Today is the first day of the Canadian TV network upfronts when Canada's major networks and specialty channels announce their new fall schedules highlighted by new acquisitions from US networks which were bought at last week's US upfronts and some original series to fill out their lineups. The key date I'm looking forward to is tomorrow morning when CHCH, North America's best retro TV channel, announces their new daytime classics live at 11:00 am. I'll be watching it and post the results later in the day. Before that happens, here are the highlights from CBC's presentation, which normally kicks off the proceedings and happened this morning:


CBC (https://www.cbc.ca/television)

CBC's newest group of original series includes shows from every genre, from comedy to drama to documentaries and also reality series which they refer to as "factual entertainment". Highlights include:

COMEDY

"Rick Mercer's Comedy Night" - a series of stand-up comedy routines by Rick Mercer himself and other famous Canadian comedians.

DRAMA

"Skymed" - The adventures of First Responders and medical personnel working at 20,000 feet in the remote Northern regions of Canada.

"The North Water" - Another series set in the Canadian North in 1859, a pair of surgeons battle the elements and each other as they get set to take part in a whaling expedition on board the ship "The Volunteer".

REALITY

"The Legacy Awards" - An awards show which promises a celebration of Canada's best black performers.

"Bollywed" - Set in a bridal shop in downtown Toronto called Chandan Fashion, which has been operated by the Singh family for the last 37 years and offers a detailed look at Bollywood and native Indian culture in Canada.

DOCUMENTARY/SPORTS

"Summit '72" - The one new series I'm looking forward to seeing the most. It's a detailed and comprehensive look at the epic Canada vs USSR Summit Series between the world's two biggest hockey nations as it approaches its 50th anniversary featuring new never before seen footage from each of the 8 games.

RETURNING SERIES

Hockey Night In Canada - 71st season
The Nature Of Things - 62nd season
Dragons' Den - 17th season
Family Feud Canada - 4th season
This Hour Has 22 Minutes - 30th season
Murdoch Mysteries - 16th season

...and finally!

Heartland - 16th season

All series can be seen and streamed on CBC's free streaming service "CBC Gem" which contains many additional series to watch that are mentioned in CBC's official press release:

Press Release + Schedule (https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/press-release/cbc-unveils-2022-23-programming-slate-featuring-over-40-original-series-and)

CBC Gem (https://gem.cbc.ca/)

Family Feud Canada (https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/family-feud-canada)

Heartland (https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/heartland)

Tomorrow: The big day! CHCH announces their fall schedule along with their IndieNET colleagues!

Any updates, Sal? Hoping for some nice surprises with the fall line up!

Any updates, Sal? Hoping for some nice surprises with the fall line up!

I am as well but it seems that our favourite retro station is trying to torture us with suspense and is not giving any hints as to what may happen in the fall. Last Thursday was the upfront date for the 4 Indienet stations (CHEK Vancouver, NTV Newfoundland, YES TV Toronto, which used to be good but no more, and CHCH TV Hamilton) but, other than a nice flashy video where we get a good look at the stations' various local personalities and a very brief preview of the upcoming fall shows, there was nothing from any of them: no PDF schedule, no preview page with the new shows on them, no description of the new shows, nothing! So we are all left to guess until everything is released and becomes official. When that happens, I have no idea but I promise I will post it for you. Be patient and stay tuned.

Meanwhile, it looks like their competition is better prepared despite the fact that there was very little to choose from at the US upfronts with regards to programming acquisitions so filling up any holes in the schedule will prove to be a tougher job than usual. That becomes very apparent when you see what the first of 3 major networks has in store for this season.

CITY TV (https://www.citytv.com/)

CITY TV is part of the ROGERS cable and digital network family which also includes Sportsnet, Canada's #1 sports network and national rights holder for the NHL, FX Canada, FXX, and multicultural channel OMNI TV.

The overall fall schedule tends to be very repetitive and is organized by theme nights: Mondays and Tuesdays have Bachelor in Paradise, Wednesdays have NBC's Chicago dramas, Thursdays are Law & Order nights, Fridays are dominated by Dateline, Saturday is Hockey Night, and Sunday is movie night. Late nights have Jimmy Kimmel Live at 11:30 pm.

New shows to look forward to for those brave enough to watch them:

Capital One College Bowl - Fridays at 8, for a limited time.

Lopez vs Lopez - Will replace the College Bowl in November at 8 pm and is already one of the most buzzed about new series of the season, which gives you an idea of how bad the season will be. I predict right now this will be the first cancellation of the fall!

Quantum Leap - Mondays at 10:00 pm. A reboot of the beloved 80s series which starred Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. How long will the new version last? You may need a time machine to find out, if you can build one fast enough! The original can be seen in Canada at 3:00 pm on Vision TV.

