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July 2007 - Strategy Magazine
Fall TV preview

Canadian upfronts
The presentations, the primetime strategies, the buzz

by Natalia Williams
page 45

CBC

Upfront review: Could CBC be back? The folks at the public network were certainly talking the talk, almost gloating during their upfront, held in CBC's Toronto HQ. They trotted out Canadian glitz with The Hour's George Stroumboulopoulos hosting a taut, funny, 50-minute talk-show style presentation of the upcoming season, complete with appearances by homegrown stars from hits Little Mosque on the Prairie and Dragons' Den. High marks for the presentation quality. Not so much for the boxed lunches.

Context: Last year, barely eight weeks into the job, Kirstine Layfield, ED, network programming, labeled the season "a transition year." Twelve months later it's been crowned the "highest overall ratings in five years." Despite a recent flag raised by Canadian Media Research that questions the claim, few will argue - buoyed by Little Mosque and Test the Nation - that there has been more buzz and more higher-rated shows for the CBC in the past 12 months than in previous years.

2007/8 primetime strategy: The net is sticking with what works, only tweaking its fall sked. The focus remains on sketch comedy, factual entertainment and news, areas that traditionally do well. So there's more of the comedy Mosque, to the tune of 20 episodes, up from eight; a dash of reality TV with No Opportunity Wasted, featuring Phil Keoghan, host of ABC's hit reality series, Amazing Race; and Who Do You Think You Are?, which follows Canadian celebs as they uncover their family histories.

Execs are also very excited about The Tudors, a Canada-Ireland coproduction that stars young hottie Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Henry VIII, and airs on Showtime in the U.S. It was recently renewed there for a second season. It will run on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. The only other new drama, Heartland, set in the Alberta Rockies, will air on Sundays at 7 p.m. Torchwood, a BBC production from the folks behind Doctor Who, runs Fridays at 9 p.m. Returning shows include Intelligence and The Hour.

Media buyer's take: "It's going be a soft season for them," says Atreyee Dey, group media manager at PHD. "They're really pushing The Tudors. I think it will do well as it's running on Tuesdays right after Rick Mercer and This Hour Has 22 Minutes." She says the net is also hoping to tap into the success of the reality genre with the Keoghan product. Ultimately, though, "this season is going to be consistent with last season," she says. "It's a safe, conservative bet."

CTV

Upfront review: Held in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the number one net's affair was swank. Appearances by Kate Walsh (Private Practice), Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds) and Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money) added to the glitter. But it was all a mere second act to M2 Universal's Hugh Dow, MBS/The Media Company's Helena Shelton, Mediaedge:cia's Bruce Neve, OMD's Kim Dougherty and Starcom MediaVest's Valerie McMoran, who performed with contestants from season two of So You Think You Can Dance. Trust us, you had to see it to believe it. An especially big shout out to dance-off winner Neve for so admirably shaking his junk. Now, on to business.

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