Aboriginal TV Network joins BBM Canada
BBM Canada announced today that the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) has joined BBM as a Meter and Diary Broadcast member.
Now running for five years, APTN airs programming by, for and about Aboriginal peoples – through documentaries, news magazines, dramas and educational programs. APTN broadcasts 60% in English, 15% in French and 25% in a variety of Aboriginal languages. APTN program skeds will now be available in MicroBBM and Infosys.
http://www.aptn.ca/
Keatley Films adds a reality appetizer to Godiva’s menu
Vancouver’s Keatley Films is cooking up a little promotional innovation as a side dish to a new six-episode CHUM restaurant drama, Godiva’s, set in Vancouver. Check, Please is planned as a six-episode talent search that will run concurrently with Godiva’s in January across the CHUM group of stations. Check, Please is a cross-Canada, open-audition contest to find a full, regular cast member for season two of Godiva’s, assuming that season two is a go. The twist in this Canadian Idol-like’ competition is that only fulltime restaurant employees can audition – which shouldn’t be a stretch since, as the stereotype goes, most restaurant workers are unemployed actors, anyway. Check, Please details were still being worked out at press time, but the schedule calls for audition stops in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
The drama, meanwhile, turns up the heat when production gets rolling in Vancouver Sept. 30 to Nov. 22. Godiva’s started life as a 13-episode pitch, shrunk to an MOW in last year’s funding crunch at the Canadian Television Fund, and grew again to six episodes when new money was found. In the series, Godiva‘s is an upscale fine-dining restaurant that is trying to find its way through its eclectic buffet of multi-ethnic characters. As the prodco is currently ‘building a restaurant from scratch’ there are still product placement opps.
ER preps real-time ep
Emmy winner ER continues to break new ground in its 11th season. The acclaimed medical drama will welcome Golden Globe nominee Ray Liotta (GoodFellas) as guest star in a real-time episode. The ep will chronicle 44 minutes in the lives of a patient and the medicos struggling to save him.
Liotta plays a hard-edged, alcoholic ex-con who arrives at the hospital disoriented and gravely ill. As he floats between consciousness and dreams, the staff gains insight into how he reached such desperate straits. ‘Time of Death’ airs Nov. 11 at 10 p.m. on CTV.
Research Watch
Sept. 15, 2004
Decima Research
The Digital Domain
Syndicated Canadian Consumer Research Study – 2004 Wave
Comprehensive findings of consumer attitudes and perceptions toward digital television services.
Mario Mota (613) 751-5089
Chatelaine.com’s Gignac to run IAB Canada
The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada has named Paula Gignac as its new executive director. This is a newly created position, as the IABC hasn’t previously had a full-time exec director. Gignac was previously GM of Chatelaine.com and VP of Rogers’ Women’s Group of Web sites.
http://www.iabcanada.com/
Events
RAB Presents Focus on Radio – A Series for Advertisers and Agencies Sept. 20 NYC 800-252-7234 http://www.rab.com/pr/pr_detail.cfm?id=258
The Radio Advertising Bureau presents a series of seminars covering such topics as ‘Arbitron PPM Reveals Radio’s Unique Contribution to the Media Mix.’
CARF’s Research and the Creative Process Sept. 22 Toronto 416-413-3882 http://www.carf.ca
Part of the Canadian Advertising Research Foundation’s Breakfast Series, features Bill Eisner, chairman of Nonbox, a U.S. brand development company.
CARF’s Demystifying the Numbers Oct. 26-Nov. 23 Toronto 416-413-3882 http://www.carf.ca
The Canadian Advertising Research Foundation teaches you how to never get lost in a conversation or negotiation involving research again.
Kidsnets Fall TV: Part Two: Teletoon, CBC & Family
Last issue we explored the programming strategy at Corus, and now we wrap the kidsnet preflight check-up by unspooling the highlight reel for CBC, Teletoon and Family.
