Mystery uncovered
CanWest Global’s specialty net Mystery is ramping up for some additions to its lineup.
Blind Justice, a show just rolled out on CH, will now be seen on Mystery as well. The show will air Sundays at 6 p.m., beginning March 27. As well, it will continue on CH in its regular slot of Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, season five of Andromeda premiers on Mystery this Thursday at 10 p.m.
Discovery Health takes on Hollywood
April is ‘Healthy Makeover Month’ on the Discovery Health Channel and it’s being kicked off by four hour-long episodes of Body Challenge Hollywood. Starting on Sunday, April 3 at 2 p.m., Eric Estrada tops the list of celebrities on the show competing to see who can drop the most weight. The series will then air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. through April.
Discovery Health stays right on track with a one-hour special called I Lost It! Celebrity Special airing directly after the Body Challenge Hollywood marathon on Sunday, April 3 at 6 p.m. This special will explore the specific stories of stars like Dennis Franz of NYPD Blue and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
‘Healthy Makeover Month’ doesn’t stop there, with programs like Health Cops: Undercover, Trash Can of Skin and National Body Challenge II all airing through April. The key target demo for the network is women 25-54.
Starcom welcomes Glennie
Peter Glennie has joined Toronto-based Starcom MediaVest Group as IP director. Glennie has worked in traditional and online media on such brands as Air Canada, Levi’s, Volkswagen and P&G, all in a contractual project capacity. He was one of the pioneering media professionals to use online media in Canada.
RedPoint, Bowman part company
President and publisher Dan Bowman has departed Calgary-based RedPoint Media Group. He has been replaced by former chair and CFO Don Graves. RedPoint publishes such magazines as Wine Access, Avenue, Calgary Inc. and WestJet’s new Up! in-flight magazine.
Bowman’s Avenue Media Group merged with Graves’ Calgary Publishing in 2003 to form RedPoint. Graves has now bought Bowman out.
Events
March 31
PR for Competitive Advantage
416.465.0070
Ontario Club, Toronto
ama-tor@allstream.net
AMA past president and Marketing Hall of Legends co-chair Jim Warrington moderates ‘Sharing Secrets and Success Stories.’ Panelists like Rob Assimakopoulos, VP marketing, Molson Canada, talk about how strategic public relations make a difference for them.
May 16-18
Canadian Marketing Association 2005 National Convention & Trade Show
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto
416-391-2362
http://www.the-cma.org
Among the events of interest at Canada’s mondo marketing confab, David Baxter, executive director, Urban Futures Institute, discusses ‘Demographics, Life Cycles & Life Styles: Practical Strategies for Reaching Consumers Today and in the Future.’
PMB Factoid
23% of French Canadians purchase beer at convenience stores. Grocery stores: 30%
BITE offers ‘truly’ interactive TV
Andy Warhol would be proud. Touted as the first ‘truly’ interactive television station, BITE, found on Rogers Cable channel 198, entered the crowded broadcast landscape yesterday offering its male target the chance to not only control their programming, but become part of it as well.
President and CEO of BITE Television Jeffrey Elliot hopes to woo advertisers to the digital channel by bringing together everything the 19-34 guy is into: TV, Internet and mobile/wireless entertainment under one edgy, Jackass-the-movie-type format.
AMW gives B2B, lawyers consumer treatment
Toronto’s Axmith McIntyre Wicht is challenging the staid B2B/professional services advertising formula with the launch of two new campaigns this month for corporate clients NewAlta and Osler Hoskin Harcourt.
AMW contracted renowned photographer Shin Sugino to shoot breathtaking photos of large, powerful, dirty hands wringing the last drop out of various machinery for NewAlta, an Alberta-based company that recycles the byproducts of the oil and gas industry. The firm is trying to gain attention from potential investors across the country. The print ads broke yesterday, and will run for three to six months in national publications like the Globe and Mail, National Post and ROB Magazine.
