CineMag (Apr 14, 1980)

10 CineMag April 14, 1980 The National Moves, Others Fall in Shuffle TORONTO — Ombudsman, CBC’s prime-time voice for consumers, has been given the kiss of death by the network as part of a program shuffle resulting from the web’s decision to move The National to 10 p.m. next January. Word of the cancellation | came April 2, when the show’s 20 staffers were informed of their fate. Ombudsman, which featured producer Bob Cooper as its host in its initial six seasons, has been plagued by dwindling audience figures, off 250,000 from prior totals, in this, its seventh season. Mike Daigneault, head of English-language news and current affairs, says that a second current affairs program will also get the boot by the network. Contenders include Marketplace, Newsmagazine and The Watson Report. Reason for the scramble, of course, was the surprise announcement by CBC that ‘its nightly news program, The National, would be moving into prime time from its traditional 11 p.m. slot next year. The move, on weekdays only, comes after literally years of debate over the issue. Daigneault said a study concerning the feasibility of shifting The National to an earlier time period followed a 1978 announcement by CBC president Al Johnson that the corporation will be investigating the proposal. Johnson made his comment to a Canadian Radio-Televi sion and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hearing. The study was subsequently conducted by CBC execs Bill Morgan (TV network program director), Vince Carlin (chief news editor),and Mark Starowicz (exec producer of CBC Radio’s Sunday Morning). CBC Doors Open To Indie Product’n TORONTO — In a move that should come as good news to indie tv program producers, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has named one of its own to head up a new department aimed at increasing CBC acquisition of independent product. Roman Melnyk, currently senior legal counsel with the corporation’s English Services Division, assumes his new post April 15. With CBC’s legal Machinists. Divers Multilingual. and Call us at (514) 658-5207 or write: Proparms Ltd. Why cross the border ? qroparms Ltd. isn’t just a weaponry house anymore. It’s special effects. Props. custom-builders. Budget conscious. wholly Canadian. 2932 St. Therese Road, Chambly, Que. J3L 2B2 department since ’71 (except for a brief stint as CBC president Al Johnson’s exec assistant), Melnyk says his office will be assessing the 400-odd indie program proposals the corporation receives annually. Though he declined to piiipoint his office’s budget, one CBC exec called it “substantial”. Melnyk says he’ll be looking at everything from proposals to finished feature films. ‘‘A com pleted product buy-out is the ideal position to be in,” he says. “But we'll also be looking at pre-commitments to projects. The independents want involvement at an earlier stage to use as leverage in putting the pro duct together. In that way, we can help them in the market place.” CBC would also be willing to foot the costs of script development on projects in which it has a keen interest, Melnyk reveals. Internally, he says he'll be working with the program director and area heads. But he will provide-the “‘external face’’ to outside producers. ““‘We (CBC) have done a lot of independent programming over the years,” Melnynk says. ““But CBC is looking to increase that, and. establish, I suppose... the clear cut patterns of dealing with CBE? Particularly, he says CBC is keen on securing TV rights to already-produced ~. features. ““We’re interested in using films already out there, the films already produced and available. We'll be after acquiring the broadcast rights for those. Aside from dealing with the (nonfeature) independents, we'll be dealing with the feature film industry. There’s now a viable industry out there making films.” Independent TV _ programmers have long been calling for more access to network coffers, of course, and Johnson has made numerous statements about farming out more work to indie producers. Melnyk acknowledges his appointment grew out of that dialogue, and says plans to set up an independent production Office at the web “began to crystallize about a year ago.” Right now, he’s in the process of making staffing arrangements for the anticipated flood of submissions. He’ll be based out ot CBC’s 1255 Bay St. offices, _ Though severa! other slots were considered (including both 7 p.m. and mid-¢vening),consensus pointed to 10 p.m. as the best move. ““We looked at the possible time slots,” says Daigneault, “including the 7 p.m. slot. Finally, we setded on 10 p.m. You still have a major audience, composed almost entirely of adults. On the other hand, you're not up against the really strong entertainment programs on the other networks. It’s still U.S. entertainment, but it’s not as good and not as heavily promoted.” Audience figures support the shift to 10 p,m. In its current slot, total audience figures hover at 4.2 million, whereas the 10 p.m. slot has an estimated audience of 7.5 million. The move to 10 p.m. means CBC will be the sole North American network carrying its news at that hour, a point not lost on Daigneault. “We've come to tne conclusion we have to be a distinct network,” he says. ““With continuing fragmentation of the audience, a lot of people have been questioning our reasons for existence. Moving The National is the first step toward making CBC a totally distinct network. It will be the only network in North America showing news in prime viewing hours. We reject the totally commercial ethic,’ says Daigneault. “This is our first step in stating our intentions to the viewer.” Though it isn’t yet clear what the nature of the final mix will be, CBC indicates it intends to combine news with current affairs in a late-night package, with The National kicking things off at 10 p.m.,followed by current affairs programming containing “‘some news elements,” as Daigneault puts it. CBC’s news department, threatened by a loss of autono _my and their fear that The Na tional will be cut to 20 minutes from its current (25 minute) length, have senta lengthy letter of protest over the restructuring plan to both Daigneault and CBC vice president Peter Herrndorf. The letter has reportedly circulated throughout the department, garnering signatures from Knowlton. Nash (The National newsreader), among others. ers Nash. former head of the news depirtment, was instrumental in getting The National extended from 20 to 25 minutes in the first place. For his part, Daigneault says The National will continue to carry fully 25 minutes of news content, whether that means _ doing so in a single reading, or oe by following a 20-minute presentation with a five-minute update later in the package. Affiliates have their own axe to grind: their control of the 10 p.m. time slots Thursday and Friday evenings, during ‘which Significant revenues are accrued via their own programming slates, will be sacrificed under the new arrangement. Meanwhile, Global Television Network’s Bill Cunningham, a former CBC staffer now v.p. of news and current affairs with Global, has issued his own response to the public network’s decision. ‘Cunningham calls it a vinUication of Global’s move two years ago to shift its own late-night news to 11 p.m. from 10 p.m. “Our (Global’s) decision to move the news was influenced by our realization that the CBC would have to shift its latenightly news to an earlier time,” writes Cunningham, “probably 10 p.m. Since we moved to 11 p.m.,more viewers every month have been turning to Global.” What Cunningham fails to mention is that Global’s dudience dropped markedly immediately following the move to 11 p.m. It has been recovering slowly since that time. Indie Reflection TORONTO — The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which has just appointed lawyer Roman Melnyk to head up a new independent production department, announces a fivepart series designed to showcase indie-produced films. Dubbed Canadian Reflections, the show features 11 Canadian films produced by indie filmmakers from across Canada. It airs at 2:30 p.m. April 6, April 13, May 25, June 15 and June 29. , Titles to be shown include Carpathian Tales (first in the series), Portrait of Christine, The Unowned Land, The Inside Passage, The Tribes of the Amazon, The Chilkoot Trail, Terry’s Loot, Mon-bout du monde, Years of Struggle, and Antarctica — The Unowned Land. CBC was unable to provide other production details. Subject: Kids TORONTO —TV Ontario, in response to changes in the Education Act and the Child Welfare Act, is presenting a six-part television series, Every Child Is Special. The first program will be telecast May 6. The programs are directed at parents and at professionals who work with.children.