1 of 1- Glen Warren
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Big Brother Canada is back...
Big Brother Canada is back for Season 12. I admit upfront that I'm not a fan of this or even these type of shows.
I find the return of this series kind of mind boggling given the financial situation at Global / Corus... Big Brother itself is a very expensive series to mount and produce. This year, there is a new "house"/set, the addition of special guest star appearances.... The new set will be a considerable expense in itself. I lost track of where the production is based. The last few years it was at the one of the former Showline Lakeshore studios. The studio was actually rented year round as it was deemed cheaper to do so, rather that load in and tear out set, lighting etc. after each season. (The first few seasons, the show was produced out of commercial/industrial space in Mississauga... under the flight path of a Pearson runway...)
Other costs for this series are production and technical crew(s) on a 24/7 schedule. Medical teams, safety teams, kraft/catering services etc.
Similar to the former ETC, Global only licences Big Brother. It has to follow a prescribed production book. The show cannot be sold to foreign markets, as it is only a licence.
Does it really do that well in terms of ratings? Yes, there are opportunities for product placements, and even featured or showcased services or products. But how much do these placements bring in terms of dollars? And if the TV Ad market is soft, how is this justified? Global is still under strict financial constraints relating to day to day business operations, capital and long term operating expenses, etc.
Just curious....
- RadioActive
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Re: Big Brother Canada is back...
Just a guess, but maybe the fact it's on three nights a week makes it more economical to produce. According to the official Corus press release, the show airs on Sundays at 9 PM, Tuesdays at 7 PM, and again on Wednesdays at 9:30 PM.
With the exception of the 7 o'clock airing, those are two time slots they don't need to buy any expensive American shows, which otherwise pretty much fill their entire primetime line-ups.
Not a show I would ever want to tune into, either, but I'm sure the brass at Corus has to wonder: Big Brother is watching. Is anybody else?
- paterson1
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Re: Big Brother Canada is back...
The CRTC considers prime time to be 6pm until midnight, which is more realistic than the narrow 8-11pm. Especially when you have news programming at 6 and 11pm and syndicated shows like Jeopardy at 7:30 that often have stronger ratings than the programming at 8-11pm with the exception of sports.
Global runs usually 50% cancon evening hours. This evening from 6 to 12 midnight they are at 50%. Networks and stations have some flexibility where they can also load up some evenings with more or less cancon.
The cutbacks from Bell, Corus, CBC are a bit of a mystery since all three are actually doing more production of scripted and reality programming which is expensive. Look at all of the TV nominees for the Canadian Screen Awards. That is a lot of production and these are just the programs that were nominated, no where near what was actually produced last year.
Most of the cutbacks seem to be focused on local TV news staff and public affairs for Bell, Corus and Rogers. However all three are very active with original productions for their stations and streamers. Even City tv seems to be getting on board with more scripted drama and expensive game shows like Canada's Got Talent with a million dollar first prize. And Howie Mandel back as a judge would not be cheap.
- Radiowiz
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Re: Big Brother Canada is back...
Glen Warren wrote:
I find the return of this series kind of mind boggling given the financial situation at Global / Corus...
More and more product placement every season.
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