Program Partners is offering TV
stations The Steven and Chris Show, a one-hour talk show off of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corp., on an all-barter basis for next fall. Stations
will maintain eight minutes of advertising in each episode, while Program
Partners will keep six.
The show features Steven Sabados and
Chris Hyndman, who are known to American audiences as HGTV's Designer Guys,
a show the duo hosted from 2001-03.
"Steven and Chris' expertise is in
all the passion points for women - everything from food, fashion, design,
relationships to celebrity interviews," says Josh Raphaelson, Program Partners'
co-principal. "The show is shot live on a gorgeous set and it fits the mode of
other successful long-running talk shows."
So far, 190 episodes of the show are
available. The show went back into production in December, and Program Partners
is offering stations 130 original episodes per year, with another 30 best-of
episodes. While the show doesn't look or sound Canadian, many of the show's
segments will be tailored or adjusted to better fit American audiences.
The advantage of offering TV stations
a show like Steven and Chris, which already has been produced and
financed by the CBC, is that its financial model is very flexible.
Program Partners also plans to offer
stations segments on such topics as cooking, home improvement, and style that
they can run on their Web sites and around which they can sell local
sponsorships.
"One of the great things about Steven
and Chris is that the show is really optimized for local sales," says
Raphaelson.
