City Unveils 2014/15 Prime-Time Schedule
– Diverse fall lineup with eight comedies, three dramas, three reality series, two live event series, and exclusive national NHL games –
– Peter Pan Live! joins lineup alongside returning blockbuster music events, the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® and CMAs –
– Smash-hit comedy series 2 Broke Girls and Two and a Half Men to air in strip, weeknights from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. –
TORONTO (June 3, 2014) With four consecutive years of growth*, City continues to deliver world-class content with this year’s most diverse schedule of exciting new shows, live events, and NHL programming joining a seasoned stable of returning hits. Hayden Mindell, Vice President of Television Programming & Content, Rogers Media, today unveils City’s 2014/15 fall and mid-season prime-time schedule to the Canadian advertising community during the annual Rogers Upfront event.
“With the most competitive schedule to date, from hockey to comedies, dramas to reality, the 2014/15 City schedule truly has something for everyone,” said Mindell. “Featuring the most diverse variety of programming on any conventional network in Canada, we are offering our viewers the programming they want most, while delivering to our clients reliable and consistent audiences each and every week.”
Up five per cent year over year in audiences P2+*, the City fall/mid-season schedule builds upon a successful foundation of 17 returning series and events with the addition of two new dramas, one new comedy series, and one reality program. Newly acquired programming for the 2014/15 season includes scripted series Scorpion, Black-ish, and Backstrom, alongside new reality series, Utopia, and the new live musical event special Peter Pan Live! All-new seasons of sophomore original series The Bachelor Canada and Package Deal join the prime-time lineup, along with two NHL games each week – Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays and Hometown Hockey on Sundays.
“I’m excited for City to join in a time-honoured Canadian tradition this year with the addition of Hockey Night in Canadaand Hometown Hockey,”said Mindell. “Hockey is the most coveted content in Canada, and we have PVR-proofed Saturday and Sunday nights on City to become must-see TV for all Canadians.”
Doubling-down on live events programming this year, City remains Canada’s leader in comedy with three of the top five comedies in the country last season, including the #1 new comedy Mom*. With the highest skewing percentage of prime-time viewers under 55 of any conventional network in Canada at 72 per cent*, City is staying true to its younger, urban-oriented audiences through the 2014/15 season by continuing to deliver the programming that most resonates with these viewers, including returning hits 2 Broke Girls, New Girl, and The Mindy Project.
Other series returning for the 2014/15 season are The Bachelor, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Hell’s Kitchen, The Middle, Mike & Molly, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Revenge, and Scandal.
For the remainder of 2014, City continues to be the home to some of the most top-rated live musical event series in the country, including the Country Music Association Awards (CMA Awards) and CMA Country Christmas, as well as Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve with
Ryan Seacrest. The highest rated program in network history*, the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® returns to the City mid-season schedule in 2015, along with GRAMMY® Nominations Concert Live!.
Following the double-digit growth of the 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. timeslots last year with the addition of beloved comedy Modern Family in strip (up 25 per cent nationally and 13 per cent in the P2+ and A25-54 demos, respectively*), City continues to offer audiences the programming consistency and stability they value by extending this strategy to the 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. timeslots with strip episodes of fan-favourites 2 Broke Girls and Two and a Half Men.
Fall premiere dates will be announced in the coming months; shows acquired but not yet listed on the schedule will premiere at a later date in the 2014/15 season.
City Fall Schedule
All times ET/PT; s = simulcast
Monday
8 p.m. 2 Broke Girls (s)
8:30 p.m. Mom (s)
9 p.m. Scorpion (s) *NEW*
Tuesday
8 p.m. Utopia (s) *NEW*
9 p.m. New Girl (s)
9:30 p.m. The Mindy Project (s)
Wednesday
8 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen (s)
9 p.m. Modern Family (s)
9:30 p.m. Black-ish (s) *NEW*
Thursday
8 p.m. The Bachelor Canada *City Original Program*
9 p.m. Scandal (s)
Friday
8 p.m. Package Deal *City Original Program*
8:30 p.m. The Middle
9 p.m. Utopia (s) *NEW*
Saturday
7-10 p.m. NHL: Hockey Night in Canada *NEW to City*
Sunday
7-10 p.m. NHL: Hometown Hockey *NEW to City*
10 p.m. Revenge (s)
**NOTE: 57th Annual GRAMMY ® Awards, The Country Music Awards, and Peter Pan Live! (*NEW*)will join City’s fall schedule – date and time TBC.
