Corus Entertainment To Launch W, A Revitalized Women’s Television Network Articles / Corus Entertainment Posted by RAD on Jun 30, 2002 - 07:22 PM Corus Entertainment Inc. announced today that its women’s specialty television network (WTN) will be re-launched on Monday, April 15 with the shortened name, W, a revamped program schedule, and for the first time, a dual feed of its signal to better serve Western Canadian viewers. Corus also announced that W has begun its foray into Canadian drama by licensing five original Canadian series and movies to be telecast on the network. “These changes are consistent with our vision of providing smart and entertaining programming that will appeal to a broad segment of Canadian women,” says Wendy Herman, Corus’ Vice President and General Manager, W. “ In response to feedback from women across the country, we have enhanced our prime time schedule with a strong entertainment mix of dramas, movies, lifestyle information, and unique reality series. With the new Canadian programs we’ve just announced, and with more to come, W will represent an exciting new opportunity for the production of Canadian drama.” Starting on Monday, April 15, W delivers engaging dramas, gutsy documentaries, and blockbuster movies that will increase viewers’ prime time viewing. The schedule builds on the strength of the network’s movie blocks with box office hits programmed on Saturday and Sunday nights. These and other prime time movies now begin at 8 p.m. ET/PT. From time to time the network’s Friday night movie block will be pre-empted to showcase big event music, documentary and drama specials. The new W schedule features five series and eight documentaries that are new to Canadian television, as well as new episodes of the network’s most watched shows. Canadians will also have a chance to revisit five popular series from Canada, Britain, and the U.S. now joining W. The network will also debut new Canadian and foreign documentaries in a regular Thursday night documentary hour from 9 to 10 p.m. New to Canadian television and W are: elove, Night and Day, Ex-Files, Hollywood Stars and Distant Shores. New to W are These Arms of Mine, Riverdale, Our Hero as well as Ally McBeal and Chicago Hope, playing nightly from Monday to Friday. Fresh episodes of the critically acclaimed British series, Cold Feet, will premiere starting April 17. Fans of the Sunday Night Sex Show, the channel’s most popular program, will now be able to watch their favourite episodes of the show from Monday to Saturday in addition to the live version on Sunday nights. “With the new western feed, prime time programming intended for adult audiences will now be seen in prime time right across the country, giving us more programming flexibility while providing audiences better viewing choices,” says Herman. “As part of our search for shows that are engaging and entertaining, we have licensed a number of original Canadian drama series and made-for-television movies,” reports Christine Shipton, W’s Senior Director, Programming and Development. “These new programs and the development pitches we are now taking for more drama and other programming genres, demonstrate our commitment to the Canadian production community.” Now before the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) from W are three made-for-television movies from producers in Regina, Winnipeg, and Vancouver, as well as a comedy-drama from Halifax and a drama anthology which is a Toronto/Winnipeg co-production. With more entertaining programming and a new brand attitude, W speaks to today’s women. See the schedule [1]. Article originally posted in march 2002. This article is from CHANNEL CANADA   http://www.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=31 Links in this article   [1] http://www.channelcanada.com/tvzone/Spring2002/W_Spring2002.pdf