Kirstine Stewart, the new head of CBC English-language services, plans to increase CanCon at the public broadcaster, which may include giving the boot to Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
The two American game shows joined CBC's lineup in 2008, rather controversially, under Stewart's predecessor Richard Stursberg. He justified the inclusion of the popular American fare by pointing out it attracts the eyeballs that original Canadian content doesn't.
But Stewart says the ratings success of recent CBC offerings encourages her to schedule more Canadian programming.
“Now that the fix has happened, and we can make shows like Dragons’ Den or Battle of the Blades that are consistently making big numbers, I believe that we have the talent in the country now to make those kinds of shows,” she tells the Globe & Mail. “We are looking to replace [Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!], for sure.”
The move would reflect Stewart's overall approach to programming at the CBC, which she insists need not rest solely on audience ratings.
“Not everything is expressed in numbers. It’s a matter of what you do and how it is accepted [by audiences],” Stewart says. One small success can trigger another, “and it starts to build.”
What does this mean for Canadian Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune fans? Not a heck of a lot, as surely those programs still air on American networks we can access.