Yearly Archives: 2015

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Link: The Oral History of 1990s YTV

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From Will Sloan of Torontoist:

The Oral History of 1990s YTV
There were some channels that had after-school programming, and of course you could see Fred Penner and Elmo on TVO and PBS, but there was only one channel that delivered youth-targeted content at all hours of the day. And if you wanted to see something on it, you had to watch it when it aired, or else there would be no guarantee you’d ever see that episode of Puttnam’s Prairie Emporium ever again.

If you were a kid growing up in Canada in the ’90s, you watched YTV. Continue reading.

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Blackstone, Featured

Blackstone closes down for good

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“Flat Line” was an apt title for Blackstone‘s final episode. It, of course, referred to Andy Fraser, the one-time chief of the band, but the series itself. After years of being the big man around town, pushing others around and enjoying the spoils of his plots and plans, Andy was laid low by AIDS, succumbing to the pneumonia that weakened his immune system to the point he couldn’t fight anymore.

“Nobody needs you,” Tom, long dead, told his son. And with that Tom—the one who had haunted Andy for so long—jumped ship and left him to die alone.

Andy died alone because everyone else were focussed on moving forward. Alan, shedding his past life and planning for a future in business, left Blackstone for the city and an education. Daryl—after having accepted Jack’s $260,000 for both bars—left the city for a small farm and home on the Fraser’s family land. That scene reminded me of Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights, and I was warmed by those feelings. I’ve always liked Daryl and was sincerely hoping he’d make it out of the club business unscathed.

Gail was headed for the city too, moving in with Luke—a genuinely good guy—and a bright future as an artist. Even Wilma had a happy ending (I was surprised by that turn), discovering a mix of traditional and modern medicine shoved her cancer into remission. Only Leona was on the downslide in this final instalment, suffering panic attacks at the losses in her life before Dr. Crowshoe sat her down for a chat.

For a series that has spent a lot of time dealing with the dark reality of life on a First Nations reserve—addiction, physical and sexual abuse, murder and rape—”Flat Line” was positively upbeat. Characters were smiling, laughing and joking and the soundtrack during that happy montage was light and airy. At least, until viewers were brought back to the stark reality of Andy’s last breaths. Blackstone‘s biggest character has had quite a ride over the past five seasons. And despite the fact it was fitting he die alone after stepping on everyone to get where he wanted to go, I’m still going to miss him. Just like I’ll miss everyone else on Blackstone.

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Featured, Podcast, Polls

Poll: The 2015 TV Ehwards

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UPDATE: Thanks for voting—the poll has closed. Congratulations to the winners.

With just a few more days until the end of 2015, TV, Eh? brings back The TV Ehwards, where readers and fans of Canadian TV can cast their votes in several well thought-out categories.

This year’s nominees are broken down into 10 categories named after several iconic homegrown series from the past, something Anthony and Greg explained in our most recent podcast.

You’re allowed one vote per category, so make it count. Voting is open until Sunday, Jan. 3, upon which time we’ll inform the winners—likely via tweet—and encourage acceptance speeches. (Vote by selecting one choice per category and then clicking the “Vote” button down and to the right of the last show option.)

SavingHopeChristmas

The Police Surgeon Award for Best Canadian Medical Drama

  • Saving Hope (62%, 686 Votes)
  • Open Heart (15%, 160 Votes)
  • Remedy (13%, 145 Votes)
  • Hard Rock Medical (10%, 107 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,098

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rookie_blue

The Seeing Things Award for Best Canadian Crime Drama

  • Blackstone (41%, 715 Votes)
  • Rookie Blue (38%, 673 Votes)
  • 19-2 (9%, 150 Votes)
  • Motive (6%, 106 Votes)
  • The Romeo Section (3%, 58 Votes)
  • Blood and Water (3%, 50 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,752

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Strange Empire

The Quentin Durgens, MP, Award for Best Canadian Historical Drama

  • X Company (46%, 1,700 Votes)
  • Murdoch Mysteries (41%, 1,493 Votes)
  • Vikings (6%, 214 Votes)
  • The Book of Negroes (5%, 190 Votes)
  • Strange Empire (2%, 76 Votes)

Total Voters: 3,673

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This_Life

The Beachcombers Award for Best Canadian Family Drama

  • Heartland (72%, 1,637 Votes)
  • This Life (15%, 341 Votes)
  • When Calls the Heart (14%, 311 Votes)

