I’m sure people are familiar with the Stop the TV Tax/Local TV Matters cock-sparring that has pitted cable and satellite providers, like Shaw and Rogers, against CBC, CTV, Global and other broadcast entities not owned by said providers.  I haven’t written an article about this “fight” for URBMN, as I find the whole matter ridiculous.

Conventional broadcasters want cable and satellite providers to pay for carriage of local channels, which are CRTC-mandated for inclusion in basic cable packages.  Cable/satellite providers counter by claiming that fee-for-carriage is a cash grab for the networks, since broadcasting isn’t as financially lucrative as specialty cable.  It’s a maelstrom of half-truths picked apart by better people than me.

What I’ve never done for URBMN is actually talk about local television.  This debate has reminded me of my own local stations, Peterborough, Ontario’s CHEX and Kingston, Ontario’s CKWS.

Yeah, I’ve slipped into nostalgia.  Give me a break, I don’t do this very often.

I don’t remember much local television coming from either CKWS or CHEX during my 1980s/1990s childhood, but it did exist.  CKWS had Harrigan, a relatively decent kids’ show from the little I remember of it.  CHEX had The Silver Basketball, which completely wasted Ron Oliver and chrome paint.  I also remember The Silver Basketball not being miked properly.

CHEX’s improbably long-running Campus Quiz was better, a regional variant of Reach for the Top with the shittiest prizes ever.

According to MyKawartha.com, Campus Quiz lasted until 1998, which is testament to the show’s format…or the result of the chicken still running around long after its head has been severed.  The promise of a Grade 8 student winning an INXS CD was never exciting in and of itself.

I remember the news shows with better clarity, particularly CHEX NEWSwatch.  CHEX’s news team in the 1990s featured CHEX newscaster/Campus Quiz host Graham Hart, former Canada AM personality Wally Macht, weatherman Peter Fialkowski and sports anchor Gary Dalliday.  For a metropolitan area of just over 100,000 people, that’s actually very good.  CKWS’ supper-hour news program wasn’t as memorable, largely due to the lack of Fialkowski and Macht.

CHEX and CKWS haven’t been blanched of regional identity like CJOH, CFTO and CityTV Toronto have been.  CHEX and CKWS may have put out crappy programming at times, and the graphics to this day look second-rate on both stations.  They’re still reflective of the Peterborough and Kingston regions, The New Adventures of Old Christine reruns notwithstanding.

CHEX and CKWS’ programs aren’t always pretty – at times, they’re shit – but that’s real, unforced Canadian culture.  People in Eastern and Southern Ontario do recognize John Badham’s voice.  Ontario residents inquire about Harrigan from time to time.  Campus Quiz has, if you can believe this, a Facebook fan club.

The best source of local television for Eastern Ontario was Ottawa’s CJOH, which was mighty in its day.  Nowadays, the station has become buttoned-down, po-faced CTV Ottawa.  While I can’t see CHEX and CKWS expand local programming beyond its weekday human interest show and NEWSwatch updates, that passes for notable in the largely dead local TV landscape.

If nothing else, I’ve written one of the few articles on the Internet that actually mentions The Silver Basketball.  I never thought I’d miss Ron Oliver sounding bored while the kids around him horribly project emotion, but I do.  No one makes shows that earnestly bad anymore.

I don’t plan to do posts for each Canadian cable channel.  It isn’t worth it and there are a handful of channels I actually watch.  Some channels, like Teletoon, haven’t finalized their fall schedules.  Since I’m not of the target market for HGTV Canada or the Food Network, those channels will not be talked about.

If the show’s on a Canwest property, it will be rerun on seven different channels within three months regardless of the channel’s target market.  Expect to see Beastmaster on History Television within a year.

I will mainly focus on channels I have an interest in which contain adult-oriented programming.  It’s a bonus if the channels show more than one new Canadian series a year.  I refuse to believe anyone actually watches MovieTime.

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The Movie Network/Movie Central | The Movie Network/Movie Central’s 2009-10 original show slate doesn’t read as good as 2008-09′s.  An announced third season of Durham County is a little weird given that the second season debuts July 13.  As for The Phantom, it doesn’t seem TMN/MC quality somehow.  It’s a four-hour miniseries featuring an underrated comics character, but I doubt The Phantom would be on TMN/MC if the company producing it (Muse Entertainment) hadn’t produced Durham County.

The show that appeals to me the most is Living in Your Car.  A former corporate executive/ex-con teaches ethics courses under a court order.  It’s the sort of show that, with good writing, should allow for great comedy.  Meet Phil Fitz reads like a belated Canadian version of Minder.  Bloodletting and The Pillars of the Earth do nothing for me.

Mind you, I’m talking about shows that don’t air until later this year or in 2010.  I can see TMN/MC continuing its quality streak, as it has a history of successful launches and shows with strong fanbases.  TMN/MC’s premium cable duopoly helps.  Super Channel’s flailing in the wind right now, so the duopoly isn’t much threatened.

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Showcase | The Foundation was meant to debut in 2008-09 but was pushed back.  This show is the brainchild of FUBAR and It’s All Gone Pete Tong director Michael Dowse.  FUBAR/It’s All Gone Pete Tong‘s Mike Wilmot is Michael Valmont-Selkirk, the corrupt “Executive Director for Life” of a charitable organization.

The Foundation reads like an interesting show.  It has the talent, a solid premise and a…five-episode first season.  Ah well, at least it’s out, provided Canwest executives don’t see a bunny hop along a coffee table and decide to give it a development deal.

I’m not too worked up about Crash & Burn and Shattered.  Crash & Burn (formerly Lawyers, Guns and Money) has ZOS: Zone of Separation showrunner Malcolm MacRury behind it and Shattered stars Callum Keith Rennie, but I’m reserving judgment on the three shows until they debut.  I’m baffled by Showcase’s heavier dramatic focus this year.

I’m also not fond of Showcase’s new logo and mission statement.  The Canwest press bumf says “an unprecedented number of off-pay movie premieres, the best collection of popular network series and breakout cable dramas.”  I hope that doesn’t mean Showcase will become TVtropolis’ dramatic big sister, full of Bones, House M.D. and assorted CanCon filler.

Showcase has its share of CanCon filler now – Beastmaster reruns, oh boy! – but it has served Canadian comedy relatively well.  Showcase has always been one of Alliance Atlantis’/Canwest’s better cable channels.  I hope the channel doesn’t turn crap due to the rebranding, but I’m unconvinced based on Canwest’s track record.

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TVtropolis | Jonathan Torrens’ show, TV with TV’s Jonathan Torrens, could be good – he’s had success with Trailer Park Boys and Jonovision, so his ultra-generic “make fun of television for 22 minutes” show concept could amount to something.  E! managed to make a brand out of The Soup, so precedent is on Torrens’ side.

As for Switch (a pop culture panel show) and Killer Comebacks (Hollywood stars making comebacks), TVtropolis’ filler show traditions are maintained.  Mind you, shows like Once a Thief are creeping into TVtropolis’ schedules, so TVtropolis is becoming more watchable.

It’s a far cry from the days when TVtropolis was called Prime and appealed to seniors, but North of 60 reruns > Naked Fashion.  Remember the days when MovieTime was called Lonestar and aired westerns?  Those wacky Canwest properties, you never know what they’ll become next.  They’re like Pokémon.  Gotta rebrand’em all!