TVOntario Children's Programming Fund brochure

We We We We We We

have have have have have have

the the the the the the

mandate. network. expertise. audience. buyers. renown.

What we don't have in order to create the TV shows that children really need is...

The money.

Three million dollars, to be exact.

That's what TVOntario needs to endow the Children's Programming Fund.

The Fund will be used to advance

Bisou

educational programs from the great idea stage to actual series. In the process, it will ensure that there is a next generation of educational programming for kids. Because this kind of television – engrossing, memorable, eternally popular – is at risk of becoming an endangered species.

Dudley the Dragon

With a $3 million endowment, the Fund can generate up to $18 million in new children’s production.

The interest alone can help create $1.6 million in new programming – every year.* The dollars you contribute to the Fund can be leveraged through co-productions, in-house productions, and licence fees to six times their original value.

In other words, every dollar you give creates six dollars’ worth of business in an industry where TVOntario is already a world leader.

* Assuming an 8% return on $3 million

What does it cost to produce an hour of children's programming? a. $30,000 b. $50,000 c. $100,000 d. $150,000 Source: Alliance for Children and Television

a. YTV

b. Global

Source: A. C. Nielsen

Bananas in Pyjamas

c. PBS

d. TVO

Answers: b, d

Which network is the number one source of Canadian programming for children 2-11 in Ontario?

A real problem: Children today spend almost as much time in front of a TV as they do in a classroom.

We all know what a great persuader TV can be, how it can teach us values most of all.

So what are the values our children learn when they're sitting in front of a TV instead of in the front of a class?

The first value is that violence is everywhere and problems are resolved through violence. Young viewers have difficulty separating fact from fantasy. Violent programs may actually teach children to become violent.

The second value is that happiness comes through buying things. That's what all the ads are for. And young viewers do not differentiate between programs and commercials, either.

Ads help them become consumers before they become people.

The third value is that Canadians are interchangeable with Americans. If you spent 70% to 80% of your TV time watching commercial American shows, as millions of Ontario kids do now, nearly all the cultural cues and signals you'd receive would not be those from your own home and native land, but from some other land.

For the past 25 years, TVO has been a gathering place for none of the above.

How many murders will our children see on TV by the time they leave Grade 6? a. 200 b. 2,000 c. 20,000 d. 200,000 Source: Kansas State University

a. 20%

b. 40%

c. 75%

d. 80%

Source: Centre for Youth & Media Studies, Toronto

Answers: c, c

What percentage of American programs do young Canadian children regularly watch?

A real solution: Yes, better TV does build better kids.

What happens when children's programs are nonviolent? When they teach you

Stuff

instead of exploit you? When they're not wrapped in seductive commercial messages?

Much better things.

When a child has just watched Polka Dot Door, chances are, they'll reach for a book while they go about the business of being 5 years old.

Watch a child watching the British series Art Attack. Or TVO’s action-inspiring Stuff. They'll rush around looking for things in order to make a work of art. The same with Bill Nye, the Science Guy, which gives kids the keys to a precious skill – learning about science from everyday life.

In fact, educational shows like these do what not even the slickest commercial show would dare to do – teach their viewers to think for themselves, to use their imaginations, to solve problems, and resolve problems without resorting to violence.

Even more, educational television actively engages its

Bill Nye, The Science Guy

viewers and teaches them that hugely important thing: To get up and go, not sit passively, like tiny couch potatoes, waiting to bake.

TVO broadcasts more children's programs in a day than most commercial broadcasters air in a: a. Weekend c. Month

b. Week d. Year

Source: TVOntario Research Facts & Figures

TVO's afternoon programming is watched by what percentage of Ontario's entire television audience? a. 0.17% b. 1.7% c. 7.3% d. 19% Source: A. C. Nielsen

Answers: b, d

Bookmice

The best solution: The more they add new channels, the more people turn to TVO. Why is that?

TVO Kids

You'd think in a 500-channel universe that “quality” channels would get squeezed out. On the contrary, TVOntario is more popular than ever: over 3 million Ontarians (one in every three of us), tunes in to one of our two networks, TVO and its French counterpart, TFO. What's more, parents believe overwhelmingly that TVOntario delivers “the best” preschool programming – often twice and three times more parents rank TVO “the best” over nationwide networks such as CBC and YTV. Young kids love us too – 683,000 of them, age 2 to 11, watch TVO’s after-school programming.

There is simply no network in Canada more qualified for the task, or more in need of funds to fulfill it.

For while that task is necessary, it is also increasingly endangered.

Polkaroo

The truly world-class record of achievement is in danger of withering into mediocrity as the funds dry up for the very kinds of programs that make TVOntario such a world leader today.

a. 1

b. 3

c. 5

d. 7

Source: TVOntario Research Facts & Figures

Number of nations to which TVO exports its children's programs:

a. 25

b. 50

c. 75

d. 136

Source: TVOntario Research Facts & Figures

Answers: a, d

Alain et Stephanie

TVOntario's rank among suppliers of educational programs to the U.S. market:

The future has your name on it.

Arthur

TVOntario has created the Children's Programming Fund to help fill the void in programs that kids will enjoy and learn good things from.

TVOntario no longer has the funds to produce the kind of home-grown children's programming that has been its hallmark for a quarter of a century. Since we have been one of the largest exporters of educational children's La Cabane des rêves

programming, we are also losing out – as is the production industry and the province – on millions of dollars of foregone revenues from international sales.

The Children's Programming Fund is the only one of its kind in Canada, and one of just a handful in the world. It will finance the development of new Canadian children's programs of exceptional educational value and, in the process, help TVOntario sustain its partnerships with independent producers, educators, and other broadcasters all over the world.

Frimousse

So we encourage you to look back on your own childhood to the thrill of curiosity and fascination that struck when you learned something good and important and new.

The question remains: who is going to do that for tomorrow's children now that we've helped do it for you and yours?

We modestly suggest both of us.

Thank you.

The percentage Canadian content of all programs on TVO is:

a. 40

b. 60

c. 70

d. 100

Source: TVOntario Research Facts & Figures

a. YTV b. CBC d. TVOntario

c. 8Clobal

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Answers: c, d

The number-one after-school viewing choice for children 2-11 in Ontario?

THE CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING FUND TV you can feel good about.

TVOntario Box 200, Station Q, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4T 2T1 Phone: (416) 484-2600 Fax: (416) 484-6285 Disponible en français