Source: Canadian Press

TORONTO — Canwest Global may be in the midst of drastic restructuring measures to cope with a crippling debt and punishing economy, but viewers won't see signs of those woes in the company's TV programming, content chief Barb Williams insisted Wednesday.

Home to prime-time hits including "Glee," "House" and "Lie To Me," Global TV is among the Canwest assets seeking creditor protection as its parent company struggles with a $4-billion hole.

Williams said that she and other programming managers spoke with producing partners Wednesday to assure them that series orders would proceed as planned, and that they would be paid for their work.

"All of that will continue completely untouched and unharmed in any way," said Williams, noting that the company's 13 specialty channels, including HGTV and the Food Network, are not part of the filing.

Big homegrown series on deck include the Global crime drama, "Copper," set to also air south of the border on ABC, the Showcase series "Crash and Burn" and the Callum Keith Rennie vehicle, "Shattered," also bound for Showcase.

Williams wouldn't reveal how much was being spent on programming or how the budget compares to previous years.

But Norm Bolen, president and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, said he's encouraged by the assurances from Canwest management.

"We're taking that with a sense of cautious optimism," Bolen said after participating in the conference call with Williams and other bosses.

Bolen's group represents nearly 400 Canadian production companies.

TV producers want assurances that production will continue as planned and that the creditor protection will not adversely affect their ability to get their projects to the small screen, he said.

"They are obviously concerned that they continue to be paid," said Bolen.

"It's very important for us that Canwest does get through this, one way or the other, because . . . obviously a lot of our members' businesses depend on the cashflow from the projects they do with Canwest."

If anything, he said early indications are that the court filing has put Canwest in a better financial light.

"In fact, one bank said they were more inclined to finance Canwest projects at this point because they feel the situation has clarified somewhat - it's less uncertain than it was before. At this point we're getting pretty soothing and comforting messages about business as usual."

Bolen noted that producers have seen a significant reduction in new program orders from all broadcasters, not just Canwest.

"A lot of our members are feeling a lot of pain," he said. "Orders are down. Broadcasters are conserving cash and they're being very cautious about spending money and they're trying to control all their overhead costs as much as they can to deal with the fact they're revenues are under some stress."

Williams said she understood the producers' concerns and described the court filing as "a critical step" in returning to a healthy balance sheet.

She disputed a report that Canwest was in danger of not meeting Canadian content commitments because some TV producers demanded advance payments before working on programs. She said that "financing issues with producers" were part of being in the Canadian television business.

"Where we bump into things and where we have bumped into them in the past and where we will potentially bump into them in the future, we work through those issues on a case-by-case basis with the producers and their financers."

She also distanced the broadcast arm from the pains suffered by the parent group.

"We're a profitable, healthy television business underneath what is clearly some challenges at the corporate level and our job as operators here is just to keep going."

Ian Morrison of the group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting said the legal proceedings can only improve Canwest's TV programming.

"The viewers were already suffering because of the financial weakness," Morrison said, pointing to reduced local news coverage. "Everywhere they could possibly cut corners, they were doing so."

© The Canadian Press