WHAT GREAT NEWS!
Hey, remember a few months ago, when there was all that ugliness between Global and CTV?
You know, weeks of duelling press releases between Global and CTV about whose American bought shows that they had nothing to do with producing and were just duplicatons of what Canadians would have been able to watch on the U.S. networks anyway were doing better in the ratings?
No? You don't remember? Come on, it was in all the papers. Well, the entertainment sections, anyway. Um. Yeah.
Ah, I don't blame you. It was a pretty silly thing to brag about.
Well now Global's getting into a more positive spirit! That's right! The channel that a few years ago (under a previous regime, it should be noted) proudly trumpeted their $1.98 special Train 48 now finds themselves positively giddy over the results of their return to the world of original Adult Canadian Drama! Witness this hot off the presses press release!
A Global Primetime Update
'THE GUARD' GLOBAL'S NEW CANADIAN ORIGINAL SERIES
MAKES A BIG SPLASH WITH AUDIENCES NATIONWIDE PREMIERES WITH OVER 800,000 VIEWERS
(TORONTO – January 23, 2008) – The Guard roars ashore… Global
Television's new Canadian Original drama series, The Guard made its
national debut last night with 813,000 viewers 2+, and 464,000 viewers
in the key demo Adults 18-49, outshining the robust competition of
homegrown premieres in past weeks.
"This is an exciting time for Canadian drama, and our support of
Original programming remains steadfast," said Christine Shipton, SVP,
Drama and Factual Content, Canwest Broadcasting. "The Guard is a
reflection of the excellence found within our production community,
and we're so proud to be a part of it."
The Guard edged out all other recent Canadian premieres including:
The Border - 710,000 (+14%)
Jpod - 472,000 (+72%)
Sophie - 630,000 (+29%)
MVP - 349,000 (+133%)
(All data BBM Nielsen Media Research based on total viewers Adults
18-49 unless otherwise indicated.)
Isn't that GREAT? It's nice to see Christine Shipton and Global get a win. They've tried to step up and really turn the corner on the old days of doing the bare-bones minimum. But the BEST part about it, is that now that Global's gotten a taste of how they can succeed when they put on quality Canadian drama, well I'm pretty sure they'll just rush right out and make lots more, right?
Expect three or four more big budget homegrown drama shows on Global soon!!! It's gonna be so sweet!!!
I mean, after all, if you really want to brag, you really want to be able to brag about drawing the most viewers to all your original stuff. And you know, if you compare Global and CBC on that score, let's see, Global's at 800 000, um....and CBC is...uh...add them together... carry the 2...
2 161 000!
Oh come ON! That's EASY! Two, three new dramas on Global with those big draw American shows to run promos in, and you'll beat CBC like a red headed stepchild! JUST THINK OF THAT PRESS RELEASE!!!! It's gonna be awesome!
Yayyyyyyyy! The domestic industry's saved! Take that, U.S. recession! In your FACE, "we're not making pilots anymore Jeff Zucker!"
Global's got the press release fever and the only cure is MORE HOMEGROWN DRAMA!
Who's gonna SAIL through those CRTC LICENSE RENEWAL HEARINGS?
You are.
YOU ARE!
Seriously, all in good fun, but this IS great news for Global. See? Build it and they'll come. It's a great start.
A great start.
Now go greenlight your next CBC busting hit!
High five from Sticksville!:)
7 comments:
A little giddy there aren't we? Not to say it's not cause for celebration, but it's a bit early to get all excited. 1) It's the premiere of the series. We'll see the ratings for ep. 2 and then celebrate (or not). 2) This is Global - Not only do they have a nice collection of US shows, they have about two Canadian series (the only other being Da Kink as far as I know.)
And will someone tell them to put more content online. I'm not all that interested in the series but I did get hooked on The Border by watching episode 1 on CBC.ca.
Hmm, someone seems to have missed the slight tinge of sarcasm. And someone else seems to be taking a lesson from John Doyle's Canadian TV Exclamation Points of Added Drama. You should really write network media releases, DMc.
Come ON, Diane!
Doyle didn't INVENT the question mark, now, did he??????
Exclamation points are FUN and SASSY!!!!
And in this case, I'm not using Exclamation Points of Added Drama!!! I'm merely simulcasting the exclamation points that accompanied the original U.S. broadcast of my blog entry!!!
I think next I'll get to work on that celebratory press release!!!
How come Train 48 gets no love? I really had a great time watching that show. Could it be that Torontonians and others who ride the trains found it a bit too close to home? I have fond memories of much laughter from the likes of Johnny and Brenda and Randy and Pete!
I love it when you use !!!!, Denis. I can almost hear you sniggering as you type... oh wait I've never even seen you let alone knowing how you snigger.. Just what is that odd echo in my mind, anyway?
I have to admit, that was a funny column Doyle wrote earlier this week. I literally LOL'ed.
Oh great, Denis!!!!!
Two words that go together like peanut butter and chocolate...
DMc and Sassy.
I seem to remember the last time Global spent a lot of money on a new show exclusively for the Canadian market. A little show called Traders wasn't it. I seem to recall that they put it up against ER to "prove" that people didn't want to see quality Canadian shows and were shocked that people actually wanted to watch it. Then the tried to cancel it by crying that it was too expensive for poor Global only to have the CBC come along to foot some of the bills in return for being able to rebroadcast episodes a few days after they aired on Global. It took them five years to kill that show. What's the over/under on The Guard?
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