With Rogers and Shaw still taking down their upfront pup tents, CTV’s main circus rolled into Toronto Thursday. This was a good old-fashioned, three ring affair. No scaled down little “excuse me” deal for the Bell brigade. The ad kids were treated to the usual open bar, red carpet everywhere, upfront orgy. The day started
If this podcast sounds a little muffled, blame the upfronts. Fleeing Wednesday’s Shaw press event, I ducked into what I thought was a hotel parking entrance off Yorkville when CHML producer Jacob Smith reached me on mobile. A burly security dude chased my back into construction hell just as Scott Thompson opened with hockey talk. Scott asks
Wednesday in Toronto was Shaw’s turn to promote their new and returning shows for fall. The network has pushed its luck by dining off aging hits such as Survivor and NCIS for a dozen long years. In the States, the median age of a NCIS viewer is over 60 and the same is probably true
At 8:01 Tuesday morning, Bell Media sent an email with the following headline: “TSN once again ranks as Canada’s #1 specialty channel in all key demos” At 8:08 a.m., Rogers–who hosted today’s Canadian network upfront in Toronto–blasted out their message: “Sportsnet is Now the #1 Sports Brand on TV in Canada” So who is telling the
It took 52 minutes to drive to Rogers 2015 upfront this morning in downtown Toronto. The sizzle reel they showed press this morning also lasted 52 minutes. Coincidence? I think not. Rogers lucked into last season’s hottest show–Empire–and hope to build on that strength this year as they swing back towards imported content and away
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s Shaw stealing Supergirl! On Monday, Shaw announced their U.S. acquisitions for fall and among their prize imports is the big super hero buzz show from CBS. Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as the DC Comics superhero and Calista Flockhart as her bitchy boss. This is a bit of
In Canada, the annual television network “Upfronts” are a few weeks later than they are in the States. Our Upfronts are really “Uplaters.” They also don’t draw anywhere near the same amount of advertising revenues. Canadian advertisers tend to commit less of their budgets in the spring, playing more of a wait and see game. Since
This week, I talk to CHML’s Scott Thompson about my interview this week with William Shatner. The original Star Trek skipper was in Toronto to guest star on an episode of Murdoch Mysteries when the CBC drama returns for a ninth season next October. Shatner will play famous American author Mark Twain. Scott asks what Shatner is