Private networks beat up on CBC in fall ratings battle

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This article was published 25/10/2011 (5439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — A year ago, CBC was having a pretty good fall. Now it’s just having a fall.

Just as the public network prepares to celebrate 75 years of broadcasting on television and radio — the main celebrations are scheduled for Nov. 2 — ratings reports for this September and October are showing a marked decline in TV viewership.

New shows, such as Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays and Cover Me Canada, are flopping. Old favourites, like Battle of the Blades and Dragons’ Den, are suddenly less dominant. Where have all the viewers gone?

CBC head of scheduling Christine Wilson says the fall is always “ulcer time” for the public broadcaster, under siege from culture watchdogs on the left and funding critics on the right.

A slow start to its season is just an extra headache.

“Some titles come out of the gate stronger than others every year,” says Wilson. “That’s kind of part of the fall.”

Still, only one CBC series, 22 Minutes, is up year-to-year in the ratings. Other networks, including Citytv and CTV Two (CTV’s rebranded A-Channel stations, which do not have a Manitoba presence), issued releases this week crowing about “double digit growth in key markets.”

“I think it is very difficult to break through the clutter,” acknowledges Wilson, “but that’s one of the realities of being a broadcaster, right? Is it harder this year because there’s more competition? There seemed to be a lot of hype.”

What was once a three-way race between CBC, CTV and Global has split into a five-, six- or some nights seven-network race.

The relaunch of CTV’s A-Channel properties in southern Ontario, B.C., Alberta and the Maritimes as CTV Two has had a major impact on Canada’s TV landscape. Once seen as CTV’s “bench” — the place to put all those extra shows that couldn’t be squeezed onto the main network — the re-branded CTV Two has seen prime-time audiences grow by 70 per cent nationally and 122 per cent in Toronto this fall. That’s thanks to the inclusion of such Top 20 hits as the revitalized Two and a Half Men (No. 6), Criminal Minds (No. 17) and Mike & Molly (No. 18). CTV has also managed to successfully migrate the weekly results episode of The X Factor onto CTV Two each week. Switching to HD also boosted CTV Two, the only Canadian network to see growth nationally this fall.

Rogers-owned Citytv has also climbed into the big leagues with aggressive import buys. The network claims that Terra Nova and 2 Broke Girls are their highest-rated drama and comedy ever, and that City has outperformed CTV Two nationally this fall in the key 18- to 49-year-old and 25- to 54-year-old demos in all major English metered markets.

Yet the private networks have had their share of early flops too, including Citytv pickups The Playboy Club and CTV Two import Free Agents.

CBC’s Wilson believes viewers hear the hype and sample the new shows but return to CBC as the season goes on.

“We’re really confident the schedule’s going to perform for us the way it has in the past.”

Still, the multi-network gang tackling has taken its toll.

It’s bad enough Battle of the Blades has to take on Dancing with the Stars each Monday night at 8 p.m. on CTV, as well as NCIS on Global. Now it has to skate past the million-plus pull of Terra Nova on Citytv too.

Dragons’ Den is still CBC’s No. 1 show (outside hockey), but it now finishes third in its timeslot each week behind Survivor and The X Factor. Stiff competition from specialty networks such as History Television, TSN and Sportsnet further reduce CBC’s share of an ever shrinking pie.

Small wonder, then, that the fall CBC rookies have had a tough time cutting through the noise. Some critics have embraced Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays as the best new comedy this fall — in the U.S. or Canada — but viewers have been slow to find the series. An insightful look at the relationship between a patient and his shrink, Michael fell to a low of 153,000 viewers when it was first shifted to Tuesday night a few weeks ago — a number that would render it iffy for renewal as a scripted series on Showcase. It has since climbed back over the quarter million viewer range, but still below what CBC drew a year ago with the failed comedy Men with Brooms.

Wilson says CBC is committed to a full season run for Michael and no further scheduling moves are imminent.

“We’re hoping Canadians fall in love with the show the way we have,” she says.

There has been less acclaim for the new Sunday night talent showcase Cover Me Canada. Launched with plenty of promotion, last Sunday’s episode fell to 374,000 viewers. So far as well, CBC’s co-production Camelot has failed to match last year’s ratings for the similarly-themed The Tudors.

— The Canadian Press