New Series Descriptions
s = simulcast
FALL – NEW COMEDIES
BLACK-ISH
30-minute scripted comedy series
Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT (s)
National broadcast
Black-ish depicts the life of Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson, who has a great job, a beautiful wife, four kids, and a colonial home in the ‘burbs. But has success brought too much assimilation for this black family? With the help of Dre’s dad, the family attempts to establish a sense of cultural identity that honours their past while also embracing the future.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: ABC/Disney
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Kenya Barris
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: James Griffiths
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Larry Wilmore (The Bernie Mac Show), Anthony Anderson (The Departed), Laurence Fishburne (Hannibal), Helen Sugland (Akeelah and the Bee), Peter Principato (The Joneses), Paul Young (Mad Max), Brian Dobbins (Matumbo Goldberg), and newcomer Tom Russo
CAST: Dre Johnson (Anthony Anderson, Guys With Kids), Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross, Girlfriends), Pops (Laurence Fishburne, Hannibal)
FALL – NEW DRAMAS
SCORPION
60-minute scripted drama series
Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT (s)
National broadcast
Inspired by a true story, Scorpion is a high-octane drama about an eccentric genius, Walter O’Brien, and his team of brilliant misfits who comprise the last line of defense against complex, high-tech threats of the modern age. As Homeland Security’s new think tank, O’Brien’s “Scorpion” team includes Toby Curtis, an expert behaviourist who can read anyone; Happy Quinn, a mechanical prodigy; and Sylvester Dodd, a statistics guru. Pooling their extensive technological knowledge to solve mind-boggling predicaments amazes everyone, including federal agent Cabe Gallo, who shares a harrowing history with O’Brien. However, while this socially awkward group is comfortable with each other’s humour and quirks, life outside their circle confounds them, so they must rely on Paige Dineen, who has a young, gifted son, to translate the world for them. At last, these nerdy masterminds have found the perfect job: a place where they can apply their exceptional brainpower to solve the nation’s crises, while also helping each other learn how to fit in.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: CBS Studios
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Nick Santora (Prison Break)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Justin Lin (Fast & Furious)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Nicholas Wootton (NYPD Blue), Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Amazing Spider-Man 2), Heather Kadin (Sleepy Hollow), Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never), and Walter O’Brien
CAST: Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel, World War Z), Toby Curtis (Eddie Kaye Thomas, American Pie franchise), Happy Quinn (Jadyn Wong, Cosmopolis), Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham, Huge), Cabe Gallo (Robert Patrick, Identity Thief), Paige Dineen (Katharine McPhee, Smash)
FALL – NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES AND SPECIALS
UTOPIA
60-minute reality series
Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT & Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT (s)
National broadcast
Utopia is a ground-breaking social television experiment in which 15 individuals, all pioneers of our time, get one year to build an entirely new society – from scratch. They will be leaving their current lives behind to create the ‘perfect world' on a secluded piece of land with no facilities, no laws, and no rules. Will it lead to ultimate happiness? Or complete chaos?
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Talpa
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Conrad Green (Dancing with the Stars) and Jon Kroll (Big Brother, The Amazing Race)
PETER PAN LIVE!
Three-hour live performance special
Date and time TBC
National broadcast
A bold, new, live television production of the classic Broadway musical will bring together friends, families, and anyone who refuses to ever grow up. Following in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful The Sound of Music LIVE! comes this musical masterpiece that tells the beloved story of Peter Pan, the mischievous little boy who ran away to Neverland. Get ready for show-stopping stars, stunning costumes, extravagant sets, and delightful music in this three-hour live event.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Universal
MID-SEASON – NEW DRAMAS
BACKSTROM
60-minute scripted drama series
Date and time TBC
National broadcast
Backstrom is a subversive and comic crime procedural about an unhealthy, offensive, irritable – albeit brilliant – detective, Everett Backstrom, who is brought back from exile to run the Portland Police Bureau’s Special Crimes Unit (S.C.U.). Tasked with navigating the city’s most sensitive and serious cases, Backstrom must solve each crime as he tries, and fails, to change his own self-destructive ways. To no one’s surprise, his return is far from well-received, especially by his commanding officer, Police Chief Anna Cervantes. Backstrom’s second-in-command and the person who supervises the day-to-day operations of the S.C.U. is Detective Nicole Gravely – the ambitious and optimistic yin to Backstrom’s yang. Meanwhile, Gregory Valentine, who serves as Backstrom’s tenant, decorator, and underworld connection, has a genuine fondness for the abrasive cop. Using his dark instincts and peculiar abilities, Backstrom always manages to outsmart his foes, manipulate his peers and, with the help of his eccentric team, solve the case.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/CREATOR: Hart Hanson (Bones)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Leif G.W. Persson (Backstrom novelist), Kevin Hooks (Last Resort), Niclas Salomonsson (Once Upon a Time) and Mark Mylod (Shameless)
CAST: Everett Backstrom (Rainn Wilson, The Office), Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, House of Lies), Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha, Ringer), John Almond (Dennis Haysbert, The Unit), Nadia Chichikov (Beatrice Rosen, The Dark Knight), Gregory Valentine (Thomas Dekker, The Secret Circle)
– Diverse fall lineup with eight comedies, three dramas, three reality series, two live event series, and exclusive national NHL games –
– Peter Pan Live! joins lineup alongside returning blockbuster music events, the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® and CMAs –
– Smash-hit comedy series 2 Broke Girls and Two and a Half Men to air in strip, weeknights from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. –
TORONTO (June 3, 2014) With four consecutive years of growth*, City continues to deliver world-class content with this year’s most diverse schedule of exciting new shows, live events, and NHL programming joining a seasoned stable of returning hits. Hayden Mindell, Vice President of Television Programming & Content, Rogers Media, today unveils City’s 2014/15 fall and mid-season prime-time schedule to the Canadian advertising community during the annual Rogers Upfront event.
