BELL MEDIA specialty channels NEWS & SCHEDULES 2017

[lostjon]

Funny that they went through the trouble of doing everything not to name the channel...The usual possibility are What, Book TV and Fashion Television? Or are they Category A thought ? So maybe Comedy Gold or MTV 2?

Book Television, Fashion Television and MTV2 are Category A channels. Comedy Gold, ESPN Classic Canada, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Discovery Science and Discovery Velocity are Category B.

Honestly, Bell should either sell off or shut down both Book Television and Fashion Television altogether. No use keeping MTV2 either unless drastic changes are made beyond what they are currently programming on the channel.

[musimax]

It's odd that they don't name the channel. I can't imagine they haven't picked it yet. Chances are, it's Comedy Gold. A retro channel mixed in with Bell's suite of channels is an odd man out, retro TV isn't 'sexy', and it's one of only two channels that Bell owns 100% of that's a category B, the other being Investigation Discovery, which I think is definitely a bigger priority than Comedy Gold.

But either way, since Bell is going to own a stake in WOW, is it really much of a sell off? Chances are, as WOW grows, Bell will likely end up buying it outright down the road anyways. This sounds like nothing more than a test run.

[DraicKin]

Most of Bell's specialities channels are cat. A , so it rules out some interesting possibilities. Here's a the list of Bell cat.B channels and how profitable they were.


1. Animal Planet
Pre-tax Profit from 1,422,797$ (2011) to 4,178,978$ (2015)
Subs : from 1,923,538 (2011) to 2,384,196 (2015)
Profit/Sub : from 0.74$ (2011) to 1.75$ (2015)

2.Comedy Gold
Pre-tax Profit from 1,681,033$ (2011) to 2,757,635$ (2015)
Subs from 968,217 (2011) to 775,915 (2015)
Profit/Sub : from 1.74$ (2011) to 3.55$ (2015)


3. Discovery Science
Pre-tax Profit from 347,013$ (2011) to 1,524,134$ (2015)
Subs from 1,399,775 to 1,647,679
Profit/Sub : from 0.25$ (2011) to 0.93$ (2015)


4.Discovery Velocity
Pre-tax Profit from 13,773,688$ (2011) to 13,032,338$ (2015)
Subs from 1,442,292 (2011) to 1,142,436 (2015)
Profit/Sub : from 9.55$ (2011) to 11.41$ (2015)


5.ESPN Classic Canada
Pre-tax Profit from 705,028$ (2011) to 345,501$ (2015)
Subs from 1,092,322 (2011) to 556,649 (2015)
Profit/Sub : from 0.65$ (2011) to 0.62$ (2015)


6.Investigation Discovery
Pre-tax Profit from 892,676$ (2011) to 5,912,901$ (2015)
Subs from 956,863 (2011) to 1,425,647 (2015)
Profit/Sub : from 0.93$ (2011) to 4.15$ (2015)

So when i look at the number , retro may not be sexy but it is still profitable, yes ESPN Classic Canada is the weakest channel in the group but i doubt anyone might be interested in buying a very weak (too weak) channel so my bet goes on the next weakest channel of the group : Discovery Science.
Discovery Science programs could be place on other platforms like Crave tv or some programs might be in the main Discovery schedule, pulling the plug on a linear channel doesn't mean no more Discovery Science.

So my bet is on Discovery Science.

[lostjon]

I'm sensing some sort of a pattern here. Bell is gradually trying to diversify their specialty portfolio by expanding into areas already covered by rival media companies, particularly Corus Entertainment.

Last year, it was food and lifestyle. In that case, they already have FashionTelevision, which could have been selected for some sort of rebrand. But given its low subscriber base, they opted to acquire the independent Gusto TV channel and use an existing analog Category A channel for the rebrand with a higher subscriber base (M3, formerly MuchMoreMusic). Clearly, their intent was to put themselves on an even playing field with Corus who already has Food Network Canada, although in response, they also added Cooking Channel.

This year, it's kids and youth. Corus already has that covered with YTV, Teletoon, Treehouse and its suite of Disney channels. There's also DHX Media, owners of Family and their suite of specialty channels. Bell wants a little piece of that, hence their partnership with WOW Unlimited Media.

