Nordicity study finds that levels of Canadian children’s and youth TV production continue to decline

Ottawa – June 2009 – A study prepared by Nordicity Group Ltd. shows that the annual volume of Canadian children’s and youth television production dropped in 2007-08, continuing a decade-long decline in the genre’s production levels. Following up Nordicity’s 2007 report, The Case for Kids Programming Study: Children’s and Youth Screen-Based Production in Canada 2009 was commissioned by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), the Shaw Rocket Fund, and the Alliance for Children and Television (ACT).

Nordicity’s study also shows that levels of treaty co-production have plummeted in recent years, just as public funding for the genre has remained stagnant. The fact that average hourly budgets remain well below levels seen in a decade is also a concern, as it threatens the genre’s ability to remain internationally competitive in the future.

Key challenges facing the Canadian children's and youth genre:

• Falling production volume: In 2007/08, the genre hit a ten-year low of $257 million in production volume, down from its peak of $389 million in 1999/00.
• Falling budgets: Between 1998/99 and 2007/08, average half-hour budgets dropped by 14% from $275,000 to $236,000.
• Falling levels of public funding: In 2007/08, public funding fell to a ten-year low of $87 million.

Despite the falling volume of production and average budgets, the Nordicity study found that Canadian children’s and youth television programming has tremendous domestic and international appeal. It has one of the best records for attracting Canadian audiences, among the CTF-supported genres in both language markets. Furthermore, Canadian producers continue to sell their television programs to broadcasters around the world and attract audiences outside of Canada. These international program sales generated an estimated $100 million in export revenues in 2007-08.

Key benefits to a robust Canadian children's and youth genre:

• Attracts Canadian children to Canadian programs: In 2007/08, Canadian programs accounted for 82 percent of all viewing of television programs in the children’s and youth genre in the French-language market, and 55 percent in the English-language market.
• Attracts foreign financing and after-market sales: In 2007/08, children’s and youth television production earned a total of $103 million in export revenues. This included $37 million in pre-sale financing, outperforming all other genres on a market-share adjusted basis. The genre also earned an additional estimated $66 million in international after-market sales.
• Employing Canada’s creative and technical workforce: In 2007/08, the genre generated 2,500 production industry jobs, and an additional 3,900 spin-off jobs in Canada.
• Leverages public funding: In 2007/08, the genre attracted $1.25 in private financing for every one-dollar of public investment in production, compared to $1.14 in the fiction genre.

The study presents a viable case for Canadian children’s and youth programming. The report was presented on June 9th, 2009 at the 30th Banff World Television Festival by Norm Bolen of the CFTPA, Agnes Augustin of the Shaw Rocket Fund, and Ira Levy of Breakthrough Entertainment.

The report is available at:

www.cftpa.ca/newsroom/pdf/CFTPA%202009%20Kids%20Study.pdf

For more information, please contact:
Dustin Chodorowicz
Partner
Nordicity Group Limited
Canada Tel: 416-657-2521
UK Tel: +44 (0) 751 197 9022
Email: dchodorowicz@nordicity.com Web: www.nordicity.com http://www.nordicity.com

Nordicity Group Limited (NGL) is a leading international consulting firm specializing in strategy and policy development for the creative, telecom and technology industries. Nordicity is a powerful analytical engine, with expertise in policy, regulatory and economic analysis; business strategy and planning; financial forecasting; and market assessments. Because of Nordicity’s international presence, it has become widely recognized for its ability to translate market developments and best practices from one market to another.

Nordicity was founded in 1979, acquired by PwC in 1997, and re-launched in 2002, coincident with the acquisition of PwC’s consulting practice by IBM. Today, Nordicity has offices Toronto; Ottawa; and London, United Kingdom (UK); and clients across Canada, in the UK, Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia.