Global gets bragging rights with Departure

While the 2020 Fall TV season is rolling out more gradually than most, Global has already declared itself the winner in terms of ratings for its new series. Numeris data shows that Global original drama Departure, a Canadian co-pro starring the legendary Christopher Plummer and Emmy winner Archie Panjabi, has tracked an AMA of 1.2 million viewers for all of its episodes so far, ranking it as a top-five overall series and, according to Global, the top new series (2+) this fall.

While not all new series have debuted yet, Numeris data sent to MiC shows that the only other new series to crack the top-five have been I Can See Your Voice and Filthy Rich, both of which saw ratings decline slightly after their premieres. Departure has been in the top-five for three out of the past four weeks. The finale of the limited series aired yesterday, but the second season recently wrapped production in Toronto.

Gusto preps a new OTT strategy

Ottawa-based Gusto Worldwide Media has developed a new free, ad-supported VOD offering through Amazon Prime Direct. Gusto worked with tech partner Dooya Media Group to develop and monetize the new offering. More than 670 hours of original programming will be able to stream to Amazon Prime Direct members, supported by digital ads. Several studies have shown that connected TV and premium, ad-supported OTT is a growth area for digital ads, although experts have noted that Canada is less sophisticated than the U.S. in this regard.

Twitter hops on the carousel

Twitter is the latest social platform to roll out carousel ads. This week, it rolled out the feature globally following a limited test. The ads are designed for both mobile and web, and will consist of two to six horizontally swipe-able images or videos to drive people to an external site or app. Ads can be created on the Tweet Composer in Twitter’s Ads Manager, or via its Ads API.