American Talk Shows & Culture in Canada

• With the ending of George Stroumbolopoulos Tonight after the 2014 season, there is no national show where Canadian talent can go to promote their films and TV shows
• Creating a national talk show is not a simple task
• Mike Bullard: "The show killer, is the inevitable comparisons to the U.S. talk shows. With their bigger budgets and rooms full of Harvard grads as writers, it is simply impossible to compete." (Regarding Canadian Evening Talk Shows)
• CTV has attempted to broadcast a Canadian talk show called The Social and it is very similar to America's The View
• Both shows consist of five women around a round table for a discussion on a topic
• Cynthia Loyst: "We have been consuming the American version of this for a very long time. There is something quintessential about being Canadian, we have our experiences with things, like gay rights, or birth control, our natural resources ... we don't need Americans to talk for us anymore. We have a distinctive voice."
• Viewers of American talk shows are interested in the content that the shows bring to them and that is of American culture
• George Stroumbolopoulos: "You are setting up a different cultural conversation; it can take years before you develop the presence that people will just go to"

American Talk Shows & Culture in Canada

Introduction: The Idea of a Talk Show

American culture presented in Canada

• Very convenient as you can catch them at almost any time of the day (From morning to late night)
• With the right host and personality, these shows can appeal to many audiences as they talk about many topics that interest people
• Because so many of the popular talk shows are American, most of the news presented is from America
• Canada is allowing American culture to be presented
• American talk shows appeal to the Canadian audience because they present topics that Canadians are interested

American Talk Show Presence In Canada

Canadian television networks broadcast a variety of shows that are produced and filmed in the United States of America. America has perfected the idea of the talk show and due to the huge success and viewship of these shows, Canadian networks have decided to broadcast them. All of Canada's major broadcasting networks have an American talk show that they broacast during the week. Due to all the networks showing these shows, the presence of America culture is being displayed on a daily basis. With the strong presence of these television shows, Canada is allowing American culture to dominate its television industry.

• According to the Television Bureau of Canada, adult Canadians spend at least 24.2 hours weekly watching TV based on the report of 2013-2014
• All of the major Canadian television networks have a American talk show
• None of them are filmed or produced here but they continue to be broadcasted because Canadians watch the shows
• These talk shows manly involve American hosts with American guests and are usually discussing topics regarding American news
• Rarely are the topics on the shows involve Canada but are still broadcasted on Canadian networks

Future of Talk Shows in Canada

American Talk Show Presence In Canada

• American talk shows witness more success than Canadian talk shows and continue to be produced as Canadian shows are cancelled
• Ex: Mike Bullard's The Mike Bullard Show potential ending of George Stroumbolopoulos's George Tonight
• George Stroumbolopoulos: "We have an incredibly unsupportive entertainment business. Everyone tells you why it won’t work, why you aren’t Letterman”
• Number of Canadian talk shows in the television industry is less compared to American talk shows even in its own country
• Viewers of American talk shows are always going to interested in the show because Canadians are very integrated with American culture and that is what the show presents to the viewers
• This includes Hollywood news, trending topics, news regarding social media, etc