Children`s and Youth Screen-Based Production in Canada

table of contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
1. Introduction: A Continued Need for Investment
in the Face of Difficult Economic Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Current State of the Industry: Creating Canadian
Content and Staying Globally Competitive
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Social Impact: The Importance of Children’s and Youth Programming . . . . . . . . 12
4. Global Market Trends: Raising the Bar for Canadian
Content Delivery in a Changing Global Media Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5. Television Audiences: A Strong Record of Attracting
Canadian Children to Canadian Programs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6. Employment: A Source of Careers for Canada’s Creative/Technical Workforce . . . . 24
7. International Markets: Attracting Foreign Financing and After-Market Sales . . . . . 27
8. Production Economics: A Better Return for the Production-Financing Dollar . . . . . 31
9. Public and Public/Private Funding: Too Important
for Canadian Governments to Leave Behind
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
10. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
References
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Appendix A: Estimates of International Program Sales
Appendix B: History and Development of Canada’s
Children’s and Youth Screen-Based Production Industry
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
executive
summary
Canada has a long tradition of producing popular and award-winning screen-based
programming for children’s and youth audiences; a tradition that stretches back more
than six decades to the National Film Board’s first forays in educational documentary
and animation production in the 1940s. Canadians are well known for bringing
entertaining live-action and animation programming to viewers around the world –
programming that reflects Canadian values and diversity, enriches the lives of Canadian
children and youth, and offers international audiences a view into Canadian culture.
There are sound social, cultural and economic cases to be made for the increased
support for the creation of children’s and youth programming in Canada; and yet, the
genre is no longer a priority for policy makers. The purpose of this study is to report
on the social, cultural and economic strengths of children’s and youth programming,
and at the same time, bring attention to the many challenges that the genre faces today.
THE MANY STRENGTHS OF CANADIAN
CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH PROGRAMMING
a strong record of attracting canadian children to canadian programs
mighty jungle
© 2007 Mighty Jungle 2 Productions Inc.
When it comes to attracting Canadian viewers to Canadian programming, the children’s
and youth genre does very well when compared to other genres of Canadian
programming supported by the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) (i.e., the “CTF-supported
genres” of children’s and youth, drama, documentary, and variety and performing arts).
During the 2007/08 television season there were six Canadian-produced children’s
and youth television programs among the top ten television programs in Canada’s
French-language market; in the English-language market, the genre held three of the
top ten spots. More broadly, Canadian programs accounted for 82 percent of all
viewing of television programs in the children’s and youth genre in the French-language
market during the 2007/08 television season; in the English-language market, Canadian
programs accounted for 55 percent. In both language markets, the children’s and
youth genre was well ahead of any other CTF-supported genre.
attracts foreign financing and after-market sales
One of the hallmarks of children’s and youth television programming, particularly
animation, is that it has tremendous international sales potential. There is a long list of
Canadian children’s and youth programs currently airing on broadcast outlets outside of
Canada. Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Toupie et Binou, The Mighty Jungle, Blaise
le blasé, Captain Flamingo, Leon, Kid vs. Kat, Zimmer Twins, and Naturally Sadie are all
examples of Canadian cultural exports in the genre. In 2007/08, children’s and youth
television production earned $37 million in export value (pre-sale financing), and an
additional estimated $66 million in international after-market sales, for total export
revenues of $103 million.
i
a source of careers for canada’s creative/technical workforce
Children’s and youth production generated 2,500 production industry jobs in Canada in
2007/08 and an additional 3,900 spin-off jobs.
Indeed, animation production – which comprises the vast majority of children’s and
youth production – generates more jobs for every dollar of production spending than
live action production. A typical 26 half-hour episode animation production (with a
per-episode budget of $250,000) generates 79 full-time production-industry jobs on
an annualized basis1; a live-action series of similar scope generates 71 full-time jobs.
Furthermore, the animation jobs are typically longer-tenure jobs than those on a live
action project.
Practical experience in animation production can also act as a springboard for a career
in other genres of screen-based production and in other occupations in knowledgebased industries. Careers in computer animation and design are quintessential creativesector jobs. And it will be these creative-sector jobs which will help Canada establish its
competitive position in the global economy in the years to come.
offers a better return for the production-financing dollar
Children’s and youth television programming can offer very compelling commercial
value for broadcasters. To begin with, children’s and youth television programming
can generally be made at lower budget levels than prime-time fiction programming.
Children’s and youth programming also offers a higher probability of return and can
generate audiences for broadcasters during off-peak periods.
leverages public funding
In today’s political environment, where governments are under pressure to demonstrate
value for money in the investments they make in economic- or social-development
initiatives, public investments in screen-based production must be effective in drawing
private financing into production. Children’s and youth production does. Production
financing statistics indicate that in 2007/08, children’s and youth television production
attracted $1.25 in private financing for every dollar of public investment in production,
compared to $1.14 in the fiction genre.
T H E C H A L L E N G E S FA C I N G C A N A D I A N
CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH PRODUCTION
Despite the social, cultural and economic strengths that the genre displays, it does face
a number of challenges that seriously threaten its long-term viability.
falling production volume
The volume of Canadian children’s and youth screen-based production has been on
the decline over the last several years. Children’s and youth screen-based production
peaked at $389 million in 1999/00, and declined in the following years to $283 million
by 2005/06. While the industry did experience a temporary spike in production in
2006/07, in 2007/08, the genre hit an alarming ten-year low of $257 million in
production volume.
kid vs. kat
© 2007-2008 Studio B (Kid 1) Productions Inc. All rights reserved.
Despite the genre’s strong export revenue performance in 2007/08, it has experienced
a precipitous drop in annual levels of treaty co-production in recent years. Canada’s
volume of treaty co-production in the children’s and youth genre is off its 2000 peak by
71 percent. This rate of decrease is double the overall rate of decrease for all Canadian
treaty co-production.
1. We refer to the jobs as “annualized” because the calculations are based on an annual average salary.
Therefore, a project running for six months, for example, would employ double the number of persons
because the average salary would be one-half the annual average.
ii
falling budgets
Average budgets for children’s and youth programming have also been in retreat.
Between 1998/99 and 2007/08, the average half-hour budget of a Canadian television
production in the children’s and youth genre dropped by 14 percent in real dollar terms
– falling from $275,000 to $236,000. Average budgets are low by both historical and
international standards: for animation projects to be internationally competitive,
half-hour budgets need to be closer to the typical animation budget of $300,000 to
$350,000 (see animation budget statistics reported in Christie 2007).
falling levels of public funding
Public funding for the children’s and youth production also hit a ten-year low in 2007/08,
as it dropped to only $87 million, with direct public funding returning to a ten-year low
of $22 million. While public funding for children’s and youth programming has not grown
over the last few years, private sector sources have stepped in. Canada’s broadcasting
distribution undertakings (BDUs) have provided – and continue to provide – substantial
financial support to children’s and youth programming through both the CTF and
independent production funds. In 2007/08, BDUs provided an estimated $41.6 million
in direct funding to the children’s and youth genre through the CTF and independent
production funds.
CONCLUSION
The social and cultural value of children’s and youth content is overwhelming.
Screen-based programming entertains and informs children and youth and helps them
develop a sense of identity. It is important that we provide Canadian children and
youth with stories that reflect who they are. If Canadian children and youth have access
to entertaining Canadian stories when they are young, they are more likely to view
Canadian programming when they are older. Further underlining the importance of the
genre is the fact that it is on the front line of the revolution in multi-platform distribution.
zeke’s pad
© 2008 My Pad Productions Inc. and
Avrill Stark Entertainment Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
In today’s financing environment, however, the alarming retreat in annual production
levels and average budgets which are low by historical and international standards will
mean that Canadian program creators will miss an opportunity to provide future generations with programs that reflect Canadian values. With this in mind, all stakeholders –
producers, content distributors, funding bodies, broadcasters, government and the
regulator – must assess their commitment to the genre, with a view to putting Canadian
children’s and youth programming on a strong footing for the future.
Producers, content distributors, funding bodies, broadcasters, government and the
regulator all have a vested interest in fostering an environment where Canadian
children’s and youth programming can reach domestic and international audiences.
The quality of Canada’s children’s and youth programming is high. This enables it to
generate high audiences both within and outside Canada. By making the necessary
investment in the genre today and the years to come, industry stakeholders can attract
Canadian children and youth to Canadian programming and generate stronger interest
in Canadian stories and screen-based programming that Canadian children and youth
will carry with them into their adult years.
iii
introduction:
a continued need for
investment in the face
of difficult economic times
Canada has a unique and open approach to a pluralistic society, of which we are
justifiably proud. We are one of a select few countries in the world that has made a
commitment to developing a tolerant and just society that is open to all cultures. The
Canadian experiment is ongoing and requires continual support. Exposing our children
to Canadian values is an important part of this support. At the same time, Canadian
children should be able to experience the world, through stories told through television,
the Internet and other platforms. Canadian program creators and artists make highquality screen-based programming that reflects Canadian values and offers a view into
global experiences. In this way, the children’s and youth programming industry helps
enrich the lives of Canadian children and youth. The high social value of children’s
programming, however, means it should not only be made and aired because it will
attract the greatest amount of broadcaster or advertiser interest, but because it reflects
public values.
In February 2007, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA)
in association with Shaw Rocket Fund, the Alliance for Children and Television, and the
National Film Board of Canada prepared the inaugural edition of The Case for Kids
Programming: Children’s and Youth Audio-Visual Production in Canada. It examined
the economic and social impact of the children’s and youth production sector and
established the case for strengthened public support for the genre. Two years later, the
CFTPA in association with Shaw Rocket Fund and the Alliance for Children and Television are proud to publish the following 2009 update to The Case for Kids Programming.
Canada’s children’s and youth production industry continues to have a significant
economic and social impact. Among Canada’s CTF-supported genres (children’s and
youth, drama, documentary, and variety and performing arts), it offers one of the best
audience performance records. What’s more, it provides unparalleled export potential.
Despite this strong record, the genre continues to face many of the challenges that it
did two years ago.
atomic betty
Courtesy of Breakthrough Entertainment.
As with other genres, the children’s and youth genre is vulnerable to the effects of consolidation and vertical integration in the television sector. As an export-oriented genre,
children’s and youth programming also faces tremendous international competition from
integrated global production broadcasting conglomerates such as Disney and Nickelodeon. Many of Canada’s children’s and youth television producers recognize that they must
make globally competitive content to survive and prosper in today’s marketplace. To do so
often requires international partnerships through official treaty co-production. However, it
is becoming more and more difficult for Canadian producers to forge international partnerships, in large part due to developments outside of Canada, but also because Canada’s
own treaty co-production framework is outdated in some respects. The statistics bear
this out: Canada’s volume of international treaty co-production in the children’s and youth
genre has fallen twice as fast as the overall volume treaty of co-production in recent years.
1
Foreign sale opportunities can be boosted as the likes of Disney enter as channels in
foreign markets, thus compelling local broadcasters to acquire top-rated programming
in order to compete. While the result is increased foreign demand for quality children’s
and youth programming, the economics only work for Canadian producers if there is a
domestic broadcaster partner/buyer for these projects. Thus, restraints in the domestic
market have an impact on the ability of Canadian producers to generate foreign sales or
line up foreign partners in this genre.
definition of children’s and youth screen-based programming
What exactly is children’s and youth screen-based programming? Most children’s and
youth programming is made available in the television realm. With respect to television,
children’s and youth programming is unique in its definition because it is the only genre
that is defined by its audience rather than its content. Whereas genres such as drama/
comedy, documentary, variety, sports and news, for example, are defined by the type of
content they present, children’s and youth programming is defined by its audiences – and
crosses many genres. Children’s and youth programming may include drama or comedy;
it may include factual genres such as documentary and educational programming as well.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) tracks
television programming on the basis of 15 program categories; but none of these
categories are specific to children’s and youth programming. Most programming (except
drama) targeted to children aged two to five falls under category 5a, Formal Education
and Pre-School. Most other children’s and youth television programs, including animation
programs, fall under category 7, Drama and Comedy. In its licensing of broadcasting
undertakings, however, the CRTC has identified the children’s and youth age groups as
specific target audiences for certain licensees. In its licence decisions, the CRTC has
defined children’s programming as that which is targeted at persons aged 2 to 11,
and youth programming as being targeted at the 12 to 17 age group.
The CTF also maintains a formal definition for children’s and youth programming.
The programming must be targeted at persons under the age of 18, and should include
protagonists from this age group. What is more, the program should reflect reality
from a child or youth’s point of view. The CTF’s definition excludes family programming.
The Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) includes a category for
“children’s” programming in its application package; applicants self select whether
their television project is a children’s program or not.
In this report, we analyze screen-based programming targeted at persons under the
age of 18. Children’s programming includes screen-based works targeted at persons
ages 12 and under; youth programming targets the 12 to 17 age group.
though globally successful canadian producers face new challenges
Many Canadian producers of children’s and youth programming have achieved
tremendous global success. Today, there are some 110 Canadian production companies
generating innovative and popular content for children’s and youth audiences in Canada
and around the world. Canadian program creators are known the world over for making
numerous hit animation series. The animated series George of the Jungle, Gofrette,
Captain Flamingo, Manon, Bromwell High, and Bo on the Go have all enjoyed
international success. Life with Derek, Naturally Sadie and the Degrassi serial are just a
few examples of Canadian producers’ international success in the live-action realm.
george of the jungle
© 2007 Bullwinkle Studios. All rights reserved. GEORGE OF THE
JUNGLE and associated character names, images and other
indicia are trademarks and copyrighted by Ward Productions, Inc.
ad Bullwinkle Studios. Used by permission.
2
Despite the industry’s past successes, our research shows that Canada’s children’s and
youth production industry continues to experience some difficulty. Annual production
levels have been in decline in recent years and are now at their lowest level in over a
decade. Average budgets remain low by historical and international standards, and the
levels of public funding for the genre have not grown in real terms over the past decade.
These continuing and alarming recent developments are a source of concern for
Canadian parents, communities, the industry and other stakeholders, and provide the
impetus for this updated 2009 edition The Case for Kids Programming.
why focus is needed for the children’s genre
This report will uphold the argument that children’s and youth screen-based production
deserves the same policy attention that prime-time drama receives. The reasons for this
attention are really twofold. First, children’s and youth programming is a vital part of
Canadian culture. The images and stories that today’s Canadian children experience
help shape the Canadian society of the future. What’s more, if Canadian children are
drawn to Canadian drama programming when they are young, then it is very likely that
they will continue to be attracted to it in their adult years2.
The second argument for heightened support for the genre has to do with technology
and the impact it is having on the media sector throughout the world. For decades,
policy makers relied on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and private
broadcasters to fulfil Canada’s policy goals in the audio-visual realm. Government then
looked to television broadcasters and independent producers to share the responsibility
of fulfilling the policy goals of the Broadcasting Act. The federal government and the
CRTC gave broadcasters and producers the tools needed to do fulfil these policy goals.
Online and alternative platforms are quickly playing a larger role in the distribution of
screen-based content. Television itself is gradually shifting towards a more on-demand
model comprised of video on demand (VOD), personal video recorders (PVRs) and
other time-shifting technologies. The Internet, iTunes, mobile devices, and online or
console video gaming are also driving a wedge between audiences and traditional
television broadcasters. New web-based distribution technologies are poised to turn
the Internet into a new path for on-demand access to screen-based content.
bo on the go
Courtesy of Halifax Film, a DHX Media company.
These emerging distribution approaches are particularly suitable to children’s and youth
programming. Younger people are often early adopters of new technologies – or coax
adults to quickly adopt new technologies. Furthermore, much of children’s and youth
screen-based production lends itself to interactivity, which technology can facilitate.
The ease with which young people use new technology certainly suggests that the
Internet and mobile video may represent a tremendous opportunity for the genre.
