce shorts, show a 5-7 minute film, run a commercial break, introduce another film, show a 5-7 minute film, repeat.
Costs would be low, filmmakers would want the exposure, and the same host who would introduce full-length films on CBC would introduce the shorts on CBC.
Canadian arts
The CBC does a pretty good job at showing arts programming. The CBC upfront mentioned "Balletlujah!" about a ballet about k.d. lang. Arts programming should be an obvious part of the CBC mission. Sure the ratings might not be high, but the costs are relatively low. The CBC runs comedy stand-up specials, and could run even more comedy specials. Canadian talent comes in a rainbow of outlets: even if the ratings aren't great, the CBC needs to run some shows for positive buzz more than ratings.
Steal Canadian shows from other networks
"Orphan Black" is probably the best-known Canadian TV program in the United States, and most "Americans" don't even know it's Canadian. The show runs on Space TV in Canada. There is no way the CBC could steal the show away, but "Orphan Black" would help the CBC get some critical buzz.
"Murdoch Mysteries" landed in CBC's lap after City cancelled the show. TV shows sometimes jump networks, and the CBC could be aggressive in grabbing Canadian shows that air on CTV, Global, and City. After all, CBC can offer those shows more opportunities than the timeslots from the private Canadian outlets.
The most well-known Canadian show outside Canada in recent memory was "Corner Gas," which ran on CTV. Even WGN America carried the show in syndication for awhile.
Stealing shows costs money, perhaps more money than the CBC can afford. But the network should consider picking off a Canadian show or two.
Have local stations create shows
CBC plays up regionalism by setting shows in different parts of the country. "Arctic Air" gave a nod to the Northwest Territories. "Heartland" screams Alberta. "Republic of Doyle" gave a shout-out to Newfoundland and Labrador.
The CBC regional stations ideally could produce programming for CBC coast-to-coast that reflect true regionalism. PBS stations such as WGBH Boston and WTTW Chicago do this in the states.
Unfortunately, the CBC stations have even less money than the network. These shows are more about a setting more than a place. True regionalism would bring those voices to the national stage via the CBC.
Play on the English/French issue
CBC and Radio-Canada run English and French services and nary do they mix. Yes, a full-flung French language show would not fly on CBC in English. There should be a way to mix French into English language programming.
CBC could run a drama based on the concept of "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" where subtitles are incorporated. A new show can talk about getting along in both languages, similar to what was done with Muslims in "Little Mosque on the Prairie."
The CBC could have a show set in Montréal, even if it dealt mostly in English.
City TV managed to make an English language sitcom "Seed" based on a successful French-Canadian film "Starbuck." The CBC should be leaders in this approach.
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photo credit: CBC
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