CBC held their annual programming pep rally for members of the press Thursday in Toronto. This kicks off what is still called “Upfront” season in Canada, which refers more to broadcasters putting their wares before advertisers in an attempt to sell commercials “upfront” of a coming season. For CBC it is more about getting upfront
CBC whipped through their virtual, on-line Upfront 2021 presentation Wednesday like it was an Olympic event — fitting since they’re Canada’s host broadcaster for both this summer’s Tokyo Games as well as the Beijing Winter Games in 2020. It took just 33 minutes for the public broadcaster to promote 35 new and returning series from
“Is regular network TV programming dead? These four Canadian broadcast execs say no, it’s evolving.” That’s the headline to a feature I wrote appearing in Saturday’s Toronto Star. Read the full story here if you’re a subscriber or, better yet, buy a copy. People have been writing the network TV obit for years. Tina Fey
Let’s be fair. CBC has had, as the Queen once famously said, an annus horribilis. More than any other broadcaster, the pandemic ripped through their winter/spring schedule. Three months of huge Saturday ratings for a Stanley Cup playoff run packed with Canadian teams were completely wiped out. CBC lost countless hours of programming along with
The third and final leg of Canadian Upfront Week occurred Thursday in Toronto. This was Corus’ turn to host reporters and, later, advertisers. The press deal started early with breakfast up in the showy sixth floor event space. Corus enjoys one of the most beautiful work spaces in Toronto as has been pointed out here before. A