Spike stays
The CRTC has ruled that Spike TV can stay on Canada’s cable menus. The hearing was initiated last May when the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) lodged a complaint on behalf of association member, Global TV. The CAB contended that when the former Nashville Network rebranded as male-targeted Spike TV in 2003, it represented unfair competition to Canadian channels such as Global-owned diginet Men TV and should be removed.
More than 219 letters and comments were received by the CRTC on this matter, 184 of them against the CAB’s contention, including one from the Canadian Cable Telecommunication Association (CCTA). The CCTA said that Spike TV had evolved in response to audience preferences and does not compete with Canadian services.
The CRTC found there was insufficient evidence to support the complaint and will amend the list of approved analog services to include the former TNN as its new entity Spike TV.
One World pulls in big time support for relief effort
CTV’s broadcast of One World: The Concert for Tsunami Relief reached over four million viewers on Saturday. The event, which was held in Vancouver and hosted by Brent Butt and Rick Mercer, featured Canadian recording artists such as The Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan and Sum 41 (as well as a special appearance by Robin Williams). The combined totals of Saturday’s event and last night’s follow up concert in Calgary are expected to generate over $3 million for charities doing relief work in the disaster areas across South Asia.
Ipsos-Reid: 59% more Canadians did holiday shopping online
More Canadians were letting their mouse do the walking this past holiday season than ever before. More than 3.5 adults bought at least one gift online during the 2004 holiday season compared to 2.2 million in 2003 according to the most recent Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report.
In the U.S., online shopping experienced a much smaller increase – 29%.
Ipsos-Reid also found that 56% of adults with Internet access have made a purchase online, compared to 47% in 2003 and 39% in 2002.
Canadians spent an average of $228 online, down slightly from the typical purchase of $247 in 2003 and $267 in 2002, although the decrease in average spend is more than compensated by the increase in the number of people shopping online.
The most popular purchases were clothes (29%), books (28%), and DVDs or movies (25%).
Most of those surveyed, 77%, said they would likely make online purchases again while only 2% said they likely would not.
The Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report is part of a quarterly survey of Internet trends in Canada conducted via an online panel of 1,000 and a further 1,000 telephone interviews.
CBC’s Greatest Canadian honored with mini-series
Last year’s hotly debated Greatest Canadian series named social justice advocate Tommy Douglas as our country’s most outstanding citizen of all-time. Though rumor has it that Roch Voisine is still demanding a recount, the CBC has green lighted The Tommy Douglas Story, a four-hour mini series set to air next season. Filming will commence February 16 in Saskatchewan with Michael Therriault (who played Leo Bloom in the Canadian version of The Producers) playing the role of Douglas.
Star! Valentine’s weekend all about Hollywood’s most famous prolific scorers
Beginning February 12, Star! will be airing ‘Hollywood Sweethearts Weekend’, a two-day Valentine’s extravaganza that will bring you so close to the love lives of the stars, you can practically smell the silicone. Saturday’s lineup will begin at 3:00 p.m. with a three-hour Love Chain marathon that will chronicle the promiscuous escapades of stars like Carmen Electra, George Clooney and Ashton Kutcher. Back-to-back episodes of Hollywood Love Story follow, and Saturday concludes with 25 Couples We Love at 8 p.m. and Hollywood Wives Tales at 9 p.m. Sunday will air all five episodes of 101 Juiciest Hollywood Hookups starting at 1 p.m.
CBC doc lets Canada know how women like to get down
Sex, Truth and Videotape, a six-part doc from Francine Pelletier beginning Monday, February 14 at 10 p.m. on CBC Newsworld, brings the new era of female sexuality to the small screen. Each hour-long episode features interviews with six women from varying ages, races, sexual preferences, and socioeconomic backgrounds as they reflect on their experiences with love, lust and everything in between.
BBM Media Snapshot: Martha Stewart Living readers in Canada
– Almost one million Canadians – 914,000 (3%) – read Martha Stewart Living in the past month.
– The vast majority of Martha Stewart Living‘s Canadian readers are female – 84%.
– Martha Stewart Living‘s readership has representation in all age groups. The top four groups are: 25 to 34 (19%), 45 to 54 (19%), 35 to 44 (15%) and 65+ (14%).
– Martha Stewart Living readers have an average personal yearly income of $32,000, which is slightly higher than the Canadian average of $30,000.
– 27% of Martha Stewart Living readers have an under-graduate degree or more, compared to 20% among the general population.
