Everything about Rick Mercer Report, eh?

In the news: CBC misleading on ratings?

Gayle MacDonald of the Globe and Mail reports on challenges to CBC’s claims:

  • CBC’s best season in five years? Expert says no
    “One of Canada’s leading experts in television ratings is challenging CBC Television’s claim that it just posted its best prime-time season in five years. Barry Kiefl, president of Ottawa-based Canadian Media Research Inc. (CMRI), says the 2006-2007 overall season in audience terms was the public TV broadcaster’s worst in its 55-year history.”
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In the news: CBC’s new direction

Gayle MacDonald of the Globe and Mail covers CBC’s launch of the new season:

  • CBC’s ‘new direction’: more drama, reality TV: Public broadcaster pokes fun at its 2006 flops and promises new shows will satisfy ‘changed’ viewers
    “People like to meet characters. They like to fall in love with them, and stay with them for a while. Our goal is to increase the number of people coming to the CBC,” [executive director of network programming Kirstine] Layfield said, adding that in 2006 the network enjoyed its best prime-time season in five years with shows such as Little Mosque on the Prairie, Dragons’ Den, The Rick Mercer Report and Test the Nation: National IQ Test consistently pulling in one million weekly viewers.
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In the news: CBC’s new schedule

CBC breathlessly covers their own schedule unveiling:

  • Upbeat ceremony sheds light on new CBC-TV season
    “The high-energy presentation kicked off with a nod to the CBC’s recent runaway hit, Little Mosque on the Prairie, which was given the heady title of “saviour of the CBC” and is one of next season’s highlights. … Other surprise hits set for sophomore seasons include crime drama Intelligence, the entrepreneur-based reality show Dragon’s Den and a language-related edition of the quiz show Test the Nation.”
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CBC’s fall schedule

A media release from CBC:

CBC Television today announced its fall 2007 television schedule, featuring new home-grown drama, a riveting historical epic, a strengthened sports offer, great new reality shows, as well as the return of the best shows from last year.

Among the many new shows that Canadian viewers can look forward to: the much-anticipated, sweeping and sexy historical miniseries The Tudors, which documents the life of a young Henry VIII and stars Jonathan Rhys-Myers and Henry Czerny; veteran TV personality Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race gives Canadians the chance to ditch the excuses, face their fears and seize a life-changing experience in No Opportunity Wasted (NOW); Heartland, a gripping family drama set in the Alberta Rockies; Mordecai Richler’s St. Urbain’s Horseman, the first television miniseries of a Richler book, starring David Julian Hirsh, Elliott Gould and Andrea Martin; Triple Sensation, a nation-wide search for Canada’s next stars – the most promising young performers from 16 to 26 who can act, sing and dance; and a groundbreaking documentary series on the geology of Canada from The Nature of Things – Geologic Journey.

Following last season’s smash success, international sensation Little Mosque on the Prairie returns for a second season and 20 episodes, with the residents of Mercy in a whole new set of hilarious situations. Chris Haddock’s critically acclaimed and gripping drama series Intelligence also returns with stars Ian Tracey and Klea Scott. After a successful 2006 fall-season debut, Dragons’ Den returns with 10 new one-hour episodes, giving aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of wealthy business people – the Dragons. A feisty new Dragon, Arlene Dickinson, President and CEO of Calgary-based Venture Communications, joins the panel this season. The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos also returns for a new season of guest interviews, musical performances and news served straight up.

“We’ve built a schedule that delivers something for everyone,” said Kirstine Layfield, executive director of network programming, CBC Television. “From Little Mosque on the Prairie to Test the Nation, from our all-new reality show No Opportunity Wasted to long-standing favourites like Rick Mercer Report, we’re really excited about what’s coming this Fall.”

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