Bravo touts authors, bathroom opera singers
Specialty channel Bravo has pulled back the (shower) curtains on two new shows for fall. Literature Alive is a 13-part doc series profiling Canadian-Caribbean writers and shows the Caribbean fiction thread that runs from the 1960s through to hip-hop. The show preems Oct. 6 and will air Thursdays at 8 p.m.
On a lighter note, Bathroom Divas: So You Wanna Be…An Opera Star! gives amateur sings from across the spectrum and the country the chance to become the ‘bathroom diva.’ In this six-part series, six candidates are chosen for intensive training with one winning an opportunity to perform live on-stage. Let the warbling begin Saturday, Jan. 7, time TBA.
Event
Sept 21
Internet Day
Toronto
www.adclubto.com
The Advertising Club of Toronto presents keynote Angus Reid, president of Angus Reid Consulting and CEO of Vision Critical. The half-day also includes an examination of how marketers can make a bigger impact online and stay ahead of the changing consumer.
Broadband advertising in its infancy in Canada
Advertisers are doing everything they can to get themselves noticed and with a high concentration of broadband penetration in Canada, it’s no surprise that broadband ads – the newest and (it seems) latest media frontier — are appearing wherever they can. Log on to any news site and you’ll see video to complement content. In the U.S., this was the second year for a broadband upfront market, signaling yet another up-and-coming player in the race to net eyeballs.
In Canada, the vehicle is just starting to catch fire. Among the few examples up and running, ZenithOptimedia has just this week launched a campaign for Pizza Pops that invites users to send a pizza splat to friends. Within the ad is the ability to track how many people type in an e-mail address, how many screensavers are downloaded and more.
MusicBuzz launches on Rogers mobiles
Toronto-based Quickplay Media has released an application that will run on Rogers mobile phones. The infotainment app, called MusicBuzz, is downloadable on select phones for audiophiles on the go. ‘This is a way for someone to personalize their user experience,’ explains Mark Farmer, marketing director at Quickplay. ‘They can get the latest music news and concert listings. And this is updated daily.’ The company is working with Nielsen Soundscan and Chart Attack for its content – some of which is also created in-house. Farmer adds that opportunities exist for large consumer brands to ‘own’ a content channel within MusicBuzz. The application, rife with dropdown menus and features such as ‘Top 10 ring tones’ plus a download-them-here feature is aimed at youth 14-21.
www.rogers.com/musicbuzz
They put ads where? Water coolers get the Dove treatment
In the tight competition for audience, water cooler talk is proving as yet another medium for your message. The folks at Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based AquaCell Technologies have outfitted 1,300 of their patented self-filling water coolers as in-store billboards. Duane Reade (in the New York metro area only) and Rite Aid drugstores all over the U.S. are sporting these as in-store POP for Dove. The result? Free water for the drugstore consumer and, according to a release, a 34% sales lift in sales of Dove in stores with coolers installed. Free of charge to the retailer, the coolers’ ownership is retained by AquaCell and revenue is generated through the sale of ads on the bottle label. Karen Laustsen, president/COO of AquaCell Technologies, says: ‘AquaCell expects at some point, [to] expand in Canada, as some of the retailers we are negotiating with have stores in Canada.’
City unveils timeslots for fall TV
Citytv’s purchase of Monday Night Football bears fruit with a special edition airing live on Thursday, Sept. 8. Air times are 8 p.m. ET in Toronto (in HD); 5 p.m. PT in Vancouver; 6 p.m. MT in Calgary and Edmonton and 7 p.m. CT in Winnipeg, all simulcast with ABC. The regular Monday night timeslot begins Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. in Toronto; 6 p.m. in Vancouver; 7 p.m. in Calgary and Edmonton and 8 p.m. in Winnipeg.
In other Citytv news, Wanted premiers Tuesday, Sept. 13. The West Wing‘s Gary Cole stars as the head of a covert criminal apprehension squad. The show airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT/MT in Toronto (in HD), Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and at 9 p.m. CT in Winnipeg.
Two young men hunt down evil paranormal forces while they search for their father in Supernatural, premiering Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 9 p.m. ET/PT/MT Toronto (in HD), Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and 8 p.m. CT in Winnipeg (simulcast With The WB.)
The darling of the upfronts, Everybody Hates Chris unspools Thursday, Sept. 22. Comedian Chris Rock’s boyhood experiences come to life 8 p.m. ET/PT/MT on Citytv Toronto (in HD), Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and 7 p.m. CT on Citytv Winnipeg.
Touched by an Amy Grant, a.k.a. Three Wishes, in which real people have their dreams come true, premiers Friday, Sept. 23 8 p.m. ET/PT/MT in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and 9 p.m. CT in Winnipeg.
Hot Properties’ real estate sex kittens come out to play Friday, Sept. 16 at 10:30 p.m. MT in Calgary and Edmonton and 8:30 p.m. CT in Winnipeg.
Meanwhile long-in-the-tooth Don Johnson is, oddly enough, Just Legal on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. MT in Calgary and Edmonton. He and a young legal beagle protégé crusade for the wronged in L.A.
