Canadian Invasion

摘要

With production costs sky-high and audience levels low, some in Hollywood are looking over the border for fresh Canadian programming they can acquire economically and then sell at reasonable prices. This summer on Friday nights, CBS has programmed Flashpoint, a co-production of CBS and Canadian network CTV that is airing concurrently on both networks. The deal marked the first sale of a Canadian drama to a U.S. broadcast network in 14 years. NBC also has picked up a Canadian drama, The Listener, which is produced by Toronto-based Shaftesbury Films and will run on CTV and NBC. But that strategy is old news to Program Partners. Five years ago, the Los Angeles-based company launched its new syndication business by acquiring Canadian program Animal Miracles With Alan Thicke. The company, founded by principals Ritch Colbert and Josh Raphael son, sold the show to the Pax network and then to Animal Planet.