– Martha Stewart Living is most popular in BC with 5% monthly readership. Not surprising since it is an English-language publication, it is least popular in Quebec with 2% monthly readership. Readership is slightly higher in Ontario (4%) but otherwise average in all other regions.
– Looking at weekly radio reach, the top three formats among Martha Stewart Living readers are: adult contemporary (AC), 38%; news/talk, 38%; and hot AC, 21%.
– The three most popular types of TV shows among Martha Stewart Living readers by average weekly viewership are: movies (69%), news/current affairs (67%) and home improvement shows (53%).
– The three most popular magazine types (readership in past month) amongst Martha Stewart Living readers are: gardening and homes (76%), women’s (64%) and food and beverage magazines (64%).
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.
PMB Factoid
Households with kids 6-11 were 35% more likely to use 10+ rolls of toilet paper per month.
It’s a wrap for Global
CanWest employees are gearing up to pimp their rides – literally. The company is in the midst of launching phase four of its Global & CH Car Advertising Wrap Program in the Greater Toronto Area, which pays select employees to wrap their vehicles in ads.
‘We want to augment what we do through traditional media, and get into areas where traditional ad space isn’t available,’ says Scott MacLeod, Global’s director of media planning and television. He’s primarily targeting the 400 and 401 highways to reach bored commuters stuck in traffic.
Mid-season round-up: Part 4 – Quebec
Quebec television has seen a lot of changes this year, so our final instalment of the mid-season roundup gives you the lowdown on what’s hot right now in La Belle Province.
24/7 Canada new Web ad rep for Publisac.ca
Transcontinental Media has chosen Toronto-based Web ad and permission-based e-mail marketing company, 24/7 Canada as exclusive Web ad rep for its premier French Canadian shopping Web site, Publisac.ca. Through its Publi-Sac (Ad-Bag) network, Transcontinental Media distributes ad materials door to door. Publisac.ca is the French-language Internet extension of this direct mail network, attracting 210,000 unique visitors monthly and generating 4 million monthly page views, according to comScore Media Metrix.
The agreement positions 24/7 as an online media network for local advertisers in Quebec. The company will use Publisac.ca to headline its French shopping vertical and reach further into the French Canadian market.
Toronto subway gets wireless with Bell
Bell Mobility is going to transmit media content to Toronto subway stations and trains using wireless Internet connections for OneStop Toronto. OneStop is installing LCD screens in the subway system. The move is a joint deal by Viacom Outdoor, Fourth Wall Media and the TTC, with service beginning this month. Some participating advertisers include Nokia, Taco Bell and Pfizer. CHUM Television is providing content.
BBM GRPs
Click on the attached link to view a trending of the Restaurant Category GRPS in Toronto for Sept 03-Aug 04 based on A18-49.
http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20050127/Restaurant_Category_CMR_Chart_01-24-2005.pdf
Lise Watier gets fashionable on Newsworld
Lise Watier Cosmétiques is targeting the dress-for-success crowd with a series of beauty trends and makeup application tips on CBC Newsworld’s Fashion File. The Montreal-based company worked with its media management agency Carat Canada and Fashion File to create the series of 13 60-second how-to vignettes. One tip is scheduled to run each week from Jan. 17 to April 15.
Designed to blend seamlessly with the programming, the vignettes mirror the regular Fashion File segments. The segments will direct viewers to the program’s Web site, fashionfile.com, where they can view the tips in real time or click on lisewatier.com to move to the company’s site.
In addition to a banner ad on the Fashion File site, Lise Watier products will be featured in a double-page spread in the March edition of Fashion Magazine and promoted in an e-mail to 20,000 magazine subscribers.
Lise Watier is also taking the CBC Newsworld link in-store to customers through brochures featuring the same content as the vignettes.
W hopes for Hugh-ge ratings
W is aiming to set viewers’ hearts aflutter (and grab eyeballs) in March with a full month of Hugh Grant programming. Highlights on the huggable Brit hottie include Hollywood’s Ten Best Hugh Grant Movies on Saturday, March 5 at 8:30 p.m. and the exclusive broadcast premiere of Two Weeks Notice on Saturday, March 26 at 9 p.m.
Granted, W will also air Sensibility and Sensibility (Saturday, March 5 at 9 p.m.), Nine Months (Saturday, March 12 at 9 p.m.) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (Saturday, March 19 at 9 p.m.), among others.
