Videoage International October 2017

52 October 2017 V I D E O A G E (Continued from Cover) Canada TV Upfronts (Continued on Page 54) Zero/ CHCH. The large companies were: Bell (CTV, CTV2, Bell cable channels Space Bravo MuchMusic Discovery, TSN, TMN, HBO Canada, Crave OTT), Corus (Global OTA network, Corus cable channels such as Showcase, History, YTV, WTN, Nick, Lifetime, etc.) and the smallest of the big three: Rogers (Citytv, FX, FXX, etc.). These don’t include French-Quebec buyers, who are considered a different market completely. The three major TV groups worked furiously to get information on the shows they bought in Hollywood in order to prepare media kits and get the U.S talent ready to go to Toronto. It’s all organized in two weeks and, like in the U.S., billions of ad dollars are spent in Canada during their Upfronts. Canada’s television business is fighting a digital challenge along with the rest of the world. Digital accounted for $5.4 billion, or 41.9 percent, of all ad spending in Canada last year, according to ad-buying firm GroupM. It’s expected to grow to nearly 47 percent of the market this year. Television drew just under one-quarter of ad spending in Canada last year and that’s expected to decline slightly. This year, the Canadian Upfronts started on June 6, with Rogers Media at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where City unveiled its 2017- 18 primetime schedule to approximately 1,200 advertisers, members of the media, influencers and guests. Events throughout the day gave media and influencers access to executives and talent, including a breakfast for media and executives, exclusive one-on-one interviews with talent, an influencer event and a cocktail event with FX President Eric Schrier. A video presentation and a party closed out the day. Talent fromnewCity shows were in attendance, too, including Manish Dayal ( The Resident ), Ed Weeks and Kim Matula ( L.A. to Vegas ), Diego Klattenhoff ( The Blacklist ) and Tony Nappo ( Bad Blood ). Rogers was followed on June 7 by CTV’s Upfront at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, with more than 2,000 attendees on hand. They featured three talent photo opps, which drew major lines from attendees keen on having photos taken with the stars from the fall lineup. The Corus 2017 Upfront took place June 8. That day began at Corus Quay and included an executive breakfast and presentation of fall programming followed by interviews with talent and execs. The evening featured a dinner and a limited number of unsold shows go to their output clients at a reduced price. If a studio, as an example, has six new shows to sell, it may have “covers” or the right to push to an output client just three shows. However, other Canadians can bid on any of the six shows, since the studio wants to sell the bad ones with the good ones. And here is where Canada — a TV market of only 10 million English-speaking homes — makes matters more complex: U.S. studios may not use their output deals if they think a biddingwarmight result in a higher price than the contract price in their output. A “cover deal” is not a formal output (i.e., all shows from that studio don’t automatically got to their “cover deal” client). Some of these cover deals (a version of an output deal, but lower volume) can give the option for the studio to “push” or force a client to take a show, but does not oblige the studio to do so. Hence, they may have (as an example) six shows to sell in Canada, and a “cover” or right to push three shows to a client, but may not do that, hence the six remaining shows. A studio would not push the three shows to their client if they think a bidding war might result in a higher price, or a situation in which another client wants to buy more volume (i.e., one or two lesser shows as well). In many parts of the world an “output deal” automatically suggests all shows from that studio go to one client. Increasingly, at least in Canada, there are lower volume “cover” output deals, not true output deals. Why would a client accept the downside of being forced to take X number of shows that they don’t want? Because in return for paying a premium above the cover price they can “pull” or scoop off the market X-number of shows (usually, two or three) at a higher price. It is unlike some parts of Europe where there is one client for everything at a fixed price. In Canada, a less desirable hour in a poor U.S. network could get C$50,000 per telecast, but a desirable show in a great simulcast time slot could get up to C$250,000 per telecast in a bidding war (second and third runs in a year are available at a big discount). There are huge variations even for studios with some kind of output protection. All Canadian purchases in Hollywood are in Canadian dollars. Even for Canadians it is hard to explain or understand— it takes a lifetime to figure out how and why CTV or Global or Rogers pays C$250,000 presentation held at Rebel nightclub and hosted by LL Cool J (from Global’s NCIS: Los Angeles ). Other key talent included Anne Heche (Global’s The Brave ), Eric McCormack (Global’s Will & Grace and Showcase’s Travelers ), Shemar Moore (Global’s S.W.A.T. ), Clive Standen (History’s Vikings and Global’s Taken ), Caroline Dhavernas (Global’s Mary Kills People ), Jermaine Fowler (Global’s Superior Donuts ), Mike Vogel (Global’s The Brave ), Lucas Till (Global’s MacGyver ), Jason Priestley (Global’s Private Eyes ) and Cindy Sampson (Global’s Private Eyes ). For Canadian broadcasters, timing is of the essence because the big three don’t knowwhat their schedules will be even though they have their own Upfronts 15 days after Deal Day, which at these L.A. Screeningswasmidnight ofMay21st to themorning of the 22nd. All the U.S. studios had the same Deal Day, andmost buyers and sellers stayed at the same hotel or nearby hotels in walking distance, so the deals were done in the hotel rooms. While there are some output arrangements with the studios, they are not “unlimited.” Some are split between two of the Canadian majors, others have limited volume deals, some don’t include summer series or even midseason series, and some have “pull” rights where the Canadian client can pull a show at a high price to remove it from market bidding. Some of the output deals allow the studios to shop a show to all bidders, and then require The Rogers 2017 Upfronts Talent introductions at the Corus 2017 Upfront presentation