Rather than being drawn to hot flashes, Shaw Media is nourishing its version of Global warming.
Shaw, which now owns Global television and a plethora of specialty channels that used to make up Canwest, held its annual upfront presentation in Toronto on Tuesday. The theme seemed to be that Global hasn't ripped apart its TV schedule for next fall because it didn't have to do so.
"Would I be interested in taking Survivor off the air to put some new shiny thing on? Like, are you kidding me?" said Barb Williams, Shaw Media's senior vice-president of content.
"Year after year we watch a whole ton of new stuff come to the schedules, and how much of it really lasts? Last year, out of all the new dramas that launched, the only two that survived were Hawaii Five-0 (a Global show in Canada) and Blue Bloods (a CTV show)."
Williams pointed out Global has existing anchor shows that do well in the ratings on just about every night of the week.
"House on Monday, Glee on Tuesday, Survivor on Wednesday, Bones on Thursday, the Fox animation on Sunday," Williams said. "So where we are launching new shows, we have big solid audiences to promote them.
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"We feel great about our schedule. When you're trying to turn a whole schedule over, you don't want that."
Among the series stars at the Shaw upfront were Glee cast members Matthew Morrison (who plays Will Schuester), Dot Marie Jones (Coach Beiste) and Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins).
At the Rogers upfront presentation on Monday, it was evident that Citytv went on quite a spending spree for next season, sending a message that it wants to be a player in this game, alongside Global and CTV. With Shaw having taken over, the industry has been watching for any changes in philosophy, approach or finance at Global.
"I would say in the real core work we do as a content team, there has not been a difference (with the new ownership)," Williams said. "I haven't felt any sort of shift in terms of what we buy or what we produce or how we schedule it or market it. There has been no negative pressure, if you will, on the content side.
"Yes, we're part of a much bigger world, and Citytv is part of their bigger world, and CTV is part of their bigger world. But for all of us, it's about the schedules and the shows you put out there.
"We'll watch the other guys, of course. It's a competitive game. They will do whatever flash they do. But we will deliver to our viewers the most reliable schedule you ever could ask for."
Probably the biggest new show Global purchased for next season is Prime Suspect, starring Maria Bello, which will air on Thursdays. It's inspired by the British series of the same name starring Helen Mirren and will air in the United States on NBC.
Other new shows for the fall include A Gifted Man, Ringer, How to Be a Gentleman, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Happily Divorced, the animated series Allen Gregory, and the Shaw original reality-competition series Recipe to Riches, hosted by Jesse Palmer.
Global also plucked Harry's Law and Parenthood from Citytv.
Mid-season additions to the Global schedule include new series Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, The Finder, The Firm, The 2-2 and the animated series Napoleon Dynamite.
Of course, this summer Global also is airing the U.S. co-productions Rookie Blue (second season) and Combat Hospital (first season).
After seeing all the shows Citytv bought, some were wondering, what's left for Global?
Well, quite a bit, as it turned out. And there weren't that many holes to fill anyway.
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