There’s going to be a little more Glee in City’s Tuesday night schedule, following this week’s announcement that the Rogers Media-owned channel has picked up the hour-long series from Global Television.
The cast of Glee
Global has opted to stop airing Glee after the U.S. Fox network announced its intention to move the show from Thursday night to Tuesday at 8 p.m. next month. Global currently airs the hit drama NCIS in that timeslot.
It is not the first time City has picked up programming from its competitors, having previously procured the sitcoms 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother from CTV and Global respectively. It has enjoyed ratings success with both, with How I Met Your Mother still one of its top five programs.
“We’ve had this happen in the past and it’s really worked to our benefit,” said Hayden Mindell, vice-president programming and content for Rogers Media in Toronto. “We’ve been able to turn other broadcaster’s conflicts into our diamonds.”
Glee will begin airing in simulcast with Fox on City beginning Feb. 25. The network is currently airing two first-year sitcoms, Dads and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in the 8-9 p.m. window.
Mindell said the hope is for Glee to become one of City’s top five programs amongst 2+ audiences (its top five is currently comprised of How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, 2 Broke Girls, Mom and Modern Family).
“We think it’s a perfect fit for our audiences, which tend to be on the younger side,” said Mindell. “As of recently, we tend to be a destination for these kinds of programs. We don’t have a lot of procedural programming on our [schedule], but what we do have is kind of serialized, like Revolution, Scandal and Revenge. They’re the kind of shows that people talk about.”
Mindell said he expects the new acquisition to boost City’s revamped Tuesday night lineup, which will see Glee serve as a lead-in to New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, with the drama Mind Games airing in simulcast with ABC at 10 p.m. beginning March 11.
In Ontario, City’s 8-9 p.m. block currently averages a 2.0 share among audiences 2+, a 2.2 share among adults 18-49 and a 2.3 share among adults 25-54.
Mindell said that marketing plans for Glee are still being developed, but said the show will be one of City’s “top priorities” in the lead-up to its debut. It will be extensively promoted across Rogers’ array of media properties, he said, with a presence in marquee programs including the Jan. 25 telecast of the 56th annual Grammy Awards.
City will show the remainder of Glee’s episodes this season as well as its final season in 2014-15. The show was rocked by the sudden death of cast member Cory Monteith last July.
