As always, we preview the best of what Canada’s niche nets have to offer with an overview of the network, the buzz-worthy new programming, and how marketers can tap into it all. This year’s format is even more media user-friendly. We’ve selected and organized the nets into key demos: men, women, youth, youth/family, French and, yes, boomers.
*Source for average-minute audience (AMA): BBM-NMR Meter Data. Total Canada Aug. 28/06-April 29/07. Individuals 2+. Mon-Sun 6a-6a.
**At press time, the purchase of CHUM’s brands was still in flux, so we have listed CHUM as still owning the pertinent channels.
WOMEN
SHOWCASE
(Alliance Atlantis)
AMA: 55,500
Showcase pushes the envelope with innovative, original programming. This fall’s new
10 p.m. campaign – the channel’s coveted timeslot – offers marketers customized sponsorship and promotional packages involving on-air and online elements. New shows will also be streamed online offering opportunities such as customizing the video player and pre-roll.
Viewer profile: Adults 25-54. With an almost 50/50 male/female split, these viewers are looking for something different than the usual fare. They’re educated, creative individuals who like to stand out from
the crowd, love high-tech gadgets and are computer and
Internet savvy.
Programming with buzz: Saving Grace: Academy Award-winning actress Holly Hunter (The Piano) plays a cynical police detective facing a personal crisis of divine proportions in this 13-part,
half-hour drama.
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle: In this six-part, one-hour series from the BBC, Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) takes a swipe at the talk-show format in an Ab Fab meets The Larry Sanders Show with a dash of Ricki Lake and The View kind of way.
HGTV
(Alliance Atlantis)
AMA: 51,800
HGTV programming
showcases the tips and tricks to help turn one’s home into a haven. Brand integration and sponsorship of entire programming blocks are among the many opportunities for marketers. The channel is currently exploring larger partnerships with
multi-platform brand extensions.
Profile: HGTV attracts two types of viewers – the owners and the dreamers. The ‘owners’ are middle- to upper-class adults 30-54 who enjoy learning about the latest trends and tips for the home. They are well educated and love designing or renovating. The ‘dreamers’ are men and women 30-54 who are single, on a budget or rent their home, but dream big.
Buzz: Colin and Justin’s Home Heist: The outrageous design duo from the top-rated U.K. series How Not To Decorate have crossed the Atlantic to spread their wisdom in 26 one-hour, Canadianized episodes. HGTV is developing a show site with full episode encore presentations, a photo gallery of the finished rooms and interviews with the hosts.
Living with Ed: Actor Ed Begley Jr. drives his electric car to the Academy Awards and powers his home with the sun. This unscripted, six-part docu-soap taps into the environmentalist trend by following the ‘greenest man in Tinsel Town.’
W NETWORK
(Corus Entertainment)
AMA: 46,200
W Network is a marketing-to-women expert thanks to the W Her Report, market research compiled from the net’s panel of over 2,300 Canadian women. With over 20 studies complete, the insights have resulted in efforts like an original doc.
Profile: These 25-54 women are the CEOs of the household. TV is their primary source of entertainment; they watch over 27 hours a week.
Buzz: Queer Eye for the Straight Girl: Following the pop culture phenomenon Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, a team of ‘gal pals’ make women fabulous for life’s important moments.
How to Look Good Naked: This U.K. series addresses female negative body image. In each episode, one woman’s body issue is solved by a leading celebrity stylist – without plastic surgery or fad dieting – with the goal to make her feel confident both clothed and naked.
CMT
(Corus)
AMA: 27,700
CMT is Canada’s source for country music lifestyle programming, with a mix of comedies and dramas, movies and, of course, country
music. Its website, cmt.ca,
gets over 3.7 million impressions each month.
Profile: The primary target is adults 25-54. Over 50% of viewers are women with young children. CMT viewers come from a range of occupations and have above-average household incomes. They are college-educated, middle-class suburbanites with kids.
Buzz: Karaoke Star: After holding auditions in six cities across Canada in June, CMT is on the hunt for the ultimate karaoke star. Its hosts, along with viewers, will help decide the champion on the Oct. 24 show.
SLICE
(Alliance Atlantis)
AMA: 19,000
The Life Network became Slice in March, and with the change came a saucy new attitude. Partnerships with the revamped net can provide brand and product exposure
in-show, online and in print. The website, slice.ca, boasts original content. Future plans for it include increased video content (both exclusive and
full eps of shows), new games and expanding its social networking community.
Profile: Adults 18-49, with a sweet spot for the woman in her 30s who is busy balancing family, work and a social life. This woman values fashion, beauty and health. She is educated and financially secure.
