All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Game shows

Why popular TV shows are turning to mobile games

For the networks that broadcast them, television shows can be incredibly lucrative. The biggest TV shows make hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue. This article reveals that a 30-second commercial in Sunday Night Football will cost more than $600,000 and a 30-second commercial in the science comedy show The Big Bang Theory would cost advertisers more than a quarter of a million dollars.

However, the money-making potential of these shows doesn’t just end at advertising revenue. Many networks are turning to mobile games as a way to make more money and find new fans for some of their most popular series.

Reach the Audience Wherever They Are
The number of people who own TV sets or pay for cable subscriptions is dropping, and in 2018, revenue from pay-TV was just $4.4 billion. This means that broadcasting a show on TV is no longer the best way to reach the audience, and to get in front of fans, networks are having to come up with new ideas.

One of these ideas is to be available on streaming services as these are often available on computers, mobile devices, and games consoles. Indeed, mobile offerings have proven to be a great way to drive interest to different shows and products, with online slot games based on TV shows being just one of many examples of this in practice, as reported in this source. For example, the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire slot game is one of the many slots offered by LeoVegas, and PartyCasino, another online casino with a mobile app, has eight different casino games about British game show Deal or No Deal.

Reach a Younger Audience
Many of those choosing to go without a pay-TV subscription are those in younger demographics. This study reveals that the average age of someone who watches live TV is 56, as young people pay for subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu, and premium subscriptions from sites like YouTube. It’s great that older people are enjoying shows, but it means that TV networks may not be reaching everyone who may enjoy the show.

In comparison, the average age of a mobile gamer is 36.3 years old, making them nearly 20 years younger than the average live TV viewer. By releasing a mobile game, networks can reach this much younger audience, showing them why the characters, music, and story are so enjoyable.

Make Money When the Show Isn’t Being Made

 

Seinfeld went off the air in 1998 and yet the sitcom still makes millions of dollars. It was announced that Netflix had paid $100 million for the rights to show all 151 episodes. Not every show will be able to make that much money from streaming deals years after they stopped making new episodes, but mobile games can help networks make money when a show isn’t being made.

Fans of a show who would like to keep hearing the music and seeing the character may start playing mobile games to keep being entertained by the series. They may be happy to spend too, allowing the shows to make money when ads can’t be sold and streaming deals can’t be made.

The way that people watch TV shows may have changed, but releasing mobile game versions of these shows has kept on being popular. Fans don’t have to watch reruns just to enjoy their favourite series.

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Game shows, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Why is gambling such a common theme for TV?

Gambling is one of the most popular pastimes in Canada, and it has been found that nearly 70 percent of the population has participated in some form of gambling in the past. Gambling games are characterized by being generally exciting yet simple to understand. With such a high number of Canadians being familiar with gambling, it has often been used as a theme within TV shows. Certain series have had gambling-specific episodes, while game shows have taken the concept of gambling and made it into a reality competition.

Thrilling and Relatable
One of the major reasons that gambling is often depicted on screen is down to the fact that it is strongly associated with excitement. A common trick to upping the thrill levels in a TV series is to include some elements of chance and gambling, in which the fate of the characters could go either way.

One recurring theme from works of fiction is to give the protagonist a tough ultimatum to deliberate. This dilemma, the result of which could go either way, is often used as a way to form a cliffhanger at the end of the episode. It isn’t always explicitly linked to chance or gambling, but the character’s choice can have dramatic consequences down the line. Jesse Pinkman opting to kill Gale at the end of Breaking Bad Season 3 is an example of this. The character had to wrestle the emotions of murdering an innocent man in order to save his own skin.

There have been some Memorable Gambling Scenes in TV Series
When TV writers want to up the ante in a more obvious way, they often send their characters to the casino. Here, they tend to play well-known games that viewers can relate to. With the rise of online gambling, more people are familiar with the rules of table games like roulette and blackjack, along with slot machines. When it comes to thinking of the most memorable gambling scenes that have been in a fictional TV series, there are quite a few strong moments to choose from.

Fans of Friends will fondly remember “The One in Vegas,” which was the double-length finale to Season 5. There were a lot of gambling scenes throughout the episode, but the most iconic was when Monica was on a run of good fortune at the craps table. Chandler joins her at the table and shouts out various promises to the crowd if she wins, such as that they will buy everyone a round of drinks. He eventually says they’ll get married if she rolls a hard eight, and she does.

Another hilarious gambling scene featured in the British sitcom, Peep Show. The protagonists decide to host a poker night because Mark believes that it is a manly pastime, and he wants to impress Sophie’s new boyfriend, Jeff. Mark doesn’t want to take any risks so folds at every opportunity, while Jez doesn’t know how to play the game but manages to bluff his way through.

Along with fictional series, many viewers will look back with delight on occasions in reality TV shows when people have gambled. There have been a few times in Deal or No Deal when players have been left with a choice between gambling the Banker’s deal to see if they can win the jackpot. Who Wants to be a Millionaire is also renowned for putting players in some tough spots as they aim to take down the ultimate prize.

