CTV announced their lineup today — Diane at TV, Eh? has the press release and another press release has the list of shows — and they’re continuing the pattern of shuffling more shows over to their sister “A Channel,” now apparently retitled just “A.” Global has done a similar thing, using their version of E! for all the shows they bought but don’t really want to run. (I couldn’t make it to CTV’s upfront presentation but I’m told that someone actually did use the phrase “A before E, except after CTV.”) This two-tier system isn’t new, but it seems like it’s a little more blatant than it used to be. I know some of it has to do with simulcasting — the two-channel system allows them to broadcast more shows at the same time as the U.S. versions. (Though purely as a viewer, I actually dislike simulcasting because it prevents me from seeing the commercials and network promos the U.S. network is running.) But somehow putting Pushing Daisies on “A” seems to say: “We like you, but we don’t like you that much. Not as much as Without a Trace, anyway.”
CTV announced their lineup today — Diane at TV, Eh? has the press release and another press release has the list of shows — and they’re continuing the pattern of shuffling more shows over to their sister “A Channel,” now apparently retitled just “A.” Global has done a similar thing, using their version of E! for all the shows they bought but don’t really want to run. (I couldn’t make it to CTV’s upfront presentation but I’m told that someone actually did use the phrase “A before E, except after CTV.”) This two-tier system isn’t new, but it seems like it’s a little more blatant than it used to be. I know some of it has to do with simulcasting — the two-channel system allows them to broadcast more shows at the same time as the U.S. versions. (Though purely as a viewer, I actually dislike simulcasting because it prevents me from seeing the commercials and network promos the U.S. network is running.) But somehow putting Pushing Daisies on “A” seems to say: “We like you, but we don’t like you that much. Not as much as Without a Trace, anyway.”