Space puts a hex on March
The Space Network is premiering Hex, a series that follows Cassie, a student who has great powers to fight evil. Hex begins Wednesday March 8 at 10 p.m.
BBC Kids yucks it up with The Young Ones
BBC Kids is airing The Young Ones, a half-hour comedy series about four very incompatible housemates attending Scumbag College in North London. Beginning April 9, The Young Ones will air at 9 p.m. every Sunday and targets kids 14+.
Layfield replaces Klymkiw as executive director, network programming at CBC
Kristine Layfield has been named executive director of network programming at CBC, replacing Slawko Klymkiw who departed last year for the Canadian Film Centre. Layfield brings nearly 20 years’ domestic and international experience in the broadcasting and TV verticals and was most recently SVP, lifestyle content at Alliance Atlantis. She will helm the overall programming strategy for CBC.
Lower Mainland Publishing signs Rutigliano
Mike Rutigliano has been signed as VP, ad sales for CanWest’s Lower Mainland Publishing Group. Most recently, Rutigliano was director of sales, classifieds for the Pacific Newspaper Group. He begins his new post on February 7.
PMB Factoid
Type of home heating: by community size
Quest for young adults drive newspaper evolution; pundit says Toronto is the market to watch
The chase for young adults is the biggest trend and the biggest challenge for newspapers across the Western world today, according to Earl Wilkinson, executive director of the Dallas, Texas-based International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA). ‘The million-dollar question is how do you attract young adult readers in particular across a 24-hour day because with information ubiquity they are consuming media in smaller bites throughout the day?’ The idea he says is one information mill, one brand, but many platforms.
BC shopping mall hosts branded playground; looks to build more
A Cathay Pacific airplane landed in British Columbia’s Richmond Centre Mall last week, giving young shoppers a place to burn some steam. And according to Leslie Matheson, marketing director at Richmond Centre, the mall will be looking at adding more branded playgrounds targeting an older kid demo in the near future.
‘We’re looking at more of a computer and technology-based area, [rather] than an actual play area. But we’d still want to call it a children’s energy burning area. So we’re still trying to figure out something for children over five that would still stimulate them and be interesting to them,’ she says.
For the Cathay Pacific brand hookup, Matheson says an airplane playground was chosen because the mall is so close to the Vancouver International Airport — an employer of around 30,000 people in the area. ‘When we decided to go with the plane, we looked at companies that matched our brand and were after what we were going for,’ she says. As such, the mall chose Cathay Pacific for its family-focused, neighbourly brand attributes. Another reason for the Cathay Pacific choice, says Matheson, was because both the mall and airport have a high Asian demographic, at 45%. Richmond Centre has traffic counts of up to 12.5 million each year.
Top TV advertisers: Eldoa ad analysis
Last week saw a cluster of categories huddling at the number two spot in the top three categories with the most new TV advertisers. All tied at number two (at 12%) are automotive, public service, retail and travel and transportation. Claiming gold is entertainment at 18%. Over the same time period, Jan.20-26, last year’s gold went to drug products at a whopping 43%, followed by entertainment at 29%. 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 ad analysis
Looks like Petro-Canada’s trying to woo listeners with their siren song, as the brand takes the top spot in the race for the most ads on rotation in the Toronto market last week. Just behind the gas giant is TV juggernaut CTV (at number two) and budget furnishing brand Ikea (at number three, leaping from number 12 last week). Over to the categories list and restaurants again sit at number one, with 41 different advertisers for the broadcast week. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of Jan. 21-28.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
CanWest and Air Canada get integrated with Broadway
CanWest and Air Canada are again teaming up to promote the airline’s new daily non-stop service from Calgary to New York. In a deal brokered by Air Canada’s agency, Marketel, The Broadway Getaway promo will be touted across CanWest’s print, TV and interactive platforms in the Calgary and Edmonton markets beginning Feb. 6. Campaign executions include ads on Canada.com and on Global’s Calgary morning news. Ads will announce the new service, while a contest element found at aircanada.com/ny will give away flight packages to six winners. The promo targets 25-54s.
They put ads where? Indy Airport dresses up its electrical outlets
Chase Commercial Bank has found a way to nab the attention of business travelers at airports. The bank’s New York City-based ad agency Bradley and Montgomery has dressed up electrical outlets at Indianapolis International Airport with the brand’s creative, hoping to score eyeball time when execs search for an outlet to plug in laptops and mobile phones. Chase’s ‘signposts’ bear the brand’s logo and copy such as ‘This outlet works. Now you can too,’ or ‘You and your laptop may breathe a sign of relief now.’
Discovery shows viewers how to build big
Discovery Channel’s six-part series, Building the Biggest looks at engineering feats across the globe in each episode. The first show investigates the construction of a diamond mine near the Arctic Circle, where temperatures drop below -50 degrees Celsius. Building the Biggest premieres Thursday, Feb. 23 at 9 p.m.
BBC Canada unveils new series for March
BBC Canada is putting a modern spin on some time-honoured favourites in March with Shakespeare Retold. The four 90-minute productions include The Taming of the Shrew done as an opposition MP instructed to find a husband to make her more electable and Macbeth in which an arrogant chef is driven to murder. Also on offer are Much Ado About Nothing, a romantic comedy set in a regional newsroom and finally A Midsummer Night’s Dream which chronicles a surreal weekend at a holiday park featuring four warring couples, a donkey’s head and a gaggle of fairies. The tales air Sundays at 9 p.m., beginning March 5. Also on tap is The Grid, a six-ep look at the professional and personal lives of U.S. and U.K. counter-terrorist agents. The Grid airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m., beginning March 1.
OLN rocks the boat with new series
The Outdoor Life Network is premiering the new hour-long show Rock the Boat in March. The series will follow boat-builder John West and his crew as they build custom boats in San Diego. West’s boats have been featured on 22 magazine covers and have won Powerboat Magazine‘s ‘Boat of the Year’ twice. Rock the Boat premieres March 3 at 9 p.m.
