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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

CTV Comedy Channel cranks up the heat this summer with Season 3 of Roast Battle Canada, beginning July 10

From a media release:

More epic battles of burns are coming to CTV Comedy Channel, as original series ROAST BATTLE CANADA returns for an eight-episode third season Mondays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT beginning July 10 on CTV Comedy, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. Each half-hour episode sees two pairs of Canadian comics face-off, as they hurl heated and ruthless jabs at each other in hopes of being crowned the superior roaster.

Season 3 of ROAST BATTLE CANADA sees the return of the distinguished panel of judges – Russell Peters, Sabrina Jalees, and K. Trevor Wilson – while actor and comedian Ennis Esmer returns to preside over the roastings as host.

Canadian comedians facing off in the ROAST BATTLE CANADA Season 3 matchups are:

Episode 1 – Monday, July 10 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Allie Pearse vs. Brendan d’Souza
Battle 2 – Tyler Morrison vs. Crystal Ferrier

Episode 2 – Monday, July 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Rachel Schaefer vs. Sophie Buddle
Battle 2 – Alan Shane Lewis vs. Todd Graham

Episode 3 – Monday, July 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Olivia Stadler vs. Kyle Brownrigg
Battle 2 – Garrett Jamieson vs. Keith Pedro

Episode 4 – Monday, July 31 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Tom Henry vs. Todd Graham
Battle 2 – Crystal Ferrier vs. Cassie Cao

Episode 5 – Monday, August 7 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Dakota Ray Hebert vs. Paul Rabliauskas
Battle 2 – Sophie Buddle vs. Jordan Wellwood

Episode 6 – Monday, Aug. 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Keith Pedro vs. Allie Pearse
Battle 2 – Danish Anwar vs. Olivia Stadler

Episode 7 – Monday, Aug. 21 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Jordan Wellwood vs. Tyler Morrison
Battle 2 – Dakota Ray Hebert vs. Alan Shane Lewis

Episode 8 – Monday, Aug. 28 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Battle 1 – Rachel Schaefer vs. Brendan d’Souza
Battle 2 – Cassie Cao vs. Daniel Woodrow

Ahead of the Season 3 premiere on July 10, it was recently announced that a fourth season of ROAST BATTLE CANADA has been ordered. Viewers can also catch up on the first two seasons, which are currently available for streaming with with no subscription or sign-in required on CTV.ca and the CTV app, and are also available on Crave.

ROAST BATTLE CANADA is produced by CTV Comedy Channel, in association with Just For Laughs Television and Counterfeit Pictures. Bruce Hills is Executive Producer and also President, Just For Laughs. Executive Producers are Dan Bennett, Shane Corkery, and Anton Leo of Counterfeit Pictures, along with George Reinblatt. Comedian Russell Peters also executive produces. The series was directed by Shelagh O’Brien.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Blue Ant Media ‘Makes it Right’ with its latest original slate for 2024, featuring Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy

From a media release:

Announced today at Banff World Media Festival, international producer, distributor and channel operator, Blue Ant Media, announced its 2024 original slate for its Canadian specialty TV and global FAST offerings. The slate includes the brand new commission Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy, featuring the original home renovation pioneer and TV personality, Mike Holmes, in a reboot of his original franchise, this time joined by his son Michael and daughter Sherry. The series will premiere on Cottage Life in Canada and also air on free streaming channel Homeful globally. Also starring on the slate is the new greenlight A Secret to Die For, commissioned for T+E and Total Crime, and Intervention Canada (Season 6), in partnership with A+E Networks, for Makeful. Rounding out the lineup are the two hit returning series, Haunted Hospitals and Mysteries from Above.

Blue Ant Media’s slate is overseen by Sam Linton, VP, Production and Development, Global Media. Blue Ant International will handle pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide for several of the original series in the slate.

“Our latest slate delivers on Blue Ant Media’s commitment to commission universally relevant and compelling original series for our Canadian speciality TV and global free streaming channels. Our new original series with Mike Holmes is a great example of home reno programming that will resonate with the extensive fanbase Mike has grown over the last 20 years,” says Carlyn Staudt, Head of Commissioning, Global Media, Blue Ant Media. “Banff is the perfect backdrop to announce these new projects, as we take great pride in working with our production partners to bring premium content to global audiences.”

