Random highlights from CTV’s really big shew for advertisers Wednesday night at Toronto’s Sony Centre: The venue was the same but the cast has changed. Just last year, Phil King was centre stage at the CTV upfront, changing T-shirts between clips. This year Phil got to sit out front; he’s now on the supply side, having
Day Two of Upfront Canada Week began bright and early Wednesday at 8 a.m. in Toronto. CTV likes to get journalists fresh off a punishing commute along the Gardiner before turning them loose on their executives. The reward was some Canadian bacon (nice) and artery-choking sausages and plenty of fresh fruit. There were some delicious
Day One of the Upfront Canada Week began Monday in the spacious press room known as the Rogers Centre. Rogers Media made smart use of the ballpark Ted picked up for Uber money. Reporters were escorted into a breakfast nook with a cool view of the baseball field below, where workers were hoisting Ferris wheels,
Took a little back and forth, and credit the CP editors for their patience, but I was able to break this news about Don Cherry off Monday’s Rogers Media upfront in Toronto: he’ll be back next season, at least, on Hockey Night in Canada. Cherry, 82, who signed a two-year contract when Rogers made their
When people ask, as they occasionally do, who is the biggest star I ever met, I only ever have one answer: Muhammad Ali. “The Greatest” died Friday in Scottsdale Arizona. He was 74. Growing up as I did in the ’60s, there was no bigger hero than Ali. He was mesmerizing in the ring, floating and
On Thursday, when the news broke, there was a temptation to blame the sudden shuttering of Canada AM to loosening Canadian content requirement requirements. These were implemented last year by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission. One of the results of that “Let’s Talk TV” pow-wow in Ottawa was a gradual reduction in the number of hours Canadian Over-The-Air
I write about television, but very seldom about television sets. This is a story about one I brought home from my parent’s house today. It is a Clairtone. It was the first colour set my family owned. With my mom’s move to a retirement home, the time had come to sell and empty out her
The dust has settled and–contrary to an early report here–CTV has won the Sutherland sweepstakes. The most sought after network series at the Hollywood screenings this year turned out to be Designated Survivor. The ABC political drama stars Kiefer Sutherland and a man who becomes the president of the United States, pretty much by a