Total Voters: 2,289

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NBC

The Starlost Award for Best Canadian Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

  • Lost Girl (49%, 3,634 Votes)
  • Dark Matter (31%, 2,307 Votes)
  • Orphan Black (12%, 884 Votes)
  • Killjoys (4%, 293 Votes)
  • Bitten (2%, 121 Votes)
  • Haven (2%, 119 Votes)
  • Continuum (1%, 109 Votes)

Total Voters: 7,467

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CBC

The King of Kensington Award for Best Canadian Comedy Series

  • Young Drunk Punk (41%, 698 Votes)
  • Schitt's Creek (21%, 349 Votes)
  • Spun Out (16%, 278 Votes)
  • Mr. D (11%, 188 Votes)
  • Mohawk Girls (11%, 181 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,694

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Rogers Media

The Wayne & Shuster Award for Best Canadian Sketch Comedy Series

  • Still Standing (50%, 1,161 Votes)
  • Mercer Report (17%, 390 Votes)
  • 22 Minutes (16%, 363 Votes)
  • Sunnyside (15%, 346 Votes)
  • Tiny Plastic Men (2%, 48 Votes)

Total Voters: 2,308

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The Bastard Offspring Award for the Crossover You Most Want to See

  • Saving Hope-Motive (32%, 298 Votes)
  • Continuum-Orphan Black (29%, 277 Votes)
  • Vikings-X Company (22%, 210 Votes)
  • Mr. D-Schitt’s Creek (17%, 156 Votes)

Total Voters: 941

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beachcombers

The Reimagination Award for The Show You’d Like to See Brought Back

  • Due South (31%, 297 Votes)
  • The Beachcombers (24%, 235 Votes)
  • Mr. Dressup (17%, 170 Votes)
  • The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (13%, 126 Votes)
  • The Friendly Giant (8%, 81 Votes)
  • King of Kensington (6%, 63 Votes)

Total Voters: 972

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Shows that you SHOULD watch, but you DON’T watch, but you still don’t want them to go away

  • The Nature of Things (37%, 380 Votes)
  • Blackstone (18%, 186 Votes)
  • Continuum (18%, 178 Votes)
  • Bitten (17%, 168 Votes)
  • Strange Empire (10%, 104 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,016

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Featured, Podcast, Polls

TV, eh? podcast episode 196 – The 2015 TV Ehwards

TV-EhWardsWith just a few more days until the end of 2015, TV, Eh? brings back The TV Ehwards, where readers and fans of Canadian TV can cast their votes in several well thought-out categories.

In this week’s podcast, Anthony and Greg break down this year’s nominees in 10 categories named after several iconic homegrown series from the past. You’re allowed one vote per category, so make it count. Voting is open until Sunday, Jan. 3, upon which time we’ll inform the winners—likely via tweet—and encourage acceptance speeches.

The poll is now open—start voting!

Want to contribute to the discussion? Post links and discussion topics on our Reddit page.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Amazing Race Canada, Big Brother Canada, Book of Negroes, Featured, Rick Mercer Report, Vikings

TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched in 2015

Bell Media has released a series of top 10 lists of most-watched shows in Canada and according to their numbers, Canadian contenders include:

  • Amazing Race Canada -  number one regularly scripted series and competition reality series
  • Rick Mercer Report - 10th most-watched comedy
  • Book of Negroes – 9th most-watched new series
  • Big Brother Canada – 8th most-watched competition reality series
  • Juno Awards - 9th most-watched entertainment TV event
  • Vikings – 3rd most-watched specialty series
  • Canada’s Worst Driver – 8th most-watched specialty series
  • Highway Thru Hell  – 9th most-watched specialty series

From the Bell media release:

As 2015 comes to a close, 12-month data from Numeris highlights what Canadians have been watching on television over the past calendar year. Once again, live television events are the most-watched, led by sports championships and awards broadcasts. Among sports tournament broadcasts, we love American and Canadian football, junior and pro hockey, baseball and soccer – but curling and golf too. For regularly scheduled programming, while we wholeheartedly embrace competition series, we prefer dramas over comedies. On specialty, Justin Bieber roasts, red carpet pre-shows, and all things zombie rank high, along with fantasy and historical dramas (and yet more competition series). Meanwhile, the television program Canadians watch the most is an original production showcasing our country.

