Rogers Media Television and Rona have launched an online contest inviting residents of Calgary and Edmonton to participate in a home renovation reality show that will air on the company’s Citytv stations next fall.
Beginning today, families from Alberta’s two largest cities can vie for a chance to appear on the My Rona Home show by submitting an online entry through a microsite accessible from the Citytv.com website.
Representatives of Citytv, Rona and production company Zone 3 will choose the two families who will appear on the show by the end of June.
The program pits two families against each other in a competition based on the design and building of a new home over a 10-week period.
Each episode will focus on each family’s creation of one room in their respective homes. Viewers will determine the winning family—whose prize is the home they have built during the program—by online and text voting.
My Rona Home has aired on Quebecor’s TVA in Quebec (as Ma Maison Rona) for the past several seasons, and Alain Strati, vice-president of specialty television and development for Rogers Media Television, said the popularity of the show in that province should translate to Citytv’s audience in English-speaking Canada.
“It’s worked really well in Quebec, and (Zone 3) came to us and asked whether we would be interested,” Strati said. “There is a bit of a home design, home lifestyle element to our channels and we thought it would be a great opportunity. We thought it was an interesting format and something that fit Citytv and we could really promote and get behind.”
The show will appear on Sundays in primetime on all five Citytv stations, including Toronto. However, Rogers opted to base the show in Calgary and seek contestants from Calgary and Edmonton to solidify the brand in markets where it is less established.
“We’re trying to grow the Citytv brand across the country,” Strati said. “Citytv has a strong history in Toronto, but less so in the rest of Canada.”
Strati said Rogers would promote the show through the company’s web and print properties, as well as in-show plugs on the Calgary and Edmonton editions of Citytv programs Breakfast Television and Cityline.
