| A-Channel announced major adjustments to its news programming this fall, as well as several new additions to its prime-time lineup. The changes are largely an attempt to boost the channel’s sagging ratings after four years in the Calgary market.
Live @ 5, the 5 p.m. news program, will be scrapped so producers can focus on an hour-long news program at six p.m. instead. While this reduces the station’s supper hour news coverage by a half-hour, Drew Craig, president of Craig Broadcast Alberta Inc., says that the expanded six o’clock show will actually give the station more flexibility and allow for more in-depth reporting, particularly with respect to consumer affairs and health issues.
"We really gave five o’clock a chance," says Craig. "But this market... is very much a commuter’s market. As much as we tried to make that show work... the appetite for local news in Calgary at five o’clock just isn’t there."
The revamped six o’clock show will lead in to a new prime-time schedule that aims to capitalize on the popularity of "reality" television with programs such as Big Brother and the next two instalments of Temptation Island. New shows will include: 24, starring Keifer Sutherland as an FBI agent in 24 one-hour episodes that play out in real time; a cross between Survivor and Blind Date called Elimidate; and a show about Superman’s teenage years called Smallville.
"From a viewer’s point of view, and an advertiser’s point of view, having some network simulcast material in the schedule is a huge improvement," says Craig, who hopes that shows like these and Star Trek Enterprise, Dateline, 60 Minutes and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will cause more channel-surfers to stop clicking the remote when they hit the station.
But how do such programs affect the credibility of A-Channel’s claims to be "very independent?"
"I would argue that it’s more independent," says Craig. "We’ve done a lot of program acquisition from a lot of different sources, so we’ve picked the best of what we think suits A-Channel...."
He says that the station is merely trying to be as competitive and aggressive as possible. Of course, in commercial television, if the audience isn’t watching, the advertisers aren’t buying, and ultimately it’s they who will decide whether these are the changes they want to see.
"Just based on the reaction we received from the advertising community," says Craig, "they’re very keen on the schedule, and they’re happy to see the changes." |
