The Canadian Football League’s (CFL) kicking off a 54-game broadcast campaign this season, with 21 of those games in High Definition. Popular fast-food giant Wendy’s is title sponsor this year. Wendy’s Friday Night football airs every Friday night during the regular season while Wendy’s CFL Live games will run through the week. The burger chain is also dropping dollars on Wendy’s Kick for a Million, where a fan can kick a field goal for a chance to win $1 million. A 20-yard field goal wins $1,000 while a 50-yard field goal nets a cool million dollar prize. Sony digital imaging and home theatre packages are also available to be won. The CFL’s regular season begins on June 22.

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.

When is a commercial break not really a break? When it’s a creative break. Creative breaks are a new integration technique being used by Radio-Canada to bring advertising into programs without the usual product placement approaches.
The French-language broadcaster plans to build on this concept and develop new going into this fall. One of its new tactics is long-form advertising, something it has just begun with a few clients who want to own the full two minutes of a commercial break. As a result, two-minute features are being created to run exclusively on R-C stations.
Additionally, the Radio-Canada Web site – once an ad-free zone – is going commercial this fall, offering standalone and integrated advertising that carries over from TV to the online platform.

For a list of the top 30 TV shows for the week of May 30 to June 5, according to BBM, please click the links below:
National
Quebec
Vancouver
Toronto
Ontario

Alliance Atlantis’ HGTV is prepping its first-ever design game show, slated to air in the fall. The Design Game mixes trivia with design, with contestants vying for the opportunity to win household items. Producers of the show secure products such as indoor/outdoor furniture, BBQs, appliances and home electronics for prizing. Donor brands receive a verbal mention and a visual of their product on-air as well as a ‘thank you’ during the show’s end credits. Integrated ad opps are available via Synergy, the Integrated Ideas Group at Alliance Atlantis Communications. The Design Game is searching for contestants through the summer. Primary target demo is women 25 to 55.

BBC Kids adds live-action series My Dad’s the Prime Minister to its weekend line-up, beginning July 9. The half-hour sitcom, a hit in 2003 on the UK’s BBC1, airs Saturdays and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Aimed at girls ages 6 to 11, it promises to show politics through kids’ eyes.

CBC revealed its fall lineup today and it’s putting most of its eggs into the Canadian dramatic series basket.

The network announced its plans to increase the hours devoted to Canuck drama by 50% while increasing comedy hours by 10%. The big push is to place its predicted heavy-hitter dramatic titles during the Sunday and Monday night timeslots.