This is only really aimed at Canadians. As of September 12, 2019, Comedy Network (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comedy_Network) is CTV Comedy Channel, Space (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_(Canadian_TV_channel)) is now CTV Sci Fi Channel and Bravo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravo_(Canadian_TV_channel)) is now CTV Drama Channel. Do you think that this is a completely asinine, generic, and unnecessary change?

All of those channels are pretty much zombie channels. Space might be an exemption, as they did air Doctor Who uncut. The CBC cut 15 minutes of each episode to accommodate their rigid schedule. Space is pretty much the Star Trek Channel. Perhaps CTV will breathe new life in the Channel. Bravo used to show operas and Classical music, now it's The Law And Order Channel.

The names of the channels are changing, but the programs remain the same.

If they revamped the channels then maybe that would be worth all this advertising of these name changes, but it looks like the same schedule that's been airing on and off for years.

The only big change that I've noticed is that the channel that is now called Bravo and will soon be called CTV Drama has added "House" a couple of days a week and many more hours of "The Closer" on the weekend.

These are the most generic TV channel names. Really don't like it. The logos will all be clunky to fit in all of the words. Bravo was so sleek and simple on the bottom right, the CTV Drama Channel will be ugly and it's so generic it kind of bothers me. It's like if Lay's original chip bags were changed to being labelled "Plain flavored fried potato snack" - it's true but it's too straightforward that it's generic.

I have written about this for a while now and, in brief, this is what it means:

Same channels, different names, same programming.

The first two things don't bother me but the last one does. You would think that with all the effort and hype that CTV has put into getting ready for the rebranding that they would also reshuffle their schedules but that will not be the case.

I'll be back on Thursday with much better links and further details to see how they pull it off.

These are the most generic TV channel names. Really don't like it. The logos will all be clunky to fit in all of the words. Bravo was so sleek and simple on the bottom right, the CTV Drama Channel will be ugly and it's so generic it kind of bothers me. It's like if Lay's original chip bags were changed to being labelled "Plain flavored fried potato snack" - it's true but it's too straightforward that it's generic.

The name change happened today and your logo description is extremely accurate, plus it's much brighter on the screen than the previous logos.

One of Bell's competitors, Shaw Media, the 3rd largest cable company in Canada after Bell and Rogers and owners of Global TV, do a nice job on their website in explaining the CTV rebranding, which begins today, yet they seem to view the lack of programming changes as a positive rather than the obvious weakness that we all seem to agree on. At the bottom of the page, there is this:

"Don’t worry, the content will remain the same so you can still enjoy your current favorites..."

Shaw Direct - Bell Media CTV Rebrand (https://www.shawdirect.ca/english/support/article/11796/)

Well, at the moment, I don't have any current favorites on any of the channels, hence the need for change. This may be best illustrated if you look at the programming lineups for the summer and the fall for each of the 4 channels where the only real changes are found on their websites:

CTV Life (https://www.ctv.ca/ctvlife)

Gusto - Summer 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-life/?id=summer-2019-july-august&synopsis=inactive#schedules)

CTV Life - Fall 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-life/?id=fall-2019&synopsis=inactive#schedules)


CTV Life is mainly reality and cooking shows plus leftover dramas like Flashpoint and The Closer that get shown over and over again on their other channels. This is obviously the weakest of the 4 channels.



CTV Sci-Fi (https://www.ctvscifi.ca/)

Space - Summer 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-sci-fi/?id=summer-2019-july-august&synopsis=inactive#schedules)

CTV Sci-Fi - Fall 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-sci-fi/?id=fall-2019&synopsis=inactive#schedules)

Not much to get excited about here. "Stargate" and "Andromeda" in the mornings with a little "Xena:Warrior Princess" thrown in and lots of "Star Trek" after that. A great example of a very lazy, sloppy and uninspired programming strategy for a genre that defines and longs for imagination. Not here!


CTV Drama (https://www.ctvdrama.ca/)

Bravo - Summer 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-drama/?id=summer-2019-july-august&synopsis=inactive#schedules)

CTV Drama - Fall 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-drama/?id=fall-2019&synopsis=inactive#schedules)

Not much drama to be found here. Movies in the morning and the same half-dozen series seen in heavy rotation after that. Very sad and appalling as well.


CTV Comedy (https://www.ctvcomedy.ca/)

Comedy Network - Summer 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-comedy/?id=summer-2019-july-august&synopsis=inactive#schedules)

CTV Comedy - Fall 2019 (https://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/ctv-comedy/)

If you study these two schedules closely, you may be forgiven for thinking that you are seeing double. Except for a few subtle moves, the fall schedule is almost exactly the same as the summer one. Of all the 4 new channels, this is the one I was looking forward to the most and it's also the most disappointing.

I know that CTV and Bell Media are very happy and proud that today has finally arrived but they will soon find out that their audience will feel differently and then we'll see what happens.