SUDBURY, Ont.–They still pull nickels out of the mines in this Northern Ontario town. The latest precious resource, however: TV shows. There are a bunch of them shooting this year in Sudbury. I flew up this week to wander the set of Letterkenny, a hilarious take on small town dudes spun off the viral web hit “Letterkenny Problems.” One
Degrassi is the show that will not die. Netflix and Family Channel confirmed Tuesday that they are both behind a deal that will extend the forever Canadian TV franchise for at least another 20 episodes. The series will be rebranded–again–as Degrassi Next Class when it returns early in 2016. Now, I can’t say I’m surprised. Halifax-based
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