Just for a little background, Michael Hirsh, the current CEO and chairman of WOW was one of the co-founders for Nelvana Enertainment, which went on to be acquired by Corus. Following the demise of CINAR, it became part of a consortium that was rebranded Cookie Jar Entertainment, which was subsequently acquired by DHX Media for which he also served as an executive chairman. Shortly afterwards, he co-founded a production company with music producer Bob Ezrin which, through the merger of two other companies, became consolidated under WOW Unlimited Media. You kind of see where this is going?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOW!...ted_Media_Inc.

Through a similar post on another forum, here is a video link of an interview conducted with Mr. Hirsh upon Bell Media's announcement:
http://www.bnn.ca/video/~1142061?hoo...8c429801a9382b

Though one cannot rule out the possibility that they could take one of their existing Category A channels (BookTelevision, FashionTelevision or MTV2 are prime candidates) presumably with a lower subscriber base and then convert it into Category B... I may be completely wrong in my assessment, but it figures that they would want to start with a substantial amount of subscribers, like we saw in the case of M3/Gusto last year. At this point, it does not appear that they have anything left among Category A specialties beyond the three I mentioned. So now they're turning towards the Category B specialties, some of which have more subscribers than those in Category A.

So based on the previous post, Animal Planet and Investigation Discovery are the strongest performers all around.

As for Discovery Velocity, though it indicates that subscribers were lost from 2011 to 2015, most of this period covers the time that it was previously Discovery World HD. It was rebranded to Velocity in February 2015. Sure, the average profits per subscriber show a considerable increase during that time, but what about after the rebrand? Since we do not have the 2016 figures, we don't know. Plus it would be too soon to rebrand this channel.

So that leaves us with Discovery Science, ESPN Classic Canada and Comedy Gold.
ESPN Classic Canada is the weakest overall. At the very least, they could convert it into a bonus feed for TSN when running into conflicts with live sporting events on their existing ones, and also make it available in HD. Or just shut it down altogether and keep it running exclusively on digital platforms like TSN GO.
Comedy Gold, like the three other Category A channels is just getting by with the theme packages offered by most providers, being bundled with popular specialty channels, but they have one of the lowest subscriber bases.
Discovery Science saw an increase in subscribers, but once the profits are taken into account, they have been a lot slower. Given its higher subscriber base, this would be a viable candidate.

[CDN Viewer]

It's odd that they don't name the channel. I can't imagine they haven't picked it yet.

I was wondering the same thing- what's the deal with all the secrecy?! The only thing I can think of is perhaps its a channel that is fairly popular and might upset viewers of said channel so they won't name it until the last moment.

Also, what's the deal with the Cat. B thing- why won't they sell off one of their Cat. A channels?! They have 2 dead weights (BookTelevision & Fashion Telesvision) that they have done nothing with and are just sitting on. The category designations will soon be history and once that happens BDU's will be free to dump weak channels if they so desire. My thinking is they don't want to shut them down as they are available on all providers (due to the must-carry status that Cat. A channels have) and have some value but on the other hand probably don't know what to do with them so they just remain in limbo in the wasteland where channels go to die.

Chances are, it's Comedy Gold.

Comedy Gold was my first thought as well, although ESPN Classic would be my second choice. I would be surprised if it was one of the Discovery channels, as other have speculated as those channels are quite popular from what I see.

I'm sensing some sort of a pattern here. Bell is gradually trying to diversify their specialty portfolio by expanding into areas already covered by rival media companies, particularly Corus Entertainment.

Interesting observation, you may be on to something. If that is the case then I wonder if they have approached DHX Media about a possible partnership?! Perhaps they turned Bell down (good on them) and they moved on to this WOW! Media that I have never heard of?!

I have noticed that Bell seems to be streamlining their channels, holding on to the more stronger ones and getting rid of others that don't fit in. They still have a few that need to be overhauled or shut down (Book Television, Fashion Television, ESPN Classic, Comedy Gold), I expect those will be dealt with one by one. Corus on the other hand, has a ton of channels and don't really seem to be doing much of anything as far as 'trimming the fat' and getting rid of under-performing channels.