Space updates fall log
Space: The Imagination Station now has air dates and times for its new shows. The Sentinel, about a detective with heightened powers, will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m., beginning Sept. 6. 5ive Days to Midnight, a five-part miniseries about a professor who has to solve his own murder, will air Saturdays at 8 p.m. (repeating Sundays at 6 p.m.), beginning Sept. 10.
The 5th Quadrant parodies TV shows about the paranormal and will air Sundays at 8:30 a.m., beginning Sept. 11. Supernatural, Citytv’s show about ghostbusting brothers will also be seen on Space – here Fridays at 10 p.m., beginning Sept. 16 and repeating Saturdays at 5 p.m.
Sundays at 9:30 a.m., beginning Oct. 16 bring the spooky adventures of Vampire High, about bloodsucking teens at a boarding school that’s more than it seems by the light of day.
And finally the popular Stargate franchise extends to Stargate Atlantis Sundays at 8 p.m., beginning Jan. 22. The spin-off follows a scientific and military team investigating the secrets of Atlantis.
BBC Kids to air teen drama
The Brits’ answer to The O.C. hits net BBC Kids Mondays to Fridays beginning Aug. 29 at 10 p.m. The hour-long Hollyoaks will chronicle teen angst from across the pond. A popular adolescent soap in the U.K., the program attracted an average of 5 million sets of eye weekly. This is the North American premiere of the show. It targets 12-17s.
ReGenesis to launch Aug. 29
Global has revealed that the launch date for the much-anticipated biotech drama series ReGenesis will be Monday Aug. 29. The series originally enjoyed a successful release on pay services The Movie Network and Movie Central. It will be broadcast in HDTV.
ReGenesis will air in Ontario/Quebec/British Columbia at 10 p.m.; in Manitoba/Saskatchewan at 9 p.m. and in the Maritimes/Alberta at 8 p.m. (See MIC Feb. 8/05.)
Yummy Yumi for YTV
As part of its Sneaky Phreaky Peaky on Monday, Sept. 5, kid specialty YTV plans to air a special episode of its new series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi at 4 p.m. Based on the popular Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, the show follows the wacky animated adventures of the real-life pop stars as they travel from gig to gig. In this ep, they meet their number one fan who seems okay until she starts to follow them everywhere they go. Regular airtime is Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
PMB Factoid
Consumption of energy/sports drinks: by age
Latest BBM book reveals radio stats
Media in Canada Op/Ed columnist David Bray is SVP of Hennessy & Bray Communications in Toronto.
Who’s leading Canada’s major markets in radio? A brand new BBM survey (bringing the yearly total to four), which debuted yesterday, answers the question for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. (Next year that list will include nine markets in all.) Anticipation (with apologies to Carly Simon) was intense.
Toronto: CHUM-FM bounced back from the last book to lead the way with an 8.6% share of hours tuned for A12+ (up from 6.7% in Survey One ) and a 16.7% share for F25-54 (up from 14.0%). A great book for CBC Radio One with an 8.3% share of hours tuned (A12+), up from 6.7%. Despite dropping a bit, Q107 turned in a 6.4% share of A12+ and a 13.5% share of M25-54. 98.1 CHFI-FM had some nice gains, delivering a 6.5% share of A12+ and a 10.0% share for F25-54. Look for the positive trend to continue in the fall with the return of Erin Davis along with Mike Cooper.
Toronto beauty bar seeks sponsors for film fest event
Everyone needs to be able to survive the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in style. That’s the thinking behind the Ultimate Sweet Spot, a branded lounge launching during the first days of TIFF, from Sept. 8-14, at the trendy, Toronto-based Polish Beauty Bar. It’s backed by Sweetspot.ca, which provides commentary on what’s cool in and around Toronto. The lounge is hoping to attract starlets and film aficionados with various aesthetic services. CTV’s E-Talk Daily has signed on as a media partner and will be broadcasting from the venue.
And branding, sampling and product placement opportunities abound, says Candice Best, spokesperson for McCain Best, the agency involved in the initiative. ‘There will be a Genuine Health bar at the lounge,’ she says. ‘They’re the people who do greens+ and they’ll be mixing energy drinks there.’ The venue will also feature a DJ, as well as an Internet café for festival types to check e-mail or for reporters to file stories. The event is hoping to draw food, drink and transportation categories as sponsors. Already signed, along with Genuine Health, is Crystal Light. The deals were brokered by Toronto-based agency McCain Best along with Sweetspot.ca.
Doctor Who gets an agent
Toronto’s Buzzworthy Licensing + Entertainment has inked a three-year deal with BBC Worldwide as its merchandising agent for British science fiction series Doctor Who in Canada. ‘We’re looking for promo partners for Doctor Who,’ says managing director at Buzzworthy, Kevin Durkee. ‘These might consist of packaged goods brands, battery companies and food and drink brands.’ He also says that the property would do really well with a wireless partner for things like branded content and ring tone downloads. Durkee estimates that his team will be shopping Doctor Who by the end of September. The show attracts primarily boys 7-14, as well as adult fans and collectors. The second season is set to air on CBC this fall.
