Source: National Post

TORONTO -- Faced with mounting economic and technological pressure, the public broadcaster is electing to air more lucrative foreign programming during prime time at the expense of made-in-Canada content in order to buoy ad sales, a new report charges.

But the loss of domestic content is being made up in part from an unlikely source - Canada's private networks, like Global and CTV Inc., which are "stepping in to occupy the territory CBC is abandoning," data to be released Tuesday suggests.

According to Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, an Ottawa-based industry watchdog, the amount of domestic-made content aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. between 6-11 p.m. stands at a 30-year low, with a full quarter of weekly programming dedicated to U.S. shows like Wheel of Fortune and foreign movies like Harry Potter.

That amount contrasts previous years like in 2000 when programs aired in the all-important time block - which by far captures the most viewers and commands the highest ad rates - were almost completely Canadian (27 of 28 hours).

But as new forces erode ad revenues, the watchdog says the CBC is favouring popular U.S. shows, like Wheel of For-tune and Jeopardy, which are cheaper to buy than producing content and are arguably more popular with viewers and thus marketers.

"CBC management seems quite willing to ignore its obligation to show Canada to Canadians, rather than American game shows or movies," Ian Morrison, president of Friends said.

As the public broadcaster, the CBC receives about $1-billion in annual funding from Ottawa. However, the Crown cor-poration generates more than half of revenues from selling ads.

Ad sales slumped through last year's recession, triggering program cuts and layoffs as the broadcaster shed $85-million in costs. The slump also exacerbated longer-run trends that have increasingly pitted the CBC and other conventional networks against new specialty and digital channels, as well as online content-sharing sites.

Jeff Keay, a CBC spokesman said there were cost-advantages to filling airtime with foreign-made content at the "mar-gins" of the six to eleven 'o' clock window. "But," he added, "the deep prime-time hours, when the vast majority of Ca-nadians are watching television, is exclusively Canadian and will remain so."

Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune air weekly from 7-8 p.m. on many CBC affiliates, for example, however, the next two hours are dedicated to Canadian favourites like This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Being Erica before The National news-cast at 10.

Still, the void is apparently being filled by private broadcasters like Canwest Global Communication's Global TV and CTV Inc. The Friends report claimed Canadian-made, prime-time content increased 17% between this year and last, when both major networks were reeling from a plunge in ad revenues and were conserving every penny.

"The data show that Canadian private conventional networks are stepping in to occupy the territory CBC is abandon-ing," the report said without specifying names of new programs or what network made them.

© National Post