Global TV cancels low-rated Mike Bullard Show effective immediately
TORONTO (CP) – Global doesn’t got him anymore.
Late-night talk show host Mike Bullard, who jumped from CTV to Global television last year only to see his ratings plummet, has had his show cancelled.
“Unfortunately, and in spite of a major promotion effort by Global, the program has not demonstrated the degree of success that merits a continued run,” Doug Hoover, senior programming vice-president at Global, said in a statement Friday. “We continue to hold Mike in the highest of esteem and wish him much well-deserved success in the future.”
The news was broken to Bullard on the studio set Friday morning. The cancellation was effective immediately, with reruns scheduled to air Friday night and all next week. Bullard was not immediately available for comment.
Rick Camilleri, chief operating officer at CanWest Global Communications Corp., said the broadcaster is still fully committed to the production of variety and entertainment programming that showcases Canadian talent. But he had no details Friday on the eventual replacement for Bullard’s show.
Camilleri added only that in the weeks ahead Global would be developing “a different type of program” that would be used in Bullard’s old midnight time-slot.
Ed Robinson, programming vice-president at CTV and Bullard’s former boss, declined comment, preferring to stay out of it.
“It’s just that the ratings weren’t very good,” said David Hamilton, Global’s vice-president of publicity. Recent national numbers were in the 72,000 range.
Bullard debuted on Global November 24, five months after his high-profile departure from rival CTV where for six years his show aired in prime time on the Comedy Network and late night on the main network.
Critics offered several reasons for the gruff comic’s slide. First, there was the five-month wait to return to the air, during which time many of his fans became hooked on CTV’s replacement, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a news parody import from the U.S. Then there was Bullard’s open criticism of his former employer.
“I was the scapegoat for every mistake and didn’t get credit for anything else,” Bullard was quoted as saying in the days before he launched on Global in November. “The response was always ‘Mike’s nuts.’ ” He said he even had to use his own money to buy a plane ticket to visit some network affiliate stations.
His move to Global was also encouraged by CanWest president Leonard Asper’s promise of 195 episodes a year, compared to 140 at CTV.
But his Global debut was less than stellar, drawing just 82,000 viewers across Canada, compared to 130,000 or so he enjoyed at CTV.
After a three-week hiatus over the Christmas holidays, Bullard came back January 12 with a new set and a new executive producer in veteran David Rosen, but still netted ratings in the 85,000 range compared to Stewart’s 250,000-300,000. Asper admitted he was stumped but chalked it up to the new show still trying to find its legs.
There have also been suggestions that Bullard’s sarcastic style, which included picking on members of the studio audience, was not embraced as well as the more self-effacing approach of American counterparts like Conan O’Brien. But at one point, Bullard was quoted as saying he didn’t care about the dwindling numbers because he had a multi-year contract at Global.
Michael Nolan, a media expert at the University of Western Ontario, recalled a history of failed Canadian attempts to mount a late-night talkfest – with such CBC hosts as Peter Gzowski, Ralph Benmergui and Alex Barris – and said he doubted whether the all-American genre has caught on in Canada.
“I think (Bullard’s) quite good but he has a style that may not go over with everybody,” Nolan said.
“I sort of wonder, if you compare him to American talk shows, if he has too much edge for a consistent night talk show. I think he’s got too much bite sometimes.”
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Nolan added that the Canadian audience is used to a high-quality American product with major Hollywood personalities as guests. Canadian counterparts to Jay Leno and David Letterman are viewed as simply outclassed.
Seven years ago, while still working as a Bell Canada employee and part-time stand-up comic, Bullard, a native of Mississauga, Ont., landed the job as host of Open Mike in prime time on the fledgling Comedy Network. Warmly received at the outset, Bullard’s show moved to the main CTV network for a late-night rebroadcast.
After initial telecasts from a cramped studio at the back of Wayne Gretzky’s downtown restaurant, CTV later provided him with a more spacious facility in its new mid-town studio, the refurbished former Masonic Temple.
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