But in the world of alternative platforms where consumers become the programmers
and pull-distribution models operate alongside traditional push models, only the very
best content will find audiences. Under such a scenario, the Canadian government’s
demand-side policies for promoting Canadian screen-based content – which have been
very effective for many decades – may lose their efficacy. The regulated broadcasting
system may no longer stand between audiences and screen-based content. When this
happens, policy makers will have to recognize that more support for the production side
of the screen-industry value chain is going to become paramount, to ensure Canadian
content is always available to Canadian children.
In the next section, we examine the current state of Canada’s children’s and youth
production industry.
2. CRTC, Proposed incentives for English-language Canadian television drama – Call for comments,
Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-32, para. 38.
3
current state of the industry:
creating canadian content
and staying globally competitive
In 2007/08, the total volume of Canadian television and feature film production in the
children’s and youth genre fell to a ten-year low of $257 million3. Of this amount,
production for television accounted for $250 million of the production volume; so the
children’s and youth production sector was almost entirely a television one.
Behind this $257 million in production, there were numerous Canadian companies, and
creative and technical professionals. A review of membership data available from the
CFTPA and Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ)
indicates that there some 110 companies in Canadian engaged in the production of
children’s, youth or animation programming. Many more companies provide audiovisual services to children’s and youth production. Altogether, these production
companies generate an estimated 2,500 full-time equivalent jobs for Canadians
(for additional employment statistics, see Section 6, Employment).
Exhibit 1: Total volume of Canadian television and
feature film production in the children’s and youth genre
life with derek
Photo courtesy of Shaftesbury Films.
Source: Estimates based on data from CAVCO
Note: CAVCO data do not include all NFB production;
only NFB co-productions are included in CAVCO data
3. The production statistics contained throughout this report only include co-productions of children’s and youth programs
with the NFB; the statistics do not include the NFB’s in-house production of children’s and youth programming.
4
an overall downward trend in production interrupted
by a temporary spike in non-ctf production in 2006/07
After growing to an upwards of $389 million in production in 1999/00, Canada’s
children’s and youth production industry experienced a steady decline up until 2006/07,
when there was a spike in production activity. Between 1999/00 and 2006/07, the total
volume of children’s and youth production dropped by 29 percent.
In 2006/07, children’s and youth production witnessed a temporary reversal of this longterm decline, as the volume of production jumped $109 million, or 39 percent, year-overyear. While the ultimate cause of this jump is not precisely clear, it is apparent that it can
be traced back to a temporary increase in the number of large-budget non-CTF animation
projects. While the total number of projects was virtually unchanged between 2005/06 and
2006/07 (increasing from 87 to 90), the average project size rose by 33%, from $2.7 million
to $3.3 million. From 2005/06 to 2006/07, the volume of CTF-supported production actually
dropped by $17 million; it was non-CTF production4 that accounted for all of the year-overyear increase in children’s and youth production, rising from $55 million to $181 million.
Exhibit 2: Analysis of increase in children’s and youth production in 2006/07
2005/06
2006/07
Change
Percentage Change
Total volume of production ($ millions)
278
387
109
39%
Number of projects
87
90
3
3%
Average project budget ($ millions)
2.7
3.6
0.9
33%
Total volume of CTF-supported production ($ millions)
223
206
(17)
(8%)
Total volume of non-CTF production ($ millions)
55
181
126
129%
Source: Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO.
This increase in non-CTF production arose from an increase in the number of large
projects. In 2005/06, there were no non-CTF projects with a budget over $10 million; in
2006/07, there were three. The number of non-CTF projects in the $5 million to $10 million budget range also increased from a total of three in 2005/06 to seven in 2006/07.
Exhibit 3: Number of non-CTF projects by size of project budget
2005/06
2006/07
Change
Above $10M
0
3
3
$5M to $10M
3
7
4
$2.5M to $5M
4
8
4
$1.0 M to 2.5M
7
6
(1)
Under $1M
14
9
(5)
Total
28
33
5
Source: Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO.
After experiencing this temporary spike in production in 2006/07, however, the long-term
downward trend in the genre’s annual production volume resumed in 2007/08. The total
volume of children’s and youth television production dropped to $257 million – the lowest
level in the last ten years. Over the past ten years, children’s and youth production has
not only fallen on an absolute dollar basis, but has also fallen relative to Canada’s overall
output of television production. In 1999/00, children’s and youth television production
4. Non-CTF production includes Canadian content production (i.e., productions with six or more
Canadian-content points) that may not be eligible for CTF funding or did not receive CTF funding.
5
accounted for 21 percent of Canada’s $1.9 billion in total Canadian television
production. As of 2007/08, children’s and youth television production accounted for
only 12 percent of Canadian television production – a 40% reduction in terms of share.
The drop in children’s and youth production activity over the past few years has been
felt in both the live-action and animation segments. Between 1999/00 and 2007/08,
the total volume of live-action children’s and youth production dropped from $156 million
to $91 million. Animation production dropped from $257 million in 1998/99 to $166
million in 2007/08. In 2007/08, live-action accounted for about one-third of Canadian
children’s and youth television production.
One cannot ignore the impact that the corporate environment has had on the long-term
decline in Canada’s children’s and youth television production. During the late 1990s,
in an effort to meet public-investor expectations, companies such as Nelvana and Cinar
greenlit many projects before they were creatively finished or fully financed (Nordicity
2007, p. 5); and the result was a glut of programming, which the global market might
still be trying to absorb (Nordicity 2007, p. 5).
Exhibit 4: Children’s and youth television production: by format and annual CTF contributions
Volume of children’s and youth production, by format
CTF contributions to children’s and youth
programming and share of total CTF funding
Source: Estimates based on data from CAVCO;
excludes NFB in-house production
Source: CTF
side-swiped by the drop in international financing
Financing statistics for Canadian children’s television production further shed light on
the reasons for the sharp drop in production activity in recent years. As alluded to
above, it would appear that the Canadian children’s production industry has lost much
of the foreign pre-sale financing that it was able to attract during the late 1990s. In
1999/00, Canadian children’s television production attracted $117 million in pre-sale
financing from foreign broadcasters and distributors. It attracted another $37 million
from Canadian distributors, many of whom acquired sales rights for foreign territories.
Together, these two sources of international financing accounted for nearly half
(40 percent) of the production financing for children’s and youth production in 1999/00.
6
Exhibit 5: Financing of Canadian children’s and youth television production ($ millions)
1999/00
2000/01
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
Private Broadcaster
Licence Fees
41
40
45
41
44
53
48
82
51
Public Broadcaster
Licence Fees
11
13
15
24
17
19
26
21
24
Federal Tax Credit
37
35
31
25
27
31
29
41
25
Provincial Tax Credit
41
33
40
36
37
44
49
66
40
Canadian Distributor
37
38
22
24
21
12
12
28
21
117
74
52
23
41
22
21
19
16
Production Company
59
88
78
40
34
27
19
37
10
Canadian Television Fund
Foreign
28
31
49
58
41
45
46
45
49
Independent
Production Funds
6
7
7
8
8
10
13
13
14
Other Public*
4
3
3
7
2
4
2
7
0
Other Private**
7
8
16
14
18
14
11
19
0
388
370
358
300
290
281
276
378
250
Total
Source:
Note:
*
**
Estimates based on data obtained from CAVCO. Based on CAVCO classifications.
Some totals may not add due to rounding.
Other public includes financing from provincial governments, and other government departments and agencies.
Other private includes financing from broadcaster equity, and other private investors.
By 2007/08, however, foreign pre-sale financing for Canadian children’s and youth television
programs had dropped dramatically. In 2007/08, foreign financing was down to $16 million;
Canadian distributor financing – generally linked to the potential in foreign markets – was
$21 million. Together, these two internationally-oriented financing sources accounted for
15 percent of total financing in 2007/08; about 40 percent of the level of eight years prior.
In effect, Canada’s children’s and youth production community has seen its supply of production capital curtailed by over $600 million in the eight years since the industry reached
its production peak in 1999/00. Canada’s overall indigenous television production community has experienced an across-the-board drop in activity since hitting a peak in 1999/00.
All of this drop can be traced back to the two fiction genres – prime-time comedy and
drama, and children’s programming – as opposed to the factual genres of documentary
and variety and performing arts. Drastic changes in the business climate in the global
television marketplace were the single biggest contributor to Canada’s declining volume
of Canadian television production (CFTPA 2006, p. 14). The worldwide trend towards
more indigenous programming in television schedules, and the move in Europe to a more
continental market have led to a drop in the international trade in television programs
(CFTPA 2006, p. 14). Nowhere was the effect of these international market developments
more evident than in Canada’s children’s and youth production segment. Since 1999/00,
foreign financing of Canadian children’s and youth television programs has dropped by a
staggering $100 million on an annual basis.
The financing statistics also reveal that production companies are no longer able to make
significant investments in their own projects: between 1990/00 and 2007/08, production
companies’ investments in children’s and youth production dropped from 15 percent to
4 percent. This is a symptom of the financial condition of Canadian production companies.
Statistics Canada data for the overall industry indicate that its net profit margin was only
4.3 percent in 2004 (the rate was as low as 1.6 percent in 2002) (Statistics Canada 2006);
across the whole industrial economy, the rate was 6.4 percent (CFTPA 2006a). The Canadian production industry is now comprised of numerous small companies with lower-thanaverage profitability; the industry is very fragile. Without healthy profit margins, Canadian
producers are increasingly unable to invest in their projects and retain more ownership in
the revenue streams of their work. Without financially strong production companies, there
is a risk that Canada will lose its position within the genre’s international markets.
7
Exhibit 6: Total annual number of hours of original
television production in the children’s and youth genre
Source: Estimates based on data from CAVCO
Note: CAVCO data do not include all NFB production;
only NFB co-productions are included in CAVCO data
After hitting an all-time low of 678 hours in 2003/04, the annual output of original
Canadian children’s and youth television production rose steadily and peaked at 1,022
hours in 2006/07. However, in 2007/08, annual output fell with production volume to a
ten-year low of 530 hours.
Canadian producers of children’s and youth television programming have adapted to the
severe loss of international capital, although their financial position is relatively precarious.
The international demand may have weakened, and producers thus have less financial
resources to work with, but they are still generating hundreds of original hours per year.
They are now forced to produce with lower average budgets to meet the demand of the
domestic market, increasingly dominated by specialty and pay television services.
taste buds
Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann, marblemedia
Between 1998/99 and 2005/06, the average half-hour budget (measured in constant
2007 dollars) of a Canadian television production in the children’s and youth genre
(including both English and French production) dropped by 14 percent, from (inflation
adjusted) $275,000 in 1998/99 to $236,000 in 2007/08. On the surface it may seem that
the industry has improved its productivity by lowering the real cost of producing an
hour of television programming; and in many respects it has through the use of new
technology. Improvements in animation technology have lowered the cost of this type of
production. But still, for projects to be internationally competitive, the average budgets
need to be closer to the typical animation budget of $300,000 to $350,000
(see animation budget statistics reported in Christie 2007).
Average real budgets for both the English-language and French-language children’s
and youth production dropped 18% between 1998/99 and 2007/08. Average real
half-hour budgets for French-language productions experienced more fluctuation,
but dropped from $97,000 to $79,000. Average half-hour budgets for English-language
production dropped steadily to 2005/06, but have recovered somewhat in recent years,
but have still not returned to the levels of the late 1990s.
8
Again, Canadian English-language productions are operating at the bottom range
for globally competitive product. French-language project budgets are way below the
bottom of the range. Higher production budgets do not always translate into higher
quality, but these figures reflect that Canadian producers may risk operating outside of
this higher-budget game.
Exhibit 7: Average budgets of Canadian children’s and youth television production (real 2007 dollars)
Source: Estimates based on data from CAVCO and Statistics Canada
the emergence of specialty television as the
primary outlet for children’s and youth programs
Canada’s broadcasting regulatory environment plays a significant role in stimulating
the creation of high-quality original television programming for Canadian children and
youth. Over the last two decades the CRTC has made sure that children’s and youth
programming has had a place in Canadian households’ cable and satellite channel
line-up. Since 1987, the CRTC has licensed six specialty-television services (YTV, VRAK.
TV, Teletoon/Télétoon, TreeHouse, BBC Kids, Discovery Kids) and one pay television
service (The Family Channel) with programming devoted to children and youth.
These specialty and pay services have become the main outlets for Canadian children’s
and youth programming. With the exception of the Category 2 licensees, all of the
specialty and pay television licensees have expenditure requirements that mandate them
to spend between 20 percent and 47 percent of revenues on Canadian programming.
Some of the licensees have additional stipulations that require a fixed portion of this
expenditure amount to be allocated to independent production. All of the specialty and
pay television licensees have Canadian content exhibition requirements.
On a combined basis, the specialty television licensees are required by condition of
licence to acquire 194 hours of original, first-run Canadian programming each year;
they have made commitments to commission an additional 73 hours, on average per
year. All told, specialty-television licensees commission at least 267 hours of original,
first-run Canadian programming each year, as per their broadcast licences.
the potential for the national public
broadcaster to lead in kids’ television
The licence conditions and other terms of Canada’s specialty and pay services compensate somewhat for the fact that very few conventional broadcasters have any licence
conditions related to children’s programming. Indeed, SRC is the only conventional broadcaster with a licence condition requiring it to broadcast an average of four hours per week
of original, first-run Canadian children’s programming. This unique licence condition
among conventional broadcasters reflects the unique situation in which there are fewer
children’s programs available for French-speaking Canadians. The CRTC expects SRC
and CBC to each air 20 hours per week of children’s and youth programming. However,
in fall 2006, in the face of limited programming resources on an organization-wide basis,
the CBC drastically reduced the amount of children’s programming in its daily schedule
by removing its after-school programming. Today, CBC’s weekly slate of children’s and
9
youth programming is comprised largely of commercial-free pre-school programming on
weekday mornings, and a block of children’s and youth programming on the weekend.
The CBC augments these morning blocks with engaging websites for both age groups.
In five provinces – namely Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta –
provincial educational broadcasters play a key role in the provision of children’s and
youth television programming. Télé-Québec, TVOntario, TFO, Knowledge Network (British
Columbia), SCN (Saskatchewan) and Access (Alberta). All of these provincial educational
broadcasters devote considerable portions of their weekly schedules to children’s and
youth programming with clear educational value. Télé-Québec, for example, dedicates
47% of its schedule to children’s and youth programming. By offering children’s and youth
programming – more often than not integrated with provincial curricula – provincial
educational broadcasters play a vital role in ensuring that a large percentage of Canadian
children and youth can access programming over Canada’s conventional broadcasting
airwaves. However, the provincial broadcaster in each province represents only a single
outlet. And moreover, five provinces lack an educational broadcaster, leaving many households in Canada that do not have cable or satellite service reliant on the national public
broadcaster and private conventional broadcasters.
With increased resources to fund the production of original Canadian programming,
Canada’s national broadcaster could take its cues from public broadcasters in other
English-speaking countries, and embrace children’s and youth programming as part
of its public service mandate. In the U.K., the BBC operates two over-the-air digital
broadcast channels – CBBC and CBeebies – dedicated to children’s programming.
All told, the BBC accounted for 80 percent of all children’s programming available from
public (terrestrial) broadcasters in the U.K. in 2006 (Ofcom 2007, p. 25) and 75 percent
of the total number of hours of first-run original programming on the public (terrestrial)
broadcasters (Ofcom 2007, p. 29).
In Australia, the national public broadcaster, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC),
devotes a significant portion of its daily schedule to children’s and youth programming
as part of its ABC Kids program block (ABC 2007, p.2). In 2006/07, ABC aired over
2,000 hours of children’s and youth programming on its main television service, and an
additional 1,700 hours on its digital multichannel service, ABC2 (ABC 2007, p.2). In
2008, ABC received approval from the Australian government to launch a new digital
television service, ABC3 (Sinclair 2009). This new service will televise 15 hours per day
of child-appropriate television content, along with interactive and online content (Sinclair
2009). Moreover, ABC3 will be free to households, carry no advertising, and exhibit
50% Australian content (Sinclair 2009).
potential expansion of the role for private conventional broadcasters
totally spies
© Marathon Media / Mystery Animation Inc.
