Brendan Kelly of Variety reports on the Canadian TV landscape and fall season:

• CTV tries takeover of rival Chum
  “The big shake-up on the horizon — CTV Globemedia’s takeover of rival broadcaster Chum — has yet to receive approval from Canadian watchdog the CRTC, with the regulator expected to rule on the acquisition at the end of the summer. So for the moment, both CTV and Chum continue to act independently of each other and both bought separately at the recent L.A. Screenings.”

Grant Robertson and Gordon Pitts of the Globe and Mail list five things about Canadian television programming:

• Battle of the Network Executives
  “There is a myth that Canadian TV is all about worthy domestic offerings such as Corner Gas and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Forget it. The real battleground is in U.S. shows, from hits like House and Desperate Housewives to clunkers such as Smith and Six Degrees.”

From CBC:

• Canadian TV artists lament big spending on U.S. programs
  “There’s been a huge increase in spending on foreign drama by private broadcasters like CTVglobemedia and CanWest, while spending on Canadian drama shows has dropped, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting pointed out.”

Patricia Bailey of Playback reports on the CBC and Directors Guild of Canada reaction to the elimination of limits on ad time:

• Critics slam CRTC policy
  “The NDP’s heritage critic Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) believes the CRTC isn’t acting in the interest of Canadian viewers. ‘We’ve already got enough commercials on television. What’s in it for the Canadian viewer if they aren’t watching Canadian shows,’ he says. ‘Airwaves are public. These broadcasters make money because they are operating in a protected environment. Where’s the corresponding obligation to invest in Canadian television?'”

From a Writers Guild of Canada media release:

How can we watch Canadian TV if we don’t know when it’s on? CRTC TV policy cuts promos for Canadian television programs

It’s going to be a lot harder to find Canadian television programs thanks to the CRTC’s new television policy.

“All the talk has been about the CRTC’s decision to stop limiting the numbers of commercials on television – but no one has focused on the two minutes per hour that broadcasters devoted to promoting Canadian programs,” said Maureen Parker, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).

Prior to the new television policy, broadcasters were only allowed to air 12 minutes of commercials per hour. But since one-hour American programs have 14 minutes or more automatically built in for commercials, Canadian broadcasters that were simulcasting American shows (and earning revenues from inserting Canadian commercials) often used that extra two minutes to promote other Canadian programming. With the removal of advertising limits that will go by the wayside.

“When CTV promotes Corner Gas during American Idol, it creates excitement about the show, and reminds the one million plus Idol viewers when the next episode of Corner Gas is on. Now CTV can simply run another commercial to bring in more revenue, instead of promoting a Canadian show,” said Parker.

In its new policy, the CRTC acknowledged there has been a huge decline in Canadian television drama with expenditures by conventional English-language broadcasters decreasing from $62 million or 4% of revenues in 2001, to $40 million or 2.3% of revenues in 2006. For years the WGC has asked the CRTC to put regulations in place to require broadcasters to spend a minimum of 7% of revenues on original English-language drama.

“But money is only one part of the equation to produce a hit show. It needs to be promoted, and it needs a regular spot on the television schedule,” said Parker. “This policy has created a vicious circle. How can Canadian shows get good audience numbers when no one knows when they are on?”