DRAGONS’ DEN SEASON FINALE FINISHES #1 and SEALS THE DEAL ON HIGHEST-RATED SEASON YET

Last night, CBC Television’s DRAGONS’ DEN came to a rolling boil with almost two million (1.956 million) viewers tuning in to watch The Road to Riches special season finale. Canadians from across the country watched the Dragons’ emotional journeys to self-made success. The compelling finale won its time slot among both 2+ and 25-54 viewers with a reach of almost 4.1 million watching some or all of the show, and almost two million among 25-54. The episode peaked at 2.565 million viewers. DRAGONS’ DEN finishes with a season average of 1.75 million per episode, reaching over one in three Canadians with a cumulative reach of almost 14 million viewers.*

Already stoking the fire for a new season, DRAGONS’ DEN is currently on a cross-Canada audition tour, searching for Canadians with creative ideas and money-making savvy to appear in front of the Dragons. Audition information and scheduling details are available at http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden.

DRAGONS’ DEN is hosted by Dianne Buckner and features Dragons Arlene Dickinson, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Jim Treliving and W. Brett Wilson. DRAGONS’ DEN is one of the top-rated Canadian-produced reality television shows in the country.

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster, and one of its largest cultural institutions. With 28 services offered on Radio, Television, the Internet, satellite radio, digital audio, as well as through its record and music distribution service and wireless WAP and SMS messaging services, CBC/Radio-Canada is available how, where, and when Canadians want it.

*All numbers based on overnight unconfirmed PPM Data.

New Class. New Year. New Channel.

• Season 10 of DEGRASSI: TNG Begins Production and Lands on MuchMusic Later This Year
• Exclusive engagement on MuchMusic begins Summer 2010

MuchMusic rings in a new school year when DEGRASSI moves exclusively to Canada’s premiere channel for young adults. MuchMusic is proud to announce the start of production on Season 10 of the critically-acclaimed series, DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION. Production commences Monday, March 29 in Toronto. This summer, DEGRASSI finds a new home with 48 brand new 30-minute episodes and the premiere of the television movie, D:NYC – Degrassi Takes Manhattan.

From the Zit Remedy to Janie & The Stüds, DEGRASSI has always had an important connection to music and what it means to its audience. In recent years, Cassie Steele (Manny Santos) sang her heart out in Paradise City: Degrassi Goes Hollywood, former cast member, Aubrey Graham, who played Jimmy Brooks for eight seasons, and is now known as Drake, has taken the music industry by storm. Cory Lee, JUNO nominated artist also joins the cast this season.

DEGRASSI has become a worldwide phenomenon, touching millions of young people and parents for three decades. Now licensed in over 140 countries as varied as Austria, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Monaco, United Arab Emirates, and Vatican City State, the highly-decorated series has garnered nominations and wins at the Gemini Awards, Teen Choice Awards, Young Artist Awards, The Television Critics Awards, and Director’s Guild Awards, just to name a few.

The brand new tenth season premieres in the U.S. this summer on TeenNick, Nickelodeon’s 24-hour TV network exclusively for and about teens.

• Brett Wilson: The Dragon with a heart
  “Entrepreneur pushed the reset button on life when phenomenal success in business cost him his health, marriage and family.” Read more.

• To serve and protect the police
  “‘Together’ says Frank Leo, newly elected president of the police union, ‘we own this city.’ The city is unnamed, but looks very much like Toronto; and when Frank says ‘we,’ he appears to mean not the population at large but just him and his fellow cops. It is not a very reassuring message; but The Bridge, the new CTV drama series of which Frank is the central figure, seems disinclined to question it. It may be the first ever right-wing pro-union show. That’s probably the newest thing about it.” Read more.

• Brit fans of Cdn. sleuth series ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ follow actors during shoot
  “‘It was like it was their show and we’re their people,’ Bisson said with a laugh in a recent interview. ‘And these people are very picky about their murder mysteries and they’re very picky about their Victorian-era shows. And you know, they wrote the style, and for them to like it is a huge honour.’” Read more.

• Brandon Firla interview – Little Mosque on the Prairie
  “Monsters and Critics had the chance to speak with Brandon Firla, the newest character, a villainous new Anglican minister Rev. Thorne, who loves stirring up trouble when he can get away with it. His latest project – ejecting the Muslims from the church for once and for all. And he has a particular need to compete with the charming young Muslim Imam Aamar.” Read more.

• A double dose of teen angst: Next season of Degrassi high-school series to spread over twice as many episodes
  “For its 10th season, Degrassi: The Next Generation will be modelled on the Spanish-language soap operas that are hugely popular south of the border, doubling the number of episodes in their season so fans don’t have to wait to find out whether, say, Dave will finally ask Jenna out, or if Snake is still around.” Read more.