New Canadian Digital Channel To Make U.S. Debut

GVTC, The Global Village Theatre Channel, licensed in Canada and incorporated in Delaware to debut in U.S. with full schedule of drama, comedy, news programming all relating to legitimate theatre - as well as providing TV adaptations of theatrical productions.

(PRWEB) July 11, 2004 -- Toronto-based Andy Halmay, president of the CRTC-licensed specialty cable channel, GVTC, The Global Village Theatre Channel, is negotiating for carriage with the top 25 U.S. cable operators and the two U.S. satellite services to launch the channel concurrently in both countries.

The CRTC licensed GVTC three years ago but Halmay opted to sit out the economic downturn following the burst of the dot-com bubble and the subsequent 9/11 disaster. According to CRTC, the 47 Canadian digital channels that did launch in 2001 suffered
a combined loss of over $148 million.
   
With good times back in the broadcast sector, and because his plans are too ambitious to be supported by the Canadian market alone, Halmay, a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, has also incorporated The Global Village Theatre Channel in Delaware, is setting up a New York City office, and expects, by the end of this year, to have U.S. carriage commitments covering 10 to 12 million subscribers. The current potential in the U.S. market is 80 million subscribers. Canada has just a bit over seven million cable homes.

The bulk of GVTC programming will be produced in Canada. In the first year GVTC will do TV adaptations of 12 theatrical productions. There will be Canadian theatre, off-Broadway plays, regional theatre, even productions from exotic venues such as The Bard Behind Bars" (jailhouse productions) and Neptunes Theatre" (musicals and revues staged in theatres on ocean cruise liners) etc.

Eventually there will be the odd Broadway show and London West End production. In the second year the number of theatricals will double. GVTC will also run a full schedule of original programs, such as drama series, comedy series, specials and documentary series, all related, in varying degrees, to legitimate theatre.

Halmay theorizes that CRTCs demands for narrowly themed programming in the new specialty channels, intended to avoid competition, provides broadcasters with important benefits by forcing them to more effectively brand their channels.

He compares TV and cable to the retailing sector where, in the past, major department stores enjoyed most of the retail volume. Over the years, shoppers switched to specialty   stores which were clearly branded. Then, department stores started losing share. Several went bankrupt.

Similarly, at one time in the U.S., the three major TV networks had it all. Today the seven so-called majors, like the struggling department stores, have no distinguishing brands, and have consistently been losing share to cable. In 2003 U.S. cable channels crossed the winner/loser line by taking over 50% of the total audience from the TV networks.

Halmay expects to retire about the time GVTC reaches 80 million subscribers, which he estimates will take between 10 and 12 years. He got in on the last of the Golden Days of radio, working with the likes of Lorne Greene, Jack Kent Cooke, etc., then became a TV pioneer in the first days of live TV, working as an actor, director, writer and producer.

Subsequently, he spent the bulk of his career on Madison Avenue, where he won six awards for creative excellence in commercials, documentaries and sponsored films, serving JWT, Y&R, B&B, Ted Bates, etc. In his spare time he wrote songs and produced records gathering over 40 releases on most major labels.

He has passed what normal people consider retirement age but still puts in 50-hour weeks. Im up there with Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone - in years, if not in assets," he grins. But, before retiring, Halmay intends to prove the contention which was his rationale for launching GVTC : When too many networks cater to the lowest common denominator, one can profit by addressing the more cerebral and demanding audience with quality programming that offers substance in entertainment. They may not represent the majority but there is little competition in catering to them."    

GVTCs schedule has no room for derivative programming. Among the comedy series there is The Frozen Chosen" based on the little known JAWS program (Joint Arctic Weather Stations) one of the rare, official, peace-time collaborations by U.S. and Canadian Government agencies. In the early 1950s, the U.S. Weather Bureau and Canadas Department of Transport established five weather stations in Canadas High Arctic. These were manned by youngsters from every province of the Dominion and every state of the Union. The main problem for non-natives in the Arctic is depression.

In The Frozen Chosen," through an administrative error, an out-of-work thespian, who is    slightly mad, is sent to the northernmost JAWS station where his type of theatrical insanity turns out to be just what the depressed youngsters needed.

Other comedy and drama series, include The Broadway Wannabes," about a hope-filled group of young actors, writers, dancers and singers who struggle to survive, sharing a wreck of a house in Manhattan. Los Amigos del Norte," is a bilingual series about a Hispanic immigrant family involved in theatre and music. Their sons form a musical group, which fuses Latin melodies with jazz and rock. They call their group Los Amigos del Norte."

There is also a semi-bilingual series, Me Amelican," involving a    Chinese immigrant family in Vancouver, which is involved in traditional Chinese theatre. The grandfather in this family speaks no English. The parents act as translators for him and his grandchildren. The old timer is convinced they live in the U.S. because all the programming he watches on Canadian TV is American. He tells whoever will listen, Me Amelican."    

The Branson Barn Players," is a character driven comedy series that will be produced in Branson, MO. Branson has more theatres than Broadway. The series involves a group of country kids who turn an old barn into a theatre. They not only perform there but also live in the former horse stalls. They get the occasional country music guest from Branson or Nashville but the soul of the series is more Mark Twain than Nashville. This series will also introduce a new musical genre: Country rap, long story jokes set to rhyme against a soft country rhythm.

An unusual series, Haute Couture de Petit Paris." may be developed as an overseas co-production. It is about three theatrical costume designers who get into commercial fashions when they create a line of clothing to be manufactured in Bucharest, Romania, which has often been called Little Paris." The stories segue from the world of theatre to the world of fashion, high finance, international intrigue and adventure.

The most ambitious plans on GVTCs drawing board are a number of documentary series such as The Worlds Greatest Theatres," The Dramatists," The Greatest Characters Who Ever Tread the Boards, that may involve over 100 hours of program production. It all comes under the umbrella heading, 2500 YEARS OF THEATRE."

The Global Village Theatre Channel will seek guest hosts for various programs from among the more theatrical performers and raconteurs of show business. Names such as Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland, Dick Cavett, the author, Frank McCourt, etc. At the outset, for a year or two, the channel will run Theatre Minutes" throughout its schedule. These will feature major Hollywood names whose roots go back to theatre, who will reminisce about their days in theatre and their love for it.

An Evening at the Global Village Theatre Club" is a series that will attract the greats of Broadway, Londons West End and the Irish Theatre, as well as theatre people from anywhere in the world who speak English, have charm and a gift for story telling in the congenial company of their peers. There is preliminary interest for this program from overseas distributors.

Halmay projects a profitable future for GVTC. He reasons, The cliché line, 'Content is King, really works when content is original and you have equity in it. The problem with Canadian broadcasting has always been timidity and failure to take risks. You save by importing programming that costs less than producing originals, but you cant build inventory with rented programs, nor can you sell them."

By way of explanation, he adds, Producing original programs versus leasing programs is like the difference between owning a home and renting. Tenants enjoy no appreciation of real estate assets."

Contact:
Sue Morgan
416-925-1271
Fax 416-968-009
suemorgangvtc@yahoo.com