MTV to launch flagship series
MTV is prepping the Masonic Temple in Toronto to house its flagship series, MTV Live. The hour-long show promises to be a live and interactive one, with folks from across the country invited to speak their minds on topical issues in person, via phone, by email and online through webcams, instant messaging and blogs. The all-Canadian MTV Live is positioned to anchor the MTV schedule and will be filmed before a live studio audience from the Masonic Temple. Show elements will include animation, clips from MTV nets across the globe, contests, field pieces and live performances. The show’s hosts, launch date and timeslot have yet to be announced.
Corus launches DIY TV ad service
Calgary-based Corus Custom Networks has launched a Create Your Own Ad service. The service invites Canucks in the western regions to place their own ads on the TV Listings Channel for approximately $20-30 per week for a guaranteed 140 times per week on-air rotation in exclusive rural locations. The web-based ad sales service can be used for selling vehicles, rental properties and small business promos. Online instructions guide would-be advertisers through ad copy to the upload of images and logos.
2 Mag searches for advertorial sponsors
Couples are getting the makeover treatment at 2 Magazine and brands are invited to come along. The mag’s spring issue, slated to hit the stands in March, features products from primary sponsors Club Med, Crest Whitestrips Premium Plus, Redken and Biotherm. ‘The themes are driven by the location, the season, the primary sponsors, and our readers’ interest in certain lifestyle topics. Our readers have a high interest in travel, so the spring 2006 makeover [included] a travel experience to Club Med in Turks & Caicos,’ says Diane Hall, publisher of 2. Hall says that the mag is currently searching for brand sponsors for its summer installment, which will feature a city versus country theme, complete with road trip, a spa weekend and city nightlife, ‘providing opportunities for a Canadian resort destination, car brand, oral care, hair, beauty, fashion, sportswear, bottled water, luggage, petrol, etc.’ She adds that 2 is also investigating a first-time homebuyer’s theme. Costs for sponsorship range from $2,500 to $25,000 and the mag guarantees category exclusivity. 2 targets urban couples aged 25-34 with a household income of nearly $90k. Sponsorship deadline for the summer issue is March 31.
Top TV advertisers: Eloda ad analysis for the week of Feb. 10-18, 2006
The French really like their entertainment as the category takes 50% of the pie in a French versus English market comparison for categories with the most new TV advertisers. Comparatively, the English market’s top category was public service at 43%. And in a year over year brand comparison, in both 2005 and 2006, P&G and General Motors, took the number one and two spots respectively for brands with the largest variety of TV ads on the English market for Feb. 10-18. Check out others topping the charts, and which brands had the most new spots. This info was gathered through Montreal-based ELODA’s online TV ad tracking, auditing and viewing services. All data supplied is based on the ELODA recording grid.
http://www.eloda.com
Top radio advertisers: Media Monitors for the week of Feb. 12-18, 2006
Value Village makes the leap up the radio spot 10 charts in Toronto for the broadcast week of Feb. 12-18. The discount department store chain leapt from number 349 to the top of the charts in the brand race for the most spots on rotation. Following at number two is yet another department store chain Sears Canada. In the categories race, restaurants topped the charts with 39 brands taking the lion’s share of the airtime last week. Department stores followed at number two. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of February 12-18.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
April brings four new shows to BBC Canada
BBC Canada has announced April offerings for wannabe gardeners, daring dressers and time zone-shifting interior designers. The City Gardener debuts April 4 and runs every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12:30. The show features host Matt James as he works his green thumb on neglected, dark and dank outdoor spots. Sunday, April 9 at 9 a.m. sees the debut of The Gardener’s Year, a six-ep, half-hour dedicated to guiding viewers through a gardening year, by season. Each episode covers one gardening month. Later, at 5 p.m., Grand Designs Abroad also premieres on the net. The show follows builders as they create their dream homes overseas. Finally, A Week of Dressing Dangerously takes eight fashion daredevils as they shed their regular clothes for a week of sartorial self-discovery. They even got a housewife to dress like a punk rocker. The half-hour show airs Saturdays at 9 p.m., beginning April 8.