[DraicKin]

The popularity of a channel doesn't mean much if the channel doesn't make money.
popularity and being profitable are 2 completely differents aspects of a channel.
It doesn't matter how the channel is making money (same shows over and over again, bundle with other channels, premium price ...) , the important thing is to make money.

From a business point-of-view,
1 sub of a profitable channel > 1 sub of a losing money (or less profitable) channel .

Though one cannot rule out the possibility that they could take one of their existing Category A channels (BookTelevision, FashionTelevision or MTV2 are prime candidates) presumably with a lower subscriber base and then convert it into Category B... I may be completely wrong in my assessment, but it figures that they would want to start with a substantial amount of subscribers, like we saw in the case of M3/Gusto last year. At this point, it does not appear that they have anything left among Category A specialties beyond the three I mentioned. So now they're turning towards the Category B specialties, some of which have more subscribers than those in Category A.

This is why I was a bit surprise that the PR Press mention a cat B. channel because Bell does have a 5.8 millions subs losing money cat. A channel.
That channel is ... MTV. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publicatio...al/ipsp151.htm

[musimax]

On second thought, maybe the reason why they haven't announced the channel is that they don't have it nailed down yet. Maybe Bell wants to off load one of the channels that it co-owns with ESPN - like ESPN Classic. And they haven't finalized a deal yet, and if it doesn't go through, then they have a backup and will sell off one of the channels Bell owns 100% - either Comedy Gold or Investigation Discovery.

[lostjon]

Additional Bell Media Specialty Acquisitions for 2017/18

• NEW JORDAN KLEPPER SERIES (Comedy, following The Daily Show weeknights this fall)
• JAMIE'S QUICK & EASY FOOD (Gusto)
  
• THE JOKER'S WILD (MUCH, reboot of 1970s/1980s game show hosted by Snoop Dogg)
  

Returning favourites include:

• SOUTH PARK (Season 21) - MUCH
• BROAD CITY (Season 4) - MUCH

Source: http://www.bellmedia.ca/upfront/specialty/

[lostjon]

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Lands in Canada September 24

– CTV to launch the series with Space in special one-night simulcast –
– New episodes roll out every Sunday on Space, Space.ca, Space Go and On Demand –
– CraveTV to announce exclusive Canadian streaming dates for the series in the coming weeks –

June 19, 2017

TORONTO (June 19, 2017) – Scheduling for one of television’s most anticipated debuts of the year was revealed today as Space confirmed that STAR TREK: DISCOVERY makes its exclusive Canadian broadcast premiere simultaneously on CTV and Space, Sunday, September 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT. Episode 2 follows immediately the same evening only on Space. The 15-episode season will roll out in two chapters, with the first eight episodes running from Sunday, Sept. 24 through Sunday, Nov. 5. The second chapter resumes in January 2018. Every episode will also be available to Space subscribers on the newly launched Space GO app, in addition to being available on Space.ca and participating On Demand channels.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY will also stream exclusively in Canada on CraveTV, with full scheduling details to be released in the coming weeks.

“The addition of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY anchors Space’s incredibly exciting fall schedule,” said Pat DiVittorio, Vice-President, Programming, CTV and Specialty. “Joining genre heavy-hitters THE LAST SHIP and THE LIBRARIANS, Space continues to be the go-to-destination for exclusive, high-octane and compelling drama.”

STAR TREK, one of the most iconic and influential global television franchises, returns to television 50 years after it first premiered with STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. The series follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and for one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series features a new ship, new characters and new missions, while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Bryan Fuller’s Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers. The series will air on CBS All Access in the U.S. and be distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s Space channel and OTT service CraveTV.

To download STAR TREK: DISCOVERY photography, including photos of Sonequa Martin-Green’s appearance at the CTV Upfront 2017, please visit: http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/tv/space/star-trek/.

Bell Media has also licensed all 727 existing episodes of the STAR TREK television library – which includes STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, and STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE.

The STAR TREK television library airs on Space (in English) and on Cinépop (in French), and is available now on CraveTV.

