Canadian Kids Fare at Risk, Study Says

BANFF: A new study reveals that Canadian children’s and youth content production fell to a ten-year low of C$257 million in 2007/08, after peaking at C$389 million in 1999/00.

Canada’s reputation as a world leader in the production of quality kids’ content is at risk, according to The Case for Kids Programming: Children’s and Youth Screen-Based Production in Canada, prepared by Nordicity Group for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Alliance for Children and Television. While production levels have fallen in the last decade, so too have budgets, a trend exacerbated by the economic downturn. The study suggests a collective effort by producers, broadcasters and government and funding agencies to reverse this downward trend.

Key findings include that budgets fell by 14 percent between 1998/99 and 2007/08, from C$275,000 to C$236,000 per half hour. To be internationally competitive, the study says, budgets need to be in the range of C$300,000 and C$350,000. Direct public funding of children’s and youth content dropped to C$87 million in 2007/08, the lowest level in ten years. 

However, the research also points to strong audience figures for Canadian kids’ content, as well as solid economic returns for rights-owners.