CBC Takes A Risk
The CBC has taken a pounding over the past few years. It's not easy being a public broadcaster when the politicians in power whom your reporters may be criticizing, are the very same ones determining your budget as a crown corporation.
Television advertising revenues are down. And are going to be harder to generate as the CBC lost the broadcasting rights to sporting events such as the Olympics, Grey Cup and other major curling events such as the Tournament of Hearts. All of which have been mainstays at the network for years.
The CBC then went south of the border and promoted "The One" and the less said about that exercise the better. We can't possibly produce great television programming in Canada, right? Shows such as "This Hour has 22 Minutes", "Hockey Night in Canada", "Air Farce" and "Talking to Americans" would indicate otherwise.
For obvious reasons, the CBC took a big creative risk and launched a Canadian created, directed, produced and starred television show called Little Mosque on the Prairie. The show is about a small Muslim community living in rural Saskatchewan. Kind of like your "Corner Gas" but with an 'exotic' feel to it. (Little Mosque on the Prairie airs tonight on CBC at 8:30pm EST but check your local listings.)
Creator Zarqa Nawaz has said that "This is an equal opportunity show. Both Muslims and non-Muslims will watch and ask, 'Are they making fun of me?' I don't think either group can claim we're picking on them." That's perfect as humour is a great way to demonstrate to others how foolish ignorance, fear and racism are regardless of your religious denomination.
Given the state of current world events and the perception of Muslims and Islam, I think this show is very refreshing. There are undoubtedly conservative Muslims or right-wing conservatives who will get offended and start criticizing. But as one person so aptly remarked in the online comments section of a Globe & Mail article, "It's a sitcom people - relax."
The cyncial side of me says that "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was a great movie but the television series wasn't as good. Only so much juice one can get out of an orange after all. I also wonder if some of jokes will be too geared towards the Muslim community for others to understand.
Candidly, I hope this show has even a quarter of the same impact that 'Will & Grace' did for the gay community and the mainstream public. Muslims (you could replace that with 'Gays', 'Jews', 'Hindus', 'African-Americans' and others) aren't so bad once you get to know them. Despite what Fox News says but I digress.
The CBC has done an excellent job of marketing the show. One may disagree but they have gotten extensive coverage in the New York times, CNN, BBC, Stephen Colbert and other television shows and media outlets around the globe. Do you ever recall the Beach Combers being covered on CNN?
From an online marketing perspective the CBC have a simple yet informative website, ability to opt-in for emails and have also uploaded clips on to YouTube. The only things they are missing are an online viral campaign, a blog and keyword bidding in search engines. When you look at the clip below, how can you not laugh?
A recent event in Toronto where they promoted the show and served tons of chicken shwarma was very successful. The CBC seems to have done many things right in terms of online and offline marketing of the show.
It will now be up to the viewers to decide on how good the show really is. At the end of the day I'm going to reserve judgement until I see it. In the interim, you have to give the CBC kudos for taking a risk on something like this.
