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1 day ago | brioux.tv | Bill Brioux

The Bell Media Upfront25 held Thursday at Meridian Hall in Toronto may be the best Canadian upfront I’ve ever attended. Bell does it old school. They rent the biggest hall, fly in the most stars and crank up the open bar for the ad community. They have the advantage of going last and thus can be the most recent to say “we won the year” or “the morning” or “sports,” juggling data whichever way it takes to leave that impression with their audience.

3 days ago | brioux.tv | Bill Brioux

This year’s CBC Upfront presentation was a good one for my SAAB. The Swedish Princess never left the driveway as I stayed home and watched the event on my computer screen. The experience turned out to be longer than the drive in would have been from Orangeville, and the view was just as familiar. CBC really doesn’t have much new lined up for the fall of 2025. Starting in February of 2026 they’ll be carrying the Winter Olympic Games from Italy, the public broadcaster’s 25th Olympics.

4 days ago | brioux.tv | Bill Brioux

Over the years I’ve spent covering television I’ve only met a few genuine movie stars. One was Tony Curtis, who died Wednesday in Hollywood at 85. First time I met the man was way back in 1986, on one of my first TCA press tours. Curtis was at the Century Plaza hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., promoting his appearance in the TV-movie Mafia Princess.

4 days ago | brioux.tv | Bill Brioux

Rogers Sports & Media unveiled their Upfront 2025 sizzle reel Tuesday and it flew by in 45 briskly-paced minutes. It went by so fast, in fact, it was easy to miss that one of their tent pole Canadian shows of the past four seasons was missing. Confirmed later by a Citytv spokesperson: Canada’s Got Talent is not part of their 2025-26 schedule. “We’ve decided to pause production of CGT and the show will go on hiatus for next season.”Just a reminder: CTV “paused” Canadian Idol in 2008.

4 days ago | brioux.tv | Bill Brioux

The theme to the Corus Entertainment 2025 Upfront Monday in Toronto was “Next Level.” Coincidentally, that is also where the banks have downgraded their financial status. Since there is no Jimmy Kimmel at the Canadian upfronts, I’m forced to make the mean jokes at the network’s expense. The elephant in the room, of course, is the humungous debt load Corus is trying to finangle. But nevermind. Damned if Corus isn’t forging ahead with some wind in their sails.