Wayne Newton hits the road in a nationwide search for the next Las Vegas superstar in a new 10-part E! reality drama, The Entertainer. The new E! series follows ten performers (everything from vocalists to illusionists) as they go through various tasks and performance challenges in a weekly elimination. The last one standing earns a spot as a feature performer in Wayne Newton’s Las Vegas show.
The series is set to make its debut January 2005.

The Swan, which follows 18 women who take part in a physical, mental and emotional transformation and ultimately compete in a beauty pageant, will return with a two-hour premiere Monday, October 25 on CH Hamilton, CH Vancouver Island and CH Montreal at 8 p.m.
http://www.fox.com/swan/home.htm

Most Canadians are familiar with HDTV but household penetration of this technology is relatively non-existent. Recent research from Toronto-based Solutions Research Group found that 80% of Canadians are aware of HDTV, 66% have watched an HDTV set in an electronics store, 52% are interested in buying one – but only 2% of households actually own an HDTV set.

Digital Video Recorders are only part of the commercial avoidance problem: the majority of viewers are skipping ads whether the programming is recorded or live, and women are the biggest culprits.

On October 19 CTV’s homegrown hit Corner Gas hits the shelves with its DVD and VHS release. Viewers can get all 13 episodes of the comedy’s first season in the two-disc DVD package or the three-tape VHS package from retailers across Canada. Following the show’s theme, Petro-Canada has jumped onboard by including in both packages a free coffee coupon redeemable at their JavaStop locations across the country.

Discovery Networks and Visa USA have renewed their multi-million dollar ad partnership – not only will Visa be the exclusive sponsor of TLC’s What Not to Wear but their new agreement will also include the new series Taking Care of Business (set to air in late 2004) and advertising opps on the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, BBC America, Discovery Home Channel and Discovery Times Channel.
Along with on-air product integration, Visa will be visible nationwide in Discovery Channel stores as well as sponsoring upcoming What Not to Wear specials — $50,000 Dream Wardrobe, Worst Dressed Couple in America and What Not to Wear: Where are they now.
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/whatnottowear/whatnottowear.html

CTV has scored the rights to produce a one-hour prime time exclusive with Shania Twain. The special, which is timed for her return next month to Canada and her hometown of Timmins, ON, will chronicle her visit and will be hosted by etalk‘s Ben Mulroney. The CTV special will air later this Fall (exact date TBD).
In addition to the one-hour exclusive, CTV has signed Twain on for a one-day stint as co-host of Canada AM, for a live on-location broadcast from Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square on November 3.

CTV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation and Corner Gas scored big on Tuesday, (October 12) garnering large Canadian audiences and improved ratings nationally. In audience data supplied by BBM, Degrassi: The Next Generation proved its talent for capturing teenage angst with 930,000 viewers nationally, an overall audience surge of 52%, and a 66% spike in the adults 18-49 demographic. While Corner Gas surpassed the one-million viewer mark as 1.4 million tuned in to watch the homegrown series.
Together, the combination of Corner Gas and Degrassi: The Next Generation gave CTV an average audience of more than one million viewers winning the 8-9 p.m. timeslot in Canada. Overall rating showed that Corner Gas and Degrassi more than doubled Making the Cut (CBC, 566,000. 2+); back-to-back episodes of Father of the Pride (Global, 384,000, 2+) and Degrassi nearly doubled the season premiere of DaVinci’s Inquest (CBC, 640,000, 2+) at 9 p.m.