Interactive Program Guides (IPGs) are emerging as the entertainment portal for TV viewers, according to the latest report from In-Stat/MDR, a high-tech market research firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Family Channel live action youth series Radio Free Roscoe has hit the 52-ep mark (stripped Monday to Thursdays at 7 p.m. with new episodes on the weekend), yet remains a bit of an under-hyped phenom. Canadian tweens know about it, as the hordes of excited kids who recently showed up for an autograph session at the Eaton Centre attest.
More off net ventures are being planned to capitalize on the fandemonium. In addition to a popular young cast, the Decode-produced show set in a school’s underground radio station features a lot of Canadian indie bands, and the series is therefore launching a soundtrack CD November 15th. Also in the works is a March break coast-to-coast cast tour in partnership with Family Channel, which will be a completely branded extravaganza, consisting of on-air, off-air, multimedia and contest components. Contest winners will come to Toronto for the big event, which will consist of music from the show, the cast and bands from the series, according to DECODE Entertainment communications director Jacqueline Nuwame, who adds that sponsorship is being pursued. The key demo is girls 8-12, but the show also performs strongly with the 12-16 set.
http://www.family.ca/whatson/minisites/radiofreeroscoe/
http://www.decode.tv

A handful of Sony Canada products will be incorporated into more than two dozen new canadian television shows and made-for-TV movies this Fall, making the company one of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers in the country as it relates to product placement.
Sony’s WEGA TVs, handycam camcorders, digital music players and personal computers are among the numerous gadgets that will be used onscreen in productions like DaVinci’s Inquest, The Newsroom, 11th Hour, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Instant Star, Robson Arms, Falcon Beach, Train 48, and The Collector – to name a few.

On Oct. 18, a six-week promotional campaign tied to CBC’s The Greatest Canadian series, will direct viewers to vote online for their Greatest Canadian. Each viewer’s online vote counts as an entry to win one of 11 prizes from CBC. Ten runner-up prizewinners will receive two tickets to any choice destination in Canada, and the grand-prize winner will receive the Greatest Canadian Prize Pack containing an all expenses paid trip relating directly to the individual crowned the Greatest Canadian. The Greatest Canadian is supported by both Air Canada and Subway.
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest

Bell ExpressVu customers can now get more up-close and personal with Bell Making the Cut on Wednesday nights through a number of new interactive features. Viewers can use their remote to answer trivia questions during each episode and view the results in real time. Winners of the trivia quiz will be selected from ExpressVu, Bell Mobility SMS messaging, and visitors to the makingthecut.bell.ca Web site and then presented on screen during each episode.
ExpressVu subscribers with iTV-ready receivers can also view on-demand info such as player profiles and coaches’ notes. Show fans registering at makingthecut.bell.ca are eligible to win weekly prizes such as a $5,000 renovation from Home Depot, a Samsung 46-inch TV, or a Bell ExpressVu PVR.

Rogers’ OMNI.1 and OMNI.2 are the latest stations to join the HDTV tier. They will be broadcast via Rogers Cable at channels 275 (OMNI.1) and 276 (OMNI.2) beginning Wednesday, October 13.
More than a dozen diversity language programs, and Pomeriggio Italiano, OMNI.1’s mid-afternoon newscast for Italian speaking viewers, will be accessible in HDTV. Further HDTV programming will be added to OMNI’s schedule as it becomes available.

Tuesday’s second season of Corner Gas on CTV captured its highest audience ever, 1.53 million viewers nationally – 34% higher than the overall average of 1.14 million viewers for its first season. Each of last season’s 13 episodes attracted over one million viewers. In fact, CTV led primetime viewing Tuesday evening with Nip/Tuck netting 1.15 million viewers and the repeat of the Desperate Housewives premiere episode garnering 1.01 million. Results are based on BBM data.
Corner Gas has been nominated for an International Emmy Award, the winners of which are to be honoured November 22 in New York. This past weekend, the Canadian comedy series won a Director’s Guild of Canada Award for outstanding team achievement in a television series.

Global’s MenTV has picked up 77 hours of the UK version of the popular Fort Boyard format from Toronto’s Lone Eagle Distribution. The adventure format has been adapted in 23 countries, and while a French language version of Fort Boyard has aired for 8 seasons in Quebec, this is the series first English language outing in Canada. It’s tentative air date is January, in a primetime slot. The game show produced by France’s Adventure Line Productions is set in a fort surrounded by the Atlantic, wherein competitors overcome challenges to reach a tiger-guarded Treasure Room. Makes The Donald competish look girly.

Teletoon has signed on for a new series coproduced by Wallace & Gromit makers Aardman Animation of Bristol and Toronto’s Decode Entertainment. The Sketch Show aims to toon in the 6-11 crowd with quirky characters and sketch comedy done in 2D Flash and CGI. It’s slated to air next year, tentatively September.

On November 7th, Fox bows a sequel to its Obnoxious Fiance comedy reality hoax franchise as My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss takes the Sunday night 9 p.m. slot. The spoof is somewhat Apprentice-like, but the aspiring CEOs vie for the nod of a fictional biz despot and the cast of associates are actors. The punked execs visit the boardroom when they fail non-MBA-related tasks, such as begging, but the prize – $250,000 – is real. Fox is promoting the show during MLB playoffs.
Obnoxious Boss replaces The Partner, which is bumped to mid-season.

Bravo! debuts the second season of TaLkin’ bLuEs on November 2. The 13-part series infiltrates the eccentric and exclusive world of the blues.
Each episode features one or more artists, a discussion with answers from notable blues musicians, and performance footage. The first episode spotlights Mississippi-born, multiple-Grammy-nominee Charlie Musselwhite, who talks about his early years. The series is from Canadian independent filmmaker Mako Funasaka in association with Bravo!

CBC’s the fifth estate airs Becoming Aidan Wednesday, October 13 at 9 p.m., a documentary that shines light on a little understood topic – gender identify and gender reassignment. This often disturbing doc talks to women and men of all ages who believe that identity is not as simple as what kind of genitalia they happen to be born with. One Canadian clinic performs 300 gender reassignments per year, a major surgery that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and is most often irreversible.
The fifth estate enters its thirtieth season lead by Linden MacIntyre, Hana Gartner, and Bob McKeown. Gillian Findlay joins the cast for some programs this year. CBC Newsworld rebroadcasts the fifth estate on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET, Wednesdays at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. ET and Saturdays at 3 a.m. ET.

Global Television airs the 2004 Radio Music Awards Monday, October 25, an event broadcast from the Aladdin Casino Resort in Las Vegas and hosted by Carson Daly.
It will be seen at 7:00 p.m. in Saskatchewan; 8:00 p.m. in Manitoba ;9:00 p.m. in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia; and at 10:00 p.m. in the Maritimes.
Canadian award nominees include Celine Dion, Shania Twain, and Nickelback.