ComBase Market Focus: Camrose, AB
More than 90% of Camrose adults read community newspapers:
– 91% report reading any community newspaper (weekday or weekend) compared to 57% who report reading any daily newspapers (weekday or weekend).
– 36% are exclusive community newspaper readers and read only the community paper and not the daily newspaper.
– Exclusive Camrose community newspaper readers tend to be women over the age of 50. They are 8% more likely to be married or in a common law relationship and homeowners.
And when it comes to other media in Camrose:
– 26% of adults admit they didn’t listen to any radio yesterday.
– 4% report listening to non-commercial CBC stations.
– 44% of adults report watching less than 9.5 hours of television in the past week, or 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.
CFL returns to TSN for more games than ever
The CFL is back on TSN for another season and this year it’s stronger than ever. For the 2005 CFL season, TSN will broadcast 54 games, four more than they have in the previous two years. 20 of those games will be Wendy’s Friday Night Football games and will be broadcast in HD. 2005 will see a pre-season game between Hamilton and Toronto in Halifax, the first ever CFL game played there. The season opens June 22 and will feature the Labour Day game, the Hall of Fame game, a Canada Day double-header and the Grey Cup on Nov. 27 live from Vancouver.
Kenny and Spenny set to return in the fall
Former CBC reality/comedy series, Kenny vs. Spenny, has been picked up by Showcase, which plans to air 15 new episodes of the series beginning this fall. The series, currently in production until mid-May, centers on the friendship and bitter rivalry of lifelong pals who try to top each other in a series of hysterical contests. A hidden gem that aired weekly on CBC afternoons, Showcase plans to air the show later in the day to try to better reach the male 18-34 target demo. Contests for the upcoming season include ‘Who can stay naked the longest?’ and ‘Who can meet the most celebrities?’.
Kelsey Grammer returns to television
Kelsey Grammer couldn’t stay away from comedy for long. Fresh off 11 years of Frasier, Grammer is set to return to the world of television, this time as an executive producer. Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show will premiere March 13 at 9:30 p.m. on Global in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Grammer’s new project is a sketch comedy series in the vein of Laugh-In and features five comedic performers presenting approximately 30 vignettes per half-hour show. The show is based on the critically acclaimed and award winning show by the same name in the U.K.
The Contender ready to deliver knockout punch
From the formidable foursome of Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Sly Stallone and Sugar Ray comes The Contender, the newest addition to the ‘Unscripted Drama’ genre, premiering Monday, March 7 at 9:30 p.m. before moving into its regular Sunday 7 p.m. timeslot on March 13. The Contender will follow 16 wannabe Rocky Balboas from training camp to the squared circle in the hopes of becoming a champion boxer and winning $1 million.
Jamie Kennedy back in the reality show game
Toronto 1 has picked up the rights to The Starlet, Jamie Kennedy’s new reality series beginning Sunday, March 6 at 8 p.m. Hosted by Jamie Kennedy, who previous hosted his own reality show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, for three seasons, Starlet sets outs to find the next hit young actress with a role on The WB’ series One Tree Hill and a management contract being the show’s top prize. Starlet follows a similar format to other talent search series, with Vivica Fox and Faye Dunaway participating on the judge’s panel. In true Apprentice form, the show has a catch phrase of its own. Instead of The Donald’s ‘You’re fired!’ Dunaway will tell eliminated actresses, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’
PMB Factoid
Alberta residents are 56% more likely to be heavy users of meal replacements
Cineplex Galaxy’s new digital cinema network offers flexibility, efficiency, and targetability
Cineplex Galaxy is making cinema much more attractive to advertisers with the launch of its new digital pre-show cinema network, Reel Entertainment. The pre-show is scheduled to run 20 minutes before the start of each film. Reel Entertainment premiers April 1 on 215 screens in 21 theatres in the Toronto extended market area and is expected to expand to 400 screens across the country by the end of the year.
Clear Channel moves into Montreal
Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) has opened a Montreal office and appointed Alain Simard as general manager, Quebec and Eastern Canada, responsible for expanding CCO into those regions. Most recently, Simard has been working as a media consultant but has previously held posts with the Montreal offices of Rogers Media magazine division; Societe Radio-Canada sales and marketing; Planon Telexpertise; Nielsen Research Marketing; and BCP.
