Canadian TV bulks up on U.S. fare

Canadian cable, pay TV and other niche services have survived the economic downturn by bulking up on U.S. programming fare.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the country's TV regulator, on Thursday reported domestic narrowcasters in 2009 spent $521.7 million on foreign, mostly American TV fare, up 36% from 2008 expenditures. The biggest slice of spending for U.S. programming, or $320 million, went to drama fare, with the second biggest bet, or $50.1 million, being made on sports programming. The spike was due in part to the launch of HBO Canada in late 2008 by co-owners Corus Entertainment and Astral Media, and rival broadcasters similarly acquiring popular U.S. series to offset falling advertising revenue with higher subscriber revenue.