Below is a closer look at the most-watched TV broadcasts and programs Canadians watched in 2015:

Canada’s Most-Watched Canadian Series*

Rank Series Network Audience
1 THE AMAZING RACE CANADA CTV 2.54 million
2 MASTERCHEF CANADA CTV 1.66 million
3 THE BOOK OF NEGROES (NEW) CBC 1.63 million
4 ROOKIE BLUE Global 1.59 million
5 SAVING HOPE CTV 1.35 million
6 MOTIVE CTV 1.24 million
7 BIG BROTHER CANADA Global 1.12 million
8 MURDOCH MYSTERIES CBC 897,000
9 VIKINGS History 850,000
10 ASCENSION (NEW) CBC 736,000

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Entertainment Television Events

Rank Broadcast Network Date Audience
1 THE 87th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS® CTV 2/22/2015 5.53 million
2 THE 72ND ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS® CTV 1/11/2015 3.30 million
3 THE 57TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS® City 2/08/2015 2.87 million
4 THE SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Global 2/15/2015 2.68 million
5 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS® CTV 11/22/2015 2.17 million
6 ADELE LIVE IN LONDON CTV 11/25/2015 2.14 million
7 67th EMMY® AWARDS CTV 9/20/2015 1.85 million
8 PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS Global 1/07/2015 1.45 million
9 THE 2015 JUNO AWARDS (CAN) CTV 3/15/2015 1.43 million
10 THE 2015 BILLBOARD AWARDS CTV 5/17/2015 1.27 million

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Sports Tournament Broadcasts

League/Tournament Broadcast Network Date Audience
NFL SUPER BOWL XLIX CTV 2/1/2015 8.26 million
IIHF World Junior Championship Gold Medal, Canada vs. Russia TSN 1/5/2015 5.95 million
MLB ALCS Game 6, Toronto vs. Kansas City Sportsnet 10/23/2015 5.08 million
CFL 103rd GREY CUP TSN 11/29/2015 4.06 million
NHL Playoffs Round 1, Montreal vs. Ottawa CBC 4/26/2015 3.77 million
FIFA Women’s World Cup Quarterfinal, England vs. Canada CTV 6/27/2015 2.97 million
Pan Am Games Opening Ceremonies CBC 7/10/2015 1.66 million
IIHF World Championship Gold Medal, Canada vs. Russia TSN 5/17/2015 1.35 million
Curling – Brier Final TSN 3/8/2015 1.25 million
Golf – Masters Final Global 4/12/2015 1.19 million

Canada’s Most-Watched Regularly Scheduled Television Programs

Rank Program Network Audience
1 THE AMAZING RACE CANADA (CAN) CTV 2.54 million
2 THE BIG BANG THEORY CTV 2.48 million
3 SURVIVOR Global 2.22 million
4 QUANTICO (NEW) CTV 2.17 million
5 NCIS Global 2.01 million
6 MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. CTV 1.93 million
7 CSI: CYBER (NEW) CTV 1.924 million
8 NCIS: NEW ORLEANS (NEW) Global 1.923 million
9 MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER (NEW) CTV 1.921 million
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN CTV 1.88 million

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Dramas

Rank Program Network Audience
1 QUANTICO (NEW) CTV 2.17 million
2 NCIS Global 2.01 million
3 MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. CTV 1.93 million
4 CSI: CYBER (NEW) CTV 1.924 million
5 NCIS: NEW ORLEANS (NEW) Global 1.923 million
6 MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER (NEW) CTV 1.921 million
7 BLINDSPOT  (NEW) CTV 1.817 million
8 THE FLASH CTV 1.816 million
9 HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER CTV 1.77 million
10 CODE BLACK (NEW) CTV 1.74 million

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Comedies

Rank Program Network Audience
1 THE BIG BANG THEORY CTV 2.48 million
2 TWO AND A HALF MEN CTV 1.88 million
3 THE ODD COUPLE (NEW) CTV 1.65 million
4 THE GOLDBERGS CTV 832,000
4 MIKE & MOLLY City 832,000
6 2 BROKE GIRLS City 826,000
7 MODERN FAMILY City 710,000
8 THE MCCARTHYS CTV 700,000
8 LIFE IN PIECES (NEW) City 700,000
10 THE RICK MERCER REPORT (CAN) CBC 654,000

