From BBM Canada:
- Top Programs – Total Canada
#19 Dragons’ Den – 1.256 million
#22 Murdoch Mysteries – 1.184 million
#24 Marketplace – 1.047 million
Ratings: Top 30, week of January 7
Industry Update – CRTC News: The League, Quest, Paul Girouard, theScore, Must-Carry Channels
Fight Media Inc.
The League – Fantasy Sports TV (Category B)
Approved: January 9, 2013
Fight Media Inc., which currently owns The Fight Network, is owned by Leonard Asper. Asper used to be the CEO of Canwest. Today, he stakes his future success on mixed martial arts, and fantasy leagues. At this point, The Fight Network relies most heavily on MMA, boxing, and the Live Audio Wrestling brand.
To be honest, The League isn’t a bad idea for a channel. It will likely work better on the Internet than as interactive television, yet Fight Media wants to get The League on air in North America, by summer 2013. There’s already a “fantasy pool” on The Fight Network’s website, where players choose who will win MMA fights.
The League won’t be able to devote more than ten percent of its schedule to televised sports. It’s hard to say what The League will be, when it debuts. The point is, Asper hasn’t left the Canadian television scene, though he’ll likely never get back what he lost.
TV, eh? podcast episode 119 – “Wiping Fingerprints from the Screenies”
Diane and Anthony dissect the Canadian Screen Awards nominations and discuss the GLAAD nominations for Degrassi and The LA Complex, Arisa Cox as host of Big Brother Canada, OWN Canada’s educational content, the BC film industry‘s woes, Sun News‘ CRTC ask, and the wealth of sci-fi shows in Canada.
Episode 119: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed.
Your hosts
- Anthony Marco can be found at anthonymarco.com, and on Twitter here and here.
- Diane Wild can be found here at TV, eh? and on Twitter here and here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tuesday: Mercer, 22 Minutes, Cracked, Primeval
Rick Mercer Report, CBC
Tonight Rick is in Saskatoon to celebrate Ukrainian New Year with traditional costumes, dancing, and food, then he’s off to Lake Winnipeg for some ice fishing.
22 Minutes, CBC
Hockey is back and Commander Hadfield ‘sings’ about it with help from 22 Minutes; News of Cirque du Soleil performer layoffs finds them matched to surprising new job opportunities, Mark Critch goes to Washington for Obama’s coronation, and Susan Kent reports from the red carpet at the Liberal Leadership Debate in Vancouver.
Cracked, CBC – “What We Can’t See”
A bullied schoolgirl violently lashes out at her tormenters, Aidan and Daniella dig into her home-life and find bizarre ties that extend well beyond the family.
Primeval: New World, Space – “Breakthrough”
Footage of a triceratops goes viral on the net forcing Evan (Niall Matter, EUREKA) and Dylan (Sara Canning, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES) to track the creature to an upscale neighbourhood and to the home of Evan’s old rival Howard Kanan (Colin Ferguson, EUREKA), who is only too capable of understanding the implications of Anomalies and intersections in time.
On set with Package Deal
From Bill Brioux of TV Feeds My Family:
- Package Deal a great deal for the live crowd
Four-camera sitcom tapings can sometimes be a bit of an endurance test for studio audiences. You go in thinking you’ll whiz through a live taping of a half-hour sitcom. Five or six hours later, you swear you’ll never watch television again. This was definitely not the case Friday night in Burnaby, B.C. as Package Deal taped its second-last live studio audience show of the season. The upcoming Rogers/City sitcom stars Harland Williams, Jay Malone, and Randal Edwards as three goofy brothers. Julia Voth plays Edwards’ character’s girlfriend who accepts them all, for better or for worse. Read more.