Local over-the-air stations CHNU-TV in Vancouver and CIIT-TV in Winnipeg will re-launch on Sept. 1 under the new brand name Joytv.
The stations, officially designated Joytv 10 in Vancouver (Joytv 7 in neighbouring Victoria) and Joytv 11 in Winnipeg, boast new schedules that, for the first time, will include simulcasts of top-rated U.S. network programs such as 60 Minutes and Smallville.
Toronto-based multimedia company S-VOX acquired the two stations from Rogers Media Inc. earlier this year.
Bill Roberts, President and CEO of S-VOX, said the Joytv brand name reflects the “vibrant, upbeat and energetic” spirit of the stations and their programming. “There is a positive, youthful energy in the Vancouver and Winnipeg markets, and we have sought to capture this in our branding,” he said.
The new Joytv tagline, “It’s all good,” is designed to reinforce the positive tone, while underlining the enhanced quality and variety of the stations’ new programming lineup.
Under S-VOX management, the Joytv stations have acquired several U.S. network simulcasts: the hour-long dramas One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural from The CW, and the award-winning current affairs series 60 Minutes and 48 Hours Mystery from CBS.
The Joytv prime time schedule also features a selection of high-quality syndicated dramas, including The Practice, Third Watch and Stargate SG-1.
On Mondays through Fridays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the stations offer family drama and comedy strips. New titles this season include The Waltons (on Joytv 11 in Winnipeg) and Scrubs (on Joytv 10 in Vancouver).
THE DAILY: With Mark & Laura-Lynn, Joytv’s new half-hour talk and information series, will continue to air Mondays through Fridays. An hour-long Sunday evening edition will premiere in September.
Renowned broadcaster and political commentator Rafe Mair hosts The Search, a new half-hour information program that will explore religious and spiritual issues.
Christian ministry and multicultural programming rounds out the Joytv schedule.
The Joytv brand name and all the related creative elements were developed for S-VOX by Toronto-based marketing agencies Cundari SFP and Loopmedia. The rebranding will be supported with an extensive campaign that includes outdoor, print and radio advertising, as well as on-air promos, a contest and visibility at Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition.
S-VOX (www.s-vox.com) is a diversified multimedia enterprise that offers high-quality television and digital content for individuals seeking spiritual awareness and personal growth. S-VOX properties include: VisionTV, Canada’s multi-faith and multicultural television broadcaster, along with the digital television services One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel and The Christian Channel, and the local stations Joytv 10 in Vancouver and Joytv 11 in Winnipeg. Other ventures include Vision TV International, a partnership with Toronto-based Ellis Entertainment that develops, produces and distributes original programming for the global marketplace.
Joytv 10: 2008-2009 – Programming Highlights
** Drama Series: SIMULCAST **
One Tree Hill
Mondays, starting Sept. 1, 9 p.m.
In the small North Carolina town of One Tree Hill, half brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty) carry on very different lives. Through five seasons, these two young men and the people close to them have made a long and winding journey: Lucas has gone from his first tentative steps off the riverfront basketball court into high school popularity, and now, four years later, into publishing novels; Nathan and Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) have gone from their first kiss to marriage and a son; Peyton (Hilarie Burton) and Brooke (Sophia Bush) have gone from friendship to estrangement and back. In this sixth season, the stories of these characters continue to progress, as new relationships, new mysteries and new events shape their lives in unexpected ways.
** Drama Series: SIMULCAST **
Smallville
Thursdays, starting Sept. 18, 8 p.m.
This smash hit series, now entering its eighth season, re-imagines the Superman mythology for a new generation, blending realism and epic adventure. Years ago, a meteor shower burst from the heavens, raining destruction on the unsuspecting citizens of Smallville, Kansas. From the ashes of tragedy emerged the young Clark Kent (star Tom Welling), whose transition to manhood has proved particularly difficult as he comes to grips with his emerging superpowers. This season, Clark will be at a crossroads – and closer than ever to becoming the superhero of legend. He will face his ultimate challenge, with the emergence of a legendary, unstoppable destroyer. And this won’t be the only nemesis to appear. Kristin Kreuk, Alison Mack, Erica Durance and Aaron Ashmore also star.
