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TV gets cooking with Pamela Anderson among new Canadian offerings

Bryan Baeumler also in Corus fall/winter plans to focus on unscripted Canadian content
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Actress Pamela Anderson adjusts her sunglasses during a press conference on the set of Sur Vie in Ile Bizzard, west of Montreal, Tuesday, August 9, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

A Pamela Anderson cooking show and a new docuseries from Bryan and Sarah Baeumler are among the homegrown highlights of Corus Entertainment鈥檚 TV plans, with the broadcaster鈥檚 content boss touting a focus on unscripted 鈥淐anadian content that can compete with the rest of the world and isn鈥檛 hamstrung by regulations.鈥

Corus revealed a fall/winter lineup for its specialty properties and flagship Global that add 鈥淧amela鈥檚 Cookin鈥 With Love鈥 to Food Network Canada and 鈥淏uilding Baeumler鈥 to HGTV Canada.

Also heading to HGTV Canada is Kristen Coutts鈥 鈥淏eer Budget Reno,鈥 the fall luxury reno show 鈥淗ouse of Ali鈥 with Ali Budd, and a second season of Anderson鈥檚 reno show 鈥淧amela鈥檚 Garden of Eden,鈥 set for winter.

Troy Reeb, executive vice president of networks and content, said the media giant is leaning into lifestyles and reality fare after the CRTC eased rules around its obligations to produce homegrown scripted drama and comedy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that we don鈥檛 love our Canadian dramas, it鈥檚 just that to make those big, scripted shows requires you to have budgets that compete with Hollywood, and that鈥檚 very difficult for Canadian companies,鈥 Reeb said Wednesday.

鈥淲hen it comes to the unscripted space, we know we can make competitive shows that sell around the world, that can compete with the best of the world.鈥

The CRTC said last month it had granted Corus鈥檚 request to reduce the amount it spends on so-called 鈥減rograms of national interest鈥 to five per cent of its revenue, down from 8.5 per cent.

Reeb pointed to the success of the Baeumlers鈥 HGTV Canada tropical restoration show 鈥淚sland of Bryan鈥 as an example of an unscripted series that was competitive globally and which Corus could make 鈥渁t a price point that works.鈥

Reeb said 鈥淏uilding Baeumler,鈥 which follows Bryan and Sarah and they grow their individual and family ventures, will showcase more of the 鈥減ersonality dynamic鈥 between the couple that has made their shows resonate with audiences.

Greg McLelland, Corus鈥 executive vice president and chief revenue officer, said unscripted series are a 鈥渉uge鈥 part of the broadcaster鈥檚 strategy from a 鈥減ure revenue standpoint鈥 in part because it鈥檚 easier to work sponsorships into those shows.

鈥淲hen we have those unscripted Canadian shows, our sales teams get extremely excited because we can now put brands right into the show, and we can extend the brand with those hosts because we鈥檝e had such a long relationship with them and they鈥檙e great people to work with,鈥 he said.

Other unscripted shows include History Channel鈥檚 鈥淵ukon Rescue,鈥 a new docuseries following an emergency response team, and 鈥淪ounds Black,鈥 a four-part documentary about the origins of Black music in Canada featuring Kardinal Offishall, Maestro Fresh Wes, Deborah Cox and more.

Global鈥檚 homegrown scripted fare includes the B.C.-shot crime drama 鈥淢urder in a Small Town鈥 with Vancouver鈥檚 Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk, set for fall, and the mid-season return of the Victor Garber legal drama 鈥淔amily Law.鈥

The channel鈥檚 hip-hop drama 鈥淩obyn Hood,鈥 a reimagining of the Robin Hood tale by Director X that premiered last September, is not returning due to poor ratings, said Reeb.

Global鈥檚 fall lineup includes U.S. imports delayed by last year鈥檚 Hollywood actors and writers strikes, including CBS鈥 gender-swapped 鈥淢atlock鈥 starring Kathy Bates and the Damon Wayans comedy 鈥淧oppa鈥檚 House,鈥 in which he plays a divorced radio host navigating his love life while parenting his adult son, played by Damon Wayans Jr.

Groups representing Canadian actors, writers and producers have said eased spending rules for Corus will hurt local creators and result in fewer original homegrown stories, but Reeb said Corus is 鈥渄oing more than our part to support the Canadian ecosystem.鈥

He said more of the onus for CanCon should fall on streaming giants like Netflix and Disney Plus.

鈥淲e are a small part of the massive media ecosystem that is increasingly occupied by foreign streaming giants and foreign tech giants that are coming into Canada and gobbling up parts of the market and parts of the revenue streams. It鈥檚 incumbent on everybody to play their part,鈥 he said.

Reeb added that Corus 鈥渨ill air more Canadian content across our networks this year than all of the streaming services combined,鈥 including its news programs and unscripted series.

On Tuesday, the CRTC said online streaming services operating in Canada will be required to contribute five per cent of their revenues to support local news and the production of Canadian content.

Corus must contribute 30 per cent of its revenues to Canadian content.

Reeb said the move is 鈥渁 very nice start.鈥

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