About Space

Space is home to phenomenal programming including imaginative dramas, epic movies, engaging reality series, and the daily entertainment talk show INNERSPACE, the source for all-things genre, and the popular after show AFTER THE BLACK. Named “Channel of the Year” in 2013 by Playback magazine, Space is also home to original series ORPHAN BLACK and KILLJOYS, and the exclusive Canadian home for signature series DOCTOR WHO, THE EXPANSE, DARK MATTER, and AFTERMATH. Space content is always available at Space.ca, and on Facebook, @SpaceChannel, and other social media platforms. Space is part of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company.

Source: http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/sta...-september-24/

[mtlguy]

Animal Kingdom season 2 premieres (finally!) September 20th at 10pm on Bravo.

[mtlguy]

So for Major Crimes they will show season 1-5, Monday to Friday at 4pm.

So it won't take too much time going through the first 4 season before seeing the Season 5 not shown in Canada yet.

[sherds]

71 episodes to get to season 5 but i have only seen the first three seasons so i get to start watching after 48.

[mtlguy]

Yes that brings us to mid December. I presume Season 6 will either start in the Winter or they will have to wait for next summer or fall. Depending if they got first window or second window only.

[lostjon]

The fall lineup for Comedy has been posted. Their overall schedule has been revamped with sitcom rerun marathons.

My verdict: Very unimpressed, but not surprised to say the least.

Here is the rundown:

Weekday mornings and early afternoons - CanCon block of Comedy Now, Just for Laughs: All Access (30 min and 1 hr episodes) and Just for Laughs: Gags. Repeated at least two more times until 2:00pm. Since the channel's launch, the CanCon shows have been spread into the evening but that's coming to an end. Gone are classic episodes of Just for Laughs.

Weekday afternoons and evenings: Sitcom rerun marathons including Mike & Molly, Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory. New for this fall is Friends, The Goldbergs and Fresh Off the Boat (presumably the first three seasons). First-run episodes in primetime then repeated again overnight and the following afternoon. Comedy also has second window rights to new episodes of Big Bang and The Goldbergs following the original network telecast.

Few original shows from Comedy Central - except for The Daily Show, newcomer The Opposition which airs weeknights at 11:30pm, and extended runs for two other shows (The Jim Jeffries Show and The President Show). The rest of the evening blocks are filled with programs from TBS (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, People of Earth, Angie Tribeca) and the only new acquisition for the fall is Brockmire (IFC). Otherwise, more reruns including a weekly block of the annual Comedy Central Roasts. Also scheduled to air later in the year is a new season of CanCon original series The Beaverton and a new aminated version of the sitcom Corner Gas.

Weekends are no better. Aside from the stand-up comedy blocks on Saturday evenings and Comedy Central programming on Sunday evenings, yet more sitcom marathons (Big Bang and King of Queens) all day Saturday and movie marathons all day on Sundays.

Aside from Brockmire and Fresh Off the Boat, nothing in this lineup looks interesting to me. It certainly does not help when nearly all of the Comedy Central shows are now airing on MUCH. So it's more of the same old, same old...lather, rinse, repeat.

Jimmy Kimmel Live is gone - presumably it's moving over to MUCH, along with all the South Park reruns.

Source: http://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/comedy-2/

[ottawasnowdog]

The Comedy line up does not seems much worse then last year.

[mtlguy]

Bravo's schedule is out and they change some already mentioned scheduling portion.

So they are showing repeats strip but 5 a day in a row instead of Monday to Friday. That is different. So for example Major Crimes will be on Monday from 4 to 9 pm, 5 episodes in a row, repeated overnight. Blue Blood for Tuesday, CSI Miami on Wednesday, Criminal Minds on Thursday and Bones continues in that format fro Fridays.

A lot of repeat in their prime between 9-11pm. Repeats of HBO's The Newsroom on Monday with 2 eps back to back. Queen of the south ends it's season on Tuesday until the end of September, Wednesday has repeats of the last season of 19-2 and the the only new show for September, Animal Kingdom at 10pm, 4 months after it was shown on TNT. Friday has Bones continuity with 7 episodes in row repeated twice...

Weekend has a mix of movies and repeat of broadcast shows Law & Order SVU, Criminal Minds, The Good Doctor and Lucifer when they starts.

