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July 2008 - Strategy Magazine
Fall TV preview

Winning them back

by Mary Dickie
page 26

Despite what you might have heard about the sky falling on the broadcast television industry this year, Canada's major networks are marching bravely on toward the launch of the fall TV season. Sure, things have been delayed and complicated by the U.S. writers' strike, which caused fewer pilots to be produced and left network execs scrambling to fill their schedules. The threat of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild looms over many shows' production schedules. And, yes, people - especially teens - are increasingly watching content online.

But things may not be quite as dark as they seem. The writers' strike actually provided a ratings boost for the CBC, which does not rely on U.S. programming, and helped get Canadian-produced shows like The Listener, Sophie, Flashpoint and Little Mosque on the Prairie picked up by content-hungry American networks. A number of shows may be able to weather an actors' strike if it comes, since networks delayed the mid-season launches of shows like <>iHeroes and 24 to get a jump on the fall, while others, like House, ER and CSI, have been shooting for weeks and have a number of episodes in the can.

It turns out that many people did not in fact turn off their TVs during the strike. And there are multitudes of things broadcasters can do to win back those who did, as well as those straying toward other media.

"A lot of it is just getting people back into that habit of watching," says Rick Lewchuk, SVP creative agency and brand strategy for CTVglobemedia. "We have traditions in television - you start in the fall and watch through the winter, and while different things launch, you're able to continue that flow. Well, there was an interruption to that flow, and we weren't able to keep the rhythm. We tried to get people back in the spring, but it was difficult."

Serial dramas tended to suffer more than comedies did from the strike, as viewers lost track of their complicated storylines. To bring Lost fans up to speed, for instance, CTV added explanatory subtitles to reruns and streaming episodes to ctv.ca.

"We had a piece called 'Lost in 815' on ctv.ca," says Lewchuk. "Everything you needed to know about Lost you learned in eight minutes and 15 seconds. And we're looking at doing more things to allow people to catch up. You don't want them to feel that if they didn't watch Desperate Housewives in the spring, there's no point watching it anymore."

Lewchuk says CTV's ad spend will be up this year in an effort to win back viewers, push new programs and expand its re-branded A, which will air U.S. shows like Eleventh Hour and Fringe. And its media mix is changing.

"We used to spend the majority of our budget on print, but that was when you had TV guides that people went to," says Lewchuk. "The Internet is one thing we use more, depending on what we're promoting. We use radio quite effectively, and are doing more cross-promotion with our 30+ channels.

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