Tag Archives: Insight Productions

Amazing Race Canada

CTV renews most-watched Canadian series of the year, The Amazing Race Canada

From a media release:

On the heels of the Season 7 finale last night, CTV today announced that THE AMAZING RACE CANADA has been renewed for an eighth season, welcoming a new group of racers to the starting line when it returns in 2020. An average audience of more than 1.9 million viewers tuned in weekly to THE AMAZING RACE CANADA this summer on CTV, making it not only the most-watched series of the summer but also the top Canadian series of the 2018/19 broadcast year.

Hosted by Olympic gold medallist Jon Montgomery, casting details for THE AMAZING RACE CANADA will be announced soon, and brand integration opportunities for Season 8 are now available.

With final data of the complete season to be reported in the coming weeks, season-to-date THE AMAZING RACE CANADA drew larger audiences in Season 7 than the previous year among total viewers and in all key demos, seeing a double-digit growth with A18-34 (+38%) and A18-49 (+12%). The series was the most-watched summer program for an incredible seventh year in-a-row among the key A25-54 demographic.

The current season of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is streaming on CTV.ca and the CTV app, and will join the all-new Crave, along with previous seasons of the series, on Friday, Sept. 13.

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Big Brother Canada

Big Brother is calling! Global opens casting for Season 8 of Big Brother Canada

From a media release:

Casting is now open! Big Brother Canada is embarking on its 8th cross-country mission to select a new group of houseguests to star in Season 8 of Global’s smash hit reality series.

Starting today, Canadians can apply online at BigBrotherCanada.ca for a chance to become a #BBCAN houseguest and battle it out in the jaw-dropping new season returning to Global in 2020. Those who think they have what it takes to make it in the Big Brother Canada house can visit the official casting site to submit a photo and short video explaining why they are the ideal candidate. To qualify, potential future houseguests must be 19 years of age by February 1, 2020 and submit their applications by November 15, 2019. For more information, including a full list of rules and eligibility, head to BigBrotherCanada.ca

Stay tuned for additional details about the national casting tour, including cities, dates, and venues, available later this summer. Stay in the know and visit BigBrotherCanada.ca for all the exciting updates.

In the meantime, viewers looking for a dose of drama or competitive gameplay can watch Season 21 of Big Brother currently airing Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global. Viewers can also sign in with their TV service provider credentials to watch live on GlobalTV.com or the Global TV app (now available on Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku) or stream it later. And catch more live footage, online or on the app, straight from the Big Brother house with Big Brother After Dark available Monday through Friday.

Airing exclusively on Global in the 2020 broadcast season, Big Brother Canada plucks a group of hand-picked strangers from their homes, sequesters them from the outside world, and places them inside a house outfitted wall-to-wall with cameras and microphones that capture their every move. Competing for a grand cash prize, each week the houseguests battle in a series of challenges that give them power or punishment, voting each other out until the fate of the final two is decided by a jury of fellow houseguests.

Global is a Corus Entertainment Network and is available through all major TV distributors, including: Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers, Bell, Videotron, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel and the new STACKTV, streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels.

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Battle of the Blades

CBC announces complete lineup of figure skaters for Battle of the Blades

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From a media release:

CBC today announced the complete lineup of figure skaters confirmed to compete live in the new season of hit returning series BATTLE OF THE BLADES (Season 5, 1×120, 6×60), with additional skaters rounding out the team who will be paired with hockey players to vie for the Season 5 championship. BATTLE OF THE BLADES, the highest-rated original English-language Canadian format of all time* and produced by Insight Productions, launches with a special two-hour premiere on Thursday, September 19 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service. The complete lineup of hockey players, as well as the pairings for the competition, will be announced in the coming weeks.

First-time competitors include three-time World Ice Dance medallists, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, and two-time World Pairs champion, and two-time Olympic Games medallist, Eric Radford. Season 2 winner and two-time Olympic Games gold medallist in pairs skating, Ekaterina Gordeeva, and Season 4 winner and Olympian in pairs skating, Amanda Evora, will return to the ice. They join previously announced figure skaters Vanessa James and Violetta Afanasieva.

Ice dancers Weaver and Poje have represented Canada internationally for 13 years. These beloved fan-favourites have won three World Ice Dance medals, two gold medals at the Grand Prix Final Championships and three Canadian Ice Dance titles. They have represented Canada in ice dancing twice at the Olympic Games, placing seventh at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

Radford is a two-time Olympic Games medallist with pairs partner Meagan Duhamel with whom he also won back-to-back World Championship titles in 2015 and 2016, including an undefeated season in 2015. The pair won their seventh consecutive Canadian pairs’ title in 2018, setting an all-time record. Radford and Duhamel were part of the Canadian figure skating team’s silver medal at Sochi 2014, and gold at PyeongChang 2018. Radford is the only openly gay male to have won an Olympic Games gold medal.

