Source : National Post

The Canadian invasion of U.S. primetime intensifies.

NBC is finalizing a deal to pick up 13 episodes of CTV's upcoming drama series The Listener.

The distributors of another Canadian drama, CBC's The Border, are in discussions with several U.S. networks, including CBS and ABC.

And ABC Family is in talks to pick up 13 episodes of CBC's comedy series Sophie. That follows CBS' deal this week to acquire 13 episodes of CTV's new drama series Flashpoint.

The prolonged writers' strike had triggered a serious look by the U.S. broadcasters into local series in the top English-language markets -- Canada, the U.K. and Australia -- reversing a decades-long programming flow in the other direction.

But Canada is getting all the attention these days. "Canada is the next big thing," a U.S. agent said.

Canadian series are considered more accessible to U.S. audiences. They also provide the networks -- whose pipeline had dried up because of the strike -- with some much-needed original scripted series.

"This is good news for Canadian producers, writers, directors and creators that we have the opportunity to have Canadian series exported to the U.S.," said Stephen Wad-dell, national executive director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), which represents about 21,000 performers.

"Canada is ready for the big time. If you look at the [Canadian] programs that are being produced now, they're interesting, they're innovative, they bring a new perspective."

What's more, Canadian series acquired by U.S. broadcasters are strike-proof, as evidenced by the Writers Guild of Canada's recent statement that Flashpoint is not a "struck work."

In an interesting twist, the two new series Listener and Flashpoint are a result of CTV's first venture into pilot production as part of its series development -- the same model that the U.S. broadcast networks are trying to abandon.

Listener, produced by Toronto-based Shaftesbury Films, features a young paramedic (Craig Olejnik) with telepathic powers. The drama is slated to begin production in the spring and is expected to be available to CTV and NBC in early June. The ideal scenario is for the series to run simultaneously on NBC and CTV, but that is considered a long shot.

CTV, NBC, Shaftesbury, Listener's U.S. distributor, Program Partners, and the William Morris Agency, which is brokering the deal, all declined comment.

Under new programming chief Ben Silverman, NBC had been vocal about looking abroad for content, especially during the writers' strike. One of the network's upcoming series, the anthology Fear Itself, which was ordered before the strike, is being produced in Canada by Lionsgate. The network's talks with CTV for Listener started long before the Flashpoint deal was announced, sources said.

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