Buzz: Project Runway Canada: Former supermodel Iman hosts the Canadian version of the hit series that gives aspiring designers a chance to break into fashion. Eleven one-hour episodes will premier Oct. 8. The show offers themed episodic challenges that integrate a sponsor brand, dedicated branded areas (such as makeup and hair studios), contesting and more.
The List: Former BreakfastTelevision host Liza Fromer is back with new show The List, 26 half-hours that follow her as she helps others fulfill their dreams: everything from blowing up a building to having a pair of shoes custom-designed by Manolo Blahnik. Opportunities include branded content, online sponsorship and contesting to co-marketing/publicity with the show. It debuts in October.
BOOMERS
Discovery Channel
(CTVglobemedia/Discovery Communications)
AMA: 74,300
The net has 27 key series or specials premiering or returning this fall. Its adventure, science and technology programming across several formats offers seamless product placement. Discovery Broadband and the newly redesigned website, DiscoveryChannel.ca, offer extended reach.
Profile: Adults 25-54. Viewers skew to 35-49 males with young kids and a $50,000+ income. They are more likely to play the stock market, buy a car for more than $50,000 and spend over $1,000 on stereo equipment.
Buzz: Mars: To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the space age, Discovery has nabbed the four-hour miniseries Race to Mars, which follows six astronauts
in a simulated first human mission to the red planet. It
will be complemented by extensive multi-platform interactive elements, including online gaming.
Meanwhile, Mars Rising is a six-part companion series detailing the challenges surrounding an actual mission to the planet. Marketing opps for both include the sponsorship of The Making of Race to Mars factoids, which will appear throughout the broadcast schedule; online branding of the Race to Mars website and games; inclusion in Discovery’s e-mail newsletter; presence in Discovery Broadband features and logo inclusion on paid advertising.
Bravo!
(CHUM)
AMA: 43,900
Home to the arts, Bravo! tailors its creative media opportunities to advertisers, including customized, client-branded integrations within station-produced programming, program menu integration, content wraps, online/wireless executions, vignettes and advertiser-themed movie months/nights/days.
Profile: Bravo! viewers are affluent and interested in style and design. They tend to be owners/managers/professionals and skew 35+.
Buzz: Kombat Opera Presents: This series of contemporary musical comedies from the creator of the hit musical Jerry Springer – The Opera showcases 30-minute operatic interpretations over five episodes of major television shows including The Apprentice and Wife Swap.
National Geographic Channel
(Alliance Atlantis)
AMA: 8,100
National Geographic Channel tells stories of Earth’s peoples, exploration, science, wildlife and adventure. The channel is also available in HD. Advertising opportunities include sponsorship, online, exclusivity, promotion, co-marketing and contests.
Profile: Adults 25-54 with a 60/40 male-female split. Highly educated and affluent, TV is
their primary source of entertainment. They enjoy travel and the outdoors.
Buzz: Situation Critical: This new 13-part one-hour series reveals first-person accounts of major global incidents such as the Apollo 13 rescue.
Space Mysteries: Using CGI technology, this four-part, one-hour series features interviews with scientists who attempt to solve mysteries of the universe.
MEN
TSN
(CTV)
AMA: 103,300
An ongoing focus on HD and digital media, additional streaming of live sports on TSN Broadband and strong audience increases for key properties are the foundation of the network’s new season. Opportunities for marketers include product placement on set, virtual advertising in live games/events, segment and feature advertisements, as well as unique opportunities to align with
online content.
Profile: Adults 25-54 with a male skew. They’re affluent, educated and passionate about sports.
Buzz: IIHF Men’s World Championship: The Men’s World Hockey Championship takes place for the first time in Canada in May 2008, marking the beginning of a new four-year deal that provides TSN with exclusive English-Canadian coverage for television and radio, as well as broadband, VOD, mobile, podcasts and interactive TV.
CFL on TSN: A new five-year partnership beginning in 2008 provides TSN with broadcast and digital rights for the CFL’s entire 77-game package, including playoffs and the Grey Cup.
Euro 2008: Next summer, TSN will air the continental soccer championship with exclusive Canadian coverage in English. Multi-platform coverage includes TV, broadband, video on mobile devices, VOD and interactive TV.
Rogers Sportsnet
(Rogers Media)
AMA: 70,200
Winning the NFL broadcast rights is the net’s big fall coup. It will also be home to a mix of the Canadian Soccer Association’s national team’s friendly and tournament matches.
Profile: Men 18-49 just starting a career and/or family. Passionate about their home teams, especially hockey, early adopters of digital media and heavy users of non-traditional entertainment options.
Buzz: NFL: The net signed a new three-year deal with the NFL to broadcast the 4 p.m. Sunday games starting Sept. 9. Fans will receive two games every Sunday, with one broadcast each week on Sportsnet HD.