Links:

Rogers Sports and Media - Upfront 2022 (https://www.rogerssportsandmedia.com/upfront/)

Rogers TV and Streaming - CITY TV Programs (https://www.rogerssportsandmedia.com/what-we-do/television-and-streaming/)

CITY TV - 2022 Fall Schedule (https://www.rogerssportsandmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/UPFRONT-SCHEDULE-2022.pdf)

I can't remember the last time when Canadian TV Upfronts Week - which ends tomorrow - produced the most exciting news and announcements from a station or network other than CHCH but it happened today. It came from the CORUS Entertainment Company, a network which has Global TV as its main channel which we will look at shortly. Its primary cable and digital networks include: Home & Garden Television (HGTV), The Food Network, Slice TV, The History Channel, W (The Women's Network), Showcase, Adult Swim, Teletoon, YTV, Lifetime, DejaView (now a mere skeleton of its past glories), Lifetime, OWN, Cartoon Network, The Disney Channel, National Geographic, CMT Canada, and others. The main news comes from its new free streaming partner. While Rogers, which was profiled yesterday, has partnered with TUBI to make their videos available to Canadians, CORUS has wisely gone to a higher source and made their deals with PLUTO TV, which means (Are you ready Canada???):


This fall, PLUTO TV will finally become available for free in Canada!!!


That's right! PLUTO TV, recognized as the leader in free streaming content, including great classic series that can be found on live TV and VOD, will be seen in full for the first time in Canada right around the time the fall schedule gets underway. At present, PLUTO TV has only 11 working channels in Canada (compared to 300 and counting in the US) but that number will quickly rise to over 100 channels with more than 10,000 hours of content. Most of the channels should be the same as the US version. The only differences I can see showing up would be having French-language channels instead of Spanish and more radio channels devoted to Canadian artists. Whatever form it takes, I'll be looking forward to it and I can't wait to finally watch it when it arrives.

Now we turn our attention to CORUS' main network: Global TV.



GLOBAL TV (https://www.globaltv.com/)


Compared to the news I just announced above, Global's schedule seems to be a bit anticlimactic and just average. That may be due to the slim pickings that were up for grabs at the US upfronts, which also caused Rogers to offer a weaker than usual lineup. Global only picked up 3 new series, which had to feel disappointing to them, since their returning hit shows were able to widen the ratings gap between them and first place CTV thanks to strong showings from "Survivor", the "FBI" and "NCIS" series, and new comedy hits "Ghosts" and "Abbott Elementary". The new series joining Global this fall will be 2 new dramas: "So Help Me Todd", and "Fire Country" and the 3rd season of "Home Economics" which they acquired from CTV in another attempt to jump ahead of them in the overall ratings. That series was an important addition for them because the overall schedule is heavy with drama and reality series except on Wednesdays with "Abbott Elementary" starting at 9:00 followed by "Home Economics" and Thursdays which has "The Neighborhood" at 8 followed by "Ghosts". Global may not get to be #1 just yet but getting Canadians tuned to PLUTO TV for free will be huge for them, and for us who will greatly benefit from this!

PLUTO TV To Launch In Canada With Corus This Fall (https://www.corusent.com/media-centre/press-releases/pluto-tv-to-launch-with-corus-in-canada-this-fall/)

Global TV 2022-23 Fall Schedule + Previews (https://www.globaltv.com/shows/fall-preview/articles/global-announces-2022-23-primetime-lineup-packed-with-the-most-hotly-anticipated-new-series-and-highest-rated-returning-hits/)

Corus Upfronts - Making Waves (https://www.corusent.com/advertising/brands/makingwaves/)

Today marked the last day for the Canadian upfronts and, as has become tradition, we save the best for last and bring on CTV, which finished this season as Canada's #1 network for the 20th year in a row despite getting some serious competition in the ratings from Global. The programming strategies which they used to make this year's fall schedule will show you why they remain at #1.

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

The main CTV network is part of a large group of cable and specialty channels owned by Bell Media, Canada's largest cable company. CTV branches out into different channels carrying its name including CTV Comedy, CTV Life, CTV Drama, and CTV Sci-Fi. As well, programs that don't fit into the main channel will get shifted into their secondary channel CTV2. Other specialty channels owned by Bell Media include TSN (The Sports Network), MTV, MTV2, Much Music, and the Canadian version of HBO.