Gambling is a Great Format for Game Shows
The developers of some of the most popular game shows ever invented have taken elements from gambling in order to create an exciting experience for viewers. Deal or No Deal, mentioned above, is one of the prime examples of a format in which players are constantly required to gamble. The original show was a Dutch offering called Miljoenenjacht, which means Hunt for Money. The 26 box format with regular monetary offers from a banker went on to be used in over forty different countries, including Canada in 2007.

The thrilling aspect of Deal or No Deal is the fact that players are constantly put into a position in which they could potentially lose or gain a lot money. In Canada, Cash Cab is one of the longest-running and most popular game shows. The Discovery Channel show presented by Adam Growe has been on air since 2008 and gives players the chance to gamble frequently with double or nothing questions. It seems that the easy to understand concept of gambling is one that translates perfectly to game show audiences.

Gambling is a common theme for TV series and game shows because it’s something that most viewers can relate to. While not everyone likes to gamble, they may enjoy the thrill of living these tough decisions vicariously through characters or contestants.

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Children's Programming, Industry News

Nelvana and Lambur Productions are on the case as production is underway on the new live-action series, The Hardy Boys

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From a media release:

Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, along with Lambur Productions, announced today that production is underway on a new live-action Canadian original series, The Hardy Boys (13x60min). Based on Edward Stratemeyer’s bestselling classic children’s books, the mystery-drama features the principal characters in their teen years. Production for the teen series continues to shoot in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area until January 2020.

Slated to premiere on YTV in Canada and premium streaming platform Hulu in the U.S. next year, the hour-long serialized action-packed series stars an all-Canadian main cast including James Tupper (Big Little Lies) as Hardy boys’ father ‘Fenton Hardy,’ Rohan Campbell (Mech-X4) as ‘Frank Hardy,’ and Alexander Elliot (Detention Adventure) as ‘Joe Hardy.’ The Hardy Boys joins Hulu’s established library of licensed and original book-to-television adaptations including The Handmaids Tale, Looking For Alaska, Killing Eve and Friday Night Lights.

After the tragic death of their mother, Frank Hardy, 16, and his brother Joe, 12, are moved from the big city to their mother’s hometown of Bridgeport for the summer. Their father, Fenton, is convinced his wife Laura’s death was no accident and leaves the boys with their aunt as he chases down a lead. Frank and Joe set out to solve the mystery themselves only to find the secret runs deeper than they could have ever imagined. The task of fitting into their new environment is made even harder when the boys begin to believe their mother’s killer is in Bridgeport and suddenly everyone in town is a suspect!

The Hardy Boys is executive produced by Joan Lambur; Peter Mohan, who also serves as head writer; and Jason Stone, who also serves as lead director. Madeleine Lambur serves as creative producer and Paula Smith is Supervising Producer. For Corus and Nelvana, Kathleen Meek is production executive and Doug Murphy, Pam Westman, and Athena Georgaklis are executive producers.

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Featured, The Nature of Things

Preview: Climate change takes centre stage in Under Thin Ice

There has been a lot of information, misinformation and confusion about climate change. Are the extremes in temperature, ferocious weather and melting ice the final warning before something truly horrible happens to the planet? I turned to “Under Thin Ice” for answers.

Airing this Friday as part of The Nature of Things, the doc—from Montreal’s Galafilm Productions—looks at the impact global warming has on polar life. Narrated by cinematographer and diver Jill Heinerth, who captured the underwater footage alongside Mario Cyr, “Under Thin Ice” begins by stressing the importance of the polar ice to the animals that live above and below its surface. With it disappearing at an alarming rate, Heinerth and Cyr head to Lancaster Sound for a dip. On the way, they reflect on eight-degree temperatures increasingly wider leads in the ice. And, once they arrive at camp, they discover their tents have flooded.

Stunning overhead shots of the sled journey, and surface and underwater footage of narwal, beluga and bowhead whales, polar bears, seals and microscopic animals show the unique and even alien world the Arctic is. And how quickly the ice in it is disappearing. If the current warming trend continues, Heinerth says, by 2040 there could be no sea ice on the entire Arctic Ocean during the summer, something unheard of until now.

“Under Thin Ice” airs as part of The Nature of Things on Friday at 9 p.m. on CBC and on CBC Gem.

Image courtesy of Jean-Benoit Cyr.

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Uncategorized

Link: ‘Slings & Arrows’ is one of the best TV shows you might never have heard of

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From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: ‘Slings & Arrows’ is one of the best TV shows you might never have heard of
Consider the following information about Canadian TV show “Slings & Arrows.” It was created by a Kid in the Hall, a Tony Award winner and a Soulpepper Theatre co-founder.

It features a who’s who of Canadian acting talent, led by Paul Gross and including internationally-known stars like Rachel McAdams. It’s one of the best shows that you’ve possibly never heard of. Continue reading. 

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