CTV lines up slam dunk roster for fall

CTV went to market and picked up five key items for fall. The schedule includes Close to Home, a legal drama from Jerry Bruckheimer starring Canadian Jennifer Finnigan; Invasion, an eerie drama starring Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch); Ghost Whisperer with Party of Five-alum Jennifer Love Hewitt; Inconceivable with Ming Na (formerly of ER); and the half-hour sitcom Twins from the Emmy-winning team (David Kohan and Max Mutchnick) that brought us Will & Grace.

Midseason pickups include a mixed bag of five American and three Canadian titles. Titles from the U.S. are Crumbs with former Wonder Years wonder boy, Fred Savage; In Justice with Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Sex & the City), a reality series called The Miracle Workers; the Evidence, a character-based drama from John Wells of West Wing and ER fame and What About Brian from the executive producer of Lost and Alias, JJ Abrams. Local purchases are Whistler an hour-long drama set in - you guessed it - Whistler, B.C.; Alice I Think, a teen series based on Susan Juby's books and Jeff Ltd. starring Gemini winner Jeff Seymour as a megalomaniacal marketer.
By Pia Musngi
June 7, 2005

CTV went to market and picked up five key items for fall. The schedule includes Close to Home, a legal drama from Jerry Bruckheimer starring Canadian Jennifer Finnigan; Invasion, an eerie drama starring Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch); Ghost Whisperer with Party of Five-alum Jennifer Love Hewitt; Inconceivable with Ming Na (formerly of ER); and the half-hour sitcom Twins from the Emmy-winning team (David Kohan and Max Mutchnick) that brought us Will & Grace.

Midseason pickups include a mixed bag of five American and three Canadian titles. Titles from the U.S. are Crumbs with former Wonder Years wonder boy, Fred Savage; In Justice with Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Sex & the City), a reality series called The Miracle Workers; the Evidence, a character-based drama from John Wells of West Wing and ER fame and What About Brian from the executive producer of Lost and Alias, JJ Abrams. Local purchases are Whistler, an hour-long drama set in – you guessed it – Whistler, B.C.; Alice I Think, a teen series based on Susan Juby’s books and Jeff Ltd. starring Gemini winner Jeff Seymour as a megalomaniacal marketer.

CTV’s blockbuster lineup returns with Desperate Housewives, ER, Grey’s Anatomy and CSI and Law and Order franchises. ‘What I noticed most is its consistency,’ comments Laura Wingfelder, group TV manager at Doner Canada. ‘CTV’s bringing back its long-standing hits as well as its strongest season two hits.’

Meanwhile, new shows picked up some enviable time slots such as Invasion‘s Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. address – just prior to Lost and CSI:New York. Similarly, on Friday the returning series Nip/Tuck is sandwiched between newbies Ghost Whisperer and Inconceivable.

‘Lost, with its adventure theme is carried on to some degree,’ says Wingfelder of CTV’s Wednesday night lineup. ‘Invasion‘s disaster aftermath takes Lost to another level. Now can viewers stand two hours of the same thing? I guess we’ll see.’

Nonetheless, Florence Ng, VP, broadcast at Zenith Optimedia says placement is everything. ‘It’s really key,’ she says. ‘It’s just like real estate where everything is location, location, location.’ Ng says that a new show’s viability is determined by the penetration of the network and its share in the marketplace.