Hits & Misses: The fall TV season
Media in Canada has been asking some of the industry’s top broadcast specialists for analysis of the new programs being offered this fall. This week, Jeff Marchand, SVP/GM of Canadian operations, Starcom Worldwide, is asked:
FatPipe heads to school
Canada’s youth now have one more thing to do online instead of studying. They can check out FatPipeRadio.com, an Internet radio service offering 11 channels of music and entertainment aimed at the 18-to-24 crowd, launched in time for back-to-school. Toronto-based Iceberg Media, the folks behind the new service, point to results of a recent Statscan survey on radio (which found the younger Net-obsessed demos were getting their musical fix online more and listening to the radio less), as a reason this new national vehicle should be a boon to advertisers. Molson Canada seems to agree with this logic, as it’s a charter sponsor and the exclusive beer sponsor, a deal done through Mediaedge:cia.
Movie-going kids consume more than popcorn
A study done by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group found that kids eight to 12 who frequent the movies do so over three times a month (3.1), and are in their seats promptly – on average 14 minutes prior to show time – so they are in place to absorb the commercials while they slurp down their giant sodas and munch their extra-buttery popcorn. In fact, 70% recalled seeing cinema commercials.
The survey was done by telephone with 543 kids recruited at Cineplex Odeon theatres in Toronto as well as another sample with ‘non-cinema’ kids recruited at family events in Toronto. Of the non-cinema kids, 73% had seen a movie in the previous 30 days.
http://www.cinemamarketing.com
http://www.srgnet.com
Globe debuts entertainment guide
Tomorrow The Globe and Mail launches ‘7,’ a new, weekly guide to arts and entertainment in Toronto. The tabloid-format pullout section will run in the Metro edition and feature reviews, listings and insiders’ tips on making the most of your week. The new section will replace the Friday edition of ‘Globe Review,’ although that section will continue to appear Saturday to Thursday and in the national edition.
The launch of ‘7’ is being supported by advertising by Naked Creative Consultancy on the theme ‘You’ve got 7 days to live. Live it.’ Media includes print, projection lights, wild postings, washroom ads, radio and newspaper and is managed by Gaggi Media Communications.
Corus unveils AM radio plans at CRTC hearings
At the CRTC hearings into the planned asset swap between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment that would give Corus ownership of the six stations in the Radiomédia network, Corus presented details of its plan to breathe new life into AM radio in Quebec. French-language AM radio stations in Canada dropped from 27 to 16 between 1997 and 2003. In addition, the Radiomédia network has been managed through a trusteeship for three years and has run up deficits. Corus plans to create a strong Quebec voice with news at the core with a new entity, Corus News.
All advertising, all the time
For Brits who think advertising is the most entertaining part of television, there is now the Advert Channel, a new digital satellite channel devoted to nothing but ads 24 hours a day. It launched on satellite provider SkyTV earlier this week with telegenic presenters and programs such as Ad Chat, a live chat show about the top commercials; Advert Focus, ads making the news; Adverts for You, featuring funny, sad, and controversial spots; and Adverts Today, which looks at commercial production.
The Advert Channel also highlights new spots from around the world as well as golden oldies with shows themed around spots from the ’60s through the ’90s, celebrity ads, and is also looking for submissions from amateur commercial producers. On its Web site, http://www.theadvertchannel.tv, visitors can request, view or download their favourite spots.
Discovery on Demand offers VOD advertising
Discovery Networks is the latest U.S. cable group to mix advertising into its VOD programming. Last weekend, it launched Discovery on Demand to Comcast Cable subscribers in the U.S. In addition to the 75 hours per month of on-demand content from Discovery’s stable of 14 networks that includes Discovery Channel, TLC, Travel, Discovery Kids and BBC America, viewers also have access to free content containing advertising.
Right now the ad options are billboards and 30-second spots, and a number of major advertisers are taking part in this new service: Allstate Insurance, Best Buy, Chase Manhattan Card Services, General Motors, Kohler, Marriott, Pfizer, and Remax. In turn, these advertisers are provided data on total viewers per day for each show.
Other U.S. cable networks that already offer ad-supported VOD content include CNN and A&E.
http://www.discovery.com
http://www.comcast.com
CTV to tease Idol aud with new drama
CTV is slipping a peek at a new Canadian drama series in on the heels of the Canadian Idol performance finale.
