Outlets are also adding series that first established themselves in other countries. That includes "The Spencer Sisters," a mystery series starring Minnesota native Lea Thompson, and "Sullivan's Crossing," a family drama set in Nova Scotia.
In the next few months, the CW will be adding more shows that have already found success up north. "They're part of its charm," said Barnsley, who was also instrumental in making "Schitt's Creek" a smash hit in both countries. That's not a blockbuster number, but it's enough to make it one of the CW's top five most watched shows.Įxecutive producer Andrew Barnsley said he was initially worried that the Canadian references might be a problem. The show, which premiered stateside in July and will remain in prime time through the fall, is averaging about 400,000 viewers. But that doesn't seem to be turning off viewers south of its border. John's, Newfoundland - let you know that the sitcom was shot and produced in Canada. These mentions - and the fact that the action is set in St. There's a joke about songstress Anne Murray. The 11-year-old protagonist joins a Monarchist club. Mondays, uses references you never heard on "The Wonder Years" or "The Goldbergs." Collaborators, peers, competitors - in other words, frenemies."Son of a Critch" leans on a familiar format in which a wistful narrator reflects on his childhood. And if anything, the relationship between PBS and Acorn evokes the frosty rapport between the two matriarchs of Downton Abbey: the Dowager Countess and Isobel Crawley.
And Penella says its revenues more than justify the cost of producing and streaming shows like Foyle's War: "In recent years, with the convergence of television and the Internet, we saw for us an opportunity to develop a proprietary digital platform that would allow our consumers, our audience to access our deep library - anytime, anywhere," he says.įoyle's War will run later this year on individual PBS stations, but not on PBS as a network. "And I think you can lay that at the feet of Downton Abbey, Sherlock, a lot of the programs we've had on the air - and why wouldn't a business want to spin that particular stuff into gold?"Īcorn says it currently has just 116,000 subscribers, but that's growing. Millions of viewers watch Masterpiece every week for free, and Eaton says her program endures through changes in viewer appetites because of its sustained quality: "I think there's a tremendous interest in high-end British drama," she says. "To use public broadcasting, to use public television as a platform and a showcase for programs they might acquire," she says, "that's pretty good advertisement for selling them on down the line." Good for Acorn, says Rebecca Eaton, the longtime executive producer of Masterpiece - but she argues that PBS has a public mission, while Acorn has a business plan.
Acorn's decision to stream programs itself illustrates how the lines separating distributors, producers, syndicators and networks have blurred. "For us, it is simply an opportunity to bring our content to consumers in a different, new way," says Penella. But the financing for this season of the show appeared in doubt - so Acorn decided to buy the rights and produce Foyle's War itself, earning much of the cost back from foreign broadcastersĪmerican viewers who want to see it right now will have to pay $5 a month or $50 a year. Michael Kitchen plays Christopher Foyle, a senior police official turned intelligence operative at the close of World War II, and his performance has inspired a near-rhapsodic response from critics. This season is to be the last for Foyle's War. The company is betting enough fans of British programs will add one more subscription to their virtual cart, along with Netflix or Amazon prime. It's a brash claim for a market crowded by HBO, the BBC and PBS.Īs Acorn expanded its ambitions, it bought a controlling stake in Agatha Christie's literary estate - and is now producing some of her mysteries for TV. "We want consumers to think of Acorn TV as the primary destination for British mystery and drama television in North America," says Miguel Penella, the CEO of Acorn's corporate parent RLJ Entertainment.
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