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
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
Twenty years ago, when my young adults were young children, Sharon, Lois & Bram were superstars. Because I worked at TV Guide at the time, the children’s entertainers were also on my radar thanks to their very successful TV ventures, The Elephant Show and Skinamarink TV. Eric Nagler and Fred Penner were frequent guests. It
Back before Netflix, Amazon, Shomi or Crave, before DVDs and PVRs, before YouTube or Facebook, back when cable or specialty were blips on the TV landscape, there was Anne of Green Gables. Executive producer Kevin Sullivan’s sweet valentine to popular Canadian literature premiered 30 years ago this Christmas. It was an enormous hit, pulling five million viewers back
Wednesday night, the puck drops on a new era in Stanley Cup hockey coverage. One guy who can hardly wait is Scott Moore, President of Sportsnet and NHL at Rogers Media. Moore was the man at the centre of Rogers’ $5.2 billion dollar, 12-year, NHL rights deal. The former head of CBC sports has rolled the biggest
OTTAWA–The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission ruled Tuesday that the popular series Murdoch Mysteries must cease airing on CBC and return “where it belongs” to City TV stations across Canada. The Shaftesbury production was canceled three years ago on Rogers-owned City but then CBC swooped in and rescued the series. Ever since transitioning to CBC, Murdoch
What, already? Yes, The Rick Mercer Report signs off for another season Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CBC. The 12th season brought the usual million-viewers a week and Mercer has already inked a deal for at least two more seasons. Rick ends 2014-15 in the usual manner by visiting the top schools participating in the Spread
Seven hundred and forty-three thousand estimated, overnight viewers across Canada watched Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada tilt between The Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues. That might be the lowest HNiC 7 p.m. start number ever, or at least since digital tallying. In our weekly radio chat, AM900CHML’s Scott Thompson started things off by