Ask most Canadians with which network identification they are more familiar – bbs or ctv – and chances are they’ll say the latter.

This brand equity is something Gary Greenway, Baton Broadcasting System’s new senior vice-president of sales and marketing, takes very seriously.

bbs will become the single biggest partner in the CTV Television Network if a proposed trade-off goes ahead, whereby chum will receive $10 million and four Ontario stations in return for its 14.3% share of ctv through its four Maritimes stations.

Although Greenway says that he thinks ctv would be the best i.d. choice if the network decided to reduce brand duplication at the national and local levels, he’s reluctant to take too strong a stance.

‘The decisions to brand would go to all the ctv partners,’ he says, adding that this can happen only after the network receives approval for the swap from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Insiders seem to agree the trade-off will likely just be a matter of paperwork for the broadcasting watchdog this summer.

Interestingly, the official nod will give Greenway the go-ahead to take on former long-time employer, cbc, in the battle for advertising dollars.

And being on the other side for 14 years as director of marketing and sales for the public broadcaster has made him privy to opinions from media directors on what ctv’s (and Baton’s) salesforces did right – and wrong.

‘They let me know,’ he says, adding diplomatically that he also heard about the good things his new employer does.

He’s not quite ready to award laurels or throw darts. ‘I can’t say whether they’re good, bad or indifferent,’ he says. ‘I’m still finding out.’

What he can say, however, is that Baton may be able to go the same route as the cbc if it gets approval for majority control of ctv.

‘The secret to having one owner of ctv is the ability to control revenue/inventory,’ he says. And that’s done through account management with a strong network and strong stations, so that unsold inventory drops down from national to regional and local levels.

‘The cbc has always been able to move inventory,’ he says, adding that the network’s strong sales team has learned to squeeze the maximum dollar out of every piece of inventory it has. That’s something he’d like to see at Baton.

‘You have to sell the right piece of inventory to the right client at the right price.’ He points to big events like the Olympics as a good example of a network finding opportunities for promotions at all levels.

For everything the cbc has done right, however, Greenway says it’s still essentially a specialty network because – with the exception of hot properties such as hockey or the Olympics – its heavily Canadian schedule doesn’t appeal to everybody.

In fact, Greenway says he’s looking forward to selling programs with higher ratings. ‘One thing that’s nice is to have some big shows with big numbers,’ he says.