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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Big names & fresh faces headline Rogers Sports & Media’s Canadian originals slate for HGTV and Food Network

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From a media release:

Building on its $7 billion investment in Canadian content over the last decade, Rogers today announced its new slate of Canadian made original programming for specialty networks HGTV and Food Network.  

“We are proud to collaborate with an incredible group of Canadian production partners and personalities to bring nearly 120 hours of original unscripted programming with both big household names and new voices,” said Kale Stockwell, Director of Original Programming, Rogers Sports & Media, ahead of its Upfront tomorrow. “Whether it’s home renos, visually stunning culinary creations or inspiring home design, this robust and competitive slate builds on the foundation of what makes HGTV and Food Network so popular with viewers and offers unique opportunities for advertisers.”

Premiering across Food Network, HGTV, and Citytv+ starting in fall 2025, new titles include Andy’s East Coast Kitchen Crawl, Bake Master Battle, Come Dine with Me Canada, David Rocco’s Eating Dirty, The County featuring Sarah Keenleyside, Small Town Escapes with Colin & Justin, plus a new project with Sarah Richardson with details to be announced in the coming months.

Rogers Sports & Media will work with ‘Property Brothers’ Drew and Jonathan Scott and their production company, Scott Brothers Entertainment, on an all-new show. The home reno and real estate powerhouse duo will star in new HGTV series Property Brothers: Commitment Issues (working title), set to premiere in 2026.

“As Vancouver natives, Canada has a special place in our hearts and we always strive to make sure that our shows are available to Canadian audiences,” said Drew & Jonathan Scott. “It’s exciting to work with Rogers to expand our offerings in this market and we think audiences are really going to love some of the new content we have coming up, including the new series Property Brothers: Commitment Issues, in which we’ll help hesitant home buyers commit to a home purchase by transforming it into their dream space.”

“Drew and Jonathan Scott are superstars in lifestyle television and have this tremendous capacity to deeply engage and inspire audiences with their relatable presence and trusted expertise,” said Stockwell. “We’re excited to bring more Property Brothers to Canadians next year with their new HGTV series.”

Rounding out the competitive slate of new Canadian originals is Home Town Takeover Canada, featuring beloved home reno and design couple, Ben and Erin Napier, and a yet to be named Canadian talent. In keeping with the same format as the hugely successful HGTV U.S. hit, the new series will give love to a hometown somewhere in Canada, breathing new life into the selected community. Location, host, and broadcast details to be announced in the coming months.  

Show details are as follows:

HGTV 

Home Town Takeover Canada 
(8 x 60 / RTR Media / in production 2026)
This emotional, empowering and entertaining series is based on the U.S. hit of the same name. “Home Town Takeover Canada” follows a complete small-town revitalization that transforms homes, businesses and public spaces.

Property Brothers: Commitment Issues (working title)
(14 x 60 / Scott Brothers Entertainment, Warner Bros. Discovery / in production summer and fall 2025) 
In this new one-hour format, HGTV fan-favourite duo Drew and Jonathan Scott help homeowners make confident, informed decisions when purchasing their dream home. Once they help the homeowners buy their dream house, they lead the renovation process to transform it into their forever space.  

Small Town Escapes with Colin & Justin
(20 x 30 / Ocean Entertainment / in production summer and fall 2025)
Dynamic design duo Colin and Justin moved from the big city to small town bliss in Nova Scotia five years ago, and it transformed their lives. Now, in this fresh three-house format, they are making dreams come true for homebuyers looking to escape to a small town and purchase their own piece of paradise.

The Emily Michelle Project 
(8 x 60 / Scott Brothers Entertainment / in production summer 2025) 
A refreshing take on home transformations, where interior designer Emily Michelle steps in to help homeowners achieve their dream homes without breaking the bank. Join Emily Michelle in her world of bargain hunting, thrifting and DIYs to celebrate the big changes you can make with the right vision and expertise. 

The County 
(10 x 60 / RTR Media / in production summer 2025) 
Beloved HGTV Canada star and designer Sarah Keenleyside uprooted her family from Toronto to Prince Edward County, Ontario to build her home and design business from scratch. She’s designing small-town dreams with big charm for herself and others in this new docu-series format.    