10
The responsibility to air children’s and youth programming should not stop with provincial
educational broadcasters, CBC/SRC, and specialty and pay television services; private
conventional broadcasters also have an important role to play in ensuring that Canadian
children and youth have access to a diversity of television content. Among the private
conventional television broadcasters, CTV has committed to only 2.5 hours per week.
Canwest MediaWorks Inc. agreed, at its last licence renewal, to maintain a spot in its
schedule for children’s and youth programming, but made no commitments to a fixed
number of hours per week. In general, the CRTC does not see a need to impose any
licence conditions related to children’s and youth programming on private conventional
licensees. About 90 percent of Canadian households have access to basic-tier
programming on Canadian broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), and therefore
access to YTV or VRAK.TV; however, conventional broadcasters still have the greatest
audience reach, and can be viewed by the greatest number of Canadian children and
youth. Even in the U.S., where there are numerous multichannel outlets for children’s
programming, the Federal Communications Commission requires over-the-air
broadcasters to televise a minimum amount of children’s programming each week.
Exhibit 8: Broadcaster licence conditions, requirements and commitments relevant to children’s and youth production
Broadcaster
Licence conditions, requirements and commitments
CBC
· Expected to broadcast a minimum of 15 hours per week for children and five hours per week for youth
SRC
· Required to broadcast an average of at least four hours per week of original Canadian children’s programming
· Expected to broadcast a minimum of 20 hours per week for children and youth
TVO/TFO
· TVO expected to broadcast 70 hours per week of educational programming dedicated to children
· TFO committed to broadcast at least 29 hours per week of Canadian programming for
children (ages 2 to 12) and at least 10 hours per week of programming for youth (ages 12 to 17)
Télé-Québec
· Required to broadcast an average of 21 hours per week of Canadian programming targeted to children ages 2 to 11
SCN
· Dedicates approximately 40 percent of broadcast schedule to children’s programs
Knowledge Network
· Expected to broadcast 54 hours per week of children’s and youth programs
CTV
· Expected to broadcast 2.5 hours per week of programming for children
CanWest MediaWorks Inc.
· Expected to continue to provide children’s programming and committed
to maintaining children’s programming within its broadcast schedule
CHUM
· Not required to broadcast a minimum level of children’s programming
TVA
· Not required to broadcast a minimum level of children’s programming
TQS
· Committed to produce the children’s program Le Petit Journal using an independent producer;
this program will consist of 52 original hour-long segments, with each segment consisting of two
30-minute programs broadcast each week, targeting adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years
· Committed to produce an original 30-minute program each week targeting children aged between 2 and 11 years
Family Channel
(including
Disney Playhouse)
· Required to devote 25 percent of broadcast schedule to the exhibition of Canadian programming that shall have
as its target audience only children, youth to age 17, and families in conjunction with such children and youth
· Required to spend 30 percent of revenues on the acquisition of Canadian programming that shall have as
its target audience only children, youth to age 17, and families in conjunction with such children and youth
YTV
· Required to devote 30 percent of broadcast schedule to programming directed at children up to five
years of age, 48 percent directed at children and youth aged 6 to 17, and 22 percent directed to families
· Required to distribute 90 hours of original, first-run, independently produced Canadian programming each year
· Required to spend 40 percent of annual revenues on acquiring and investing in Canadian programming;
allocate one-third of this amount to the development, production and licensing of original, first-run Canadian programming
· Required to devote 60 percent of broadcast schedule to the exhibition of Canadian content
VRAK.TV
·
·
·
·
Teletoon/Télétoon
· Required to spend 47 percent of revenues on the acquisition of Canadian programming;
required to allocate 50 percent of this amount to programming made by non-related producers
· Expected to ensure that 75 percent of all broadcast Canadian programming is from independent producers
· Required to devote 60 percent of broadcast schedule during peak
period (4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) to the exhibition of Canadian content
· Committed to commissioning 700 half-hours of new Canadian production,
each available in English and French, over the term of the licence
Treehouse
· Required to broadcast programming for pre-school children up
to six years of age between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
· Required to spend 36 percent of revenues on the acquisition of and/or investment in Canadian programming
· Required to devote not less than 70 percent of broadcast schedule to the exhibition of Canadian content
· Expected to commission 325 half-hours of original Canadian production over the term of the licence
Treehouse Discovery Kids
· Required to broadcast programming targeted at “children of all ages”
· Required to devote not less than 35 percent of broadcast schedule to the exhibition of Canadian content
BBC Kids
· Required to devote 65 percent of broadcast schedule to programming that targets children ages 2 to 11
(the majority of which will target children ages 6 to 11) and 35 percent to youth ages 12 to 17
· Required to devote not less than 35 percent of broadcast schedule to the exhibition of Canadian content
Required
Required
Required
Required
to
to
to
to
broadcast programming that has as its target audience children and youth up to 17 years of age
distribute 104 hours of original, first-run, independently produced programming per year
spend 41 percent of annual revenues on acquiring and investing in Canadian programming
devote 50 percent of broadcast schedule to the exhibition of Canadian content
Source: CRTC
11
social impact:
the importance of children’s
and youth programming
Without a doubt, television is one of the most powerful mass-media technologies in the
world. Television and the programming that it provides have a tremendous impact on
people of all ages. Screen-based programming helps shape people’s political views and
their social values; it influences many of the economic decisions that they make.
Screen-based programming has an even greater impact on children and youth. Young
people are in their formative years: they are forming attitudes and learning behaviours
that they will keep for the rest of their lives. Canadian children spend about 30 hours
per week in school classrooms; they spend an upwards of 18 hours per week watching
television. While many parents, educators, and physicians lament the fact that our
children grow up in front of the television, the reality is that television has become an
important part of children’s lives in Canada. And it is for this very reason that it is vitally
important that Canadian children and youth have access to Canadian-produced
children’s and youth programming of the highest possible quality.
rising tv viewing even among canadian children and youth
While Canadian teenagers, adolescents and children, for that matter, are increasingly
turning to the Internet, cellular phones and MP3 players (including iPods) for screenbased entertainment, as mobility and instant access are becoming the norms, they are
not turning away from television; in fact, television viewing among Canadian children
and youth appears to be trending upwards in recent years. Nielsen data show a steady
increase in the average number of hours of television viewing among Canadian children
and teenagers over the past decade. In 1998/99, Canadian teenagers (youth aged
12 to 17) watched an average of 16.0 hours of television per week; by 2007/08,
Canadian teenagers’ television viewing was up by 10 per cent to 17.6 hours per week.
Canadian children’s television viewing increased by even more, 23 per cent, as it rose
from 15.1 hours to 18.5 hours.
hood
© Portfolio Entertainment Inc.
12
Exhibit 9: Average weekly hours of television
viewing per capita by Canadian children and youth
Source: CMRI (Nielsen)
are we there yet? world adventure
© Sinking Ship Entertainment
A 2005 survey by the Media Awareness Network found that 40 percent of grade 11
students downloaded movies and TV shows on computers connected to the Internet;
the rate for grade four students was 17 percent (Media Awareness Network 2005, p. 20).
The Media Awareness Network also found that two-thirds of Canadian students (grades
four to 11) used a cellular phone, and nearly one-quarter of Canadian students actually
owned their own cellular phone (Media Awareness Network 2005, p. 16). Forty-one percent of Canadian students (grades 4 to 11) have an MP3 player for their own personal use
(Media Awareness Network 2005, p. 4). Not all of these technologies currently come with
video capabilities, but they are quickly including this feature; and the statistics show that
Canadian children are eager adopters of new media technologies. However, screen-based
content does not seem to have lost its place in the media lives of Canadian children and
youth; Canadian children and youth are just using a wider variety of paths to find it.
educational value and social relevance of children’s programming
It is important for parents, educators, and broadcasters to continue to discuss the
merits of television and screen-based programming in children’s lives; we do not want
to ignore or minimize this debate. However, this analysis starts from the premise that
much of children’s television or screen-based content can be very positive; it can be
educational, it can contribute to their positive social development, and it can be very
entertaining. Recent research points to the benefits of television for children. An analysis
by Matthew Gentkew and Jesse Shaprio of the University of Chicago found that an
additional year of pre-school television exposure led to a slight rise in average test
scores, for example (Gentkew and Shapiro 2006 p. 3).
It is already a policy of the Canadian federal government to financially support children’s
and youth television programming, as well as interactive new-media content. It does this
largely through the CTF and Canada New Media Fund5. Canada’s industry regulator has,
to date, licensed specialties television services, SRC, Télé-Québec, and certain specialty
and pay television services that must exhibit programming targeted at children’s and
youth age groups. Educational broadcasters – owned by provincial governments –
5. In March 2009, the federal government announced that the Canadian Television Fund and
Canada New Media Fund would be combined to form the Canada Media Fund, effective April 2010.
13
commission and exhibit children’s television programming. So, children’s television
programming is more than just a commercial endeavour; an important piece of it takes
place within the context of public policy and educational objectives. Clearly Canadian
governments view it as public policy to invest, on behalf of citizens, in children’s and
youth screen-based content.
Decades of social science research has demonstrated that television has a myriad of
impacts on children’s social development. Screen-based programming is a powerful
educational tool. “Television programming that is designed to be entertaining, intelligent,
and educational can open a ‘cognitive window’ and have a profound effect on
formative minds” (Hume 2005). Screen-based programming allows children to learn
about the world that they live in; it gives them the opportunity to travel to museums,
galleries, other cities, other countries, Mount Everest, or Mars. It gives children a window
to the world around them and offers them visual insights that they may not otherwise be
able to obtain (Gladstone et al., 1985 p. 13). It also introduces them to the injustices,
differences and commonalities that continually shape our world (Gladstone et al. 1985,
p. v). Screen-based programming, particularly in the interactive-digital media sphere,
requires children to be interactive. This interactivity leads children to question and think
(Gladstone et al. 1985, p. v). Screen-based programming can even make children’s
minds sharper by presenting them with cognitive challenges (Johnson 2005).
When screen-based programming is made available through the television, it can be a tool
for levelling experience among children. Outside of the classroom set of books, no other
form of media has the same universal penetration in Canada as television. Many children
do not have access to the Internet; many cannot access books outside of schools; and
whether we like it or not, most children do not live around the corner from a local library.
Printed media have never been as accessible as the television media came to be; virtually
every household in Canada has a television that receives local programming.
Factual programming has an obvious informational purpose; but fiction programming
has tremendous value too. Storytelling is also a powerful method for conveying ideas.
Children’s stories, whether they are in print or screen-based format, often have a socialization function: they set good examples for children. Through proper narratives, stories
can expose children to values like tolerance, openness and responsibility. Children’s and
youth screen-based programming can reinforce notions that social good will prevail and
be rewarded (Messenger Davies 2001, p. 68). Children, themselves, tell researchers that
screen-based programming “…helps them identify with others, meet a variety of people,
learn about different lifestyles, and, through models, improve their own social skills”
(Gladstone et al. 1985, p. 23).
entertainment as well as educational value of children’s programming
It is important to remember that the value of children’s and youth screen-based
programming should not only be measured in terms of its educational value; children’s
and youth programming should also strive to be entertaining. What makes Canadian
children’s and youth programming a vibrant and commercially successful field is that
it offers Canadian children and their parents a wide array of options along the scales
of education and entertainment. Parents can look to the provincial educational
broadcasters and be assured that they will find programming of high educational value.
At the same time, they have a choice of outlets, when they would like their children to
access more entertaining fare. We all love to be entertained!
toopy and binoo
© Spectra Animation inc.
providing a window on the world and canadian society
In the introduction to this report, we underlined the importance of screen-based
programming to Canada’s role in the world. Our airwaves are bombarded by children’s
and youth programming from the United States (U.S.). The Canadian experiment –
as it is often referred to – is ongoing and requires constant reinforcement. Community
leaders look primarily to the school system to teach children about Canada’s social values.
But children are spending at least half as much time in front of television and the Internet,
as they are in the classroom. The messages that children encounter on television or the
14
Internet must be consistent with those they receive in the school system. For the
thousands of children and youth immigrating to Canada every year, screen-based
programming complements their classroom setting: it allows them to learn about
Canadian values and offers them the opportunity to forge their own Canadian identity.
Canadian children’s and youth screen-based programming must have a prominent
place on television and the Internet, so that Canadian children and youth can access it.
Canadians also like to lead by example; they will go to all corners of the globe to offer
other communities the chance to understand that the Canadian option – Canada’s
approach to building the social fabric of a nation – is available to them. Screen-based
programming, particularly for children, can also be another tool in Canada’s
international development toolkit. But in order for Canadian screen-based content
to reach international audiences, it must be of the highest quality, and it must be
globally competitive.
encouraging engagement in society and learning
toc toc toc
All this may sound like television and screen-based programming is some type of
paternalistic tool used by adult decision makers to program children into robots that
carry on what adults see as the acceptable social norms. But just like other media,
screen-based programming also teaches children to challenge and question society;
and in some respects, it gives children a voice in a society where they often cannot
make their views known. Traditional fairy tales and modern stories told through the
screen-based medium present children with situations where the poor, the young, and
women are empowered (Messenger Davies 2001, p. 59 [Lurie]). They teach children
to be sceptical of adults, i.e., sceptical of the decision makers. Children’s stories are
told from the child’s point of view, and thereby give children a voice.
Photo by Jean-François Berube.
On another level, screen-based programming gives children a voice because they often
have the ability to choose what they want to watch. By choosing what they will and will
not watch, young children communicate with the adults around them. Children do not
vote; most do not engage politicians or business leaders; they can, however, express
their views through the programs they choose to watch. That is why it is important to
offer children a diverse range of high-quality screen-based programming. Without the
highest quality, we fail to maximize the educational and social value of video content.
Without diversity, we risk offering children only a limited array of choices and paths for
expressing their views.
Canadian educators and screen-based creators have long recognized the social
importance of television programming. Through television, children learn more about
the world they live in by fostering their curiosity. Television programming can prompt
kids to go on the web and learn more about the world around them, just as the shows
in the twentieth century encouraged children to go to the library helping kids become
smarter and more positive. In the next section, we identify some of the major trends
in the global media market, which are putting tremendous pressure on Canadian
producers of children’s and youth programming. We also scan the children’s and youth
production and broadcasting markets in other countries. In a later section we explore
Canadian producers’ performance in international markets in recent years.
15
global market trends:
raising the bar for canadian
content delivery in a changing
global media landscape
In this section we examine the three major global market trends affecting children’s and
youth production. The first is vertical integration, the second is increased global competition,
and the third is the emergence of new distribution technologies. We also present some
snapshots of the children’s and youth programming in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
Canadian producers of children’s and youth programming operate in the global market.
While they enjoy a certain degree of protection in the domestic market, global market
developments and the emergence of new distribution technologies could pose a
challenge to even these protections. Outside of Canada, Canadian producers compete
with other producers to reach audiences. Vertical integration can often tilt the playing field
against independent Canadian producers. However, the emergence of new distribution
technologies may represent an opportunity to re-level the playing field to some degree,
or at least give Canadian producers other options for reaching audiences. A scan of the
industry structure and recent developments in children’s and youth programming in other
countries reaffirms the case for the national public broadcaster to maintain a strong
presence in the genre, even with specialty cable channels holding leadership in terms of
commercially oriented programming dedicated to children and youth.
the pervasiveness of vertical integration
Like other genres, the children’s and youth programming industry is one characterized by
significant vertical integration. The Walt Disney Company represents the quintessential
vertically integrated media company. It combines production assets (Walt Disney Pictures,
Pixar, Miramax and Touchstone Pictures), and distribution (Buena Vista Entertainment,
Buena Vista Television) with a series of media outlets that blanket television screens in the
U.S. and other countries.
max & ruby
© 2006 M & R Story Productions Ltd.