Gordeeva and late pairs partner and husband Sergei Grinkov are two-time Olympic Games gold medallists, four-time World champions, and two-time European champions. Icons of Russian pair skating, Gordeeva and Grinkov are still considered the greatest of all time. Since her tragic loss, Gordeeva has gone on as a soloist and continues to perform worldwide. Gordeeva and partner Valeri Bure won Season 2 of BATTLE OF THE BLADES, with $100,000 for both Cardiac Kids and Compassion Canada charities.

Evora is a five-time pairs medallist at the U.S. Championships with former partner Mark Ladwig, with whom she represented Team U.S.A. at multiple international competitions including two World Championships over the span of 10 years. Evora and Ladwig competed on the American figure skating team for the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010.  In 2013, Evora and partner Scott Thornton won the fourth season of BATTLE OF THE BLADES, winning $100,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Returning this fall, BATTLE OF THE BLADES combines athletes from two of Canada’s favourite sports — figure skating and hockey — as they pair up in a live, high-stakes figure skating competition for the charity of their choice. Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean will reprise his role as host, with four-time Canadian and four-time World champion figure skater Kurt Browning returning as head judge. Beloved Canadian Olympic Games ice dance champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, will be rink-side with him as guest judges for select episodes. Previously announced hockey players for the new iteration of the hugely popular format include hockey players Sheldon Kennedy and Natalie Spooner. First launched in 2009, BATTLE OF THE BLADES was broadcast on CBC from 2009—2013 (4 seasons, 57 episodes) and remains the highest-rated original English-language Canadian format of all time.*

A CBC original series, BATTLE OF THE BLADES is produced by Insight Productions. The series is executive produced by Insight’s John Brunton, Lindsay Cox, Erin Brock, and Mark Lysakowski and is co-created and executive produced by Olympian and World & Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Famer Sandra Bezic. 

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Battle of the Blades

CBC announces the return of Battle of the Blades

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From a media release:

CBC today announced the return of hit competition series BATTLE OF THE BLADES (Season 5, 8×60), from Insight Productions. Returning this fall, the revitalized series combines athletes from two of Canada’s favourite sports — figure skating and hockey — as they pair up in a live, high-stakes figure skating competition. In this new iteration of the hugely popular format, teams will once again compete for the charity of their choice. Further details will be announced later this spring.

First launched in 2009, BATTLE OF THE BLADES was broadcast on CBC from 2009 – 2013 (4 seasons, 57 episodes) and remains the highest-rated original English-language Canadian format of all time.*

A CBC original series, BATTLE OF THE BLADES is produced by Insight Productions. The series is executive produced by Insight’s John Brunton, Lindsay Cox, Erin Brock, and Mark Lysakowski and is co-created and executive produced by Olympian and World & Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Famer Sandra Bezic. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Programming; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; and Susan Taylor is Executive in Charge of Production.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Intervention Canada premieres on T+E, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET

From a media release:

As announced today, the next season of the powerful docu-series Intervention Canada will premiere on its new home, T+E, beginning April 1 at 9 p.m. ET. In each episode, viewers get an up-close and personal look at the life of an addict and their family who are desperately trying to help them. The series premieres on T+E during its current free preview, which began March 4 and runs until May 4.

Intervention Canada provides an unflinching glimpse at the horrifying reality of the life of an addict, as well as the gut-wrenching toll their addiction takes on their family and friends. With the help of professional interventionists Andrew Galloway, Maureen Brine, Jesse Hanson, and Geri Bemister, each episode culminates in a dramatic intervention where the subject must make a life-and-death decision – continue their descent to rock bottom alone, or accept the offer of a clear path to recovery in one of Canada’s top addiction treatment facilities. This season, the series looks at addictions and dependencies on alcohol, crystal meth, cocaine, opioids, and eating disorders. Intervention Canada is based on the hit A+E format and is now in its fifth season.

Select storylines on this season of Intervention Canada include:

  • An expectant mother in BC who is determined to free her partner from a deadly fentanyl addiction before the birth of their child;
  • Three Ontario born siblings struggling to save their father from the grips of crippling alcoholism;
  • A four-time Canadian MMA fighting champion grappling to overcome an addiction to crystal meth both for the sake of his son, and ultimately his own life.

Intervention Canada is produced by Open Door Co. and Insight Productions, in association with Blue Ant Media. Executive Producers are Tom Powers for Open Door Co. and John Brunton and John Murray for Insight Productions. The Series Producer is Thomas Chenoweth. Sam Linton is Head of Original Content at Blue Ant Media.

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