From a media release:

Thunderbird is pleased to announce the acquisition of Canadian production company Great Pacific Media. The addition of Vancouver-based Great Pacific and their team to the Thunderbird group of companies will accelerate the growth of Thunderbird’s presence in the unscripted television space.

Great Pacific is a global leader in factual television. Started in 2010 by TV veterans Blair Reekie and Mark Miller, their programs are seen in more than 170 countries. Their number one hit, Highway Thru Hell shattered audience records when it premiered on Discovery Canada and now, in its fourth season, the series is amongst the highest rated programs on National Geographic Channel Europe, Africa and Asia and The Weather Channel USA.
2015 is going to be another record-breaking year for Great Pacific with two brand new series rolling out.

In January Discovery Canada will launch Airshow, a documentary series that goes behind the scenes in the dangerous and emotionally charged world of Airshow performers. March will see the premiere of Game of Homes on W Network (Corus) where four couples compete to save four houses from the wrecking ball. The team that does the best renovation keeps their home, making it the biggest prize in Canadian cable television history.

Tim Gamble, CEO of Thunderbird said “We are so excited to be growing our company with Mark, Blair and the Great Pacific team. We admire their accurate, honest and compelling style of storytelling and look forward to working together to produce content that is attractive to our domestic and international broadcasters.”

Mark Miller, CEO of Great Pacific continued “We have known and worked with Thunderbird for many years and have a shared vision to fuel our growth through the creation of world class content. This makes a lot of sense.” Blair Reekie, President of Great Pacific added, “We’re excited to join the Thunderbird team as we work together to grow our division in factual, lifestyle and formats for the international market.”

“Mark is a terrific writer/producer/showrunner who, together with Blair, has built an enviable business in a relatively short period of time. Mark will be a great addition to the Thunderbird Board of Directors, where he will help us chart our next stage of growth” said Thunderbird Executive Chair Ivan Fecan.

Today’s announcement follows the recent announcement of Thunderbird’s pending acquisition of London-based theatrical distributor Soda Pictures, as well as the acquisition of Reunion Pictures completed in 2013.

From Jim Bawden:

My open letter to CBC re the impending demise of Republic Of Doyle is short and sweet.

It’s just three words: “Don’t do it!”

Other CBC administrators over the decades have merrily cancelled such CBC hits as Tommy Hunter, The Beachcombers, Front Page Challenge and King Of Kensington promising long suffering viewers that newer and better shows would result.

But it never happens that way. Continue reading.

From a media release:

Just For Laughs (JFL) and CBC team up to celebrate fifteen years of Gags with the anniversary special JUST FOR LAUGHS GAGS: 15 YEARS, airing Tuesday, January 6 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC-TV. Hosted by comedian Mark Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), this outrageously funny one-hour special features a compilation of all the most popular and iconic Gags in history, showcasing 15 years of pranks by pant-less policemen, saucy nuns, car-crashing steamroller operators, and more.

One of the most successful comedy series in the world, Gags boasts hundreds of millions of viewers in over 160 countries, on just about every airline in the free world, and a YouTube channel boasting a staggering 2 billion hits. Just For Laughs: Gags is far and away Canada’s biggest cultural export and a guilty pleasure that even the most discerning comedy snobs can’t help but giggle about.

Gags was created by Just For Laughs in 2000. By 2002 Gags’ popularity had exploded and it was available in five airlines and 40 countries worldwide. By 2004, Gags was broadcast on four channels across Canada and had more than doubled their international television and airline sales. Gags is now seen everywhere from Russia to Indonesia to Brazil and boasts a spin-off series entitled Just Kidding (focused on kids pranking adults), which has also achieved international success.

From Eleni Armenakis:

The stakes were certainly raised by Lost Girl‘s fourth season with the loss of two very important members of Bo’s family, including her best friend and “heart” Kenzi (Ksenia Solo is thankfully living on with Orphan Black), setting the series up for a stunning fifth and final season. The TV Junkieswas lucky enough to meet up with the cast as they were filming the expanded season this summer in Toronto, and got to check out a super-cool location while getting the low down on some of the big, massively huge answers coming for Bo before the end, which we’ll be sharing with you throughout the season. Continue reading:

From a media release:

Food Network Canada and HLP are pleased to announce that the exciting new series Chef In Your Ear has been given a green light. This innovative original format for Food Network Canada is a fresh take on adrenaline-pumping, culinary competition programming, with a twist. Production begins March 2015.

In Chef In Your Ear, some of Canada’s best chefs must create mouth-watering dishes that top their competitors. Standing between victory and defeat for these chefs are some of the country’s most clueless cooks – and they have to do all the cooking. Isolated away from the kitchen, the professional chefs guide their novice cooks through every step of a dish using only an earpiece and television monitor. With reputations on the line in this edge-of-your-seat culinary series, the winning chef decides the loser’s fate and the loser must oblige.

Casting is now open for brave souls who fear the kitchen. Individuals who want to laugh, learn and brush up on their cooking skills are invited to apply at thecastinggroup.com.

Chef In Your Ear is an original idea by Justin Scroggie, developed by Ricardo Larrivee, Justin Scroggie, Daniel Gelfant, Henry Less and Lee Herberman, produced by HLP for Food Network Canada. Series Producer is Daniel Gelfant. Co-Series Producer is LeAnne Armano. Supervising Producer is Angela Donald. International distribution is by The Format People.