The network is so strong that it will bring back a large number of returning series, both original and imported, including top dramas Station 19, Gray's Anatomy, The Good Doctor, and The Rookie, as well as fan-favorite sitcoms Young Sheldon, Call Me Kat, The Conners, and Bob Loves Abishola, plus many others. New to the network this fall will be 4 new series (again, like its competitors, there's not much to choose from). They are: new police drama series, "East New York", a sequel to "The Rookie" called "The Rookie: Feds" and another drama "Alaska" starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Finally, fresh off the success of "Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune", there will now be "Celebrity Jeopardy". Somehow, I don't expect to see the same celebrities on both series. This fall will also see the debut of the new "Night Court" reboot starring returning cast member John Larroquette as Dan Fielding, and "The Big Bang Theory"'s Melissa Rauch as Judge Harry Stone's daughter Abby.

With both quality and quantity in abundance, putting together the new final fall schedule took a lot of creative maneuvering and I think they did a great job. In Canada, prime time begins at 7:00 pm. CTV has used this extra hour to schedule "Entertainment Tonight"'s Canadian version called "ET Canada" at 7 pm, followed by "The Big Bang Theory" reruns on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. The rest of the week, they have "The Conners" scheduled at 7:30 on Wednesday nights and "Call Me Kat" followed by "Young Sheldon" at 7:00 and 7:30 pm on Thursdays before the US networks can show them at their regular times. (So I'll get to see them before you do!) If you are a fan of these shows and would love to have spoiler alerts, I'll be very happy to provide them free of charge!

All series can be streamed for free on the CTV.ca website along with their companion pages CTV Movies and CTV Throwback, which today added the classic series "Major Dad" to their collection.


Press Release + Fall Schedule (https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/compelling-new-procedurals-returning-hits-and-acclaimed-originals-bolster-ctvs-2022-fall-primetime-schedule/)

Bell Media Original Series (https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/bell-media-confirms-2022-23-original-programming-slate-of-nearly-100-titles-boasting-973-hours-of-english-and-french-language-content/)

CTV Movies (https://www.ctv.ca/movies)

CTV Throwback (https://www.ctv.ca/throwback)

Thanks for all the updates, Sal!

I am looking forward to seeing how PLUTO TV plays out in Canada.

I've noticed that a couple of Canadian channels are adding to their schedules this fall. Not sure if these channels are available coast to coast.

Vision TV has added "Monk" to their schedule at 6pm, beginning on Monday August 29, replacing "Parenthood."

"Father Brown" may be replacing "Quantum Leap", at 3pm, beginning on Friday September 2. First episode of the first season is scheduled to air.

The rest of the daytime schedule remains the same, and has not changed in a while.

2pm Heartland
3pm Father Brown
4pm Little House on the Prairie
5pm The Waltons
6pm Monk
7pm Murder, She Wrote


YES TV is changing their schedule beginning Monday August 29. "Diagnosis Murder" has been dropped at 2pm and two episodes of "25 Words or Less" are scheduled from 1:30pm - 2:30pm. Late night "I Love Lucy" is gone too.

2:30pm Jeopardy!
3pm Hot Bench (2 episodes)
4pm Party of Five
5pm NUMB3RS
6pm Hawaii Five 0 (the newer series, not the one from the 60s)
7pm Wheel of Fortune
730pm Jeopardy!
8pm Blue Bloods
11pm Heartland
12am You Bet Your Life (2 episodes)
1am 25 Words or Less (2 episodes)
2am Highway to Heaven (2 episodes)

CMT Canada is adding "Cheers" and "Spin City" to the schedule at various times. Right now it looks like the afternoon schedule Mon-Fri beginning Mon Aug 29 on the 30th Degrassi moves to 4am and Due South airs at 5am, and then the rest of the schedule stays the same

5am Degrassi: The Next Generation (2 episodes)
6am Schitt's Creek (2 episodes)
7am Degrassi: The Next Generation (2)
8am Due South
9am Schitt's Creek (2)
10am Degrassi: The Next Generation (2)
11am Due South
12pm Schitt's Creek
1pm King of Queens (2 eps)
2pm Frasier (2)
3pm Cheers (2)
4pm Everybody Loves Raymond (2)
5pm King of Queens (2)
6pm The Office (2)
7pm Frasier (2)
8pm Cheers (2)
9pm Everybody Loves Raymond (2)
10pm The Office (2)
11pm Frasier (2)
12am Cheers (2)
1am Everybody Loves Raymond (2)
2am The Office (2)
3am King of Queens (2)
4am Degrassi: The Next Generation (2)
5am Due South
6am Schitt's Creek (2)

Saturday:
early morning varies, sometimes the channel airs infomercials but otherwise it is the same as Monday - Friday

Then it will air 4 episodes each of these shows on a loop until Sunday at 6am
12pm Frasier
2pm Cheers
4pm Spin City

6am: Schitt's Creek

Unsure about Sunday right now - does not look like it has been updated yet.

Sal has updated CHCH in another thread, with another update to come soon, I would guess.

Anyone remember the show "Early Edition" (it ran from 1996-2000). I'd love to see that one again - it doesn't seem to be on anywhere.