Tag Archives: Rogers

Featured, Industry News

Adam Wylde leaves Breakfast Television Toronto

Breakfast Television Toronto is another member down. Less than a month after Kevin Frankish exited Citytv’s early morning program, Adam Wylde took to Twitter to announce Tuesday was his last day.

“Hey – kind’ve a big day,” he began. “Today’s show was my last on Kiss 92.5 and Breakfast Television. I want to thank KiSS management and staff in Toronto and in our syndicated markets across the country. What a great team. The best I have ever been on. I also have to say the same thing about everyone at Breakfast Television, who are just insanely fun and talented people. It has been an outstanding 5.5 years with Rogers Media.”

“This was a decision I made, with a lot of thought,” he continued. “And it wasn’t easy.” You can read his full statement below.

Friday, June 1, marked the last day of Kevin Frankish’s career at Breakfast Television. He had been at the helm of the flagship morning show since 1994 when he replaced David Onley.

Back in 2016, Jennifer Valentyne departed the program due to a programming change, followed by Tanya Kim last year.

Image courtesy of The Academy.

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Bad Blood

City renews blockbuster original drama Bad Blood for Season 2

From a media release:

“We take care of our friends… so long as you remain a friend.” Following a successful six-episode Season 1 run, City is taking care of its viewers by greenlighting eight new one-hour episodes for Season 2 of the compelling, original drama Bad Blood, starring Canadian powerhouse Kim Coates. Produced in partnership with New Metric Media and Sphère Média Plus, in association with distributors DHX Media and Skyvision, writing on the new season is currently underway with production slated to begin this summer for a Fall 2018 premiere. Additional broadcast details will be announced at a later date.

Season 1 of Bad Blood is nominated for three 2018 Canadian Screen Awards, including nods for Kim Coates and Maxim Roy for Best Lead Actor and Actress, Drama or Limited Series, respectively, and Michael Konyves for Best Writing, Drama or Limited Series. Both Coates and Roy are among the confirmed presenters for Sunday night’s CSA broadcast gala.

Reaching 3.2 million Canadians and consistently holding a spot in the Top 10 shows among all English stations during its time period (Ind. 2+), Season 1 of Bad Blood followed the true-crime saga of one of Canada’s most notorious mafia bosses, Vito Rizzuto (Anthony LaPaglia). Now, five years after Rizzuto’s death, his former right-hand man Declan Gardiner (Coates) is the reigning king of the Montreal drug trade – that is, until a new breed of mafiosos arrive to wage war in an attempt to wrestle the city from his grasp.

Michael Konyves will return as showrunner, alongside writers Patrick Moss and Alison Bingeman. Additional casting details will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

 

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Industry News

Link: Rogers to cut off support for Viceland TV station

From Christine Dobby of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Rogers to cut off support for Viceland TV station
Rogers Media Inc. has informed its partner Vice Media Canada Inc. that it no longer plans to financially support the Viceland television channel, leaving the upstart station’s future in Canada uncertain.

The TV channel aimed at a younger adult audience – which launched early last year, at the same time as a sister station with the same name in the U.S. – is a joint venture between Rogers Media and Vice, which also have a larger partnership that includes the Vice Canada content studio in the Liberty Village area in Toronto. (Rogers Media is owned by Toronto-based cable and wireless company Rogers Communications Inc.) Continue reading.

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Blood and Water, Second Jen

OMNI Regional Greenlights New Seasons of Critically Acclaimed Original Multicultural Series Blood and Water, Mangoes, and Second Jen

From a media release:

Following the successful launch of multilingual newscasts across the country, OMNI Regional is furthering its commitment to delivering premium multicultural Canadian content to communities across Canada by greenlighting brand-new seasons of original series Blood & Water, Mangoes, and Second Jen. Currently in various stages of development, the series are slated to air in 2018, with additional broadcast details to be announced at a later date.

With production scheduled to begin in November on eight new half-hour episodes, critically acclaimed and Canadian Screen Award-nominated OMNI original drama Blood & Water returns with a compelling new season. Jo Bradley (Steph Song) returns home from her dramatic departure to China at the end of Season 1 and, unable to face the reality of meeting her biological family, is back at work, living again with her former partner, and now estranged from her adopted mother, Colleen (Maria Ricossa). But it isn’t long before another murder brings Jo back into a web of lies and crime involving the Xie family dynasty.

Following an overwhelming response from South Asian audiences, the multilingual – featuring Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, and English – digital dramedy Mangoes joins the OMNI Regional programming lineup with six new half-hour episodes. From creators, stars, and brothers Adeel Suhrwardy and Khurram Suhrwardy, Mangoes is an invigorating tale of Canadian South Asian youth, capturing the optimism and potential of the younger generation living as ‘global citizens’ and intrepid individuals. New to Canada, Sami (Adeel Suhrwardy), Asha (Maha Warsi), and Rakey (Khurram Suhrwardy) are on a journey to explore, integrate, and contribute towards the building of their new home. Writing on the series is currently underway with production scheduled to begin in January.

And back with six all-new half-hour episodes is original comedy Second Jen, slated to air on both OMNI Regional and City in 2018. A diverse, female-driven comedy from creators and stars Amanda Joy and Samantha Wan, the series follows two second-generation Chinese and Filipino-Canadian millennials as they tackle even more “firsts” while branching out on their own in Toronto. Writing is currently underway with production scheduled to begin in January.

 

 

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Featured, Fubar

FUBAR heads to the small screen for stoner fun on Viceland

I once dismissed the mockumentary FUBAR as a ripoff of the Trailer Park Boys. The first FUBAR movie came out in 2002, a year after TPB debuted on Showcase, so the timing seemed apt. And, with buddies Terry (David Lawrence) and Dean (Paul Spence) getting drunk and shouting expletives at one another and folks in their community, I couldn’t help but assume they were the same as Bubbles, Ricky and Julian. There are definitely similarities, but Lawrence, Spence and Michael Dowse created their own brand of Canadian hosers via two feature films.

Now the trio has reunited for FUBAR: Age of Computer, an eight-episode adventure—created by Dowse, Lawrence, Spence, North Darling and Immanuela Lawrence—debuting Friday at 10 p.m. ET on Viceland. When we catch up with Dean and Terry, they’re down on their luck, have no jobs (“Jobs aren’t even jobs anymore,” Terry laments as he mocks millennials. “I’m at home in my man-bun on the computer.”) and off to do the most Canadian of things: blowing off some steam camping in Alberta. Who hasn’t gone into the wilderness, gotten drunk, put WAY too much wood on the fire and shot fireworks at one another? Except that, in the case of Terry and Dean, it’s hinted their antics may have caused the legendary fire in Fort McMurray. (The producers make a point of noting the joke in the disclaimer ahead of Episode 1 lest anyone get upset.)

The pair flees to Calgary to meet up with Terry’s cousin, Shank (Darling), after hearing that those displaced by the fire would receive $1,800 from the federal government. Aiming to get a new start, Terry applies for the credit … and then spends most of it on frivolous items (a lifesized cardboard cutout of AC/DC guitarist Angus Young is just one). Meanwhile, Dean’s King Diamond-esque falsetto could land him a singing career.

The homer genre is hot right now thanks to Letterkenny (creator Jared Keeso was inspired by FUBAR), the Canadianity podcast from Jonathan Torrens and Jeremy Taggart and even Team Give’r from this summer’s exploits on The Amazing Race Canada. As a result, FUBAR: Age of Computer fits right in with its well-timed laughs and memorable characters.

FUBAR: Age of Computer airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Viceland.

Image courtesy of Rogers.

 

 

 

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