After a lackluster debut season, Citytv has axed its made-in-Canada version of the international phenomenon that began as Britain’s Got Talent.
In a statement released today, Rogers Media president of broadcasting Scott Moore said, “After careful consideration of all factors, including the current economic climate, Citytv has refocused its programming strategy and will not be producing Canada’s Got Talent for the 2012-13 season.”
This is yet another example of why Canadian versions of readily available American talent shows will never work. For Canadian viewers who are already inundated with American programming, the addition of more talent contests just seem like a waste of time on a TV lineup that’s already cluttered with these things. Even worse, these shows are inevitably smaller and lower-budgeted than the U.S. versions to which they’re inevitably compared, and they just can’t compete (see: Canadian Idol, Canada’s Next Top Model, etc.). The end result is something that will always seem second-rate when compared to the American versions; because the American shows are aired on the same Canadian networks, these comparisons are unavoidable.
In this case, it didn’t help that judges Martin Short, opera singer Measha Brueggergosman and that other guy were unfailingly nice to even the least-talented auditioners. Yawn. I’ll bet if you asked a hundred random people to name who won Canada’s Got Talent, you’d be lucky to find one person who knows.
Meanwhile, this does not bode well for upcoming Canadian editions of Big Brother and The Bachelor, which will both coming to TV screens later this year.