CCO properties include mall media, banner ads, airport advertising, signage in Toronto, and transit shelters in Ottawa. The Canadian operation is based in Toronto and is part of international OOH, radio and TV company, Clear Channel Communications of San Antonio, Texas.
Cortex to launch new international women’s magazine
Cortex Publishing, which currently publishes PLUS magazine, is in the final stages of development for their second publication dubbed, Beautiful. While Cortex has announced plans to market the mag in both Canada and the U.S., the company has not finalized details on an editorial profile or target market. For advertising information, contact Jack Krosinski at (416)521-9415.
CMDC conference lineup confirmed
The Canadian Media Directors’ Council (CMDC) has unveiled the full speaker and session lineup for the April 5 conference, Called to Account! – Managing Risk and Accountability. In addition to the keynote address by Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP Group, London, the conference is bringing in some other notables from beyond our borders. Jack Myers, editor and publisher of the Jack Myers Report will present his view of the media business in a morning timeslot. One of the afternoon sessions, ‘The Auditors and the Audited’, features John Billett, chairman of media audit firms Billets and MPMA (Media Performance Monitor America) and Stephen White, founder and chairman of UK-based EMM International (Effective Media Management). Session topics also include ‘The Performance of Ideas, A View From the Top’ with Ian Greenberg, president and CEO of Astral Media; ‘This Panel Brought to You By… The Future of Sponsorship and Branded Entertainment’, and ‘More than Media: Accountability in Business, Sports and Entertainment.’ Philip E. Donne, president of Campbell Company of Canada, is the scheduled luncheon speaker.
More on the conference can be found at www.cmdc.ca.
BBM Media Snapshot: Canadians online
More than three-quarters of Canadians have Internet access
– 72% of Canadians have Internet access at home.
– Of those who don’t have Internet access at home, one third (33%) have access either at work, school or some other location. This brings the total proportion of Canadians with some form of Internet access to 81%.
– Over half (57%) of Canadians with Internet access at home have high speed access – either cable or DSL based.
– Average weekly time spent online is 5.2 hours for Canadians with Internet access at home and 5.9 hours for Canadians with high speed access at home.
– The most popular activities online among all Canadians 18 or older who connected to the Internet yesterday are: e-mail (96%), searching for specific information (94%), browsing (84%), accessing information on specific products and services (78%), and accessing current news (66%).
– Teenagers who connected to the Internet yesterday are twice as likely to participate in chat groups and are 1.7 times as likely as adults to download music/MP3 files. Teens are less likely to access news or information on specific products than adults.
– Interestingly, yesterday exposure to TV and radio is about average (85% and 81% respectively) among Canadians spending more than 15 hours on the Internet each week.
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’03 / Spring ’04
The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 55,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.
Falcon Beach expanded to 13-part series on Global
Canadians want more Falcon Beach. That’s what the research says, and more Falcon Beach is what Canadians are going to get. After the successful airing of the original two-hour movie/pilot on Jan. 29, Global has evaluated the research and will expand the youth-driven drama into a series of 13 one-hour episodes.
The series will follow the young adults through the summer as the cottagers collide with the locals at the fictional resort of Falcon Beach. Production is set to begin this summer through Manitoba’s Original Pictures and Toronto’s Insight Pictures. No airdates have been set.
For more information, visit www.canada.com and enter searchword Falcon Beach.
TVO sends teens around the world
For teens, the ever-important search for someone they can identify with can often be confined to the limits of their high school, but TVO has set out to change that on Saturday afternoons. Debuting April 2 at 12:30 p.m., Get Outta Town! is a 13-part reality series (already airing in the U.S. on WAM), that shows what it’s like to be a teen in other parts of the world.
For more information visit www.getouttatown.tv.
SPACE premieres new co-pro
Charlie Jade, a new 20-episode South African/Canadian co-production, is set to debut April 16 at 8 p.m. with two-full hours on SPACE. The series, airing regularly on Saturdays at 8 p.m., takes place in three parallel universes and stars Jeffrey Pierce as a rogue detective. SPACE will also air a half-hour special, Charlie Jade: Behind the Scenes, on Saturday, April 16 at 7:30 to provide viewers with a candid look at the production of the series.
