Post by annabelleleigh on Mar 10, 2009 14:57:46 GMT -5
I post this to ask our Candian members to comment and also to inform our understanding of how much penny-pinching is now in play at media organizations that used to spend (relatively lavishingly) on quality TV dramas.
The U.S. bargain-hunting describes the atmosphere in which the mothership seeks renewal on NBC (at a cost of about $3.5 million an episode) as well as the future fate of the similarly-priced per episode CI. Both seem at least somewhat precarious when the Candian purchase is considered in the context of the (likely) disappearing NYC tax-reduction program for film and TV productions. (The entire L&O franchise has benefitted from this program for many years; it has helped control the cost-per-episode.)
I'm not trying to alarm anyone -- just filling in with information that will help us understand better what may have impact on the renewal process for both CI and L&O.
Boldfaces mine.
AL
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CBS, NBC Buy Canadian TV Programs to Save on Costs
By Andy Fixmer
Bloomberg News
March 9, 2009
Excerpt:
"CBS Corp. and NBC, looking to reduce prime-time programming costs as advertising shrinks, are turning to Canadian television producers for new shows.
Two new programs will air after the current TV season ends in May. CBS, which introduced the Canadian drama “Flashpoint” last year, is adding “The Bridge,” a police series also filmed in Toronto. NBC nabbed “The Listener,” about a telepathic paramedic in the same city.
U.S. networks have made shows in Canada for years to gain tax benefits. Now they are buying dramas written and produced for Canadian TV and set north of the border. CTV, the nation’s largest private broadcaster, is sharing costs and will air shows at the same time. The results are licensing fees for new dramas that are about half the typical $1.6 million per episode.
“We may, in five years, look back upon all this and it’s a blip, but I don’t think so,” said Peter Sussman, partner at Toronto-based Aver Media LP, which financed “Flashpoint.” “The economics of Canadian and U.S. co-production create a model that can’t be ignored.”
Canadian productions also are more palatable to U.S. audiences than shows from other countries, including the U.K., Sussman said in an interview. [Huh? UK members please explain. - AL]...
...Canadians drive on the same side of the street and talk the same and play the same sports,” Sussman said. “It’s not hard to embrace content in Canada and make it work and get ratings in the U.S. market.”
Labor’s Loss
The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, the second-largest actors union, considers the new programs a loss for the U.S. industry, said spokesman Chris de Haan."
The full article at
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=&sid=agZv4MPV5ozI
The U.S. bargain-hunting describes the atmosphere in which the mothership seeks renewal on NBC (at a cost of about $3.5 million an episode) as well as the future fate of the similarly-priced per episode CI. Both seem at least somewhat precarious when the Candian purchase is considered in the context of the (likely) disappearing NYC tax-reduction program for film and TV productions. (The entire L&O franchise has benefitted from this program for many years; it has helped control the cost-per-episode.)
I'm not trying to alarm anyone -- just filling in with information that will help us understand better what may have impact on the renewal process for both CI and L&O.
Boldfaces mine.
AL
-------------------------
CBS, NBC Buy Canadian TV Programs to Save on Costs
By Andy Fixmer
Bloomberg News
March 9, 2009
Excerpt:
"CBS Corp. and NBC, looking to reduce prime-time programming costs as advertising shrinks, are turning to Canadian television producers for new shows.
Two new programs will air after the current TV season ends in May. CBS, which introduced the Canadian drama “Flashpoint” last year, is adding “The Bridge,” a police series also filmed in Toronto. NBC nabbed “The Listener,” about a telepathic paramedic in the same city.
U.S. networks have made shows in Canada for years to gain tax benefits. Now they are buying dramas written and produced for Canadian TV and set north of the border. CTV, the nation’s largest private broadcaster, is sharing costs and will air shows at the same time. The results are licensing fees for new dramas that are about half the typical $1.6 million per episode.
“We may, in five years, look back upon all this and it’s a blip, but I don’t think so,” said Peter Sussman, partner at Toronto-based Aver Media LP, which financed “Flashpoint.” “The economics of Canadian and U.S. co-production create a model that can’t be ignored.”
Canadian productions also are more palatable to U.S. audiences than shows from other countries, including the U.K., Sussman said in an interview. [Huh? UK members please explain. - AL]...
...Canadians drive on the same side of the street and talk the same and play the same sports,” Sussman said. “It’s not hard to embrace content in Canada and make it work and get ratings in the U.S. market.”
Labor’s Loss
The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, the second-largest actors union, considers the new programs a loss for the U.S. industry, said spokesman Chris de Haan."
The full article at
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=&sid=agZv4MPV5ozI