That is the lowest new shows I have seen in along time on Bravo with Animal Kingdom and Queen of the south.

October should have something new among what is waiting in the wing between Chance and Good Behavior if they go with them same time as Hulu and TNT.

http://www.bellmedia.ca/sales/tv/bravo/

[ottawasnowdog]

Bravo does not have a ton of new shows but they have a fair amount of returning shows.

[lostjon]

An increasing noticeable trend in the schedules across the various specialty channels for the fall season is daily marathons of popular shows - just looking at what Comedy and Bravo have released. Even Space has tested this out with their marathons for the Star Trek franchise on weekday afternoons during the summer. They have not released their fall schedule as of yet.

Rather than airing a particular show in a weekday strip format, it seems that these channels are looking to adopt the format of SVOD services like Netflix by putting out schedules that can cater to viewers who would be interested to binge watch popular series.

In a strategic manner, as more of our specialty channels are gradually cutting back on the amount of CanCon programming and maintaining them in their existing format (just to comply with their terms of license and not be called out by the CRTC), they choose to reserve the more popular U.S. series and present them with a Netflix-like experience. We've already seen this in recent years on other specialty channels not only here in Canada (i.e. Corus, Rogers) but even in the U.S. as well especially as they continue drifting from their original purpose and become more generic. So Bell seems to be one of the last media companies here in Canada to catch on this trend especially now with some of their newly acquired series such as Major Crimes for Bravo.

Regardless of what we think, more specialty channels will choose to do this, if they haven't done so already, especially as the field becomes less competitive with few hands occupying too many properties and our viewing habits continue to evolve with the introduction of various platforms that have provided us with alternate forms of consuming television as a medium. For specialty channels and their owners, it's a case of if you can't beat them, join them (digital platforms, streaming services and downloading, etc.) but it may be already too little, too late, so this is by no means a proactive move.

Having said that, perhaps it may have been a different outcome if the CRTC acted differently when it came to making decisions with all the various mergers and takeovers for current owners of specialty channels as they have done nothing but diluted the quality of programming and subsequently driving away much of their subscriber base. Of course, this just results in an endless cycle where their losses can be only recouped by increasing their costs, which in the long run, will only push more people to end their subscriptions.

[lostjon]

Britain's Sky One has renewed Stan Lee's Lucky Man. Season 3 will begin production this fall and will be broadcast sometime early next year. The first two seasons have aired on SPACE in Canada.

Source: http://deadline.com/2017/08/bulletpr...gh-1202156199/

[lostjon]

On second thought, maybe the reason why they haven't announced the channel is that they don't have it nailed down yet. Maybe Bell wants to off load one of the channels that it co-owns with ESPN - like ESPN Classic. And they haven't finalized a deal yet, and if it doesn't go through, then they have a backup and will sell off one of the channels Bell owns 100% - either Comedy Gold or Investigation Discovery.

Wow, Bell Media, complete sale

TORONTO and VANCOUVER – Wow Unlimited Media and Bell Media announced Wednesday they have completed their previously announced tie-up where WOW will buy one of Bell’s specialty channels and in return Bell will take a minority position in Wow.

The deal will see Wow buy a still-unnamed Category B service and Bell will receive 12% of Wow shares, valued at $6.87 million. (At this time the only two English language Category B channels Bell 100% owns are Comedy Gold and Investigation Discovery. Its other cat Bs are ESPN Classic, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery Velocity, and LeafsTV – and are all co-owned with other partners.)

The deal requires CRTC approval and Bell Media will gain the right to nominate a Wow board member.

Wow creates kids and youth animated content and is helmed by Nelvana founder Michael Hirsch.

The companies’ prior announcement noted that acquiring this TV channel is part and parcel of a much broader strategy which is a multi-platform rollout of “a new paradigm in entertainment for kids and youth across North America,” Hirsch said earlier this year.

Wow’s key assets include digital animation network, Frederator Networks, which consists of an animation production company Frederator Studios, as well as VOD channels on digital platforms; Hispanic animation network, Atomo Network, and Canadian animation production studios, Rainmaker Entertainment.

Source: https://cartt.ca/article/wow-bell-media-complete-sale