Cottage Life/Homeful
Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy (6×60’; HD)
Producer: The Holmes Group
World broadcast premiere scheduled for Cottage Life in spring 2024 during free preview. Series will also become available on Homeful in the US in 2024

After a lifetime of helping homeowners in need, Mike Holmes still has some unfinished business. Blue Ant’s new highly-anticipated original series will see Mike go back to his roots, alongside his son and daughter Michael and Sherry, to secure his legacy of ‘making it right’ in Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy (6×60’; HD). From renovations gone wrong by crooked or incompetent contractors to worthy homeowners in need of a life changing renovation, each hour-long episode sees the Holmes trio roll up their sleeves and continue the work that cemented Mike as a household name across North America. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

Cottage Life
Mysteries from Above, Season 3 (8×60’; HD)
Producer: Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Media company

World broadcast premiere is scheduled for spring 2024 on Cottage Life in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview.

Renewed for a third installment is Cottage Life’s popular original series, Mysteries from Above. The series takes to the skies to unlock Earth’s greatest mysteries and dramatically change how we see the world. From the vantage points of drones, satellites, and aerial photography, the series explores unique buildings and structures — both natural and man-made, curious creatures and lost ancient civilizations, revealing fascinating insights and never-before-seen footage to the viewers. Mysteries from Above, Season 1 was one of spring 2022’s top 10 primetime series with total viewers, as well as Cottage Life’s core demographic of adults 25-54 and women 25-54. Season 2 is currently airing on Cottage Life. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

T+E/HauntTV
Haunted Hospitals, Season 5 (8×60’; HD)
Producer: Sphere Media

World broadcast premiere scheduled for spring 2024 on T+E in Canada during the channel’s nationwide free preview

Scheduled to air on HauntTV in the US, UK and Australia in 2024

Fan-favourite paranormal series Haunted Hospitals is back for a fifth season, recounting the chilling stories of paranormal activity inside hospitals and medical facilities. In each episode, nurses, health care workers and hospital support staff give first-hand accounts of the supernatural encounters. As these personal testimonies unfold, the mysteries behind the troubled souls and hauntings reveal a terrifying reckoning. Season 5 of Haunted Hospitals follows the success from Season 4, which ranked as one of fall 2022’s top 10 primetime series on T+E and outpaced the primetime average with total viewers. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities (for Season 5) worldwide.

T+E/Total Crime
A Secret to Die For (10×60’; HD)
Producer: Blue Ant Studios

World broadcast premiere scheduled for fall 2024 on T+E in Canada

Scheduled to rollout on Total Crime in the US at a later date

The series investigates how a person’s secret life can end up costing them their own. A Secret to Die For peels back the layers of the victim’s seemingly happy life to reveal new, dark secrets that family and friends would never have believed. As the missing pieces of the victim’s life come together, new interviewees offer an entirely fresh perspective, concluding with the dramatic revelation of a secret explaining why the victim was killed and identifying the murderer. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities worldwide.

Makeful
Intervention Canada, Season 6
Producers: Open Door Co./Insight Productions

Canadian broadcast premiere scheduled for winter 2024 on Makeful in Canada

Blue Ant Media has partnered with A+E Networks to greenlight the sixth season of Intervention Canada, a one-hour documentary series from Open Door Co. and Insight Productions. Based on the critically acclaimed A&E Network series, Intervention, the Canadian format provides an unflinching glimpse at addiction from all sides – including the addict as well as the dreadful toll the addiction takes on their families and friends. Each episode culminates in a dramatic intervention led by a prominent interventionist in which the addicts featured must decide whether or not to accept an offer for a clear path to recovery in one of Canada’s top addiction treatment facilities.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Canada’s Ultimate Challenge renewed by CBC for second season, nationwide casting call currently underway

From a media release:

It’s Game time! As announced on Thursday by CBC as part of its programming slate announcement, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, the reality competition series that transforms the country into an epic obstacle course, will return for a second season. The national public broadcaster has kicked off a nationwide search for energetic Canadians seeking the adventure of a lifetime. Aspiring competitors who love adventure and testing their limits are encouraged to apply online now at cbc.ca/canadasultimatechallenge for the chance to participate in the upcoming season. Casting will be open until July 23, 2023. Produced by Insight Productions and The Gurin Company, season two will shoot on location across Canada this fall.

The inaugural season of CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE saw teams, coached by legendary Canadian athletes, compete in incredible challenges at awe-inspiring locations including: Whistler, BC; Squamish, BC; Hinton, AB; Whitehorse, YT; Kelowna, BC; Sudbury, ON; Thousand Islands, ON; Québec City, QC; and the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In the end, Team Black won the entire competition and claimed the ultimate prize – a trip to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to cheer on Team Canada. Audiences can catch up on all the action from the first season on CBC Gem.

CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is a competition reality format that turns the entire country into a giant obstacle course. Superstar coaches guide and mentor teams of everyday Canadians at site-specific challenges in a unique competition structure. Each episode takes place at an iconic Canadian location where teams compete in spectacular Solo, Tandem or Team challenges that test them physically and mentally. Throughout the series, the coaches make strategic decisions and motivate their players to victory.

A CBC original series, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is executive produced by John Brunton, Erin Brock, Mark Lysakowski, and Jeff Thrasher for Insight Productions (a Boat Rocker company) and Phil Gurin for The Gurin Company.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Marblemedia’s critically-acclaimed Netflix hit competition series, Blown Away is set to return this fall for Season 4 with Blown Away: Extreme Heat

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From a media release:

Blown Away is back and things are about to get EXTREME. We’re going bigger, badder, and bolder than ever in North America’s largest hot shop. Ten incredible glassblowers will try and brave the heat in a grueling competition to see if they can push their creative limits enough to win the largest grand prize in the history of the series.

The artists must create jaw dropping works of art if they want to avoid elimination and impress Resident Evaluator and Glass Master Katherine Gray. Hosted by Hunter March, Blown Away: Extreme Heat promises to be a fiery competition like no other.

About the new host:
Currently, Hunter is hosting the fourth season of Netflix’s BLOWN AWAY: EXTREME HEAT, a one-of-a-kind glassblowing competition. Most recently before this, Hunter was the host of E!’s late-night talk show NIGHTLY POP, where he and co-hosts Morgan Stewart & Nina Parker attacked top headlines and juicy gossip without the boundaries of daytime television. For over 650 episodes, their snarky banter and humorous anecdotes often veered from the unexpected to completely outrageous. March also served as host of Netflix’s wildly popular competition show SUGAR RUSH, which pits best-in-class bakers against one another. Prior to that, Hunter served as the witty host of the comedic gameshow EMOGENIUS for GSN. Finally, Hunter also hosts his own weekly relationship advice podcast, FRIENDS WITHOUT BENS, with co-host Alex Ovadia.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Open casting call – Season 2 of Bears’ Lair business pitch competition

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From a media release:

Filmed on the Unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, VANCOUVER, B.C. — Sparkly Frog Clan Productions and Brightlight Pictures are pleased to announce the return of the riveting reality business competition Bears’ Lair to APTN. The series made waves last year by feeding the entrepreneurial spirit of hopeful Indigenous businesses across Canada.

Indigenous entrepreneurs are invited to apply to be on Season 2 starting June 15th, 2023 at BearsLairTV.com. Selected contestants will pitch their ideas to the panel of Bears and guest judges, competing for their share of approximately $160,000 in cash prizes. This is a life-changing opportunity for aspiring Indigenous business owners, as prize money will help bring their best business concepts to life.

Season 2 of Bears’ Lair will feature both new and familiar faces on the judges’ panel. Indigenous business moguls Geena Jackson, Tabatha Bull and Dave Tuccaro will return as Bears, and the panel will also welcome an exciting new judge: Clint Davis, former President and CEO of Nunasi Corporation and proud Inuk from Nunatsiavut. With support from the Bears, guest judges and coaches, the contestants will hone their ideas to make them as successful as possible.

“We’re thrilled to announce season two of Bears’ Lair, celebrating the innovation and spirit of Indigenous entrepreneurs. Their inspiring journeys highlight the value of Indigenous entrepreneurship,” says Geena Jackson.

“I’m very excited for season two of Bears’ Lair and to be part of a project that showcases Indigenous entrepreneurs across the country,” says Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business President & CEO Tabatha Bull. “I’m looking forward to meeting this season’s contestants, and I’m sure just like last season, every episode will be full of surprises, inspiring people and fascinating stories.”

Clint Davis adds, “I’m so excited about being a Bear on Bears’ Lair. I can’t wait to work with my fellow Bears and seeing what creativity will emerge from our communities.”

“I am really looking forward to returning as a core judge for season two and am excited to see the innovative and trailblazing businesses that I am about to meet representing Indigenous communities all over Canada,” says Dave Tuccaro.

Indigenous entrepreneurs from across the country are invited to apply to be on Season 2 starting June 15th, 2023 at BearsLairTV.com.

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