Another major vertically-integrated player in children’s and youth production is CBS/
Viacom. While the two companies did split into two separate corporate entities on
December 31, 2005, they continue to maintain business relationships. Between them,
these two companies control major broadcast outlets for children’s programming,
including CBS, Nickelodeon, Nicktoon, NickJr., Noggin/The N. These two companies also
control major production and distribution arms (Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home
Entertainment, and Dreamworks Entertainment). CBS also holds a joint interest in the CW.
Time Warner Inc., itself, is another vertically integrated operation that owns the Cartoon
Network, several production companies (Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Castle Rock
Entertainment), and has access to the film libraries of MGM, Warner Bros and HannaBarbera. In addition, Time Warner Inc. owns Time Warner Cable with over 27 million
cable subscribers in the U.S., not to mention AOL.
Canada also has its share of vertical integration. The Shaw family controls both Shaw
Communications Inc. and Corus Entertainment. The former provides mutltichannel cable/
satellite services to 30 percent of Canadian multichannel households. The latter controls
16
three of Canada’s major children’s television broadcast outlets (YTV, TreehouseTV,
Discovery Kids Canada) and holds 50 percent of Teletoon. Corus also owns Nelvana,
one of Canada’s largest producers and distributors of animation programming.
These large vertically integrated media groups, which have emerged over the last decade,
possess the economies of scale and scope that allow them to manage the economic
risks associated with generating and marketing screen-based content for children’s and
youth audiences. Vertical integration does not entirely preclude independent production
from entering the media channel; however, it does raise the bar for independent
producers in Canada and elsewhere. Independent producers have to be that much
better. On the domestic front, Canadian broadcasting policy and broadcasting licence
conditions help to ensure a place for independent producers; but, in the international
market, Canada’s independent producers are faced with a far more formidable task
today than ten years ago.
increased global competition
Following a decade characterized by broadcaster vertical integration, children’s and youth
broadcasters have recently expanded by penetrating new international markets. To
maintain their market share, domestic networks have had to react quickly to the newly
arrived competition. The resulting competition between broadcasters has bided well for
audiences, who benefit from greater diversity and higher quality programming.
mighty jungle
© 2007 Mighty Jungle 2 Productions Inc.
the adventures of dudley the dragon
Courtesy of Breakthrough Entertainment.
The expansion by broadcasters to international markets has primarily been led by two
networks: Nickelodeon and Disney. Since 2001, Nickelodeon has launched or re-launched
its children’s and youth network in over 12 markets across the globe. In 2008 alone,
Nickelodeon launched dedicated Arabic, Polish, and Swedish channels. In addition to its
existing global portfolio, Disney has launched over seven new services since 2000.
Starting with Disney Latin America in 2000, Disney launched networks in Scandinavia,
Japan, India, Poland, Malaysia, and most recently Belgium and The Netherlands in 2009.
These new service initiatives in multiple countries do have one positive effect on those
markets, as noted earlier. They do put pressure on local broadcasters to compete, and
thus create new markets for Canadian programming. The problem is that for any
international expansion to occur there must be a domestic market expansion in Canada.
Production companies operating in Canada cannot easily develop programming strictly
for the international marketplace. They need the domestic broadcaster to pay for part
of the production cost, as well as triggering CTF, tax credit financing, and independent
production funds. If the domestic market would “rise to the occasion,” it is likely that
the international market would be there to take up its share of the financing required.
This foreign market potential points back to domestic broadcasters – they should be
encouraged to make more of a commitment to independent Canadian programming
and thus increase the total market for Canadian children’s and youth programming.
accelerated proliferation of online and multi-platform content
As with other genres, online and multi-platform distribution strategies have become
fundamental to the success of children’s and youth programming. No longer seen as
strictly a competitive advantage for producers, multi-platform content is quickly
becoming a requirement for winning distribution deals with broadcasters. The multiplatform revolution is particularly important among children’s and youth programming,
as each new generation of children grow up more tech-savvy than the previous one.
Given the fast adoption and uptake of new technologies by children and youth, the genre
is well poised to be a catalyst in the development of multi-platform content. This unique
position may afford producers of children’s programming inroads to developing viable
new business models.
Online and multi-platform programming is quickly becoming the status quo for producers.
One Canadian producer interviewed by Nordicity noted that despite having uncharted business models and revenues, producers “can’t develop a new project without implementing
interactive.” Broadcasters are demanding more rights than ever before in their negotiations
with producers, and in many cases, are obtaining international ancillary rights for which
17
many appear to have no clear plans or ability to exploit. Broadcasters around the globe
have moved quickly into the online distribution environment, but have not exploited their
rights wholeheartedly. While they recognize the growing importance of online distribution,
broadcasters have yet to monetize it, resulting in their continued reliance upon traditional
distribution models.
Disney leads the online distribution of linear and interactive content for children worldwide.
Nickelodeon hosts numerous interactive websites for children and youth, including Nick.
com, Nickjr.com, Nickatnight.com, tvland.com, and teachers.nick.com. In Canada, Corus
Entertainment Inc.’s TreehouseDirect.com distributes pre-school programming online,
complete with episode downloads and interactive games. Corus also has a stake in qubo,
a multiplatform network for children’s programming, complete with a branded website,
a 24/7 standalone digital broadcast channel, and video-on-demand services.
Teletoon has developed an online video player, Teletoon.com, available over Cogeco On
Demand, Rogers On Demand, and Telus Mobile TV. In spring 2009, Teletoon partnered
with iTunes to distribute five children’s and youth television series in Canada, and has
indicated plans to make branded iPhone games, sneak previews and back catalogue
episodes available online (Reusch 2009).
The worldwide proliferation of online content has been led largely by video sharing
website YouTube, which was acquired by Google Inc. in 2006. In the U.S., YouTube
reaches approximately 26 percent of the population (79.3 million) monthly, of which three
percent are aged 3-11, and 19 percent are aged 12-17 (Quantcast 2009). The YouTube
trend is even more profound in Canada, where the penetration rate is higher than in the
U.K., Germany, France, and U.S. Approximately 55 percent of Canadians (18 million)
viewed YouTube videos in one month (Tcholakian 2009). In November 2008, TVO
announced that it would launch its own channel on YouTube in 2009. TVO’s YouTube
channel will feature the programming which it produces itself; so it is unclear exactly
how much children’s educational programming will be available to YouTube users. Nevertheless, TVO’s YouTube channel complements the broadcaster’s tvokids.com web site.
In the U.S., Hulu.com, launched NBC Universal and Fox in 2008 is at the forefront of
advertiser-supported streaming of Flash Video over the Internet. Hulu’s main rival is
TV.com, which is CBS Interactive’s streaming catch-up service for television programs.
PBS has also launched an online channel of current and archive content, with plans for
original web productions in the future.
Children’s and youth programming is a catalyst in the development of web integration.
The high digital literacy among kids makes them natural early adopters of new
technologies. Children’s and youth programming has embraced multi-platform content
over the past five years, and these trends are certain to continue. This digital demographic
was born in an age of interactive children’s games such as Club Penguin and Webkinz,
and their demands far exceed the offerings of traditional television programming.
peter pepper’s pet spectacular
© Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc.
Cellular phones are also increasingly being used for the streaming of screen-based
content, particularly among teenagers – and the iPhone may accelerate this practice.
Mobile television uptake is growing worldwide, most notably in Asia (Arthur D. Little 2009).
Penetration has also been high in the UK, where 21 percent of children aged 12 to 15
watched television, films or video clips via another means than from television, including
internet, mobile phone, portable player, or iPod (Ofcom 2008, p.31). Meanwhile, over
35 percent of children in the UK own a cell phone by the age of eight, and one-quarter of
the children surveyed have used their phones to vote in online television competitions
(Adams 2009). This trend will continue among all demographics with the introduction of
new and accessible mobile devices.
Broadcasters have caught on to these trends, often forging partnerships and brand
extensions with established children’s brands. The Cartoon Network has ramped up its
content development strategy, which includes bold moves into digital and multi-platform
content. As part of this strategy, the Cartoon Network partnered with the National
Basketball Association to produce multi-platform children’s programming for network
broadcasting, online and internet distribution. Starting with the lifestyle series
18
My Dad’s A Pro, the Cartoon Network plans to launch more short-form and long-form
productions along this vein (Cartoon Network 2009). In early 2009, YTV and Hasbro
Canada partnered to introduce a CampNerf.ca multi-platform campaign for children. By
incorporating programming with online games and contests, the campaign culminates
in a real-life competition through YTV’s annual Weird on Wheels tour (Kubaras 2009).
Such advances in distribution mirror children’s appetite for multi-platform content, and
ultimately raise the bar for producers in their delivery.
The current trend toward multi-platform distribution is found across the globe. In the UK,
Channel 4’s youth drama series Skins has been a champion of multi-platform content.
Offering elaborate interactive web content, character blogs, webisodes and podcasts,
Skins has upped the ante in U.K. youth programming. To promote the programming and
engage audiences, the broadcaster has hosted real-life launch parties for fans in cities
across the U.K., and makes use of user-generated content through real-life competitions
for viewers. It is quickly becoming apparent that interactivity and innovative marketing
are increasingly essential features of the multi-platform or 360-degree content approach
to programming, which broadcasters are seeking.
Exhibit 10: Snapshots of children’s and youth programming in selected countries
United States
Children’s and youth programming in the U.S. is led by Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Discovery Kids, and their
associated spin-off channels cable and satellite broadcast outlets. All three major commercial networks air Saturday morning
children’s programming blocks. NBC airs qubo, a three-hour children’s programming block on Saturday mornings to replace its
previous Discovery Kids block. CBS runs KEWLopolis, a three- hour live action and animation block for chjildren, since KOL
withdrew from CBS in 2007. Disney owned ABC airs ABC Kids, a four-hour Saturday morning block exclusively of Disney Channel
and Disney XD programming. Meanwhile, it is unknown if Fox will resume its children’s programming, since its deal with 4KidsTV
terminated in December 2008. The CW – a 2006 joint venture between CBS Corporation, former UPN investors, and Warner Bros. –
airs a five- hour children’s programming block on Saturday mornings, and began streaming full-length episodes on the Internet
in 2007.
U.S. Broadcasters have been quickly adopting interactive and multimedia distribution models. PBS introduced a video-on-demand (VOD) service for pre-school-age programming, which was so popular that it spawned a linear-programming cable channel,
PBS Sprout. Broadcasters such as PBS have been able to forge agreements with cable companies like Comcast to facilitate the
roll-out of VOD offerings like PBS Sprout. PBS has also introduced online programming and games through outlets such as PBS
Kids Play and PBSKidsGo.org aimed at varying age groups within the PBS Kids brand. Nickelodeon has Turbo Nick, which avoids
the cable companies altogether and goes straight to the consumer over the Internet.
Internet providers/portals, themselves, are also jumping into the fray of interactive children’s content. In the U.S., America On-Line
(AOL) has introduced AOL for Kids (KOL), which is fast becoming a portal for the distribution of screen-based content and
interactive media.
United Kingdom
The U.K.’s children’s and youth television market remains fairly robust, with 25 dedicated children’s channels and 113,000 hours
of programs each year. However, certain sub-genres of children’s and youth remain under-represented in terms of domestic
content. Meanwhile, it is difficult for producers to find viable sales opportunities, as commercial broadcasters are reducing new
commissioned kids programming. Not only are broadcasters paying less for programming, commercial public service
broadcasters (ITV1, GMTV, Channel 4, and Five) have reduced their investment in first-run original programming to one-half of
1998 levels. The commercial multichannel services (Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network) commission only
10% of their total investments in new children’s programs, and so, cannot offset the declines among public service broadcasters.
In November 2006, Ofcom introduced restrictions on the television advertising of food and drink products to children. Ofcom
estimated that these restrictions would reduce broadcasters advertising revenues by £39 million per year; Ofcom acknowledged
that children’s programming would be the hardest hit by such restrictions (Sweeney 2008).
Since the enactment of the Communications Act 2003, which removed programming requirements specific to children’s
programming, the public service broadcasters are free to choose their content (Ofcom 2007). With declining revenues,
broadcasters such as ITV have replaced their children’s programming with drama repeats and movies. In 2006, ITV plc
launched the CITV Channel on which it aired children’s programming from 6am to 6pm daily.
GMTV (owned by ITV plc 75%, The Walt Disney Company 25%) has reduced its children’s programming to the Toonattik strand
on weekends. Channel Five airs the three-hour morning block Milkshake, for pre-schoolers daily. In 2007, Five replaced its
children’s weekend morning block Shake, in favour of the Australian soap opera, Neighbours.
The BBC remains the leader in UK children’s programming, with two dedicated children’s digital channels, CBBC and CBeebies,
both available on BBC iPlayer. CBBC provides an interactive service, CBBC extra, which offers horoscopes, games, jokes
and competitions for viewers. CBeebies is aimed at children six and under, airs programming on BBC One and BBC Two. The
international CBeebies has been broadcast in over eight foreign markets: India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Poland, Indonesia, Mexico,
Africa, and Australia. Flagship channel BBC One airs over two-hours of children’s content each day, and BBC2 has been airing
the children’s morning block since its move from BBC1 in 2006. On direct-to-home (DTH) satellite and cable, many of the familiar
global brands, such as the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Boomerang compete with the BBC’s dedicated
children’s services.
Continues on page 20
19
Continued from page 19
Australia
In 2007/08, the total volume of Australian children’s television drama rose to A$115 million (C$100 million), from A$75 million
(C$68 million) in 2003/04. There were a total of 15 children’s drama television projects in 2007/08 comprising 172 hours of
original programming. Out of the total volume of production, international co-productions accounted for seven projects and
A$62 million (approx. C$55 million) in production. In 2007/08, the average per-half-hour budget of Australian children’s television
drama was A$333,000 (approx. C$293,000) (Screen Australia 2008).
Children’s television broadcasting in Australia is promoted by considerable demand and supply-side government intervention.
On the demand side, existing Children’s Television Standards require each of the over-the-air commercial broadcast networks –
Seven, Nine and Ten – to televise at least 390 hours per year of children’s and pre-school programming (Australian or nonAustralian). Of these 390 hours, at least 130 hours must be for pre-schoolers (“P programs”), and 260 hours for children
(“C programs”). Subsequently, all of the P programs and one-half of the C programs must be of Australian origin. The standards
also require broadcasters to air 32 hours per year (on average) of first-release Australian children’s drama, and a minimum of eight
hours per year of repeat Australian children’s drama. As of 2009, these standards are under review, and the 2008 draft standards
propose more flexibility in how quotas for children’s and pre-school television programs could be achieved.
The national public broadcaster, ABC, dedicates a significant portion of its daily schedule to children’s programs, for which only
submissions from Australian producers are accepted (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2009). ABC often exceeds the
minimum requirements; in 2006/07 for example, it broadcast over 2,000 hours of programming for children and youth (Australian
Broadcasting Corporation 2007). While not subject to commercial broadcast standards, ABC remains active in acquiring new
and repeat children’s programming.
ABC has a strong preference for commissioning multi-platform programming, particularly in “immersive worlds, massively
multi-player online games, groundbreaking community tools, UGC solutions that can produce broadcast quality content and
other innovative forms of TV/Web Cross-Pollination” (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2009). ABC has ventured into digital
interactive programming through its RollerCoaster Interactive TV application by incorporating, games, SMS, user-generated
content and competitions (Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2007), and thereby continues to demonstrate its leadership in
multi-platform programming.
ABC2 airs six hours of children’s programming during weekdays and eight hours on Saturdays. Aired under the block ABC Kids,
the programs are commissioned from both in-house and external sources. Children’s broadcasters on Australian pay television
include Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Discovery Kids.
In 2008, Screen Australia was established as the national screen agency through the consolidation of the Australian Film
Commission, Film Australia, and the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFCA). In addition to the Producer Offset, Screen Australia
supports children’s mini-series’, animated mini-series’ and telemovies through the Children’s Television investment program, to a
maximum total contribution of $4.5m for the largest projects.
