- 8 new comedies, 6 new dramas, 2 new reality series anchor City lineup -
- 7 original series join City prime-time schedule -
- Blockbuster music events - GRAMMY® Awards and CMAs - added to City prime time -
- Smash hit comedy Modern Family to air in strip, weeknights from 7 to 8 p.m. -
- New talk show, original series Bollywood Star, and trio of returning hits on OMNI Television -
TORONTO, June 4, 2013 /CNW/ - With five consecutive years of prime-time growth in the key A25-54 demographic*, the momentum at City continues with this year's most exciting new series joining a winning lineup of returning hits. Scott Moore, President of Broadcast, Rogers Media, today unveils City's 2013-14 fall and mid-season prime-time schedule, featuring 16 new acquired series (eight comedies, six dramas, two reality series), an unprecedented seven original series, and three blockbuster music events, including the GRAMMY® Awards.
Coming off its best year in which the network's audience grew 6% year-over-year in A25-54**, City remains Canada's leader in comedy with five of the top 10 comedies in the country. Nearly half (46%) of all minutes tuned for sitcoms in Canada last season were for comedies on City***.
"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.
"Staying true to our younger, urban-oriented audience, we continue to build City's world-class programming slate with the best new shows, returning proven hits, and exciting event programming that are relevant to our viewers. This year's schedule is the strongest in network history," added Malcolm Dunlop, Executive Vice President of Programming & Operations, Rogers Media.
Comedy is king on City this fall with five nights of unmatched comedy blocks. Joining proven ratings winners How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, Modern Family, New Girl, The Mindy Project, Parks and Recreation, Raising Hope, and The Middle are seven hilarious new acquired situational comedies and an original comedy series: Mom, Dads, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Super Fun Night, The Crazy Ones, Enlisted, and Back in the Game, as well as City original Package Deal. For mid-season, new acquired comedy series Us & Them and new original animated adult comedy Mother Up! join the roster of returning comedy favourites Mike & Molly, Suburgatory, Community, and Season 2 of original comedy Seed.
Adding to its all-star prime-time lineup, which features 20 series in simulcast, the City fall schedule offers the most competitive early-evening block with the addition of back-to-back episodes of multi-award winning ratings juggernaut Modern Family in strip, weeknights from 7 to 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Dramas heat up on City this fall with the return of breakout hit series Revolution, the #3 new show in Canada last season. Joining other returning favourites Scandal, Revenge, and The Carrie Diaries are six new exciting and suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat series: Lucky 7, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and Betrayal this fall, while Killer Women, Crisis, and Resurrection will air mid-season. New to the City fall schedule is sultry sophomore drama Nashville.
The reality and competition genre finds a home on City with a mix of fresh acquired and original series. Leading into fall, the most buzz-worthy new contest series The Million Second Quiz heads to City for two electrifying weeks of live competition from September 9 to 19. Canadians will also be able to engage online with the 24-hour series at citytv.com and play along on a customized Canadian app and website. New original reality series The Project: Guatemala, Storage Wars Canada, and Meet the Family add a dose of real-life drama to the City fall schedule alongside Season 4 of The Liquidator. The competition continues into the mid-season when Hell's Kitchen returns joined by new adventure reality series, Quest.
Live event programming joins the City fall and mid-season schedule this year with the acquisition of two of the music industry's most sought-after awards shows - the GRAMMY® Awards and the Country Music Association Awards (CMA Awards). Along with the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to these annual awards shows, the deal includes broadcast rights to the GRAMMY® Nominations Concert Live! and the CMA Country Christmas special. Also joining the City fall schedule is The Sound of Music, a live three-hour broadcast special of the smash-hit musical starring country music superstar, Carrie Underwood, as Maria.
Katie Couric returns to the City schedule with Katie airing weekdays at 4 p.m. ET in simulcast in addition to the return of red-hot funny-man Jimmy Kimmel, with Jimmy Kimmel Live!, airing weekdays at 12 midnight ET in simulcast.
Late night TV heats up on OMNI Television with the return of famed talk show host Arsenio Hall in The Arsenio Hall Show, starting September 9 and airing weeknights at 10 p.m. ET in simulcast. Also returning to OMNI Television this fall is comedy series Rules of Engagement in strip weekdays at 5 and 5:30 p.m. ET, The Biggest Loser Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, in simulcast weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET. In mid-season, the glitz and glamour behind Bollywood are revealed through the new OMNI Television original documentary series, Bollywood Star.
City remains committed to enhancing the viewer experience for its hit TV content with digital videostarts up 32% and mobile starts up 62% this year****. City was the first Canadian network to launch a video app for Android on both mobile and tablet last year, while another first was the four-screen live stream of daily Canadian shows, such as Breakfast Television Toronto and Cityline. City will continue to drive forward in 2013-14 and engage audiences on multiple platforms with co-viewing apps, live chats, blogs, social engagement, and exclusive content along with full episodes of its prime-time lineup.
On Mondays
Fan-favourite How I Met Your Mother, the #4 comedy in Canada, heads into its last season kicking off a two-hour comedy block at 8 p.m. ET, leading into highly-anticipated new original comedy Package Deal, followed by hit returning series - and #3 comedy in Canada - 2 Broke Girls. From the comedy genius of Chuck Lorre, new comedy series Mom, starring Anna Faris, debuts at 9:30 p.m. ET before new one-hour original reality series The Project: Guatemala takes the 10 p.m. ET timeslot.
