With New Zealand debuting their inaugural season this week, this Canuck wonders what it’ll take for Survivor Canada to be a real thing.
On Sunday evening, the fifth member of the Commonwealth State, New Zealand, enjoyed the debut ofits very own season ofSurvivor. With 16 players, two tribes, Redemption Island and two episodes a week, they’re hitting the ground running. As a Canadian waiting on bated breath forSurvivor Canada, I’m both proud and jealous of a fellow Commonwealth country to forge ahead with their own competition.
Sometimes it’s frustrating, even, thinking about the51 different countriesthat have either had their day in the sun or have an ongoing rendition ofSurvivorbefore the Great White North ever did. It’s not a case of “that should exist because I want it;”Survivoris one of the pillars of viewed television in this great nation, as are reality and game show competitions in general. It’s simply illogical that we haven’t had aSurvivor Canadaafter almost 17 years of the show.
As much as theSurvivorratings have been great for CBScompared to the rest of the Wednesday night lineup, they have been supremely excellent for Global TV in Canada throughout the week. Even when compared to the NHL playoffs (which are NFL-playoffs-in-America huge in Canada),Survivorbrought in 1.88 million viewers in third placein the most recent Live + 7-day playback ratings. Considering Canada has about a ninth of the population of America, those numbers are quite comparable (if not better) in terms of viewership population density.
Those numbers are consistentweekafterweekafterweek, showingSurvivorCanada ratings near the top of all television programs in the nation whenever it’s on. Global TV, the Canadian television rights owner, sees the numbers in front of them and know the profits generated from selling commercial slots during those times. Money talks, and I’m surprised that they haven’t been singing a tune in favor of Canada’s own version in all these decades.
If it’s a question about putting up a grand prize good enough to garner relevance on the international market, it’s not like Global TV hasn’t put up big money before. Even if it was for just five episodes, they did host their ownAre You Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader,hosted by comedian Colin Mochrie, where contestants played for one million Canadian dollars.
Back when it aired, the Canadian dollarwas even stronger than the US dollar, and due to Canadian tax law, all earnings were tax-free. Notax evasionor a million dollars turning into $600,000 “by the time Obama takes it!” The show even gave Mark Burnett (Survivorcreator and reality show production magnate) “Created by” credit for the show, showing a strong partnership between Global TV and the US owners ofSurvivor.
Related Story: Survivor Game Changers: Ranking All 33 Previous Seasons
Even if the million-dollar prizes aren’t there forSurvivor Canada, even $250,000 would make sense. That’s what they offer onThe Amazing Race Canada,and that’s alsoa ratings beast. They tend to offer a lot more promotional consideration and sponsored spots, but considering the amount of product placement in theUS version ofSurvivor(Sprint, Outback Steakhouse, Charmin, etc.), our own version would be quite manageable.
Canada is no stranger to their own version of reality competitions outside ofThe Amazing Race. We’ve seenCanada’s Next Top Model,The Bachelor(ette) Canada, Canada’s Got Talent, Canadian Idol,So You Think You Can Dance CanadaandWipeout Canada.Hell, evenBig Brother Canadais making its mark in the ratings right now, and that’s onmultiple times a week. There’s a market out there for the Canadian version of reality competitions.
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If it’s a question about a capable host, Global TV has nothing to worry about. ET Canada reporter Erin Cebula has proven herself more than capable of taking over forSurvivorCanadaif need be. She runs aweekly exit interview podcast alongsideSurvivor Micronesiawinner Parvati Shallow, does a ton ofexcellent pre-season content for ET Canada(including a behind-the-scenes half-hour showahead of theSurvivor Game Changersdebut), and even Jeff Probst agreesshe would be a great host.
Considering we’ve seenSurvivorversions played from theArab WorldtoVenezuela, I can’t find a good argument that suggestsSurvivor Canadais anything but an excellent idea. TheSurvivorratings are there; the money is there; the talent is there; the interest in Canadian versions of reality competition is there.
Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking All 33 Sole Survivors By Season
That leaves us with one question; when the hell can we getSurvivor Canada, Global TV?
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