I can speak from a broadcast point of view, the other half of the coin. Much of my experience has been as a broadcaster. It is that the planning cycle is concomitant with the development cycle. Often you're ordering and developing shows for two and three seasons down the road.
Remember that the cable companies, particularly in the children's sector, have mandatory amounts of Canadian content that they must broadcast and mandatory amounts of money that they must spend in developing those shows. That amount of money is never enough to make the shows happen. It's necessary that the CTF be there to complete the financing and provide the financing. If there's a weakness in the CTF, the whole system crumbles, so that two years and three years down the road, there's a dry-up of all the material you need.