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Competition Series

Rank Series Network Audience
1 THE AMAZING RACE CANADA (CAN) CTV 2.54 million
2 SURVIVOR Global 2.22 million
3 MASTERCHEF CTV 1.82 million
4 THE AMAZING RACE CTV 1.69 million
5 MASTERCHEF CANADA (CAN) CTV 1.66 million
6 BIG BROTHER Global 1.36 million
7 AMERICA’S GOT TALENT Global 1.32 million
8 BIG BROTHER CANADA (CAN) Global 1.12 million
9 HELL’S KITCHEN City 977,000
10 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CTV 961,000

 

Canada’s Most-Watched New Series of 2015

Rank Series Network Audience
1 QUANTICO CTV 2.17 million
2 CSI: CYBER CTV 1.924 million
3 MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER CTV 1.921 million
4 BLINDSPOT CTV 1.82 million
5 CODE BLACK CTV 1.74 million
6 SUPERGIRL Global 1.67 million
7 THE ODD COUPLE CTV 1.65 million
8 THE BOOK OF NEGROES (CAN) CBC 1.63 million
9 LIMITLESS Global 1.61 million
10 HEROES REBORN Global 1.23 million

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Entertainment Specialty Events & Pre-Shows

Rank Broadcast Network Date Audience
1 THE ROAST OF JUSTIN BIEBER (NEW) Comedy 3/30/2015 1.19 million
2 2015 MTV VMAs*** Much & MTV 8/30/2015 856,000
3 2015 MUCH MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS (CAN) Much, MTV, M3 & MTV2 6/21/2015 405,000
4 MTV VMA PRE-SHOW Much 8/30/2015 391,000
5 THE JUSTIN BIEBER ROAST PRE-SHOW (NEW) Comedy 3/30/2015 389,000
6 LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET: THE 2015 GRAMMY AWARDS® E! 02/08/2015 306,000
7 MMVA RED CARPET (CAN) Much 6/21/2015 298,000
8 NICKELODEON KIDS’ CHOICE AWARDS YTV 3/28/2015 292,000
9 LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET: THE 2015 ACADEMY AWARDS® E! 2/22/2015 275,000
10 LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET: THE 2015 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS® E! 1/11/2015 219,000

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Regularly Scheduled Specialty Series

Rank Series Network Audience
1 THE WALKING DEAD AMC 1.64 million
2 FEAR THE WALKING DEAD (NEW) AMC 1.14 million
3 VIKINGS (CAN) History 850,000
4 DOCTOR WHO Space 702,000
5 GOLD RUSH Discovery 695,000
6 THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND History 692,000
7 BETTER CALL SAUL (NEW) AMC 684,000
8 CANADA’S WORST DRIVER (CAN) Discovery 602,000
9 HIGHWAY THRU HELL (CAN) Discovery 587,000
10 TALKING DEAD AMC 583,000

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Regularly Scheduled Pay TV Series 

Rank Series Network Audience
1 GAME OF THRONES HBO Canada 1.40 million
2 TRUE DETECTIVE HBO Canada 486,000
3 GIRL MEETS WORLD Family 319,000
4 THE NEXT STEP Family 308,000
5 LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER HBO Canada 273,000
6 BALLERS (NEW) HBO Canada 258,000
7 THE BRINK (NEW) HBO Canada 241,000
8 DISNEY K.C. UNDERCOVER Family 234,000
9 DISNEY AUSTIN & ALLY Family 225,000
10 SILICON VALLEY HBO Canada 215,000

 

Canada’s Most-Watched Late-Night Talk Shows

Rank Series Network Audience
1 THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART CTV 426,000
2 THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH (NEW) CTV 407,000
3 THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT (NEW) Global 258,000
4 THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON CTV Two 215,000
5 THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART Comedy 203,000
6 THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH (NEW) Comedy 195,000
7 LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS CTV 191,000
8 THE NIGHTLY SHOW WITH LARRY WILMORE (NEW) Comedy 100,000
9 @MIDNIGHT MUCH 93,000
10 THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN OMNI 2 71,000

 

Source: Numeris (BBM Canada), Jan 1 – Nov 29, 2015, Top 10 Programs based on most-regular timeslot for series defined by greatest number of telecasts

* Excluding News Programming

** Special event broadcasts includes Championship finals and special events

*** Based on 9-11:30PM daypart audiences

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