City is promising its viewers a mix of the dorm and fuzzies with a new fall schedule that includes the debut of the sorority set horror-comedy Scream Queens and the much anticipated return of The Muppets.
They are being complemented by the addition of Thursday Night Football, and a completely revamped Sunday night schedule.
Hayden Mindell, vice-president of television programming and content at Rogers Media, said the schedule is designed to build on strong year-to-date increases that have seen both primetime and full day ratings in the adult 25-54 demo increase by 6%. City has also seen daytime growth in shows including Cityline (up 21% from last year); General Hospital (+10%) and Let’s Make a Deal (+13%).
Created by Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee), Scream Queens is a 15-episode anthology series originating on Fox in the U.S. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, whose impressive horror movie CV includes the first two Halloween movies, along with Prom Night, The Fog and, er, Terror Train.
“I think it’s going to make a lot of noise in the market and really help continue the growth on City,” said Mindell.
Scream Queens and the sitcoms Grandfathered and The Grinder comprise what Mindell described as a “much improved” Tuesday night line-up that addresses a traditional weak spot while underscoring City’s commitment to being an “unconventional conventional” broadcaster.
He said the network continues to champion distinctive voices like Murphy and Mindy Kaling, whose comedy series The Mindy Project will continue airing on City this fall despite moving to the streaming service Hulu – which gave it a 26-episode order – from Fox.
“It’s always had a very strong core following in Canada and speaks to our core audience,” said Mindell of The Mindy Project. “It was a great opportunity for us to get a show and not let down our audiences and give Canadians an exclusive.”
The Muppets, meanwhile, has been completely updated for 21st century audiences, employing a behind-the-scenes look at some of TV’s most iconic characters – a device that has worked in the past with shows like 30 Rock.
The show will air in pre-release at 8 p.m. Mondays – one day before its U.S. air date – and is expected to be a show that even old curmudgeons like Statler and Waldorf can appreciate.
“It’s definitely going to draw a broader audience outside of the traditional demo for us, and that is one of the attractions,” said Mindell, who predicted the combination of beloved characters, coupled with strong writing and direction and a fun tone, will see the show come out of the blocks “really strong.”
City will also show the Terrence Howard music drama Empire in pre-release at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The show is moving from OMNI, while its inclusion on the Rogers co-owned streaming service Shomi is expected to facilitate catch-up viewing among audiences.
“[Empire] provides incredible hope for conventional television,” said Mindell. “To be able to pull those kinds of audiences into a show is a little old-fashioned. They’re huge audiences and they continue to grow.”
Empire will lead into City’s Wednesday night staple Modern Family at 9 p.m., followed by last season’s breakout rookie hit Blackish at 9:30 p.m.
City is also adding Thursday Night Football to the schedule, which will run through Oct. 29 before being replaced by the Canadian sitcom Mr. D., as well as Mom and The Mindy Project beginning Nov. 5.
City has also completely revamped its Sunday night lineup, moving last season’s Hometown Hockey telecast to Sportsnet and going all-in on comedy to create what Mindell called the strongest Sunday night line-up in its history.
While Hometown Hockey provided City’s best-ever ratings, Mindell said the move was part of a broader management strategy. “It became increasingly apparent that Sportsnet is, and will become, more and more the home of hockey in Canada outside of Hockey Night in Canada,” he said. “Most Canadians are now relating it to Sportsnet, so it was a strategic decision.
“We thought we had a great opportunity with Sunday night as well,” he added. “It was made easier by the fact there was a set of programs that worked so well for what we’re doing, we could replace it and not have a ratings concern.”
New additions to City’s Sunday schedule include the animated sitcoms Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy (both picked-up from Global), while it has also added the Will Forte sitcom Last Man on Earth, which didn’t have a Canadian broadcaster for its inaugural season.
“We thought it needed an audience and worked really well for what we’re trying to do on Sunday,” said Mindell. The network’s comedy-heavy line-up is deliberately tailored to provide an alternative to the drama that comprises so much of the Sunday schedule, he said.
Other sitcoms on the Sunday schedule include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which boasts one of the strongest comedy ensembles on TV. The new line-up is designed to skew towards males 18-49 and helps serve as a key promotional vehicle for the week ahead, said Mindell.
