The Media Technology Monitor (MTM) has released a new report providing insight into how Canadians are living without paid TV subscriptions. Highlights from the TV My Way Report suggest 27 per cent of Anglophone Canadians are now without a paid linear TV service (cable, satellite or fibre optic); 14 per cent (who tend to be younger, students who live in cel phone only households) are consuming all of their television via the internet. One-third are watching online TV via their smartphones.
AMI-tv will kick off its Toronto Blue Jays baseball coverage broadcasting the season opener on Mar. 29 at 3:30 pm ET. Games are “Live Described” for the blind & partially-sighted community. AMI-tv will broadcast two games each month through the end of the season.
WOW! Unlimited Networks Inc. has applied to the CRTC to acquire Comedy Gold from Bell Media. WOW would purchase the channel’s assets for $6,866,892. Comments are open until Apr. 26.
Corus Studios has started production and international sales on Stitched (12×60), an original fashion competition series that “fuses jaw-dropping creations and big personalities from the world of North American fashion.” Hosted by Canadian fashion model Kim Cloutier, the series boasts resident judges including style expert Joe Zee and ELLE Canada editor-in-chief Vanessa Craft. Produced by FORTÉ Entertainment in association with Corus Studios for Slice, Stitched is shooting in Toronto and slated to premiere this fall.
The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) and Corus Entertainment have opened submissions for the 2018 Corus Writer’s Apprentice Program. Attracting experienced writers from across Canada each year, this program offers training and insights into the demands of writing successful television programs. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by Apr. 20. Selected candidates will attend BANFF on a full-access pass and benefit from networking, pitching, and business-building opportunities, in addition to a two-week internship in the writer’s room of a current Canadian comedy or drama series.
Portfolio Entertainment has partnered with award-winning creator Scott Christian Sava (Animal Crackers, Hyperactive), to develop his graphic novel Pet Robots into an animated comedy series for six to nine year-olds. Under the terms of the agreement, the Toronto-based producer and distributor will hold worldwide distribution, licensing and merchandising rights for the series.
Mainframe Studios, WOW! Unlimited Media’s Vancouver based animated and live-action television production studio, is about to debut several projects including hybrid live-action /CG animated series ReBoot: The Guardian Code, which will premiere as a Netflix original series on Mar. 30, followed by Canadian distribution on YTV in June. Mainframe is also currently developing The Anybodies, an animated comedy/adventure series, based on the successful book trilogy by author Julianna Baggott (aka N.E. Bode). Mark Risley is on board to direct. The studio has produced 30+ animated Barbie movies with Mattel over the past 17 years.
