Television (Specialty) – 4.5 out of 5
Both English and French specialties are having a killer fall season and doing well according to buyers surveyed by Media in Canada. Avails for the most desirable channels are tight right up to December.

It’s been a little more than a month since the fall TV season took off in full swing and speaking with media experts, MIC thought it’d be a good time to determine which Canadian net is winning the all-important Thursday night race.

Le Réseau des sports (RDS) is launching a new all sports news and information service Le Réseau Info-Sports (RIS), tonight at 7 p.m. RIS will broadcast sports news bulletins in 30-minute loops that are updated continuously and coverage will include international, national and regional professional and amateur sports. Luc Bellemare, Yannick Bouchard, Stéphane Langdeau and Patrick Mahoney will be the featured anchors on this new sports news service.

New research from Decima’s The Digital Domain: Tracking the Growth and Development of the Canadian Digital TV Distribution Market found the number of Canadian households subscribing to digital TV services has bypassed the four million mark in the second quarter of 2004. In households that subscribe to a TV service, roughly four in 10 now receive a digital TV service (digital cable or satellite TV) in comparison to analog cable.
The report also found that Canada’s TV service providers added roughly the same net digital TV subscribers in Q2 of 2004 compared to the same period last year and the number of Canadian households increased their digital TV subscription services by an estimated 3% (or 110,526) in Q2 (February/March 2004 to May/June 2004), compared to an estimated 3 % (or 113,429) the previous year (February/March 2003 to May/June 2003).

CBC’s premiere episode of The Greatest Canadian, which counts down the 50 top greatest Canadians, grabbed an audience of 1.115 million viewers across Canada on Sunday night. The series continued on Monday night (at 8 p.m.) with their first one-hour documentary episode feature of Tommy Douglas, presented by advocate George Stroumboulopoulos.
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/

Advertising: Product Placement Moves to Cartoons (New York Times, October 21). In another conquest for product placement, a new Comedy Central cartoon for adults joins the trend.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/business/media/21adco.html

CBC’s 2004 Canadian Urban Music Awards has nabbed Honda as their key sponsor for the program, which is co-hosted by Master T and Jully Black with feature performances by urban artists including Jacksoul and Keshia Chante on Thursday, October 28 at 8 p.m.
As part of their sponsorship deal, Honda’s logo is featured on billboards in the broadcast as well as brand-sell spots. Ad space remains available in this hip program – geared to the 18-24 urban (or wannabe) demographic.

Hawaii is the first casualty of the 2004-05 TV season. NBC had originally announced that the hour-long series was being put on hiatus to make room for LAX but now says production on the show has ceased.
CanWest had scheduled Hawaii in simulcast with NBC on its CH nets Wednesdays at 8 p.m., but due to the cancellation will now be replaced with LAX.

Based on the Nickelodeon series The Fairly OddParents, YTV will be premiering a feature-length movie Channel Chasers on Friday, November 26 at 4:30 p.m. in the after school block, The Zone. In this 90-minute movie, youngsters can follow 10-year-old Timmy Turner as he ties to overcome typical childhood obstacles with the help of his wacky fairy godparents.
The Fairly OddParents series, which airs Mondays to Fridays at 5 p.m., Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m., ranks in the top five on YTV and is a head-to-head contender with ratings-grabber SpongeBob SquarePants. The popular series continues off screen as well with an extensive international consumer products line that involves licensing partnerships with Hasbro, Fisher-Price and American Greeting that include products like sleepwear, stationary, toys, backpacks, etc.
http://www.ytv.com/programming/shows/fairly_odd_parents/index.asp?showID=8

W Network’s new series Style By Jury takes makeovers to a new level by ambushing unsuspecting ‘style-challenged’ candidates, placing them in front of a two-way mirror, while nine strangers offer their honest first impressions on everything from physical appearance, fashion sense and mannerisms.
With the help of a hairstylist, make-up artist, dermatologist, cosmetic dentist, image consultant and host Bruce Turner, the candidate undergoes a makeover that gives them a second chance to make a better first impression. The new makeover series premieres on Monday, November 1 at 10 p.m.
http://www.wnetwork.com/tv_shows/shows/style_by_jury/index.asp

Global is set to air the one-hour special, The Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2004: The Great Debates, which will feature classic SNL debate parodies spanning three decades of elections. The special is airing Monday, November 1 at 10 p.m. in Ontario/Quebec/BC; 8 p.m. in the Maritimes/Alberta and 9 p.m. in Winnipeg/Saskatchewan.

The Style Network’s new 13-part series Pulled Over takes an outdated family and transforms their style along with teaching them everything from how to dance, to cooking a gourmet meal, selecting the right wine or planning a party. The one-hour series hosted by actors Nia Peeples and Mystro Clark will make its debut in December.
http://www.stylenetwork.com/

Omni Television is adding to their roster of diversity programming the original dramatic series Metropia – a nightly half hour show that chronicles the experiences of an ethnoculturally diverse young cast living and working in Toronto. The series premiered on October 18 (at 10:30 p.m.) and will air on Omni.2 Monday through Friday (10:30 p.m.) with an alternative viewing window on Omni.1 beginning October 24 between 9-11:30 p.m.