Top of the Block 
(40 x 30 / Scott Brothers Entertainment / in production summer 2025) 
This brand-new real estate series sees homeowners competing to prove their house is the best on the block. Each episode will feature seasoned experts who evaluate the homes based on design, creativity, and investment impact, ultimately crowning the Top of the Block winner! Top of the Block is distributed by Cineflix Rights.

Food Network 

Andy’s East Coast Kitchen Crawl  
(12 x 30 / Proper Television / in production summer 2025) 
Join chef and social media star Andy Hay (MasterChef Canada finalist) as he explores the essence of East Coast cooking – one kitchen at a time. From lobster boats to clam shacks to farms and five-star establishments, Andy gathers inspiration to bring home to his Halifax kitchen where he’ll create family-friendly recipes to share.

Bake Master Battle  
(8 x 60 / in production August 2025) 
Tis’ the season for baking! Canadian television personality Dina Pugliese takes the reins as host of Bake Master Battle, a high-stakes bake-off with three teams of elite bakers competing and showcasing their confectionary mastery in a series of thrilling and festive challenges anchored to seasonal themes (Halloween, Holidays, Spring). Joining Pugliese as head judge is hyper-realistic baker extraordinaire, April Julian (Netflix’s Is It Cake?).  

Come Dine With Me Canada  
(60 x 30 / Blink49 Studios / in production summer 2025) 
Five amateur chefs host dinner parties in their homes, showcasing culinary skills to impress their fellow contestants. Each night, the chefs rate the dishes, and the highest score at week’s end wins a cash prize. Let the competition begin! Come Dine With Me Canada is based on the format by ITV Studios.

David Rocco’s Eating Dirty 
(13 x 30 / Rockhead Entertainment / in post-production)
Join celebrity chef David Rocco as he sets off on a fearless food-fueled journey through Italy’s vibrant cities, charming towns, and seaside villages. From the colorful chaos of Naples to the hidden corners of Florence and the sun-soaked streets of Sicily, David follows his appetite. Each episode is a celebration of bold flavors, rich culture, and unapologetic indulgence. David Rocco’s Eating Dirty isn’t just a food show – it isn’t just a travel show – it’s a full-throttle celebration of culture, chaos, and the raw, unapologetic joy of eating dirty.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Home reno superstars Drew and Jonathan Scott to lead two new series and a fresh season of Celebrity IOU on HGTV Canada

From a media release:

HGTV (Warner Bros. Discovery), in partnership with Corus Entertainment, have greenlit Don’t Hate Your House with the Property Brothers (wt) with home renovation and real estate experts Drew and Jonathan Scott as they find a way to fix problematic homes for frustrated families who desperately want to love their house. The recent greenlight of Backed By The Bros (wt) will also air on HGTV Canada, which will see the Brothers offer their invaluable insight and resources to help inexperienced entrepreneurs find success with their high-stakes investment properties. The two new series and a fresh season of Celebrity IOU will be produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment with Drew and Jonathan serving as executive producers. Don’t Hate Your House with the Property Brothers is co-produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment and Corus Entertainment. All three series are slated to premiere in 2024 on HGTV Canada and STACKTV.

Multi-faceted entrepreneurs and New York Times best-selling authors Drew and Jonathan Scott are co-founders of lifestyle and entertainment company Scott Brothers Global, which includes Scott Brothers Entertainment as well as multi-category home furnishings brands Drew & Jonathan Home and Scott Living. Seasoned real estate experts and renovators, Drew and Jonathan have helped hundreds of families create happy and healthy homes.

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Featured

Poll: Which three returning Canadian shows will you be watching this fall?

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The fall television season is here, and we couldn’t be happier. With the crisper weather comes the traditional time of year when networks’ new and returning favourites hit the airwaves.

In particular, the CBC jumps into the next few weeks with longtime faves in Murdoch Mysteries and Heartland alongside soon to be classics in Anne with an E and Frankie Drake Mysteries. Not to be outdone, Corus series like Carnival Eats and Property Brothers are back and Citytv’s newbie, Hudson & Rex returns with new episodes. In short, there is a lot of television coming our way.

To celebrate, we’re asking you to check off the three returning television series you’re most looking to watching in the coming months. Have fun, and please feel free to leave a comment below regarding why you chose which shows you did. (After you make your selections, make sure you hit the blue “Vote” button just below and to the right of The Nature of Things.)

