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CBC launches bold and documentary digital channels

27.03.2008 18:01 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

CBC has relaunched two nation-wide digital stations under its own brand —documentary, which will air documentaries, and bold, a premium channel that has a mix of drama, sports and cultural programming.

Both channels, launched at 12.01 a.m. ET Thursday, will be offered free for a month to digital cable and satellite customers.

CBC has revitalized the former Documentary Channel, which it bought last year from Corus Entertainment, said Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of English services.

The channel's old arrangement to show a selection of programs from the National Film Board remains, but it has also struck a deal with the Sundance Channel, the highly regarded U.S. documentary network.

The Sundance Channel will provide feature-length documentaries, many of them award-winning works such as The Devil Came On Horseback, the story of a U.S. military observer witnessing events in Darfur, Sudan. Sundance Channel programming has never before been available in Canada.

The channel will also be airing CBC properties such as Hockey: A People's History and documentary series such as the acclaimed nature program Planet Earth.

The spot formerly occupied by CBC digital channel Country Canada becomes bold, with a completely different mix of programming.

"Bold is going to target a more demanding audience who wants a deeper experience from TV," Stursberg said at a conference to launch the channels on Thursday.

The channel will have performing arts programming, including The Metropolitan Opera Series of high-definition operas from New York. It will also have a selection of drama, comedy and sports.

It has plans to create television out of some of CBC Radio's cultural programs, including a weekly hour-long selection of interviews from CBC Radio One program Q, and an interview-and-performance program featuring Canadian artists from CBC Radio 3's In Session.

Among the other bold offerings:

An uncut and commercial-free version of The Tudors.
British thriller comedy Funland.
Excerpts from the Winnipeg Comedy Festival.
Live From Abbey Road, with performances by Paul Simon, The Killers and Corinne Bailey Rae at the London studio.
Kooza, a program featuring Cirque du Soleil.

Both channels will be supported wholly by advertising and by subscribers, but some programs will be run commercial-free.

Bruce Cowley, creative head of digital channels at CBC, said bold programming will have a tight focus to appeal to people who want "quality alternative programming."

The channel will have 80 per cent Canadian content, though there is not money for new Canadian drama.

Cowley, formerly head of programming at Documentary Channel, said only 10 per cent of programming on bold will be sports, and it is scheduled mainly for the weekend.

So there will be a selection from the 2008 Summer Olympics, but it will include footage that won't be shown elsewhere on the network. Other sports coverage might include equestrian events, sailing and Toronto FC soccer.

Upcoming programs on documentary:

Sharia in Ontario: about the debate over sharia law in Toronto.
World's Largest Studio: about filmmaking in China.
Seven Ages of Rock: a series about the history of rock 'n' roll.

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