Hockey That Matters: Packages, purchased regionally or nationally, have been beefed up with additional games from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and
Ottawa Senators.
History Television
(Alliance Atlantis)
AMA: 54,400
History Television features docs and dramas about the people and events that have shaped the world. Advertiser opps include product placement, sponsorship, online, exclusivity, promotion, co-marketing, and contests.
Profile: Viewers, skewing male – although women are increasingly tuning in – are well-educated and affluent. They’re also computer savvy, physically active, up on their current events and
primarily urban.
Buzz: Trapped: This six-part one-hour series focuses on a specific disaster in history, from the POV of the victims and the heroes.
Lost Worlds: In this 13-part, one-hour doc series, a team of field investigators and engineering experts search out clues about such phenomena as Count Dracula and lost civilizations.
Go Deep: An eight-part, one-hour series exploring ocean life.
Space
(CHUM)
AMA: 45,300
Opps for marketers on the sci-fi and fantasy net include tailored movie nights/months (with blockbuster titles) that align with advertisers’ objectives/themes, editorial integration, product placement, content wraps, vignettes and online/wireless integration.
Profile: An intensely loyal group of adults 25-54, skewing 70% male, many of whom are owners, managers and professionals.
Buzz: Grand Star: When nuclear waste stored on the moon explodes and the Earth falls
into a new Ice Age, the existence of the sun is forgotten. The few hundred people that survive succeed in preserving the species, but destroy civilization in this new 26-part, half-hour series.
The Comedy Network
(CTV)
AMA: 42,900
Sarah Silverman, South Park (uncensored!) and The Jon Dore Show kick off the net’s
10th-anniversary season, which features nine new series and specials. Advertisers wanting to reach out to the net’s hip,
adult-skewed audience can extend their brand online at thecomedynetwork.ca. The net also offers full-service commercial production, turnkey contests and promotions, program stunting, event hosting, couponing and more.
Profile: Adults 18-49, more than half of whom are male with a post-secondary education.
Buzz: The Jon Dore Show: This 13-part half-hour series stars the award-winning comedian, whose take on life is told through real-life interviews, off-the-wall tangents and wild antics.
Man Stroke Woman: This British sketch comedy, produced by Ash Atalla (The Office, U.K. edition), debuts with six half-hours about relationships, work and everyday life.
The Movie Network
(Astral Media)
AMA: N/A
TMN is a subscriber-based service in eastern Canada with over one million subscribers. It serves Eastern Canada with HBO and Showtime programming. Brands include five 24-hour multiplex channels (M, MMore, MExcess, MFun! and MFest), two HD channels (The Movie Network HD and MMore HD) and a subscription VOD service (The Movie Network OnDemand). Promo opps include online advertising, sponsorship of network events and interactive content. Movie Entertainment magazine can also be leveraged.
Profile: TMN delivers a male-heavy 25-49 group with a higher-than-average discretionary income and appetite for entertainment products and services.
Buzz: Californication: This Showtime original comedy series features David Duchovny as a self-destructive novelist struggling to raise his 13-year-old daughter while carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend. The first of 12 half-hour eps premieres in September.
Tell Me You Love Me: Three couples reveal their sex lives in therapy sessions in this HBO drama. The first of 10 one-hour episodes premieres Sept. 9.
Five Days: A young mother and her children vanish from a small English town, igniting a complex investigation and media frenzy that reveal family secrets in this five-part, one-hour HBO miniseries premiering in October.
YOUNG ADULT
MuchMusic
(CHUM)
AMA: 30,200
Much tailors integrated media solutions for advertisers targeting music-loving youth, including broadcast, editorial, web, mobile, customized broadband programming and VOD.
Profile: Style-conscious,
tech-savvy trendsetters 12-34.
Buzz: The Totally Untrue History Of…: This mockumentary series uses out-of-context interview clips and doctored images to trace a false career trajectory of an artist or movement. The first two half-hour instalments tackle Jessica Simpson and Eminem.
Stars Gone Wild: Fifteen
half-hour episodes take an irreverent look at the antics of Hollywood stars and rich kids.
MTV Canada
(CTV)
AMA: 9,400
The music-lifestyle channel is available across multiple platforms, including the broadband service MTV.ca, which carries over 1,000 hours of shows and 10,000 music videos. Advertisers who want to extend their brand with hit shows like The Hills and Real World can engage audiences on specialty and conventional television, online, mobile, VOD and live-on-location opportunities.
Profile: Execs say viewers are creative and are typically early adopters of new technology.
Buzz: The X Effect: Watch couples crumble when two exes and their significant others are taken to a resort where they
must choose between old and new loves.