On Tuesdays
The laughs continue on Tuesday with two new comedy series: Dads, starring Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi, is a live-action, multi-camera comedy from Emmy® Award-winner Seth MacFarlane at 8 p.m. ET, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine starring Andy Samberg, a single-camera ensemble comedy about a quirky New York police squad at 8:30 p.m. ET. Returning hit comedies New Girl (#8 comedy in Canada) and The Mindy Project round out the night at 9 p.m. ET and 9:30 p.m. ET, respectively, before leading into the new one-hour drama Lucky 7 at 10 p.m. ET, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and centering on a group of seven gas station employees who unexpectedly strike it rich.
On Wednesdays
Breakout sophomore drama Revolution heads to a new home on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the return of award-winning comedy series - and #5 comedy in Canada - Modern Family at 9 p.m. ET. New comedy Super Fun Night gets the party started with star Rebel Wilson at 9:30 p.m. ET, followed by the smouldering returning series Nashville, which joins the City schedule this fall at 10 p.m. ET.
On Thursdays
Thursday is the home for buzz-worthy new and returning series - mixing comedy and drama starting at 8 p.m. ET with the magical new one-hour drama Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. The 9 p.m. ET hour ushers in Robin Williams's triumphant return to television in the new comedy series, The Crazy Ones. Critically-acclaimed series Parks and Recreation returns at 9:30 p.m. ET, followed at 10 p.m. ET by the sexy one-hour scandalous sophomore drama Scandal.
On Fridays
Friday night is family night when returning series The Carrie Diaries and Raising Hope head to a new day and new timeslots this season at 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, respectively, followed by new heartfelt, single-camera family comedy series Enlisted at 9:30 p.m. ET. Rounding out the night at 10 p.m. ET are back-to-back episodes of the hit returning original half-hour docu-series The Liquidator.
On Saturdays
Catch up on Saturdays with encore presentations of original series The Project: Guatemala at 8 p.m. ET, and unwind with the classic Great Canadian Movies time block at 9 p.m. ET.
On Sundays
Sundays light up with new original series Storage Wars Canada at 8 p.m. ET and Meet the Family at 8:30 p.m. ET. At 9 p.m. ET, hit drama Revenge sizzles before leading into the new edge-of-your-seat sultry drama thriller Betrayal at 10 p.m. ET
City Fall Schedule
All times ET/PT; s = simulcast
Monday
8 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (s)
8:30 p.m. Package Deal *NEW Original Series*
9 p.m. 2 Broke Girls (s)
9:30 p.m. Mom (s) *NEW*
10 p.m. The Project: Guatemala *NEW OLN Original Series*
Tuesday
8 p.m. Dads (s) *NEW*
8:30 p.m. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (s) *NEW*
9 p.m. New Girl (s)
9:30 p.m. The Mindy Project (s)
10 p.m. Lucky 7 (s) *NEW*
Wednesday
8 p.m. Revolution (s)
9 p.m. Modern Family (s)
9:30 p.m. Super Fun Night (s) *NEW*
10 p.m. Nashville (s) *NEW to City*
Thursday
8 p.m. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (s) *NEW*
9 p.m. The Crazy Ones (s) *NEW*
9:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation
10 p.m. Scandal (s)
Friday
8 p.m. The Carrie Diaries (s)
9 p.m. Raising Hope (s)
9:30 p.m. Enlisted (s) *NEW*
10 p.m. The Liquidator *OLN Original Series*
10:30 p.m. The Liquidator *OLN Original Series*
Saturday
8 p.m. The Project: Guatemala *NEW OLN Original Series* (encore presentation)
9 p.m. Great Canadian Movies
Sunday
8 p.m. Storage Wars Canada *NEW OLN Original Series*
8:30 p.m. Meet the Family *NEW Original Series*
9 p.m. Revenge (s)
10 p.m. Betrayal (s) *NEW*
**NOTE: The Middle and Back in the Game will join City's fall schedule - Date and time TBC
**For show descriptions, visit www.rogersmediatv.com**
Social Media Links
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About City
City™ television stations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Saskatchewan offer viewers intensely-local, urban-oriented, culturally-diverse television programming. A distinct alternative to other conventional television stations, City engages its viewers with dynamic on-air personalities and delivers an entertaining mix of news, local-interactive formats such as: Breakfast Television and Cityline; as well as local Canadian and U.S. acquired prime-time entertainment programming. City is part of Rogers Broadcasting Limited, a division of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI andNYSE: RCI), which is a diversified Canadian communications and media company. For more information on City stations and programming, visit Citytv.com.
*BBM Canada, Total Canada, A25-54, Sept 24-Dec 16/12, Dec 31-Apr 7/13 vs. similar weeks year-over-year, Mo-Su 8p-11p AMA (000)
** BBM Canada, Total Canada, A25-54, Sept 24-Dec 16/12, Dec 31-Apr 7/13, Mo-Su 2a-2a AMA (000)
*** BBM Canada, Total Canada, A25-54, Sept 24-Dec 16/12, Dec 31-Apr 7/13, % of minutes tuned to City sitcoms vs. all sitcoms
****Omniture Sept 12/Mar 13 vs. Sept 11/Mar 12
SOURCE: City
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