Also: wondering when your favourites return? Check out our handy calendars.

Which three returning Canadian shows will you be watching this fall?

  • Heartland, CBC (39%, 1,133 Votes)
  • Murdoch Mysteries, CBC (13%, 392 Votes)
  • Anne with an E, CBC (8%, 228 Votes)
  • Property Brothers, HGTV Canada (6%, 169 Votes)
  • Frankie Drake Mysteries, CBC (6%, 165 Votes)
  • Still Standing, CBC (6%, 162 Votes)
  • The Great Canadian Baking Show, CBC (4%, 126 Votes)
  • Hudson & Rex, Citytv (4%, 111 Votes)
  • The Nature of Things, CBC (3%, 87 Votes)
  • Highway Thru Hell, History (3%, 84 Votes)
  • Battle of the Blades, CBC (2%, 57 Votes)
  • Marketplace, CBC (2%, 53 Votes)
  • Dragons' Den, CBC (2%, 47 Votes)
  • Letterkenny, Crave (1%, 43 Votes)
  • Carnival Eats, Food Network Canada (1%, 29 Votes)
  • Baroness von Sketch Show (1%, 21 Votes)
  • CBC Arts: Exhibitionists, CBC (0%, 8 Votes)
  • First Contact, APTN (0%, 8 Votes)
  • Eyes for the Job, AMI-tv (0%, 6 Votes)
  • Bajillionaires, Family (0%, 6 Votes)
  • In the Making, CBC (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,464

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Class action lawsuit a big step toward fairness in factual and reality TV

From a media release:

The Canadian Media Guild / CWA Canada is welcoming a $35-million class action lawsuit [http://www.cavalluzzo.com/factual-televison-classaction] filed by law firm Cavalluzzo on behalf of hundreds of reality and factual TV workers who have worked at Cineflix Canada, which produces such TV shows as Property Brothers and Mayday.

The legal action follows a five-year campaign by CMG and its parent union CWA Canada to bring fair working conditions to this part of the entertainment industry.

“Reality and factual TV are the wild west of the entertainment world,” said Lise Lareau, a co-ordinator of the CMG’s Fairness in Factual TV campaign. “People working in this area of production are cut out of labour laws. They don’t have the rights of other employees, and historically they’ve been left out of union contracts enjoyed by the rest of the entertainment industry.”

Most reality and factual TV production companies make their workers set up their own corporations or sign contracts saying they are “independent contractors” and then don’t provide overtime pay, vacation pay and paid holidays. The failure to pay these basic entitlements is the basis for the Cavalluzzo class action lawsuit.

The statement of claim for the suit is based on the experience of Anna Bourque, a production worker whose most recent contract at Cineflix was September 2017 to February 2018.

“Picture editors and story editors work together taking hundreds of hours of footage and sharpening it into 43 minutes or so of entertaining television, but as schedules get squeezed our hours expand and there is never compensation for that, so our pay becomes inversely proportional to the hours worked,” Bourque said.

The ‘Fairness in Factual TV’ campaign began five years ago when a group of reality and factual TV workers decided enough was enough and sought the support of the Canadian Media Guild / CWA Canada. More than 400 people have signed up as supporters since the campaign began.

“Since these workers aren’t covered by union contracts, production companies often use them as a way to create less expensive but still lucrative programming,” said CMG organizer Denise O’Connell, who has spent 20 years in the industry.

Kat Lapointe, an organizer with CMG / CWA Canada, said the fact that you sign a contract that calls you an independent contractor does not mean that you are not entitled to basic minimum employment standards.

“It is not that simple. Treating people as outside of employment laws keeps people vulnerable and unable to build sustainable careers.  It means they’re forced to deal one-on-one with the company — putting each individual worker at a disadvantage — rather than having a collective voice to win fairness and respect at work.”

The Guild is urging people in the industry to talk about this issue at work and join our campaign www.fairnessinfactualtv.ca. If you feel your work conditions have been unfair, contact the union at factualtv@cmg.ca. Write a few lines about your experience and attach a recent contract. It will be held in complete confidence.