In 2009, the Australian government approved ABC’s proposal to launch ABC3: a free digital channel that will air 15 hours per day
of children’s programming along with interactive and online content. This new service will be ad free and exhibit 50% Australian
content (Sinclair 2009).
Source: Nordicity research
20
television audiences:
a strong record of
attracting canadian children
to canadian programs
In recent years Canadian policy makers have underlined the policy objective of
attracting larger Canadian audiences to Canadian programming. There has been an
increased emphasis on building audiences and rewarding success in attracting viewers.
Canadian children’s and youth programming has always had relatively strong audience
performance within its target demographic.
canadian programming highly competitive in the children’s genre
Audience statistics demonstrate that children’s and youth television programs are very
strong within their target market – viewers aged 2 to 17. What is more, Canadianproduced children’s and youth programming has a much better record at reaching its
intended audience than Canadian-produced prime-time fiction does; it also fares better
against competition from foreign programming in Canada.
During the 2007/08 television season, Canadian-produced children’s and youth television
programs comprised three of the top ten children’s and youth programs in the Englishlanguage market. In the other fiction genre, prime-time drama/comedy, there were no
Canadian-produced television programs among the top ten in the English-language market.
Exhibit 11: Number of Canadian-produced programs among
the top ten programs (based on average minute audience), 2007/08
kaboum
© Productions Pixcom Inc.
Source: CMRI (Nielsen) and Nordicity research
See Note to Exhibit 12
21
In the French-language market, Canadian-produced programs dominated the list of the
top ten prime-time drama/comedy programs – holding all ten spots. Canadian-produced
children’s and youth programs held six of the top ten positions, including the top three
positions. This total was fewer than in prime-time drama/comedy, but still higher than in
the English-language market.
Exhibit 12: Top ten children’s and youth television programs, English-language market, 2007/08
Rank
Title
Broadcast Network
Origin
AMA (Ages 2+)
1
Degrassi: Next Generation
CTV
Canada
380,000
2
Hannah Montana
Family
U.S.
374,000
3
Suite Life Zack Cody
Family
U.S.
321,000
4
Zoey 101
Family
U.S.
281,000
5
Instant Star
CTV
Canada
261,000
6
Life with Derek
Family
Canada
251,000
7
Cory in the House
Family
U.S.
247,000
8
That’s So Raven
Family
U.S.
235,000
9
Wizards of Waverly Place
Family
U.S.
232,000
10
Phineas and Ferb
Family
U.S.
229,000
Source: CMRI (Nielsen) and Nordicity research
Note: The Nielsen database does not explicitly identify television programs as children’s and youth programming. To identify children’s and
youth television programs within the Nielsen database, Nordicity and CMRI examined the share of total audience comprised of persons
in the 2 to 17 age group, Nordicity and CMRI also took into account the subject matter of the program and its intended audience.
Exhibit 13: Top ten children’s and youth television programs, French-language market, 2007/08
Rank
Title
Broadcast Network
Origin
AMA (Ages 2+)
1
Ramdam
Télé-Québec
Canada
287,000
2
Kaboum
Télé-Québec
Canada
194,000
3
Toc, toc, toc
Télé-Québec
Canada
178,000
4
Une Grenade avec ça?
VRAK
Canada
168,000
5
Hannah Montana
VRAK
U.S.
141,000
6
Samantha
VRAK
U.S.
129,000
7
Vie de palace de Zack & Cody
VRAK
U.S.
125,000
8
Il était une fois dans le trouble
VRAK
Canada
120,000
9
Phénomène Raven
VRAK
U.S.
117,000
10a
Toupie et Binou
Télé-Québec
Canada
113,000
10b
Bob l'éponge
VRAK
U.S.
113,000
Source: CMRI (Nielsen) and Nordicity research
See Note to Exhibit 12
Among the fiction genres, Canadian-produced children’s and youth television programs
are much more prominent among the top-rated programs when compared to primetime drama/comedy. This demonstrates that Canadian-produced children’s and youth
programming does indeed attract Canadian audiences and can compete in the
Canadian market with world-class programming from the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere,
whether it is televised in English or French.
22
attracting a larger market share than other genres
Overall, in the English-language market, Canadian-produced children’s and youth
programming captures a much larger share of its target demographic (2 to 17) than other
CTF-supported genres – drama/comedy, documentary, variety and performing arts – do
in the 18-to-49 age demographic, particularly in the English-language market. During the
2007/08 television season, Canadian-produced programs in the CTF-supported genres
accounted for 19% of all television viewing (all day) by English-language Canadians aged
18 to 49. In stark contrast, Canadian-programming captured 36% of total viewing by
Canadian children aged 2 to 11 – nearly double the viewing share among the 18-to-49
and 50+ age groups. In the 12-to-17 age group, the audience share of 21% for Canadian
programming was more in line with the share in the adult age groups. In the Frenchlanguage market, Canadian programming also captured a larger share (43%) of audiences
in the target demographic for children’s programming, 2 to 11, however, the advantage
was only narrowly higher than the share in the 18-to-49 (40%)and 50+ (39%) age groups.
Exhibit 14: Viewing to Canadian programming as a
share of total viewing in key age demographics, 2007/08
Exhibit 15: Viewing to Canadian programming as a share of total
viewing in the CTF-supported genres, (6 a.m. to 2 a.m.), 2007/08
Source: CMRI (Nielsen)
Note: Percentages are based on total hours of viewing to Canadian
programming in the CTF-supported genres (children’s
and youth, drama, documentary, and variety and performing
arts) as a share of total hours of viewing to television.
Source: CMRI (Nielsen)
VAPA: Variety and Performing Arts
Audience statistics for overall viewing over the whole television day (6 a.m. to 2 a.m.)
indicate that Canadian-produced children’s and youth television programs deliver the
highest share of viewers to Canadian programming in the English-language market
when compared to other CTF-supported genres. In the 2007/08 television season,
Canadian-produced children’s and youth programs accounted for 55 percent of all
viewing to children’s and youth television programming in Canada. Viewing to foreignproduced children’s and youth programs accounted for 45 percent of all-day viewing.
In the French-language market, Canadian children’s and youth programming attracted
an even larger share of the total audience within the genre. During the 2007/08
television season, 82 percent of the total viewing of children’s and youth programs was
to Canadian-produced programs. This was higher than any other CTF-supported genre
in the French-language market, and well above the overall 68 percent share garnered
by Canadian programming in the French-language market.
23
employment:
a source of careers
for canada’s creative /
technical workforce
All forms of screen-based production are very labour-intensive activities. Television and
film productions employ a wide array of creative and technical personnel – from writers
to accountants to carpenters to electricians to musicians. Children’s and youth television
production, and animation production in particular, make an even greater contribution to
employment; this greater contribution arises in several different ways.
Exhibit 16 Average number of annualized
full-time equivalent jobs for a
26 half-hour episode series (average
episode budget of $500,000)
Source: Estimates based on data from
CAVCO and Statistics Canada
despite technology, animation production remains labour intensive
With the help of computer technology, the animation production process has come
a long way in terms of the time and labour required to complete a finished product.
Despite the contribution of computer technology, however, animation productions still
devote a larger share of their production budgets to labour than the live-action format.
According to data from CAVCO, 55 percent of the total budget for a live-action
production was devoted to Canadian labour costs; for animation productions,
the Canadian-labour share was 61 percent6.
With a higher share of project budgets devoted to labour expenditures, animation
production and children’s and youth production, in general, generate more direct production jobs for every dollar of production activity. While a typical 26 half-hour episode liveaction series with, for example, a per-episode budget of $250,000 would generate, on
average, 71 annualized full-time equivalent production-industry jobs throughout the
production cycle, an animation production of similar scope would generate 79 annualized7
full-time equivalent production-industry jobs. Animation production today often employs
sophisticated computer hardware and software technology; but it does not require the
studio, lighting, set material and location-shooting paraphernalia that are often required
for live-action productions. Because of this, more of the animation-production process
originates from human input, rather than equipment and materiel.
Not only does animation production generate more jobs for each dollar of production,
it also generates jobs with longer tenures. Animation-production jobs tend to have longer
tenures than jobs in live-action production, because the animation projects themselves
take longer to complete. The typical Canadian live-action drama series will include
13 episodes, and will require three months of shooting. The majority of Canadian
animation productions have 26 episodes or more. Data from CAVCO indicate that in
2007/08, 17 out of a total of 28 children’s animation projects had 26 episodes or more;
an additional five television-series projects had 13 or 14 episodes. The completion of
a 26-episode animation project can require as long as two years to complete (Australian
Film Commission 2006, p. 118). This suggests that the production of an animation
6. Canadian labour share statistics are based on CAVCO-certified productions between 2005/06 and 2007/08.
7. We refer to the jobs as “annualized” because the calculations are based on an annual average salary.
Therefore, a project running for six months, for example, would employ double the number of persons
because the average salary would be one-half of the annual average.
24
television series requires about double the time that a live-action television series
requires. A production job is a production job; but one that is expected to last two years
as opposed to three months does give the production professional a certain degree
of security that they may not find working on the set of a live-action project.
In 2007/08, children’s and youth television and film production generated an
estimated 2,500 full-time equivalent production-industry jobs (often referred to as
direct jobs). Of these 2,500 direct jobs, approximately 2,000 were in animation
production; approximately 500 were in the production of live-action programs. The
direct employment in the industry as well as the use of services and equipment in the
production process generated an additional estimated 3,900 full-time equivalent jobs
in other areas of the Canadian economy.
Exhibit 17: Total full-time equivalent jobs generated
by children’s and youth television and film production
une grenade avec ça?
© Zone3 inc.
Source: Estimates based on data from CAVCO, CRTC and Statistics Canada
The contribution of children’s and youth production to employment in Canada in
2007/08, of course, is below what it has been in past years. Despite the spike in
production volume and employment in 2006/07, the industry has witnessed a steady
decline in employment since 1999/00. The drop in the volume of production since
1999/00 has forced the industry to shed the equivalent of 2,100 full-time jobs. Job
losses in television and film production can be stealth-like; they occur in small
increments, as projects wind up without enough new projects to replace the old ones.
Job losses in television and film production do not make the newspaper headlines the
way that the closing of a factory employing 2,100 persons would.
canada a leader in training and skills development
Over the last several decades, Canada has established itself as a world leader in
animation training. The NFB has been involved in animation production since the 1940s,
and has garnered numerous accolades for its innovation in the field. Today, the NFB’s
Hothouse and Cinéaste recherché programs give emerging animation filmmakers an
opportunity to develop their skills and showcase their talent. Sheridan College, in
Oakville, Ontario, is considered among the top schools in North America for animation
training. In 2009, Centennial College in Toronto launched a post-graduate program in
children’s and youth entertainment, the Children’s Entertainment: Writing, Production
and Management course.
25
Training and a career in children’s animation production provides an excellent springboard
for creative roles in other genres of production and in other occupations in the knowledgebased economy. More and more, live-action formats – from feature films to television commercials – are employing visual effects in production. Computer-animation professionals
also have the skills required to excel in the fast-growing video-game design and production
industry. And the career opportunities for computer-animation professionals do not stop
with the screen-based industries. Interactive visual imagery is playing a larger and larger
role throughout the knowledge-based economy. From e-learning to architecture to engineering to biotechnology, computer-based applications that employ screen-based content
are already the new standard for training and design tools. Careers in computer animation
and design are quintessential creative-sector jobs. And it will be these creative-sector jobs
which will help Canada establish its competitive position in the global economy in the years
to come. To fully realize the investments that we have made in training our production
professionals and animation specialists, we need to provide opportunities for them to
pursue careers in Canada. With a strong children’s and youth screen-based production
sector, we can retain the professionals who can make contributions to Canada’s creative
economy and its global competitiveness.
Exhibit 18: Share of the total volume of
children’s and youth television
production by region, 2005/06 to 2007/08
children’s programming’s contribution to regional employment
While much Canadian television and film production is often concentrated in Montreal
and Toronto, like other genres, children’s and youth production creates jobs in virtually
every province. Several of Canada’s producers of children’s and youth programming are
located outside of Montreal and Toronto. Studio B Production’s offices are located in
Vancouver, British Columbia; Halifax, Nova Scotia is home to Halifax Films and Copernicus Studios; Amberwood Entertainment, Balestra Productions, and Mercury Filmworks
are located in Ottawa, Ontario; Trapeze Animation is in Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island; Vérité Films is based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Original Pictures, the production
company behind Falcon Beach; is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Calgary-based Alberta
Filmworks co-produced Shoebox Zoo. 10e ave Productions is based in St-Augustin-deDesmaures, Quebec. Indeed, during the last three years, there has been children’s and
youth television production activity in every single region of Canada.
an excellent training ground for work in other genres
Source: Estimates based on data from CAVCO
Not only does children’s and youth production offer longer-tenure jobs outside of the
major production centres, as well as skills transferable to other knowledge-based
sectors, it also can give Canadian producers and creators an excellent training ground
for developing into leading makers of prime-time fiction programming and feature films.
Many of Canada’s leading producers, directors and writers have cut their teeth on
children’s programming.
As a young actor, Canada’s Sarah Polley was well-known for her acting role in the Road
to Avonlea and her Gemini Award winning performance in the children’s and youth
program, Straight Up. Today, Ms. Polley is one of Canada’s leading actors and directors.
Her feature-length directorial debut, Away Form Her, drew global critical acclaim and
an Oscar nomination in 2008 for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously
Produced or Published.
The children’s and youth genre also attracts many of Canada’s leading filmmakers,
allowing them to hone their skills between larger feature film projects. One of Canada’s
leading feature film directors, Bruce McDonald, has directed episodes of Degrassi: The
Next Generation and Instant Star alongside his numerous theatrical release feature films.
Acclaimed Jamaican-born Canadian filmmaker Clement Virgo wrote and directed the
youth film The Planet of Junior Brown in the mid-1990s; in recent years, he has directed
episodes of The Wire.
26
international markets:
attracting foreign financing
and after-market sales
One of the hallmarks of children’s and youth television programming, particularly
animation, is that it has tremendous international sales potential: children’s and youth
programming is often said to “travel well.” Indeed, there is a long list of Canadian
children’s and youth programs airing on broadcast outlets in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Jimmy Two Shoes, Zimmer Twins, and Franny’s Feet, are just a few examples of
Canadian-produced programs currently airing on broadcasters outside of Canada.
Exhibit 19: Selected list of Canadian-produced children’s and youth television programs currently airing outside of Canada
Title
Broadcaster (Country)
Title
Broadcaster (Country)
6Teen
Cartoon Network (U.S.)
Gofrette
Arthur
PBS (U.S.)
HOP Channel Ltd (Israel), Al Jazeera Children's
Channel (Middle East), YLE/TV2 (Finland), Vitra Poland
Bali
France 5, Disney (France),
RTBF (Belgium), Raisat (Italy), EBS (Korea)
Grand Star /
La Compagnie
des glaces
France 2, RTBF (Belgium), Raisat (Italie)
Being Ian
Cartoon Network Latin America, KIKA (Germany),
ABC (Australia), Canal+ (France), Teletoon (France)
Jimmy
Two Shoes
Disney XD (U.S.); Jetix (U.K.)
Berenstain Bears
PBS (U.S.)
Kid vs Kat
iTunes, Jetix Europe
Blaise le blasé
(Fred's Head)
Canal+ (Switzerland, France), TV3 - Catalunya (Spain),
TSR (Switzerland), Noga (Israel), RTBF (Belgium,
Luxembourg), Telecomplex (Greece), YLEISRadio (Finland)
Leon
Astro (Malaysia) Walt Disney Television International
(Japan) Tvigle (Russia) Muz (Russia), CN (Korea)
Bo on the Go
Broadcast on 17 networks around the world
L'hiver de Léon
France 3, TPS (France)
Caillou
PBS (U.S.)
Life with Derek
Disney Channel (U.S.)
Captain
Flamingo
Jetix (U.K.), ABC (Australia), Disney XD (U.S.)
Little Bear
Noggin (U.S.)
Dans une
galaxie près
de chez vous
Plug-TV (Belgium)
Maggie and the
Ferocious Beast
Noggin (U.S.), Cartoon Network (U.S.),
Kids WB Jr. (U.S.)
Manon
Degrassi
The N (U.S.)
TIJI (France), TV2 (Norway), Duna Televizio (Hongrie),
Al Jazeera (Middle East), V-Me (U.S.),
Disney (Latin America), Canal Panda (Portugal)
Doodlez
Nick Jr. (U.S.) Cartoon Network international
Max and Ruby
Noggin (U.S.), Nick Jr. (U.K.), ABC (Australia)
Franklin
Noggin (U.S.)
Méchant
changement
Gulli (France)
Franny's Feet
Channel 4 (U.K.), ABC (Australia), PBS (U.S.)
Noggin (U.S.), Nick Jr. (U.S.)
George of the
Jungle
Cartoon Network (USA, Russia, Germany,
pan-European), NickToons (UK), Nickelodeon (Sweden),
Disney Channel (Australia, Spain, Asia, Latin America,
Brazil), Toon Disney (Japan)
Miss Spider's
Sunny
Patch Friends
Monster
Buster Club
TF1 (France), Jetix (Europe)
Continues on page 28
27
Continued from page 27
Title
Broadcaster (Country)
Title
Broadcaster (Country)
My Goldfish
Is Evil!
ABC (Australia),
RRS (Germany/Serbia/Bosnia/Macedonia),
M-RTL (Hungary), Noga (Israel), Raisat (Italie)
The
Backyardigans
Nick Jr.(U.S./U.K.), ABC Kids (Australia),
The Doodlebops
Disney Channel (U.S.), Playhouse Disney (U.K.)
Mystery Hunters
Discovery Kids (U.S.), TRT (Turkey),
Pyramid Entertainment (Kuwait), DMAX (U.K.),
Sky Digital (U.K.), Mediacorp (Singapore),
RCTV (Venezula), Middle East Media (Middle East),
Television Broadcasting (Hong Kong),
Discovery Channel (India)
The Hoobs
Nickelodeon (U.K.)
The Latest Buzz
Disney Channel (U.S., France, Italy), ABC (Australia),
Boomerang (U.K.), SuperRTL (Germany)
The Mighty
Jungle
PBS Kids Sprout (U.S.)
This is
Daniel Cook
Disney Channel (U.S.), Disney Japan, ABC2 (Australia)
Naturally Sadie
Disney Channel (U.S.), Nickelodeon (U.K., Australia,
Spain, Germany), RTE 2 (Ireland),
Channel 1 (Israel), E-Junior (United Arab Emirates)
Noonbory
& the Super 7
TG4 (Ireland)
This is
Emily Yeung
Disney Channel (U.S.), Disney Japan
Overruled
Disney Channel (U.S.)
Toot & Puddle
Noggin (U.S.)
Postcards from
Buster
PBS (U.S.)
Totally Spies
TF1 (France), Jetix (Europe)
Prank Patrol
Cartoon Network (Asia), Pyramid Entertainment (Kuwait),
CBBC (U.K.), TV2 Zebra (Norway),
7 Arts / Rainbow (Middle East / North Africa)
Toupie et Binou
(Toopy
and Binoo)
Radio Free
Roscoe
The N (U.S.)
Al Jazeera (United Arab Emirates) Canal J (France)
Cartoon Network (Latin America), TV5 Monde, Walt Disney Channel (New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Tuvalu,
Vanuatu, Nauru, Tonga, Salomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji,
Marshall Islands, Micronesia)
Walter
Once TV (Mexico), YLE (Finland), NRK (Norway)
Razzbery
Jazzberry Jam
Discovery Kids Latin America
Will & Dewitt
CW (U.S.), Tiny Pop (U.K.)
ABC Kids (Australia
Yvon of
the Yukon
CBBC (U.K.)
Save 'Ums
Surprise! Its
Edible!
Incredible!
Mediacorp (Singapore), I Intellect (Malaysia),
PT Citra (Indonesia)
Zimmer Twins
ABC (Australia)
Méchant
changement
Gulli (France)
Team Galaxy
France 3, Jetix (Europe), Rai (Italy), Nickelodeon (Asia),
Cartoon Network (Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan).
Source: Nordicity Group research.
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of all Canadian children’s and youth programs airing in broadcasters outside of Canada.
Statistics on foreign financing of Canadian production and estimates of international
after-market sales further underline the international sales potential of Canadianproduced children’s and youth programming. In 2007/08, Canadian children’s and youth
television programming attracted an estimated $37 million in foreign financing, including
pre-sales to foreign broadcasters and advances from foreign distributors. Children’s
and youth production accounted for 18 percent of the total amount of foreign financing
of Canadian television production in 2007/08, 50 percent higher than the genre’s
12 percent share of total Canadian television production volume.
franny’s feet
© 2004 DECODE/Franny Productions 2 Inc.
28
The export performance of Canadian children’s television programming is even stronger
when one considers the international after-market sales that it generates. Based on
data collected through a survey of children’s and youth television production companies
in Canada, Nordicity estimates that Canadian children’s and youth programs yielded an
additional $66 million in international licensing revenues in 2007/08. In total, therefore,
Canadian children’s and youth television programming generated an estimated
$103 million in international export revenues in 2007/08.
Exhibit 20: Estimated export value and international after-market
sales of Canadian children’s and youth television programming
2007/08 ($ millions)
Export value (value of international pre-sale financing)
37
Value of international after-market sales
66
Total
103
Source: Nordicity Group calculations based on data from CAVCO
and 2009 survey of Canadian children’s and youth producers.
decline in international treaty co-production
International treaty co-production has been one of the avenues for Canadian producers
of children’s and youth programs to access foreign financing, foreign creative talent,
and foreign markets. The Government of Canada maintains treaties with 53 countries
around the world. Canadian producers have taken advantage of these treaties to make
numerous successful children’s television series, including Yvon of the Yukon (China),
Clang Invasion (China, Singapore), Chop Socky Chooks (U.K.), Captain Flamingo
(France), and Martin Mystery (France), to name just a handful.
Exhibit 21: Canada’s international treaty co-production in the children’s and youth genre
jimmy two shoes
Courtesy of Breakthrough Entertainment.
Source: Telefilm Canada
Note: Statistics subject to change
In 2007/08, Canadian producers were involved in $92 million worth (based on global budgets) of international treaty co-production in the children’s and youth genre. Of this amount,
the Canadian portion of the budget (i.e., expenditures on Canadian elements within the
project) totalled $43 million. Just as the overall production volumes in Canadian television
production in the children’s and youth genre have fallen since the turn of the millennium,
so have treaty co-production volumes in Canadian children’s and youth projects. Canada’s
volume of children’s and youth treaty co-production peaked in 2000 at $314 million.
Between 2000 and 2007, it dropped by a staggering 71 percent from that peak.
This drop in Canada’s children’s and youth treaty co-production mirrored the overall trend
in Canada’s treaty co-production across all formats and genres, but was, in fact, twice as
steep. Between 2000 and 2007, Canada’s total volume of treaty co-production dropped
29
from $893 million to $568 million – a decrease of 36 percent. The causes of this
precipitous drop are both external and internal to Canada. External developments such
as Europe’s move to a more intra-continental production market, following the adoption
of the European Union’s Television without Frontiers Directive; changes to the U.K.’s
policies related to domestic expenditures on international treaty co-production, and
its sale-and-leaseback tax-relief provision; and the collapse of Germany’s distribution
market, following the bankruptcy of Kirsch Media have had an obvious impact. But at
the same, Canada’s attractiveness as a treaty co-production partner has waned.
Indeed, Canada’s co-production treaties are in need of some modernisation so that
they can accommodate a higher degree of international creative cooperation.
Exhibit 22: Estimated shares of Canada’s international treaty co-production volume in the children’s genre, by format
1999/00
2000/01
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
Animation
93%
74%
73%
70%
79%
100%
100%
94%
100%
Live Action
7%
26%
27%
30%
21%
0%
0%
6%
0%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Total
Source: Nordicity estimates based on data from CAVCO
The lion’s share of Canada’s international treaty co-production in the children’s and
youth genre is in the animation format. In past years, there has been more live-action
treaty co-production, but it has only been a fraction of the volume of animation
production. The U.K. and France have, historically, been Canada’s two leading partner
countries for animation co-production; indeed Canada has an animation mini-treaty with
France. During the mid-1990s, France lauded Canada as an ideal partner for animation
production because of its tax incentives and the ability of Canadian companies to secure
pre-sales to U.S. broadcasters (Nordicity 2004, p. 62). During these halcyon days of
animation co-production, Canada-France producer pairings, including Nelvana and
Ellipse, Cinar and France Animation, and CinéGroupe/Astral and Dupuis Audiovisual
maintained profitable relationships (Nordicity 2004, p. 62).
In recent years, however, France’s content rules have worked against Canada-France
co-productions. As well, the U.K. government has modified the guidelines for the tax
incentives, available to international co-productions (CFTPA 2009, p. 31). The result
has been an across-the-board drop in Canada’s treaty co-production with U.K.-based
producers in all genres, including the children’s and youth genre.
Canada’s children’s and youth producers have not been sitting back, however, in the face
of the growing challenges associated with treaty co-production with European partners.
Instead they have increasingly sought treaty co-production partners in other parts of the
world. For example, CCI Entertainment Ltd. has produced with partners in New Zealand,
China, and Australia in recent years; Breakthrough Films and Television has produced
with partners in the Philippines. With more flexible co-production treaties, Canadian
producers could, invariably, access even more global talent and financing to create
children’s and youth programming with international appeal.
The Canadian market is a finite one; and it is one that is under continuous threat from
American screen-based programming. Canadian children’s and youth television programs
have demonstrated resilience in finding broadcast sales and audiences outside of Canada;
the list at the top of this section is evidence of this. Canadian children’s and youth
producers have achieved international sales in a very tight international pre-sale market.
The pre-sale market is only going to become even tighter as emerging distribution models
make broadcasters more inclined to only pre-pay for programming when they can obtain
wider rights to alternate-channel revenues.
In the next section, we examine the economics of children’s and youth programming
and show why it has grown into being a good business for broadcasters in Canada
and elsewhere.
30
production economics:
a better return for the
production-financing dollar
Children’s and youth television programming has tremendous social and cultural value,
but it also offers very compelling commercial value for broadcasters. In some cases,
this commercial value is because of the advertiser interest that it attracts; in other cases,
the commercial value arises from the interest of parents who choose to subscribe to
children’s and youth broadcasting services on behalf of their children. In either case,
audiences drive much of the commercial value for broadcasters. Still, the commercial
value of children’s and youth television programming does not stop with viewing audiences.
Children’s and youth programming can generate tremendous merchandising potential.
The producers of children’s and youth television programs are not only in a position to
license their creation to broadcasters, they can also license it to toymakers and other
consumer product/services suppliers (e.g. restaurants). In this section, however, we focus
on the commercial value that children’s and youth programming offers to broadcasters.
In this section, we present additional audience statistics, to those presented in Section 5,
to show that children’s and youth programming has the potential to generate commercial
value for broadcasters and those that invest in its development and production.
generating off-peak value to broadcasters
degrassi
Photo by Stephen Scott,
© 2008 Epitome Pictures Inc. All rights reserved.
Children’s and youth programming can also generate value for broadcasters by helping
to attract audiences during times of the day and times of the year, when overall audience
levels may be relatively lower compared to peak viewing periods. This type of benefit
is of particular value to conventional broadcasters that schedule different genres of
programming throughout the day. Not surprisingly, television viewing by persons in the
18-to-49 age demographic begins to climb at around 2:30 p.m. and peaks at 35 percent
at around 9:30 p.m. Television viewing by children in the two-to-five age demographic is
actually at its strongest in the early morning. The share of the pre-school demographic
watching television climbs to about 20 percent by 9 a.m., before displaying a slow
tail-off to about 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Some conventional broadcasters, such as the
CBC and provincial educational broadcasters, take advantage of viewing differential;
they schedule children’s programs in the morning. But not all conventional broadcasters
do take advantage of morning viewing by pre-schoolers.
Children’s and youth programming can also help conventional broadcasters maintain
viewing levels during the summer months. Television viewing is generally lower in the
summer, on an overall basis. However, the children’s and youth demographics display
much lower drop-offs in viewing when compared to the 18-to-49 age demographic.
The viewing level among adults aged 18 to 49 averages around 14 percent during the
period running from September to May. In June, July and August, the television viewing
level for this age group drops by about 2.3 percentage points. Television viewing
among children aged two to five drops by about 1.4 percentage points, when the
summer is compared to the rest of the year. Television viewing among children aged 6
31
to 11, and youth aged 12 to 17 actually stays virtually unchanged between the
summer and the rest of the year; the percentage drops are zero percent and 0.4
percent, respectively.
Exhibit 23: Drop-off in television viewing shares during summer months, 2004/05
Source: Nordicity calculations based on data from CBC Research and Nielson Media
Note: The average share of the total audience during June July and August
was compared to the average across the other nine months the year.
a higher probability of return
Behind every successful television program, there are numerous failed ones; television
production is a high-risk business. In many respects, television production is a “hits”
business: one big success can make up for several less-successful projects. Within the
Canadian television sector, any means of improving the probability of success can go a
long way to improving the economics of the domestic production sector. Statistics from
Telefilm Canada point to children’s programming as offering the best probability of return,
when compared to other CTF-supported genres. Between 1996/97 and 2000/01, Telefilm
made equity investments through the CTF in 95 children’s television projects. Of these
95 projects, 75 projects, or 79 percent of investments, generated some type of return or
recovery of the equity investment. By comparison, the probability of return across all of
Telefilm Canada’s investments was 63 percent. And probabilities in each of the other
genres were also lower: drama (70 percent), documentary (63 percent), variety and
performing arts (55 percent), feature film (30 percent).
Exhibit 24: Telefilm Canada equity recoupment as a percentage of equity investments (based on projects between 1996/97 to 2000/01)
Genre
Total number of projects
with Telefilm Canada
equity investment
Total number of projects with
recoupment (as of August
2005) of equity investment
Percentage of equity
investment with some
investment recovery
Children’s
95
75
79%
Drama
220
154
70%
Documentary
554
349
63%
Variety and performing arts
40
22
55%
Feature film
70
21
30%
Total
979
621
63%
Source: Nordicity Group tabulations based on data from Telefilm Canada, see Analysis of Canadian Television Fund Equity Financing Recoupment
Note: Figures include only recoupment from equity investments; figures exclude Telefilm recoupment from projects contracted prior to 1996/97.
Figures only include revenues for projects contracted between 1996/97 and 2000/01.
32
a case for higher canadian broadcaster licence
fees and investment in children’s programs
The audience efficiency, off-peak value, and probability of return all point to Canadian
children’s and youth television programming offering very good economics for
broadcasters and other investors to some extent. Despite the good economic
proposition offered by the genre, it is unclear whether or not producers are finding
themselves in a position to capture much of this economic value. Instead, the
licensing broadcasters may be capturing most of the value. According to financial
statistics published by the CRTC, Canada’s leading children’s and youth specialty
and pay television services had higher rates of profitability than most of the major
fiction-programming-oriented specialty and pay services. On a combined basis, The
Family Channel, YTV, Teletoon, Treehouse, and VRAK-TV posted a PBIT (Profit Before
Interest and Taxes) margin of 40.6 percent in 2007. The leading fiction-programming
services recorded a significantly lower PBIT margin of 27.9 percent.
Exhibit 25: Profitability of selected pay and specialty television services, 2007
Genre
Revenue ($)
PBIT ($)
PBIT margin
Children’s and youth specialty and pay services
The Family Channel
YTV
Teletoon (English/French)
Treehouse
VRAK
Total
50,376,135
89,532,268
86,449,918
11,911,174
22,581,226
260,850,721
17,166,500
29,915,942
44,777,975
4,908,702
9,019,704
105,788,823
34.1%
33.4%
51.8%
41.2%
40.0%
40.6%
Fiction specialty and pay services
Showcase
Bravo!
