TORONTO – Rogers-owned Citytv unveiled its plans to keep building its viewership in the 25-to-54 demographic with the addition of 16 new series, seven original Canadian series and the Grammys awards broadcast to its fall and mid-season schedule.
The new schedule, announced by Rogers president of broadcast Scott Moore during Rogers Media’s ‘upfront’ presentation Tuesday in Toronto, includes eight new comedies, six new dramas, two new reality series, as well as a roster of returning series.
Comedy shows continue to figure prominently in City’s programming mix, with five of the network’s shows among the top 10 most-watched comedies in Canada. According to data from BBM Canada, 46% of all minutes tuned for sitcoms in Canada last season were for comedies on City in the adult 25-to-54 age group.
“Our focus last year was to continue the growth of the City network and expand its footprint to reach more viewers in more homes than ever before. The result has been tremendous, with the network growing 7% this year to reach 9.6 million homes, as we deliver our world-class content on a national stage,” said Moore in a release.
New sitcoms include Mom, Dads, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Super Fun Night, The Crazy Ones, Enlisted, Back in the Game, and City original series Package Deal. They will be joined by returning series How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, Modern Family, New Girl, The Mindy Project, Parks and Recreation, Raising Hope, and The Middle.
For mid-season, new acquired comedy series Us & Them and new original animated adult comedy Mother Up! starring Eva Longoria will join the roster of returning comedy series Mike & Molly, Suburgatory, and Community, along with season two of the original comedy Seed.
City will also feature two back-to-back episodes of Modern Family, now available in syndication, weeknights from 7 to 8 p.m. to lead viewers into its prime-time lineup.
Along with returning drama series Revolution, Scandal, Revenge, and The Carrie Diaries, City is adding seven new drama shows – Lucky 7, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Betrayal, and Nashville (which is new to City) for the fall, and Killer Women, Crisis, and Resurrection airing mid-season.
City also announced it has secured a three-year deal for exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the Grammy Awards, which includes both the live awards ceremony and The Grammy Nomination Concert Live event.
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards will air live on City on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 at 8 p.m. ET. The network previously televised the music award show in 1994 and 1995.
Rounding out City’s live event programming is the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards and The Sound of Music, a live three-hour broadcast special of the hit musical starring country music singer Carrie Underwood as Maria.
City says its 2013-14 prime-time schedule contains the most robust lineup of original Canadian programming the network has ever produced, with the addition of five new and two returning original series.
That includes the original comedy Package Deal, as well as three reality series: Storage Wars Canada, The Project: Guatemala, and the newly commissioned Meet the Family, as well as return of original series The Liquidator on OLN. Beginning mid-season, new original animated adult comedy series Mother Up!, starring and executive produced by Eva Longoria, will air exclusively on North American television on City.
Premiering to critical acclaim this past February, City announced Tuesday it has greenlit a second season of its original single-camera, sperm-donor comedy Seed from Vancouver-based Force Four Productions.
“Our strategy for the past two years has been to grow our slate of original Canadian programming. We have invested in great Canadian series, both scripted and non-scripted, on City and OLN, and it has resulted in our strongest and most robust Canadian lineup ever for the networks,” said Moore.
For all its originals, City says it will complement its original series with a strong digital presence that includes live chats, blogs, bloopers, and exclusive video content for web.
Guilty-pleasure hit Bachelor Canada returns in 2014, as production on season two is slated to begin next year.
At OMNI Television, talk show host Arsenio Hall returns to TV with The Arsenio Hall Show starting September 9 and airing weeknights at 10 p.m. ET in simulcast. Mid-season will feature the premiere of OMNI’s original documentary series, Bollywood Star. Returning series this fall include Rules of Engagement, The Biggest Loser, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