“With the most competitive schedule to date, from hockey to comedies, dramas to reality, the 2014/15 City schedule truly has something for everyone,” said Mindell. “Featuring the most diverse variety of programming on any conventional network in Canada, we are offering our viewers the programming they want most, while delivering to our clients reliable and consistent audiences each and every week.”
Up five per cent year over year in audiences P2+*, the City fall/mid-season schedule builds upon a successful foundation of 17 returning series and events with the addition of two new dramas, one new comedy series, and one reality program. Newly acquired programming for the 2014/15 season includes scripted series Scorpion, Black-ish, and Backstrom, alongside new reality series, Utopia, and the new live musical event special Peter Pan Live! All-new seasons of sophomore original series The Bachelor Canada and Package Deal join the prime-time lineup, along with two NHL games each week – Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays and Hometown Hockey on Sundays.
“I’m excited for City to join in a time-honoured Canadian tradition this year with the addition of Hockey Night in Canadaand Hometown Hockey,”said Mindell. “Hockey is the most coveted content in Canada, and we have PVR-proofed Saturday and Sunday nights on City to become must-see TV for all Canadians.”
Doubling-down on live events programming this year, City remains Canada’s leader in comedy with three of the top five comedies in the country last season, including the #1 new comedy Mom*. With the highest skewing percentage of prime-time viewers under 55 of any conventional network in Canada at 72 per cent*, City is staying true to its younger, urban-oriented audiences through the 2014/15 season by continuing to deliver the programming that most resonates with these viewers, including returning hits 2 Broke Girls, New Girl, and The Mindy Project.
Other series returning for the 2014/15 season are The Bachelor, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Hell’s Kitchen, The Middle, Mike & Molly, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Revenge, and Scandal.
For the remainder of 2014, City continues to be the home to some of the most top-rated live musical event series in the country, including the Country Music Association Awards (CMA Awards) and CMA Country Christmas, as well as Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve with
Ryan Seacrest. The highest rated program in network history*, the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® returns to the City mid-season schedule in 2015, along with GRAMMY® Nominations Concert Live!.
Following the double-digit growth of the 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. timeslots last year with the addition of beloved comedy Modern Family in strip (up 25 per cent nationally and 13 per cent in the P2+ and A25-54 demos, respectively*), City continues to offer audiences the programming consistency and stability they value by extending this strategy to the 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. timeslots with strip episodes of fan-favourites 2 Broke Girls and Two and a Half Men.
Fall premiere dates will be announced in the coming months; shows acquired but not yet listed on the schedule will premiere at a later date in the 2014/15 season.
City Fall Schedule
All times ET/PT; s = simulcast
Monday
8 p.m. 2 Broke Girls (s)
8:30 p.m. Mom (s)
9 p.m. Scorpion (s) *NEW*
Tuesday
8 p.m. Utopia (s) *NEW*
9 p.m. New Girl (s)
9:30 p.m. The Mindy Project (s)
Wednesday
8 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen (s)
9 p.m. Modern Family (s)
9:30 p.m. Black-ish (s) *NEW*
Thursday
8 p.m. The Bachelor Canada *City Original Program*
9 p.m. Scandal (s)
Friday
8 p.m. Package Deal *City Original Program*
8:30 p.m. The Middle
9 p.m. Utopia (s) *NEW*
Saturday
7-10 p.m. NHL: Hockey Night in Canada *NEW to City*
Sunday
7-10 p.m. NHL: Hometown Hockey *NEW to City*
10 p.m. Revenge (s)
**NOTE: 57th Annual GRAMMY ® Awards, The Country Music Awards, and Peter Pan Live! (*NEW*)will join City’s fall schedule – date and time TBC.
New Series Descriptions
s = simulcast
FALL – NEW COMEDIES
BLACK-ISH
30-minute scripted comedy series
Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT (s)
National broadcast
Black-ish depicts the life of Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson, who has a great job, a beautiful wife, four kids, and a colonial home in the ‘burbs. But has success brought too much assimilation for this black family? With the help of Dre’s dad, the family attempts to establish a sense of cultural identity that honours their past while also embracing the future.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: ABC/Disney
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Kenya Barris
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: James Griffiths
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Larry Wilmore (The Bernie Mac Show), Anthony Anderson (The Departed), Laurence Fishburne (Hannibal), Helen Sugland (Akeelah and the Bee), Peter Principato (The Joneses), Paul Young (Mad Max), Brian Dobbins (Matumbo Goldberg), and newcomer Tom Russo
CAST: Dre Johnson (Anthony Anderson, Guys With Kids), Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross, Girlfriends), Pops (Laurence Fishburne, Hannibal)
FALL – NEW DRAMAS
SCORPION
60-minute scripted drama series
Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT (s)
National broadcast
Inspired by a true story, Scorpion is a high-octane drama about an eccentric genius, Walter O’Brien, and his team of brilliant misfits who comprise the last line of defense against complex, high-tech threats of the modern age. As Homeland Security’s new think tank, O’Brien’s “Scorpion” team includes Toby Curtis, an expert behaviourist who can read anyone; Happy Quinn, a mechanical prodigy; and Sylvester Dodd, a statistics guru. Pooling their extensive technological knowledge to solve mind-boggling predicaments amazes everyone, including federal agent Cabe Gallo, who shares a harrowing history with O’Brien. However, while this socially awkward group is comfortable with each other’s humour and quirks, life outside their circle confounds them, so they must rely on Paige Dineen, who has a young, gifted son, to translate the world for them. At last, these nerdy masterminds have found the perfect job: a place where they can apply their exceptional brainpower to solve the nation’s crises, while also helping each other learn how to fit in.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: CBS Studios
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Nick Santora (Prison Break)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Justin Lin (Fast & Furious)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Nicholas Wootton (NYPD Blue), Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Amazing Spider-Man 2), Heather Kadin (Sleepy Hollow), Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never), and Walter O’Brien
CAST: Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel, World War Z), Toby Curtis (Eddie Kaye Thomas, American Pie franchise), Happy Quinn (Jadyn Wong, Cosmopolis), Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham, Huge), Cabe Gallo (Robert Patrick, Identity Thief), Paige Dineen (Katharine McPhee, Smash)
FALL – NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES AND SPECIALS
UTOPIA
60-minute reality series
Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT & Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT (s)
National broadcast
Utopia is a ground-breaking social television experiment in which 15 individuals, all pioneers of our time, get one year to build an entirely new society – from scratch. They will be leaving their current lives behind to create the ‘perfect world' on a secluded piece of land with no facilities, no laws, and no rules. Will it lead to ultimate happiness? Or complete chaos?
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Talpa
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Conrad Green (Dancing with the Stars) and Jon Kroll (Big Brother, The Amazing Race)
PETER PAN LIVE!
Three-hour live performance special
Date and time TBC
National broadcast
A bold, new, live television production of the classic Broadway musical will bring together friends, families, and anyone who refuses to ever grow up. Following in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful The Sound of Music LIVE! comes this musical masterpiece that tells the beloved story of Peter Pan, the mischievous little boy who ran away to Neverland. Get ready for show-stopping stars, stunning costumes, extravagant sets, and delightful music in this three-hour live event.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Universal
MID-SEASON – NEW DRAMAS
BACKSTROM
60-minute scripted drama series
Date and time TBC
National broadcast
Backstrom is a subversive and comic crime procedural about an unhealthy, offensive, irritable – albeit brilliant – detective, Everett Backstrom, who is brought back from exile to run the Portland Police Bureau’s Special Crimes Unit (S.C.U.). Tasked with navigating the city’s most sensitive and serious cases, Backstrom must solve each crime as he tries, and fails, to change his own self-destructive ways. To no one’s surprise, his return is far from well-received, especially by his commanding officer, Police Chief Anna Cervantes. Backstrom’s second-in-command and the person who supervises the day-to-day operations of the S.C.U. is Detective Nicole Gravely – the ambitious and optimistic yin to Backstrom’s yang. Meanwhile, Gregory Valentine, who serves as Backstrom’s tenant, decorator, and underworld connection, has a genuine fondness for the abrasive cop. Using his dark instincts and peculiar abilities, Backstrom always manages to outsmart his foes, manipulate his peers and, with the help of his eccentric team, solve the case.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/CREATOR: Hart Hanson (Bones)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Leif G.W. Persson (Backstrom novelist), Kevin Hooks (Last Resort), Niclas Salomonsson (Once Upon a Time) and Mark Mylod (Shameless)
CAST: Everett Backstrom (Rainn Wilson, The Office), Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, House of Lies), Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha, Ringer), John Almond (Dennis Haysbert, The Unit), Nadia Chichikov (Beatrice Rosen, The Dark Knight), Gregory Valentine (Thomas Dekker, The Secret Circle)
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