All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Production underway on Season 2 of Discovery’s original Canadian series Heavy Rescue: 401

From a media release:

Discovery today announced production is underway on a second season of its new, smash hit original Canadian series, HEAVY RESCUE: 401. With the Season 1 finale scheduled to premiere tomorrow night (Feb. 28) at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery, the network has confirmed 10 brand new episodes are already in production for broadcast in early 2018.

Debuting last month to a premiere episode audience of more than 760,000 total viewers, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 became the most-watched premiere in the network’s 22-year history. In all, nearly 3.5 million unique viewers – or one in 10 Canadians – tuned in to the first episode. To date, the series has an average audience of 627,000 viewers in its premiere timeslot.

Produced by Thunderbird Entertainment’s factual arm and the creators of Discovery’s HIGHWAY THRU HELL, Great Pacific Media, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 follows multiple major tow operators, rescue, and maintenance crews day and night along North America’s most intense stretch of highway, Highway 401. With the support of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, York Regional Police, maintenance contractors, and several other organizations, the series features the men and women who keep Ontario’s 400-series highways operating at any cost.

More than 300 people work on the production of HEAVY RESCUE: 401. The series is made possible with the support of the Ontario government’s film tax credit program, and the Canada Media Fund.

HEAVY RESCUE: 401 is produced by Great Pacific Media (a Thunderbird Company) in association with Discovery. Executive Producer is Mark Miller and Blair Reekie. The series producer is Todd Serotiuk.

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Industry News

Bell announces executive leadership changes at Bell Media

From a media release:

BCE Inc. (Bell) (TSX, NYSE: BCE) today announced the appointment of Randy Lennox as the new President of Bell Media following the departure of Mary Ann Turcke for a new opportunity with the National Football League.

Randy Lennox
As President of Bell Media effective today, Mr. Lennox leads all strategy and operations for Canada’s largest media company, including conventional, pay and specialty TV, radio, digital media, out-of-home advertising and special projects. He reports to Wade Oosterman, Group President of Bell and BCE, who oversees Bell Media, Bell Mobility, and Bell Residential and Small Business, and also serves as Bell’s Chief Brand Officer.

Mr. Lennox was promoted from his position as Bell Media’s President, Content and Broadcasting, responsible for the CTV Networks; all local radio and TV assets; English-language specialty channels, including Bravo, Comedy, E!, Gusto, Much and Space; all of Bell Media’s in-house and independent English-language content productions; and iHeartRadio Canada, the international brand he brought to Bell Media in 2016.

Previously, Mr. Lennox was President and CEO of Universal Music Canada, where he helped elevate homegrown talent, including Justin Bieber, Drake, Shawn Mendes, The Tragically Hip and The Weeknd, to the international stage while successfully leading Universal through a time of tumultuous change in the music industry. He has been honoured as a member of the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame and sits on the board of directors for Music Canada, CARAS and Canada’s Walk of Fame; the board of governors for Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall; and the culture advisory board of Ontario.

Mary Ann Turcke
Mary Ann Turcke has accepted a position with the National Football League as President, Digital Media and NFL Network, based in Los Angeles. Part of the Bell team for the last 12 years, Ms. Turcke was promoted to President of Bell Media in April 2015 from her previous role as Bell Media’s President, Media Sales, Local TV and Radio.

Joining Bell Canada in 2005 as Vice President, Customer Experience and Operations for Small and Medium Business, Ms. Turcke was promoted to Executive Vice President of Field Operations in 2008, leading Bell’s team of installation and service technicians in delivering Fibe TV, Internet and other Bell residential and business services. She is a member of the Women’s Executive Network Hall of Fame and was named 2015 Woman of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology.

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Industry News

Film, television and digital production in Toronto hits record-breaking $2 billion in 2016

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From a media release:

Domestic and foreign film, television, digital and commercials production investments in Toronto had a third record-setting year in 2016 and achieved the $2.01-billion level for the first time.

Some of the major highlights for 2016:
• Domestic and international screen-based productions exceeded the $1-billion mark for the sixth consecutive year, with a 33-per-cent increase over the $1.55 billion reported in 2015.
• Foreign major production investment in film and television grew to $794 million, a 49-per-cent increase from 2015. Since 2014, foreign production investment has increased by 129 per cent.
• Investment in animation and visual effects grew to $403 million, a 179-per-cent increase from the $144.5 million reported in 2015. Since 2014, investment in this area has increased by 363 per cent from $87.1 million.
• Television series, foreign and domestic, remains the dominant investment type in Toronto with an increase to $908 million in 2016.
• Investment in commercials production continued to rise to record levels, growing to $380 million, a 10-per-cent increase from the $345 million reported in 2015. Since 2014, investment in this area has increased by 95 per cent from $195 million. (Note that this type of investment is measured by Toronto but not by other levels of government.)
• The number of location filming shoot days has seen three record breaking years, with an increase to 7,280 shoot days in 2016.

The above numbers also help to show a larger Toronto industry success story. Combining the $2 billion in investment noted above with figures from broadcasters and the interactive digital media cluster results in a total investment figure of $3.26 billion for all of Toronto’s film, television and digital media production in 2016. That figure represents a 16 per cent increase from 2015.

The detailed report can be found here.

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Bellevue

Link: Jane Maggs bringing up Bellevue

From Sea and Be Scene:

Link: Jane Maggs bringing up Bellevue
“I was in a writing class and we were asked to modernize a fairy tale and I always loved Rumpelstiltskin (for its dark weirdness) and SOMEHOW it morphed out of that tiny idea. I guess it came from the idea of this person speaking to you and until you figure out who he is – you are weirdly indebted to him. Thinking of how to put that into a modern context was a sort of brain exercise that got some wheels turning.” Continue reading.

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Bellevue

Link: Why Bellevue’s small town story resonates with Allen Leech

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Why Bellevue’s small town story resonates with Allen Leech
“I had read the scripts and was really intrigued. It was a fascinating thriller and really different as well. What it deals with in relation to small town Canada resonated with me to small town Ireland, very similar closed communities and I found that really interesting.” Continue reading.

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