Yearly Archives: 2015

Orphan Black

ORPHAN BLACK Season 3 Premiere Becomes Most-Watched Episode Ever

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From a media release:

#HolyDoodle! The multi-channel Season 3 premiere event of Space Canadian original series ORPHAN BLACK on April 18 drew a combined audience of 697,000 viewers to Space, CTV, Bravo, and MTV, making it the most-watched episode of the series ever, final audience data from Numeris confirms. The combined premiere reached 1.9 million viewers. ORPHAN BLACK was also the #1 entertainment program of the day on English Canadian television in the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos. Numeris also confirms that 261,000 viewers tuned in to Space’s broadcast, making Space the #1 specialty network in its Saturday 9 p.m. ET timeslot.

Immediately following the Season 3 premiere of ORPHAN BLACK, the series premiere of Space insider program INNERSPACE: AFTER THE BLACK also made waves with 115,000 viewers tuning in to the all-new after-show. ORPHAN BLACK airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET, exclusively on Space. For those yet to get caught up on ORPHAN BLACK,Seasons 1 and 2 are available now on CraveTVTM.

On the next episode of ORPHAN BLACK, “Formalized, Complex, and Costly” (Saturday, May 2 at 9 p.m. ET), Leda and Castor are both on the hunt for original clone DNA. Mark and Gracie pursue new leads to find the samples that might set them free, while Art and Sarah reunite to track them down. Meanwhile, Cosima and Scott try to learn more about Castor’s biology, and Alison’s new money-making venture is going gangbusters. A shocking revelation about the Castor-Leda connection leaves the sisters reeling, just before Sarah witnesses a deadly Prolethean-Castor face-off. For a sneak peek at next week’s episode, click here.

On the next episode of INNERSPACE: AFTER THE BLACK (Saturday, May 2 at 10 p.m. ET), INNERSPACE hosts Ajay Fry and Morgan Hoffman sit down with ORPHAN BLACK co-creators, writer Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett, to dissect the events that transpired in the third episode of Season 3, and to chat about what viewers can expect from the remainder of the season. In the following week’s episode, Ajay and Morgan get an insider look at how multiple clone scenes are made as they chat with clone doubles Kathryn Alexandre and Nick Abraham.

ORPHAN BLACK is executive produced by Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (BEING ERICA, X COMPANY), Graeme Manson (Cube, FLASHPOINT), and John Fawcett (SPARTACUS, Ginger Snaps). The series is co-created by Manson and Fawcett, with Manson also serving as writer and Fawcett as director. BBC Worldwide distributes the series internationally, reaching more than 170 countries.

ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Space and BBC America. Production Executive is Gosia Kamela. Tom Hastings is Director, Drama, Independent Production, Bell Media. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Tracey Pearce is Senior Vice-President, Specialty and Pay. Phil King is President, CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming.

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Children's Programming

Sinking Ship and DHX partner for preschool Playdate

From a media release:

Sinking Ship Entertainment , recent recipients of three Daytime Emmy® Awards, and DHX Television are pleased to announce the start of principal photography on the new preschool series Playdate. A mix of live-action and the skilled puppeteering of Dina and Frank Meschkuleit, the series showcases the unexpected adventures Jacob and his friends’ stuffed animals encounter when they leave them alone. Playdate’s first season will see 13 half-hour episodes and is slated to premiere on DHX Television’s preschool channel which will be rebranded to Family Junior in Fall 2015.     

Every child believes their toys come to life when they’re not around and on Playdate, they really do! Meet Mac, Sammy, Priscilla and Buckie – the beloved stuffed animals of Jacob and his friends who venture out on their own playtime adventures when the children are away. They do their best to complete the kids’ playtime adventures but usually end up causing some kind of mess or chaos along the way. Since the kids can never know their toys come to life, Mac, Sammy, Priscilla and Buckie have to finish their escapades before the kids come back and make sure they’re exactly where they started off. Luckily, Norman, the family dog, makes the perfect fall guy for any of their hijinks.

Playdate stars Millie Davis (Odd Squad, Orphan Black) as Molly; Scarlett Dovey (This is Scarlett and Isaiah) as Gwen; and newcomers Aidan Wojtak-Hissong as Jacob and Nirvaan Kwan as Enzo.

Commissioned by DHX Television, Playdate was created by Dina and Frank Meschkuleit. Frank is one of Canada’s premier puppeteers with a wealth of knowledge having worked on popular kids programs including Fraggle Rock, Toopy and Binoo and The Mighty Jungle. The series was developed by J.J. Johnson and Christin Simms and is produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment. Sinking Ship recently won three Daytime Emmy® Awards for children’s series including Outstanding Pre-School Series for Dino Dan: Trek’s Adventures.

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Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 181 – I Call Shenanigans

In one of our shorter podcasts, Diane, Anthony and Greg break down the highlights of Monday’s Writers Guild of Canada awards, the dubious new Golden Maple Awards and the ongoing results of our latest poll: Which Canadian TV Cops are your favourites?

Want to contribute to the discussion? Post links and discussion topics on our Reddit page.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Industry News

The CRTC’s three-year plan and what it means for Canadian TV

CRTC Three-Year Plan 2015-2018
The CRTC’s activities under this pillar contribute to a communications system that provides Canadians – including persons with disabilities – with quality and affordable communications service options. The communications system strengthens the social and economic fabric of Canada, and enables Canadians to have access to compelling and diverse Canadian content.
Ongoing activities include the following:

  • ensuring adherence to rules and policies, including those related to competition, quality of service, and Internet traffic management practices;
  • developing a framework to maximize choice for viewers and to foster a healthy, dynamic television market;
  • addressing applications related to the rates, terms, or conditions of services, including applications to refrain from rate regulation;
  • managing the use of telephone numbers in Canada;
  • managing a contribution and subsidy regime that supports basic residential local services in rural and remote areas;
  • resolving industry disputes and complaints through both formal Commission processes and staff-assisted dispute resolution; and,
  • coordinating the activities of the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee, which assists the CRTC in developing information, procedures, and guidelines concerning various regulatory activities.

Continue reading.

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