Showrunners - Training Gaps Analysis - Cultural Human Resources ...

III. The Mandate
INDUSTRY CONTEXT
Showrunners Training Gap Analysis
Successful series are important to broadcasters. Episodic content is generally used to develop the
broadcaster brand, ensure repeat viewership, and provide a consistent offering to advertisers.
Many networks build their schedule around returning series, and program around them. One can’t
build an audience on limited runs and repeats.
Successful series are also an important training ground. For example, the repetitive production
cycle of over 150 episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation has helped many young writerproducers
to fine tune their craft.
On the other hand, the risk in fiction series production is high because, as one producer has said,
they are the “Everest of production.” Canadian fiction series production averages $1.2 million per
hour 1 . On an hourly basis, prime time dramatic series are the most expensive form of content: up
to three million dollars per episode for US network series.
After several stagnant years, production of fictional series in Canada has recently shone with
creative success. Investment in fictional series production is up. Corner Gas, Little Mosque on the
Prairie and Degrassi: The Next Generation all made it to the top ten Canadian rated shows. On
the negative side, American-produced television programs occupied all ten spots on the list of the
top-rated television series in Canada between September, 2006 and May, 2007. 2 However, a
number of Canadian series have moved into the U.S. market. For example:
• Flashpoint premiered on CTV and CBS concurrently, bringing in 11 million North
American viewers on January 9, 2009, the launch night for its second season. CTV’s
Corner Gas will air on WBS and The Listener on NBC.
• CBC's Being Erica premiered January 2009 and will air on cable channel Soapnet.
Sophie will appear on ABC Family and Durham County on Ion.
Some of the recent cross-border success has to do with a market for “strike-proof” production in
the wake of last year’s WGA strike. If Canadian producers want to continue to place their shows
successfully into the North American market, we must build sustainability through consistency of
tone and unique vision. These qualities are generally reflective of the imprint of one person, or
one close knit group of people, at the show’s creative core.
1 CFTPA 2008 Profile, page 39
2 All statistics from CFTPA Profile 2008, page 57
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Deborah Carver and Benoit Dubois, January 2009