News

Despite the current push for Canadian-made products in the wake of Trump’s tariff wars, Canadian broadcasters are doubling down on American formats and partnerships for the upcoming television season.

Bell Media, Corus, Rogers Sports & Media and the Canadian Broadcasting Centre (CBC) each took a day to present their upfronts in Toronto last week to advertisers and press. During the four-day frenzy they flew in talent, presented red carpets and unveiled plans for consolidated ad sales.

The presentation styles varied, as CBC opted for a breakfast event and Rogers did theirs virtually, but the message was the same: when it comes to programming network television, U.S. content still reigns supreme.

Unlike American schedules, which tout homegrown content, Canadian TV schedules are historically anchored with U.S. acquisition programming. These are the series that draw Canadian advertisers and viewers, who are impressionable to marketing campaigns on both sides of the border.

Boat Rocker Media, the entertainment company behind Orphan Black, Dino Ranch, and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry has closed an $170 million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

It trades under the ticker Brmi.

Boat Rocker Studios creates, produces and distributes content across genres with projects including Orphan Black (BBC A, CTV Sci-Fi Channel), Dear…(Apple TV+), Lip Sync Battle (Paramount Network), The Amazing Race Canada (CTV), MasterChef Canada (CTV), The Next Step (Family Channel, CBC), The Loud House (Nickelodeon), Remy & Boo (Universal Kids, CBC) and Dino Ranch (CBC, Disney Junior).

Its current production slate also features American Rust for Showtime and Beacon 23 for Spectrum/AMC.

Parent Boat Rocker Media owns or invests in entertainment companies that bolster strategic and operational goals including Insight Productions (unscripted), Jam Filled Entertainment (2D and 3D animation), Industrial Brothers (kids and family animation) and talent management company Untitled Entertainment.

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix has revealed the launch date for volume two of “Unsolved Mysteries,” and AMC has released the key art for Season 6 of “Fear the Walking Dead.”

Dates

Netflix has announced that volume two of the first season of “Unsolved Mysteries” will stream on Oct. 19. Six new episodes will focus on more unexplained disappearances and tragic events in hopes that a viewer may have the answer. “Unsolved Mysteries” is produced by the creators of the original 1987 docuseries, Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, and 21 Laps Entertainment.

First Looks

AMC has revealed the official key art for Season 6 of “Fear the Walking Dead,” which premieres Oct. 11 at 9 p.m. The new season features Lennie James as Morgan Jones, whose group has been torn apart by Virginia (Colby Minifie) and her pioneers. Some have decided to stay with Virginia, while others will fight back against her settlements and attempt to...

Toronto -- Canadian broadcaster CTV has given Masterchef Canada its coveted post-Super Bowl slot on Feb. 2. The local version of the format from Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine, which is part of 21st Century Fox, will debut on Jan. 20. The third-week episode will follow the Canadian telecast of the Super Bowl, which each year pulls in one of the country's biggest primetime audiences. Masterchef Canada will feature Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung, and Claudio Aprile as judges of the culinary elimination series. CTV in recent years gave The Voice, the rookie season debut of homegrown cop drama Motive, which also

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