Faraway cuisine and travel spice up Food net’s April roster
Monday, April 3 is kick off day for Food’s new series. Just One Bite, a half hour show that teaches families how to create healthy delicious meals airs weekdays at 8 a.m., and 12:30 and 4 p.m. Then, at 9 p.m. the ever-popular Jamie Oliver undertakes a culinary pilgrimage in Jamie’s Great Italian Escape. The show follows the Brit chef as he heads to Italy in his camper van to regain his passion for cooking. Meanwhile, Kylie Kwong heads to Shanghai and Hong Kong to dine her way through the East in Kylie Kwong: Simply Magic. The show airs Fridays at 9:30 p.m.
BBC Kids plays Matchmaker
Matchmaker makes its debut on Monday, April 3 on BBC Kids. The show, which airs Monday to Friday at 9:30 p.m., follows folks as they hook up their pals on dates.
APTN to debut two
APTN has announced the addition of two new series to its roster. Tuesday, April 4 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. marks the debut of Nikan, a weekly half-hour, 13-part doc series featuring young Aboriginals from Quebec. And beginning Friday, April 7 at 8:30 p.m., the half-hour Short Cuts will air short films by award-winning Indigenous filmmakers from around the world.
Williams to helm Media Contacts
Chris Williams is the new managing director at Media Contacts, the interactive arm of MPG. He will helm the Canadian operations. Williams is stepping into the role once held by Yann Le Roux.
Sympatico/MSN promotes Biderman
Sympatico / MSN is pleased to announce the promotion of Shira Biderman to senior national account manager, ad sales. Biderman will lead company initiatives around product innovation.
BBM Staying Tuned 2006: U.K. pundits weigh in on sticky media – consumer engagement and ‘Superglue’
BBM Canada’s Staying Tuned media conference took place today in Toronto, with experts from Canada and around the world weighing in on some of the industry’s most pressing issues, including media and advertising effectiveness, assessing integrated campaigns, product placement, and consumer engagement. Media in Canada spoke with two pundits from the U.K. to get their view from across the pond.
On the MIC with Mindshare’s Sheila Byfield: The rules of consumer engagement
London-based Sheila Byfield, global director of consumer insights for Mindshare, tackled the consumer engagement topic at the BBM Canada: Going for the Gold event today with a discussion about recent Mindshare research and the agency’s development of a planning software system that factors in consumer involvement with individual media. Media in Canada asked Byfield for the rules of engagement.
Globeauto.com matches cars with buyers
Just in time for the auto show in Toronto this weekend, The Globe and Mail has unveiled a matchmaking site for folks in the market for a vehicle. The site, found at globeauto.com, boasts multiple search tools for the user – from the novice to the auto aficionado, as well as auto news, reviews, videos and comparison calculators. To support the launch, the paper will have a significant presence at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto (February 17-26), while street teams in various globeauto.com-branded vehicles will take to the streets in the Toronto and Vancouver markets. Other executions include print, OOH, online, radio and in-elevator ads. Creative was designed by Naked Creative and media buys were done by Gaggi Media, both of Toronto.
Though editorial content cannot be sponsored, ‘there are a variety of ad spaces available within the site,’ explains Sandra Mason, GM of globeauto.com. Dealers can list vehicles – including weekly specials — on their lots as well, she says.
Zoom and Smart One hook up to form national digital signage network
Montreal-based Zoom Media and Toronto’s Smart One Media have hooked up to bring digital screens to fitness club locker rooms and resto-bars in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Zoom has plans to install 350 new digital screens by the summer, expanding its Zoom Sport (fitness club) network’s reach. The company has plans to add the same amount of digital screens to its resto-bar network as well. Prices are $200 per screen for four weeks in the Zoom Sport network, while Zoom’s Resto-bar network commands a price tag of $140 per screen. Rates will vary according to the length of the ad spot, says Chantal Goncalves, communications and marketing manager at Zoom.