W Network
The Comedy Network
Space
Movie Central
TMN
Series+
Super Écran
Total
63,838,203
43,658,213
73,549,854
49,785,135
46,700,737
86,354,669
115,994,799
23,044,949
55,012,929
557,939,488
9,058,613
14,057,103
29,123,813
12,212,333
19,147,045
18,531,719
23,155,203
12,018,871
18,589,756
155,894,456
14.2%
34.6%
39.6%
24.5%
41.0%
21.5%
20.0%
52.2%
33.6%
27.9%
Source: Nordicity Group calculations based on data from CRTC.
The relatively higher profitability of the children’s and youth genre among Canadian
specialty and pay television services is partly a reflection of the economic strength of
the genre and the position of Canadian broadcasters vis-à-vis producers. With such a
wide divergence in levels of profitability among the two groups of broadcasters, surely
there is room for children’s and youth specialty and pay television services – and
conventional broadcasters for that matter – to invest more in children’s and youth
programming via a combination of higher licence fees and perhaps more hours of
original content.
Of course, in the Canadian television programming market, broadcasters are just one
of the major sources for investment in programming. In the next section of the report,
we assess the public and public-private sources of financing available to Canadian
children’s and youth production.
33
public and public/private funding:
too important for canadian
governments to leave behind
Thus far in this report we have seen that Canada’s children’s and youth production
segment has a tradition of global leadership, delivers strong audiences, generates good
careers for skilled Canadians, and offers good economic returns in domestic markets and
international sales. Despite the social and cultural importance of the genre and the strong
economic contribution that it makes, the federal government has allowed its investment
in the genre to fall behind its support in other areas of screen-based production. In this
section, we investigate the role that public funding and public-private funding has played
in recent years and why stakeholders should look at bolstering their support for the genre.
relatively lower public investment in children’s and youth programming
Tabulations prepared by Nordicity indicate that Canadian governments’ (federal and
provincial) total funding of children’s and youth television production was equal to between
$88 million and $103 million on an annual basis between 1999/00 and 2005/06. In 2006/07,
public funding for the genre jumped to $135 million, largely due to the rise in tax credits.
In 2007/08, however, public funding for the genre fell to a ten-year low of $87 million.
Exhibit 26: Public funding of Canadian children’s and youth television production ($ millions)
1999/00
2000/01
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
Federal Tax Credit
37
35
31
25
27
31
29
41
25
Provincial Tax Credit
41
33
40
36
37
44
49
66
40
CTF (Public Portion)
20
19
29
33
22
24
24
21
22
Other Public Money
4
3
3
7
2
4
2
7
0
102
90
103
101
88
103
104
135
87
26%
24%
29%
33%
30%
37%
38%
36%
35%
Total
Share of Total Financing
Source: Nordicity Group calculations based on data from CRTC.
While the provincial and federal tax credits have become critical public funding elements in
Canadian television production, the CTF still represents the largest single source of direct
public-private investment in Canadian television programming, with contributions from
Telefilm Canada, the Canadian government, and BDUs8. In 2007/08, the CTF provided a
total of $239 million in financing to Canadian television productions with budgets totalling
$860 million across four genres – drama/comedy, children’s and youth, documentary,
and variety and performing arts. In 2006/07, Canadian children’s and youth programming
accounted for the largest share of total all-day tuning to CTF-funded programming in the
8. BDUs include cable-TV providers, direct-to-home satellite services, and other distributors of multichannel television services.
34
English-language market – an estimated 56 percent. In the French-language market,
the share was an estimated 38 percent. Despite the genre’s strong audience performance,
it only received 19 percent of total CTF funding between 2005/06 and 2007/08. Clearly,
the CTF’s allocation of funding to the children’s and youth genre is disproportionately lower
than the genre’s ability to generate audiences.
investment by bdus and private funds steps into the funding breach
While direct federal government support for children’s and youth programming hit a tenyear low, private sector sources, particularly the BDUs, have stepped in to ensure that
a pool of financing was available for the production of high-quality Canadian children’s
and youth programming. Within the CTF, BDUs have seen their annual contributions
grow from $44.3 million in 1996/97 to $165.3 million in 2007/08. BDU contributions to
the CTF now account for 55 percent of total contributions to the CTF. Out the total BDU
contribution of $165.3 million in 2007/08, Nordicity estimates that $26.6 million flowed
to children’s and youth television productions.
The CTF represents only one channel through which BDUs provide financial support to
children’s and youth production. Canada’s independent production funds represent
another important source of private-sector financing of Canadian children’s and youth
programming. Statistics supplied by Canada’s independent production funds indicate
that, in 2007/08, they provided an estimated $15 million to the development and production of television and new media programming for children’s, youth and family audiences.
The bulk of these monies came from BDUs. The Shaw Rocket Fund accounted for
$11 million. The Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, The Independent Production
Fund, the Cogeco Fund, Vidéotron Fund and Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund
also made significant contributions to children’s and youth programming.
Exhibit 27: Financing leverage
of public investments in
Canadian television production
Source: Nordicity calculations based
on data from CFTPA, Profile 2009
children’s programming: best return on public investment
In today’s political environment, governments are under pressure to demonstrate value
for money in the investments they make in economic- or social-development initiatives.
Value for money often entails attracting the maximum amount of private-sector
contribution to an initiative, and perhaps recovering some of the initial public investment
investments under certain circumstances. Public investments in screen-based
production should be effective in drawing private financing into production. When
compared to overall television production and other fiction production, children’s and
youth production offers strong leverage of public investment.
Financing statistics reported by the CFTPA show that in 2007/08, children’s and youth
television production attracted $1.25 in private financing for every dollar of public
investment in production. The private financing included various forms of financing from
private broadcasters, distributors, foreign pre-sales, CTF (private monies), independent
production funds, and production companies. The public financing largely came from
public broadcasters, federal and provincial tax credits, CTF (public monies) and
provincial-agency investments. By comparison, across all types of Canadian television
production, one dollar of public investment attracted $1.10 in private financing in
2005/06; Canadian fiction television production found $1.14 in private financing for
each dollar in public financing.
When compared to public investments in other genres of Canadian programming,
investments in children’s and youth television productions also offer the best rate of
investment recovery. As discussed in Section 8, statistics available for Telefilm Canada’s
equity investments in CTF projects with vintages of 1996/97 to 2000/01 show that
children’s and youth productions posted the highest rate of equity-investment recoupment among the CTF genres. Between 1996/97 and 2000/01, Telefilm Canada made
equity investments in children’s and youth programming totalling $54.4 million.
On these investments, the federal agency has, to date, recovered $8.3 million, or
15.3 percent of the original equity investment. This recoupment recovery rate is more
than double the overall rate of 7.4 percent earned by Telefilm Canada from its
equity investments.
35
Exhibit 28: Telefilm Canada equity recoupment as a percentage of equity investments (based on projects between 1996/97 to 2000/01)
Genre
Children’s
Drama
Documentary
Variety
Feature film
Total
Recoupment
($ 000s)
Equity investments
($ 000s)
Recoupment as a
percentage of
equity investment
8,314
54,398
15.3%
20,371
297,076
6.9%
6,057
72,354
8.4%
329
6,965
4.7%
2,402
73,247
3.3%
37,475
504,040
7.4%
Source: Nordicity Group tabulations based on data from Telefilm Canada, see Analysis of Canadian Television Fund Equity Financing Recoupment
Note: Figures include only recoupment from equity investments; figures exclude Telefilm recoupment from projects contracted prior to 1996/97.
Figures only include revenues for projects contracted between 1996/97 and 2000/01.
Not only does Canadian children’s and youth television programming help Canadian
broadcasters build strong audiences, it can also help governments improve the
economics – leverage and return – of their own support programs for the audio-visual
industry. Despite these metrics, the federal government (through Telefilm Canada and
the CTF) appears to have allowed its commitment to the genre to slide in recent years.
36
conclusions
Over the course of the last sixty-plus years, Canada has built a children’s and youth
production industry that has achieved much global success. Through the course of the
industry’s development, Canada’s policy makers have been highly supportive. They have
enabled Canadian producers to create compelling children’s and youth screen-based
content for domestic and international audiences.
The global media industry, however, has changed dramatically over the last decade, and
these forces of change have only accelerated in recent years. Vertical and international
integration of children’s and youth television production and broadcasting are now a reality.
Broadband and mobile distribution of television content are quickly becoming commonplace in many homes in Canada and elsewhere. Indeed, the children’s and youth genre
is, arguably, at the frontline of the revolution in multi-platform distribution. Canada’s public
policy framework for the support of Canadian screen-based independent production, and
children’s and youth independent production in particular, needs to keep pace with the
global transformation we are witnessing. A policy and regulatory framework that, in the
past, may have given Canada’s independent producers the basis for fulfilling public policy
goals at home may actually now be stifling their ability to contribute to these goals and
compete in the international market.
The social value of children’s and youth content is overwhelming. Canadian society has a
responsibility to inform and entertain Canadian children and youth with Canadian stories.
The economic value is also very compelling. Independently produced Canadian children’s
and youth programming captures a higher share of Canadian audiences within its own
genre than any other CTF-supported genre. The genre’s audience performance is borne
out by the relatively higher rates of profitability among Canada’s children’s and youth
specialty and pay television services.
noonbory & the super 7
© Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc.
For investors, the genre has demonstrated excellent international sales potential. In
2007/08, it generated export value from pre-sale financing that was 50 percent higher
than its share of Canada’s total production volume. After taking into account the
genre’s international after-market licensing sales, the genre generated over $103 million
in export revenues in 2007/08. Canadian independent producers can point to a long list
of their programs that are currently airing on broadcast networks outside of Canada. No
other genre of independently produced Canadian programming has achieved a similar
level of international success.
For government, independently produced children’s and youth television production
offers the highest rate of financial leverage among the CTF-supported genres. In 2007/08,
it attracted $1.25 in private financing for every dollar of public investment. This rate was
well ahead of that for fiction ($1.14) and all genres ($1.10).
37
In today’s economic and financing environment, however, the alarming retreat in annual
production levels and average budgets which are low by historical and international
standards means that Canadian program creators will miss an opportunity to provide
future generations with programs that reflect Canadian values. With this in mind,
all stakeholders – producers, content distributors, funding bodies, broadcasters,
government and the regulator – must assess their commitment to the genre, with a view
to putting independently produced Canadian children’s and youth programming on a
strong footing for the future.
Producers, content distributors, funding bodies, broadcasters, government and the
regulator all have a vested interest in fostering an environment where independently
produced Canadian children’s and youth programming can reach domestic and
international audiences. The quality of Canada’s independently produced children’s
and youth programming is high; this enables it to generate high audiences both within
and outside Canada. What’s more, the social and cultural benefits of the genre are
compelling. By making the necessary investment in the genre today and the years to
come, industry stakeholders can attract children and youth to Canadian programming
and generate stronger interest in Canadian stories and screen-based programming,
which Canadian children and youth will carry with them into their adult years.
toot & puddle
© Toot & Puddle Productions (Cycle 1) Inc.
38
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42
appendix a:
estimates of international
program sales
· In March 2009, Nordicity conducted a survey of children’s and youth television
producers in Canada, to collect data on the value of the international
after-market sales of their television programs. That is, the value of program sales
and licensing other than international pre-sale financing.
· According to CFTPA membership data, there are some 82 production
companies in Canada that are engaged in the development and production
of children’s and youth television programming and theatrical films.
There are an additional 28 production companies in Quebec that are engaged
in the production of children’s and youth television programming and theatrical films.
· Out of these 110 companies, a total 33 responded to the survey: a 30% response
rate. The respondent group included many of the largest producers of children’s and
youth programming in Canada. In total, the 33 respondents accounted for a total
of $182 million in children’s and youth television production in 2008, or 73% of the
$250 million in total children’s and youth television production volume in 2007/08.
· As part of the survey, Nordicity asked respondents to report the total value of gross
distributor revenues earned from the sales of their children’s and youth television
programming outside of Canada in 2008. Some producers reported dollar amounts;
others selected a dollar range within which the 2008 sales revenues fell. To convert the
dollar-range answers to a dollar amount, Nordicity used the median for each dollar range.
· The following table summarizes how Nordicity used the survey data to
develop an estimate of the total value of international after-market sales
of Canadian children’s and youth television programming in 2008.
Exhibit 29: Estimate of the international after-market sales of Canadian children’s and youth television programming, 2008
Line
Item
Amount
A
Total production volume of respondents
$182 million
B
Total volume of children’s and youth television production volume, 2008
$250 million
C
Respondent share
73%
D
Implied multiplier (=1 / Line C)
1.37
E
Total value of respondents’ gross sales, 2008
$47.8 million
F
Estimated total value of international after-market sales of Canadian
children’s and youth television programming (= Line D x Line E)
$65.6 million
Source: Nordicity Group calculations based on data from CAVCO and 2009 survey of Canadian children’s and youth producers.
43
appendix b:
history and development of
canada’s children’s and youth
screen-based production industry
Canada has a long tradition of producing popular and award-winning screen-based
programming for children and youth; this tradition stretches back more than five decades,
and coincides with the advent of Canadian television broadcasting services. However,
even before the CBC/SRC’s television services went on the air in 1952, Canadians were
sowing the seeds for the future of the industry. In 1939, the federal government established the National Film Board (NFB). And while its original focus was producing wartime
propaganda films, it would later develop into one of the global leaders in experimental
animation – an all-too important element in children’s and youth programming. It was,
perhaps, Norman McLaren’s decision in 1941 to join the NFB and establish an animation
division within it, which set the stage for several decades of groundbreaking animation
production in Canada. From this hotbed for animation within the NFB sprung much of
Canada’s future animation talent in the children’s and youth genre.
early developments: the key roles of cbc and src
Children’s television programming in Canada is as old as Canadian television itself. On September 6, 1952, the CBC/SRC’s bilingual television service went on air in Montreal; the next
day, Canada’s first children’s program debuted (Rainsberry 1986, p. 4). Pépinot et Capucine
was a French-language puppet show created by Jean-Paul Ladouceur and Edmondo
Chiodini (Rainsberry 1986, p. 4). The creators adopted the puppets from a comic strip in a
French-language newspaper in Montreal (Rainsberry 1986, p. 5). Pépinot et Capucine was
filmed in Montreal and dubbed into English and French (Rainsberry 1986, p. 5).
A regular slate of children’s programming on CBC/SRC emerged slowly in those early
years. The first fiction program produced on the English side of the network was Uncle
Chichimus. It too was a fantasy puppet show. And, even though the program had an
adult appeal to it, it garnered a strong following among children’s audiences because of
its puppets and fantasy storylines (Rainsberry 1986, p. 5).
Early Canadian television programs in the children’s genre were designed to have
significant educational value. In 1956, Hidden Pages began airing on the CBC. This
successful program was developed as a tool to stimulate children’s interest in reading
and encourage them to seek out library books (Rainsberry 1986, p. 16). The program
dramatized excerpts from books for both younger and older children, and then offered
guidance on how to find the books. Hidden Pages had an undeniable impact on
children’s reading in Canada; it was not uncommon for the show to cause a run on
library books (Rainsberry 1986, p. 17).