Esso pumping out ad space
The Globe and Mail and Toronto’s Mojo radio are taking full advantage of VST – Canada’s Point of Influence Network, now set up at 118 Esso stations across the GTA. The network, launched at five test stations in late 2003, broadcasts two- to three-minute loops of news content and ads on sunlight-viewable monitors mounted above gas pumps. The Globe and Mojo are each running 15-second spots, as well as sponsoring news content.
Cossette, Yellow Pages Zoom into spring
Cossette Media has used Zoom Media billboards to recreate the Yellow Pages in a busy Montreal passageway at 1000 de la Gauchetière. The campaign employs all the Mega Lit billboards installed in the passageway, two murals as well as floor, wall and ceiling clings to bring the well-known telephone directory to life. The initiative uses a variety of classified headings found in the directory to heighten the effect.
Cossette brightened up the passageway with the colours of the Yellow Pages in an effort to evoke spring. ‘Once again, innovation paves the way to excellent results and we are proud of this project’, said Mario Cecchini, president and COO of Zoom Media Canada in a release. Diane Cladios was media supervisor on the project. The campaign broke March 14 and runs until April 10.
BBM Commercial Tracking Service
Please click on the attached link to view a comparison of commercial activity versus all advertising activity (commercials, station/program promos and PSAs) trended by week along with average weekly GRPS on Toronto conventional stations from Jan. 26, 2004 to Jan. 30, 2005.
Toronto commercial activity
ComBase Market Focus: British Columbia
British Columbia adults are very strong community newspaper readers:
* 79% report reading any community newspaper (weekday or weekend) compared to 63% who report reading any daily newspapers (weekday or weekend).
* 27% only read the community paper and not the daily newspaper.
* Exclusive British Columbia community newspaper readers tend to be women 25-34.
When it comes to other media in British Columbia:
* 28% of adults admit they didn’t listen to any radio yesterday.
* 14% report listening to non-commercial CBC stations.
* 44% of adults report watching less than 9.5 hours of television in the past week, which translates to less than an hour and a half a day.
Source: ComBase 2003-2004 Study
ComBase, the Community Newspaper Database, is a syndicated consumer-media survey of more than 400 Canadian markets that provides market-by-market information. It is an initiative of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and its nearly 700 members across the country. For more information, contact Kelly Levson, senior project manager, kellylevson@combase.ca.
New for spring: Toronto Life
The new look for Toronto Life, as MIC reported in December, is set to hit newsstands. The mag has added some new editorial sections, including an architecture feature called ‘Hot Property’ and ‘City Survivor,’ which looks at arts, entertainment and restaurant reviews.
The change, coming into play with the April issue, is designed to reflect the changing face of Toronto and to attract more eyes at the newsstand level, says group president Greg MacNeil. The pub is owned by St. Joseph Media. This is Toronto Life‘s first redesign in 13 years.
Canadian Satellite Radio, CKUA Radio Network form strategic partnership
Old is meeting new as Canada’s first publicly owned radio caster, CKUA, formed in 1927, makes plans to provide programming to Canadian Satellite Radio. CSR will gain local content while Alberta-based CKUA’s material will grab ears across North America with a proposed satellite radio service, the Northern Lights channel. The duo will also try to generate other funding and programming initiatives for community radio throughout Canada.
‘Our involvement with satellite radio allows us to extend our programming expertise and reach via this new technology,’ said Sharon McMullan-Baron, chairman of the CKUA Radio Foundation Board in a release.
http://www.cdnsatrad.com.
http://www.ckua.com.
CMT charts musician’s journey in new series
CMT is rolling out an original, unscripted series that follows the trials and tribulations of forming a band. Each 30-minute ep of the six-part series chronicles award-winning country music artist Jason McCoy’s efforts to recruit a band, record an album and play their first live concert.
The Road Hammers airs over three weeks with back-to-back episodes beginning Saturday, April 23 at 11 p.m. After the series finale, viewers can pick up the album they watched come into being when it hits stores May 17. Renée Fournier, publicist with parent company Corus Entertainment of Toronto, says CMT is targeting its usual demo with the show: country music fans 25-54. She says the net is skewing slightly female at the moment.
http://www.cmtcanada.com