Those who have worked at Cineflix, Boat Rocker Media, Insight Productions or other companies who want more information about class action lawsuits can visit the Cavalluzzo LLP website at [http://www.cavalluzzo.com/factual-televison-classaction] or email factual-televison-classaction@cavalluzzo.com.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Corus Entertainment renews eight Canadian series for its 2018-2019 programming slate

From a media release:

Corus Entertainment continues its commitment to investing in Canadian original content with renewals of fan-favourite series across its suite of networks, including HGTV Canada’s Backyard Builds, Love It or List It Vancouver, Property Brothers, Property Brothers: Buying and Selling, $ave My Reno and Worst to First; Food Network Canada’s Carnival Eats; and Global Television’s Border Security: America’s Front Line. Today’s renewals follow Corus Studios’ recent MIPTV greenlight announcement of new Canadian series slated for launch in 2018/2019. Additional series renewals and greenlights for Corus’ roster of networks will be announced at a later date.

Newly greenlit returning Canadian original series include:

Backyard Builds – Season 2 (14×30)
Backyard Builds showcases the endless opportunities outdoor areas can provide. Contractor Brian McCourt and designer Sarah Keenleyside work with homeowners to extend their living area outdoors by creating one-of-a-kind structures and clever designs. Backyard Builds is produced by Frantic Films in association with Corus Studios for HGTV Canada.

Love It or List It Vancouver – Season 5 (26×60)
Love It or List It Vancouver showcases families in B.C. who are struggling with homes that no longer suit their needs. Whether they’ve outgrown the home they once loved or the luster has worn off, homeowners are faced with the dilemma of whether they should love it or list it. Each episode features interior designer Jillian Harris pitted against West Coast realtor Todd Talbot as they implement their plans to battle it out for the homeowners’ allegiance. Love It or List Vancouver is produced by Big Coat Media in association with HGTV Canada.

Property Brothers – Season 7 (18×60)
Canadians Drew and Jonathan Scott have become household names in real estate and home renovation. In Season 7, Drew and Jonathan help out couples in Calgary and Las Vegas to find, buy, and transform extreme fixer-uppers into incredible dream homes. First, real estate specialist Drew tracks down hidden gems with untapped potential, and then it’s up to identical twin brother and contractor Jonathan to expertly overhaul these ramshackle properties. Convincing homebuyers to take a radical risk is their first challenge, then they’ve got to deliver ambitious renovation projects on time and on budget. Property Brothers is produced by Cineflix in association with HGTV Canada.

Property Brothers: Buying and Selling – Season 6 (8×60)
In Property Brothers: Buying and Selling, Jonathan and Drew Scott help homeowners take their next step up the real estate ladder. Jonathan renovates the family’s home for a successful sale, while Drew hunts down the best options for their next property and oversees the selling and buying. Property Brothers: Buying and Selling is produced by Cineflix in association with HGTV Canada.

$ave My Reno – Season 2 (14×30)
Cash-conscious homeowners catch a break when Sebastian Clovis, the savvy contractor, and Sabrina Smelko, the resourceful designer, toss out overpriced reno quotes and make dreams come true. Sebastian and Sabrina save through smart spends, upcycling, DIY and putting homeowners to work. With their contagious energy, together they give homeowners the reno they want, on a budget they can afford. $ave My Reno is produced by Great Pacific Media in association with Corus Studios for HGTV Canada.

Worst to First – Season 2 (10×60)
Worst to First sees best friends, professional contractors and brothers-in-law Sebastian and Mickey take on the challenge of transforming the most undesirable house on the block into a stunning forever home. Worst to First is produced by Great Pacific Media in association with Corus Studios for HGTV Canada.

Carnival Eats – Season 5 (13×30)
Hosted by Noah Cappe, Carnival Eats gives audiences an inside look at the mouth-watering and outrageous foods famously found at fairs and carnivals, the wacky characters who create them and the culinary thrill seekers who devour and delight in them. Carnival Eats is produced by Alibi Entertainment in association with Food Network Canada.

Border Security: America’s Front Line – Season 2 (20×30)
Securing the longest border in the world is the work of the men and women of US Customs and Border Protection. Season 2 of Border Security: America’s Front Line follows CBP officers as they search for illegal travelers, weapons, and contraband. Guns, drugs, money and more – it’s all in a day’s work. Border Security: America’s Front Line is produced by eOne Entertainment (eOne) in association with Global Television.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail