Let me be upfront about the upfronts. They aren’t what they used to be.
Those of us who cover them have been saying that for years, but this June feels different. CBS, for example, didn’t even host a big, gala, upfront presentation to advertisers last month in New York. Of course, CBS has some other distractions right now, but still.
The CW in the US does not have any new American shows on its 2026-27 schedule. They have acquired two Canadian hours, however: Private Eyes: West Coast, a new Global series and a re-launch of an earlier hit starring Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson, and Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, which will be a mid-season addition stateside.
Fox had zero new shows on its Fall schedule, with a re-boot of Baywatch booted to mid-season. NBC and CBS added very few. New broadcast network fare that has been announced are more of the same procedurals spun off from existing franchises such as NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy.
This has forced a re-think in Canada, where, for decades, network executives have routinely trucked down to the Hollywood screenings with suitcases full of cash and dragged home everything they needed to plug holes in their schedules. With pickings historically slim, networks here have finally been forced to do what they should have been doing for decades: scheduling shows created and developed in Canada in season on their Canadian prime time network schedules.
Mind you, it is not a sea change, just a trickle, but welcome nonetheless.
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This week in Canada, Rogers Sports and Media came out first with their 2026-27 pitch, and they leaned heavily into the sports part of their brand, which is coming off an incredibly successful year. I checked out their slick upfront video from the comfort of home on a coded promotional reel. If you like baseball, hockey and MMA highlights, it had plenty of sizzle, especially after the Toronto Blue Jays exciting World Series run last season.
Ron MacLean, Dan Shulman, Kevin Bieksa, Jamie Campbell, Elliotte Friedman, Hazel Mae, Ken Reid, Evanka Osmak and others were featured on the reel. So were penty of ratings statistics, The one that truly leaps out: in the last year alone, 45 out of the top 50 most watched programs in Canada aired on Sportsnet and over 50 percent of those were live NHL games.
That’s a statistic I have not seen since the heyday of The Big Bang Theory in Canada, when CTV would run the Top-50 board with episodes, and even re-run episodes of that series.
Adding to that massive sports ratings surge on Rogers-owned Sportsnet was the recent Montreal Canadiens’ Stanley Cup run. According to confirmed numbers released today by Numeris, in 19 games over the three rounds, The Habs AMAs in each series averaged out to 3,715,000 viewers (in the opening round vs. Tampa Bay Lightning); 4,551,000 (vs the Buffalo Sabres); and 4,510,000 (vs Carolina Hurricanes). Numeris also noted how the series was devoured in Quebec, especially on french language service TVA, where 81 per cent of the market was reached.
TSN will claw back into the numbers game over the next few months with World Cup soccer action and into the fall and winter with their exclusive NFL coverage. If the Blue Jays can get on any kind of a roll, however, Sportsnet should stay on top. The Jays home opener this spring was the most watched season opener ever, with an average audience of 2.2 million viewers.
As for what Rogers has to offer in entertainment shows in 2026-27, the big headline was the news last week that John Reardon is returning to Hudson & Rex. Fans were barking mad when City replaced the actor after he was cleared for work after successfully completing cancer treatments. With a rival network set to reintroduce the Canadian canine of all time, The Littlest Hobo (more news on that after the CTV Upfront), getting Reardon back with whichever German Shepherd is now playing Rex was doggone essential.
Otherwise, as previously reported, City is sticking with a cell full of imported crime shows including a fourth season of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (albeit with a new actor in the male lead). They have also ordered more of Howie Mandel’s The Price is Right Tonight, a prime time gamer shot in Toronto.
Their new import acquisitions won’t appear until mid-season: Line of Fire and the re-boot of The Rockford Files starring David Boreanaz. City is also sticking with The Bachelor, Chicago Med/Fire/PD, Law & Order and Dancing with the Stars, as well as award shows The Grammys and the Golden Globes.