One of the hallmarks of many Canadian children’s television programs is that they
have been shared across generations of children. Many Canadian children’s programs
have been able to capture the interest of successive generations of Canadian children,
and thereby remain on the air for several decades. The first such program was the
44
French-language marionette program Bobino. It went on the air on Radio-Canada in
1957 and ran until 1985. Bobino grew to become one of the most popular children’s
programs in Quebec. Around the same time as Bobino, The Friendly Giant appeared on
the English-language network. This program was originally developed in Madison,
Wisconsin in 1954, but was brought to Canada by the CBC in 1958. The Friendly Giant
aired until 1985; its demise was coincident with massive budget cuts at the CBC (Allan
1996). Mr. Dress-Up was another successful children’s television series that spanned
several decades. It began as a segment within another children’s program, Butternut
Square, in 1964. In 1967, a stand-alone version of the program went on air;
Mr. Dress-Up would air for over 30 years, ending in 1996.
the national film board’s role in children’s
and youth television programming
Programming for children and youth at the NFB has a strong connection to the
animation form, pioneered in Canada by Norman McLaren, whom John Grierson invited
to join the NFB in 1941. Many of the filmmakers who apprenticed under McLaren or
who owe their start in animation filmmaking to his influence went on to make important
NFB films for children. From adaptations of classic children’s stories in the 1950s and
1960s to groundbreaking series like Growing Up/Grandir and Droits au coeur/Rights
from the Heart in the 1980s and 1990s, NFB films have sought to reach out to children
and families to inform and entertain.
Following the establishment of the Canadian Broadcast Program Development Fund in
1983, Canada’s independent production community really started to flourish. Nelvana,
for example, developed and produced several outstanding animated children’s programs,
including Inspector Gadget and Care Bears; both of which became worldwide successes.
Nelvana also adapted the famous children’s cartoon book, Babar, for television.
However, in Quebec, producers of French-language children’s programming found
themselves operating in very difficult environment brought on by regulation. In 1980,
the Government of Quebec passed legislation banning advertising during television
programs directed at children. This lack of ad revenue greatly changed the economics
of children’s programming in Quebec, keeping additional downward pressure on licence
fees paid by broadcasters. More than 25 years later, broadcasters and producers of
children’s programming in Quebec still operate under the advertising ban.
the emergence of public companies and a
boom in international production in the 1990s
ramdam
© Vivaclic I inc.
In the 1990s, Canada’s independent producers built on the success they earned in the
1980s. Many production companies started to tap into public financial markets. In 1993,
Cinar made its first public share offering in Canada; this was followed by a share offering
in the U.S. in 1995. In 1994, Nelvana raised equity financing in the public markets.
But the race to the public markets did not end with these two companies. By the end of
the 1990s several companies involved in children’s and youth production raised equity
financing on public markets; among them were Atlantis Films, Alliance Communications,
Paragon Entertainment, Coscient Group, Lions Gate Entertainment, Telescene Film
Group, Fireworks Entertainment, and Mainframe Entertainment. These financial
developments combined with the CRTC’s licensing of Teletoon and TreeHouse in 1996,
and thirsty international markets set the stage for a boom in children’s and youth
production in the mid-1990s. The big three – Nelvana, Cinar and CinéGroupe – all
ramped up production, while many smaller Canadian service producers began to move
into the development of their own productions (Armstrong 1997).
In the mid 1990s, Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment produced the first 3-D
computer animated series, ReBoot. ReBoot achieved audience success on YTV in
Canada, and on ABC and the Cartoon Network in the U.S. Also during the 1990s,
Nelvana co-produced Rolie Polie Olie – the first 3-D animation series for pre-school
children; Cinar gave us the award-winning animation series, Caillou; DECODE
Entertainment produced the hit series .
45
crashing to reality after 2000
In the early years of this millennium, Canada’s children’s and youth production industry
experienced financial pressures, consolidation, and re-generation. Those companies
that were able to raise millions of dollars from public investors in the 1990s found
themselves searching for private buyers following 2000. Corus Entertainment acquired
Nelvana in 2000. Also in 2000, a series of regulatory violations and corporategovernance difficulties at Cinar led securities regulators in Canada and the U.S. to ban
the public trading of its shares. A group of investors led by Michael Hirsh acquired Cinar
in 2004 and renamed it Cookie Jar Entertainment. CinéGroupe also found itself in
financial straits and filed for protection from its creditors in 2003.
The purchase of Nelvana, Canada’s largest children’s and youth production company,
and the financial distresses faced by the two other major production houses – Cinar
and CinéGroupe – however, did not stop the industry from moving forward. A new
generation of Canadian live-action programs, and several animation series found
international audiences. Behind these successful programs were innovative companies,
including Breakthrough Films and TV, Rainmaker Animation Inc. (formerly Mainframe
Entertainment), Studio B Productions, 9Story Entertainment, Apartment 11 Productions,
Mercury Filmworks, Sinking Ship Entertainment, marblemedia, DECODE Entertainment,
Shaftesbury Films, and Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc.
The second half of the decade saw consolidation of the Canadian industry through
high-level expansion and acquisitions. In 2006, The Halifax Film Company merged with
DECODE Entertainment and went to the public markets to form DHX Media Ltd. The
following year, DHX Media Ltd. acquired Studio B Productions; and in 2008, it acquired
Bulldog Interactive Fitness. Canada’s children’s and youth television production industry
was on the verge of further corporate re-organization in late 2008, as E1 Entertainment
sought to acquire DHX Media Ltd.; however, the weak credits markets forestalled the
transactions. Meanwhile, another one of Canada’s leading children’s and youth
television production companies, Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. has also been active.
In 2008 it acquired DIC Entertainment, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group, and a
33 percent stake in children’s television channel, KidsCo.
Canada’s broadcasting industry also experienced considerable consolidation in 2008.
Canwest Media Inc. acquired Alliance-Atlantis Communications Inc.’s specialty
television services. CTVglobemedia acquired CHUM Limited’s specialty television
services and many of its conventional television assets; while Rogers Communications
Inc. acquired bought CHUM Limited’s family of City-TV stations.
46
Exhibit 30: Major developments in the history of Canada’s children’s and youth production industry
2000s
2009:
2009:
2009:
2008:
2007:
2007:
2007:
2007:
2006:
2006:
2006:
2004:
2004:
2003:
2003:
2003:
2002:
2001:
2001:
2000:
2000:
2000:
Federal government announces new multi-platform policy for revamped Canada Media Fund
Teletoon partners with the iTunes Store in Canada to distribute five series online
NFB launches the online Screening Room providing free streaming of content internationally
Cookie Jar Entertainment acquires DIC Entertainment, inheriting a Copyright Promotions
Licensing Group and a one-third interest in international children’s network KidsCo
DHX Media Inc. acquires Studio B Productions
CanWest acquires specialty channel operator Alliance Atlantis in a deal with Goldman Sachs
CTVgm finalizes its acquisition of CHUM
DHX Media acquires Studio B Productions
Teletoon begins airing commercial sponsor announcements before each program
Nevlana launches qubo with partners ion Media Networks, NBC Universal, Scholastic Books, Classic Media and Big Idea Productions.
DHX Media Inc. floats IPO on Toronto Stock Exchange and AIM (London Stock Exchange as DECODE Entertainment and Halifax Film Company. merge
CTF introduces broadcaster envelopes for English- and French-language children’s and youth television production
Investor group led by Michael Hirsh purchases Cinar Corp., takes it private and renames it Cookie Jar Entertainment
The United Kingdom announces that it will raise the minimum domestic-spend requirements for treaty co-productions from 20% to 40%
CinéGroupe applies for court protection from creditors
British Columbia introduces digital animation tax credit
The United Kingdom announces that television productions will no longer receive favourable tax treatment under the sale-and-leaseback provisions
Canal Famille re-launched as VRAK.TV with extended program schedule
Prince Edward Island introduces labour rebate program for film and television production
Corus Entertainment Inc. acquires Nelvana
CRTC grants a Category 2 digital licences to BBC Kids and Discovery Kids
Ontario introduces Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit
1990s
1999:
1999:
1999:
1999:
1998:
1998:
1997:
1997:
1997:
1996:
1996:
1996:
1996:
1996:
1995:
1994:
1993:
1992:
1991:
1991:
CRTC Television Policy removes expenditure requirements for conventional TV broadcasters and establishes priority programming requirements
Alberta introduces production rebate program (Alberta Film Development Program) for film and television
Newfoundland introduces film and television tax credit
The Yukon introduces labour rebate program for film and television production
British Columbia and Saskatchewan introduce film and television tax credits
Shaw Television Broadcast Fund is founded (later renamed Shaw Rocket Fund)
Ontario introduces Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit
Manitoba introduces film and television tax credit
Bell ExpressVu launches the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund
Canadian Television Fund established
Quebec introduces the Multimedia Production Tax Credit
Ontario and New Brunswick introduce film and television tax credits
CRTC licenses Teletoon and TreeHouse
The federal government introduces the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)
Nova Scotia introduces film and television tax credit
Shaw Communications Inc. launches the Shaw Children’s Programming Initiative
Cinar’s first public share offering
CRTC licenses Knowledge Network (British Columbia)
Quebec introduces the first film and television tax credit in Canada
CRTC licenses Saskatchewan Communications Network
1990s
1987: CRTC licenses YTV, Canal Famille (VRAK.TV) and Family Channel
1985: Canada signs mini-treaty with France for the international co-production of projects in the field of animation
1984: CRTC grants first licence to the Alberta Educational Communications Corporation
(later becomes Learning and Skills Television of Alberta Limited [ACCESS])
1983: Federal government establishes the Canadian Broadcast Program Development Fund
to support independent television production, including children’s production
1980: Government of Quebec passes legislation banning advertising directed to children
1970s
1978:
1976:
1975:
1974:
1974:
1971:
1971:
1960s
1967: Federal government establishes Canadian Film Development Corporation (later renamed Telefilm Canada)
1963: Canada signs first international co-production treaty; it is with France
1950s
1952: Canada’s first children’s television program Pépinot et Capucine is launched
1940s
1941: Norman McLaren joins the NFB and organizes and an animation division
1930s
1939: The federal government establishes the National Film Board (NFB)
Canada signs co-production treaty with Germany
Cinar Films Inc. is founded in Montreal
Canada signs co-production treaty with United Kingdom
CinéGroupe is founded in Montreal
CRTC licenses Radio-Québec (later renamed Télé-Québec)
CRTC licenses the CBC to operate an educational broadcaster in Toronto; later becomes TVOntario
Nelvana Animation Ltd. is founded in Toronto
47
Exhibit 31: Notable productions and events in the history of Canada’s children’s and youth audio-visual production
English-Language Market
French-Language Market
2008:
2008:
2008:
2007:
2007:
2006:
2005:
2005:
2004:
2004:
2004:
2003:
2002:
2001:
2001:
2000:
Fresh TV’s Stoked is commissioned by Teletoon
Chop Socky Chooks begins airing
Taste Buds begins airing
George of the Jungle remake begins airing
Total Drama Island begins airing
This is Emily Yeung begins airing
Life with Derek begins airing
Naturally Sadie begins airing
6Teen begins airing
This is Daniel Cook begins airing
Atomic Betty begins airing
Radio Free Roscoe begins airing
Olliver’s Adventures begins airing
What’s with Andy begins airing
Degrassi: The Next Generation begins airing
Yvon of the Yukon begins airing
2008:
2007:
2005:
2004:
2002:
2002:
2001:
2000:
Blaise le Blasé begins airing
Poussière d’étoiles begins airing
Toupie et Binou is released
The feature-film version of Dans une
galaxie près de chez vous is released
Une grenade avec ça? begins airing
The feature film La Mystérieuse Mademoiselle C. is released
Ramdam begins airing
Le Monde de Charlotte begins airing
1990s
1999:
1999:
1998:
1997:
1994:
1993:
1993:
Angela Anaconda begins airing
The Zack Files begins airing
Rolie Olie Polie begins airing
Caillou television series begins airing
ReBoot begins airing
Groundling Marsh begins airing
Road to Avonlea wins Emmy® Award
for Outstanding Children’s Program
1998:
1998:
1998:
1997:
1996:
1991:
1990:
Marcaroni tout garni begins airing
Dans une galaxie près de chez vous begins airing
Cornemuse begins airing
Caillou television series begins airing
Pin-Pon begins airing
Watatatow begins airing (until 2005)
Les Débrouillards begins airing
1980s
1989: Road to Avonlea television series begins to air
1989: Nelvana adapts the Babar story book into a television series
(in association with Ellipse and France 3)
1989: Degrassi High television series begins
1988: Ramona television series airs
1987: Degrassi Junior High television series begins
1987: A Child’s Christmas in Wales (short film) airs
1986: Anne of Green Gables wins Emmy®
Award for Outstanding Children’s Program
1985: Anne of Green Gables airs
1985: Nelvana begins co-producing Care Bears
television series and movies
1985: The Campbells begins airing
1984: Danger Bay begins airing
1983: Nelvana begins co-producing Inspector Gadget television series
1982: CBC begins airing The Kids of Degrassi Street
1980: Every Child wins Oscar® for Best Animated Short
1989: Nelvana adapts the Babar story book into a
television series (in association with Ellipse and France 3)
1989: Robin and Stella begins airing
1988: Le Club des 100 Watts begins airing
1987: Iniminimagimo begins airing
1987: L’ Homme qui plantait des arbres wins
the Oscar® for Best Animation Short
1983: Le Traboulidon begins airing
1980: Tape-Tambour begins airing
1970s
1978: The Sand Castle wins the Oscar® for Best Animated Short
1971: Polka Dot Door begins airing (until 1993)
1970: CKCO-TV Kitchener begins producing Canadian
version of hit U.S. show, Romper Room
1978: Le Château de sable wins the Oscar® for Best Animated Short
1977: Passe-Partout begins airing
1972: Nic et Pic begins airing
1960s
1967: Mr Dress-up begins airing (until 1996)
1963: The Forest Rangers begins airing
1961: Razzle Dazzle goes on air
1969: Sol et Gobelet begins airing
1968: Fanfreluche begins airing
1966: La Souris Verte begins airing
1950s
1958: The Friendly Giant begins airing on CBC (until 1985)
1954: CBC begins producing its own Canadian version
of the American hit, The Howdy Doody Show
1952: Canada’s first children’s television
program Pépinot et Capucine is launched
1957:
1956:
1956:
1952:
2000s
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Bobino begins airing (until 1985)
La Boîte à surprises begins airing (until 1972)
Le Village enchanté, becomes Canada’s first animated feature film
Canada’s first children’s television
program Pépinot et Capucine is launched
Nordicity Group Ltd. (www.nordicity.com) is a global consulting firm providing business strategy and
policy analysis to the media/entertainment, culture/content, and telecommunications sectors.
With offices in Toronto, Ottawa, and London (United Kingdom), Nordicity consultants provide clients
with strategic planning, business-case analysis, market assessment and forecasting, economic
analysis, financial modelling, evaluation frameworks, and other tools for strategic and operational
decision-making.
The Canadian Film and Television Production Association is a non-profit trade organization that works
on behalf of almost 400 companies engaged in the production and distribution of English-language
television programs, feature films, and interactive media products in all regions of Canada. More
specifically, it promotes the general interests of its members provincially, federally, and internationally;
negotiates and manages labour agreements with guilds and unions; administers copyright collectives;
trains new industry entrants through 7 national internship programs; and undertakes a number of other
specific initiatives that help increase awareness and enhance communication within the Canadian and
international production communities.
The Shaw Rocket Fund is a permanent, independently governed, not-for-profit corporation that is
dedicated to investing in the Canadian children’s and youth production industry and being a champion
for Canadian children’s programming to the world. The Fund supports this important sector of the
production industry through its investments and various initiatives including the much celebrated Shaw
Rocket Prize. The Shaw Rocket Fund is supported by Shaw Communications Inc., Shaw Pay Per
View Ltd. a division of Shaw Cablesystems G.P., Shaw Direct, EastLink Cablesystems and Delta
Cable Communications.
The Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) positively affects Canadian children’s lives by using
advocacy, recognition, research and training to enrich the screen-based media they experience.
More specifically, the ACT Awards of Excellence support creators and encourage the celebration of the
best kids’ programming in English and French Canada. ACT provides opportunities for creative and
professional development through workshops, seminars and special events, such as Média-Jeunes and
the Children, Youth & Media Conference. ACT also conducts studies on Canadian youth programming
to better understand the media’s impact on our young people. Lastly, ACT is at the forefront in lobbying
governments and drawing attention to the cause of children’s screen-based entertainment.
Design: Untitled_Art Inc., untitledart.com
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