Bravisimo Bravo!

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Summer, 1997 by Ben Viccari

That Znaimer, executive producer, and CHUM Ltd. - owner of Bravo! - were right in taking a gamble on a round-the-clock arts channel was amply demonstrated this spring. With a 14 per cent profit margin, Bravo! turned out to be one of only two of the six specialty cable channels licensed by CRTC in 1995 to make a profit in its second year; as such it was well ahead of the other channel, WTN, which reported a profit margin of 5 per cent. All this in spite of some initial dire predictions by many pillars of the arts community that Znaimer, the mastermind of television for the people (MuchMusic and Toronto's CITY) would really screw this one up. Canadians have been described by British travel writer Jan Mark as a "gleefully pessimistic" people, a trait that infects the arts community as much as any other. When it became known that Znaimer intended to apply for the arts channel license, members of the arts community gleefully evoked memories of Canada's C Channel, which lasted less than a year in the early 80s.

Organizations like the Canadian Conference of the Arts had lofty reasons for objecting to granting a license to Bravo! How could a man with Znaimer's flair for the popular lose his common touch and walk with kings like the author of Henry IV and V?. But they reckoned without the unique blend of innovative talent, sense of community and marketing know-how that Znaimer can put together.

"And we have plenty of Shakespeare," says Bravo!'s station manager, Paul Gratton. He frequently arranges contrasting versions of the Bard's plays. He loves his freedom to juxtapose productions as he did in April with a Stratford Festival Taming of the Shrew, the 1967 Zeffirelli/Taylor/Burton version and the 1929 early "talkie" starring Mary Pickford and Doug Fairbanks, one following the other.

"Audience reaction to this idea has been highly favourable," Gratton says. He recalls an April broadcast of back-to-back versions of Puccini's Tosca, one a Canadian Opera Company production the other a Met production featuring Placido Domingo and, "Guess which one had the highest ratings?" he asks with a gleeful optimism that would astound Jan Mark. You just know he's going to answer "the COC one". Which he does.

Veteran film programmer Gratton (Superchannel, First Choice) was CEO of the Ontario Film Development Corporation for three years before joining Bravo! in 1994. He's responsible for all programming decisions and reports audience acceptance to Bravo! theme days has been highly enthusiastic. Mondays feature Appointment with Dance, Tuesdays, Appointment with Music, and so on throughout the week. Programmes carry commercials only at the beginning and end; exceptions include theatrical productions which have breaks between acts.

To be seen in future are David Lean's director's cut of Lawrence of Arabia, Classical McCartney, programming built around the famous Beatle's Liverpool Oratorio, Fringe theatre productions from across Canada and Toronto's International Festival of Authors.

Right now, the pride and joy of Bravo! is its recently introduced Arts and Minds, a half-hour magazine on Mondays and Saturdays featuring four or five briskly presented interviews or mini-docs such as an interview with violinist Isaac Stern or architect Moshe Safdie; a look at the creation in Japan of the world's first digital pop star, Koyoko Date with comments by Canadian cybernovelist William Gibson; director Robin Phillips on Broadway, coping with the makeover of the musical Jekyll and Hyde; and a bouncing tour of two "alternative" cabarets in Greenwich Village where audiences are encouraged to participate and where "gypsies" from Broadway perform. Arts and Minds has been sold to television in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand and sales to Greece, the U.S. and Latin America are pending.

Filming both inside and outside Canada is important to programmes like Arts and Minds and as creative director and supervising producer, Znaimer chose John Gunn, who first joined CITY-TV in the early 80s where he developed and directed the fabulously successful Fashion Television programme, now seen throughout the world. His responsibilities include on-air promotion and advertising as well as news, specials, arts videos and live performances.

Gunn's experience with CITY and Much Music had taught him that while content of Bravo! must be entirely different, the established facilities and the new one did have two factors in common: involvement of the community with the channel and the channel with the community; and imaginative marketing. As with Much Music, "community" meant the national arts community. Bravo! has been active in producing, broadcasting and sponsoring Canadian events which will draw national audiences. He's proud that Arts and Minds in such a short time has scored so well in U.S. and overseas markets and points with pride to the fact that Bravo!'s owners permit him to select advertising. He recalls the time Bravo! turned down Mcdonald's with the kindly advice they'd be better served by going to another channel. As the recent profit margin shows, the advertisers Bravo! attracts seem to like to be in the company of their upmarket peers.