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.
Notes from the media landscape: AOL gets Punk’d over
First it was uber-producer Mark Burnett. Now, Ashton Kutcher? America Online (AOL) announced this week that Kutcher’s production company Katalyst Films has been signed to create ‘disruptive’ online characters to infiltrate AOL’s instant messaging community. Katalyst is the prodco that brought Punk’d and
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Valentine’s Day plays out on TV
Marketers of traditional Valentines Day tokens of love – greeting cards, chocolates, flowers, and lingerie – have been putting about 63% of their media dollars into TV for the past three years, although in 2002 it spent 71.9% of that spend on TV.
Teletoon picks up politically incorrect animated series
The Boondocks, a politically incorrect series about two young black kids from inner-city Chicago living in a mostly-white suburb, debuts on Teletoon tomorrow night. The animated show that’s one part Fresh Prince of Bel Air and one part South Park, looks at hip-hop culture through a political lens and is voiced by Regina King (from Ray) and John Witherspoon (of Friday fame). The show will air on Fridays at 10:30 p.m., targeting 18+.
TBWAVancouver adds media vet Wirtz as media director
TBWAVancouver has announced the addition of Susan Wirtz as media director. Prior to joining TBWAVancouver, Wirtz was at the helm of her own media planning and buying firm. She has also held roles at Baker Lovick (then BBDO) working on accounts such as: A&W Food Services, Pacific Newspaper Group, BC Hydro and Telus.
Sweetspot.ca signs Nash
Sweetspot.ca, publisher of the Sweet Nothing lifestyle e-newsletter has signed Lisa Nash as director of sales and business development. Nash’s prior stints include publisher at Playback and associate publisher at strategy (Both titles are owned by MIC parent, Brunico Communications.)