YOUTH/FAMILY
Treehouse
(Corus)
AMA: 88,800
Treehouse is seen in more than six million homes and reaches 79% of preschoolers in English Canada each week. Sponsorship opportunities and customized promotions span both on-air
and online.
Profile: Kids two to six (primary); mothers 25-44 (secondary).
Buzz: My Friend Rabbit: This Canadian animated series (26 x 30 mins), inspired by Eric Rohmann’s book, follows the adventures of Mouse and
Rabbit as they deal with typical childhood problems.
YTV
(Corus)
AMA: 72,400
Kids network YTV is seen in over eight million homes and airs 15 of the country’s top 20 kids’ shows. A broad range of sponsorship opps exists around the network’s programming and hosted blocks. Other options include promotions, commercial production, event marketing, in-store, YTV.com and YTV Whoa! magazine.
Profile: Kids six-11 (primary); adults 18-49 who watch with them (secondary). These boomer children have been immersed in brand culture from birth and are technologically astute.
Buzz: Storm Hawks: Five mismatched teens send anyone who tries to clip their wings into a serious tailspin. This Canadian animated series (26 x 30 mins) arrives this fall.
Naked Brothers Band: This successful Nickelodeon series (26 x 30 mins) follows a real-life, preschool-born band.
Family Channel
(Astral Media)
AMA: 88,400
This channel delivers family entertainment to 5.4 million homes across Canada. In lieu of commercials, partners, sponsors and advertisers are offered targeted on-air, interactive and grassroots campaigns including online, sponsorship of on- and off-network events and interactive content (SMS, games, contests, mini-sites) plus retail licensing and merchandising.
Profile: Eight-14s who crave non-stop entertainment and watch a lot of TV, with 94% who are online and 50% who play a team sport.
Buzz: Phineas and Ferb: From the creators of The Family Guy and featuring Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical), this animated comedy sees two stepbrothers attempt to make their summer vacation count by building innovative creations, such as the world’s largest popsicle. Set to debut January 2008 with the first of 26 half-hours.
High School Musical 2: This kid-cult-classic sequel (live-action, long form) hits the small screen Aug. 17.
The Latest Buzz: This live-action comedy, which premiers March 2008 with 13 half-hours, follows the lives of five 14-year-olds running a teen magazine. A broadband preview will be podcast in 13
short-form segments.
TELETOON
(Astral Media, Corus)
AMA: English 64,900
Available in both English and French in over seven million Canadian homes, Teletoon brings kids’, youth and adult programming together under one umbrella. Advertisers can get broadcast advertising,
customized promotions, innovative product placements and branded web games. The website, teletoon.com, sees over 1.3 million visitor sessions each month.
Profile: Earlier this year, the brand was updated to resonate with smart, savvy kids two-11 (primary) and 12-17 (secondary).
Buzz: Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue: (English and French networks) Scooby is back in September for a 10th edition with a new look. The 13-part half-hour series sees Scoob in a more action-oriented role.
Ricky Sprocket: (English and French) From the Oscar-winning team behind Bob and Margaret, this half-hour comedy takes a look at the world’s biggest child movie star.
Total Drama Island: (English and French) The makers of 6TEEN unveil this animated reality TV show follows 22 adolescents in a beat-up, bug-infested summer camp in Northern Ontario.
TELETOON Retro
(New network launching in October)
(Astral Media, Corus)
The new digital service is a source of uncut classic cartoons like Fat Albert, Tom And Jerry and The Flintstones. It’s expected to be one of the largest Canadian digital network launches ever in over two million households from day one. A one-hour Retro block will air on the main network from 8 to 9 p.m. beginning in September, before the October launch.
Profile: Anticipated to be adults 25-44 with considerable family reach as parents watch classics with their kids.
FRENCH
Canal Vie
(Astral Media)
AMA: 30,200
Canal Vie offers women
simple, accessible solutions for everyday life.
Profile: Women 25-54. About 70% of the channel’s viewers are female, the highest concentration in Quebec TV.
Buzz: 30 jours: From Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) comes this 12-part series exploring his experiences dealing with life situations different from his own. In one episode, he freezes his assets and tries to start over in a new city on minimum wage.
Le go°t de Louis: Chef Louis puts together meals for various people in his life.
Historia
(Astral Media)
AMA: 11,800
Docs and fiction examine events that have shaken the planet.
Profile: The 25-54 audience skews male, almost half of whom have attended college or university.
Buzz: ¿ vos marteaux: Hosted by Serge Postigo, each episode will give a viewer the opportunity to remodel a room, based on the charm of a favourite antique. A historian will also trace the origins of the object.