** Drama Series: SIMULCAST **
Supernatural
Thursdays, starting Sept. 18, 9 p.m.
This otherworldly adventure series takes viewers on a terrifying journey into the realm of the unexplained. Years ago, Sam and Dean Winchester (stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) lost their mother to a mysterious demonic power. Their father raised the brothers to be soldiers, teaching them to face down and defeat the paranormal forces that lurk in dark corners and on the back roads of America. With their father gone, Sam and Dean now face an all-out demonic war. As the armies of evil rise, they continue to travel the country, fighting the supernatural wherever they go – and battling their own personal demons.
** Current Affairs Series: SIMULCAST **
48 Hours Mystery
Saturdays, starting Sept. 27, 10 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery is television’s most popular true-crime series, investigating shocking cases and compelling real-life dramas with journalistic integrity and cutting-edge style. This in-depth approach has earned the program and its team numerous accolades, including three Peabody Awards and 17 Emmy Awards.
** Current Affairs Series: SIMULCAST **
60 Minutes
Sundays, starting Sept. 28, 7 p.m.
60 Minutes, the most successful broadcast in television history, celebrates its 40th anniversary in September. Offering hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news, the CBS News magazine has won more Emmy Awards than any other primetime broadcast, including a special Lifetime Achievement Emmy. It has also won virtually every other broadcast journalism award, plus 15 Peabody Awards for excellence in television broadcasting. The correspondents and contributors of 60 Minutes are Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Steve Kroft, Lara Logan, Scott Pelley, Andy Rooney, Charlie Rose, Morley Safer, Bob Simon and Lesley Stahl.
Joytv 10: 2008-2009 – New Syndicated Dramas
Stargate SG-1
Mondays, starting Sept. 1, 8 p.m. / Saturdays, starting Sept. 6, 11 p.m.
The winner of five Saturn Awards, this long-running sci-fi adventure series picks up where the 1994 big-screen blockbuster left off. Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver) stars as Air Force Colonel Jack O’Neill, who led the first military mission through the mysterious Stargate, an ancient portal that allows instantaneous travel to other worlds. With the discovery that there are many other Stargates throughout the galaxy, O’Neill and his SG-1 team – Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) – set out on a new mission that will take them to extraordinary new worlds across the boundless universe.
The Practice
Wednesdays, starting Sept. 3, 8 p.m.
Set in Boston, this acclaimed legal drama from creator David E. Kelley follows the lives of the passionate attorneys at Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt. To these lawyers, led by the idealistic Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott), every case is important and every client worth a fight to the bitter end. Pursuing justice, however, often forces Donnell and his colleagues to confront serious moral and ethical issues. One of television’s most celebrated dramas, The Practice won 15 Emmy Awards, along with three Golden Globes and a Peabody Award. Michael Badalucco, Lisa Hamilton, Steve Harris, Camryn Manheim, Kelli Williams, Lara Flynn Boyle and Marla Sokoloff also star.
Third Watch
Wednesdays, starting Sept. 3, 9 p.m.
It’s not your normal workday. From the afternoon into the late night, they are on the streets: fighting crime, saving lives, and cheating death – if they’re lucky. Created by Edward Allen Bernero (NYPD Blue) and John Wells (ER, The West Wing), this action-packed drama is all about the dedicated men and women who serve as paramedics, firefighters and police officers on the “third watch” shift from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Michael Beach, Coby Bell, Bobby Cannavale, Eddie Cibrian, Nia Long, Molly Price, Kim Raver, Anthony Ruivivar and Skipp Sudduth.
Poltergeist: The Legacy
Tuesdays, 9 p.m. (Begins 2009)
Since the beginning of time, mankind has existed between the worlds of light and darkness. This imaginative sci-fi drama series tells the story of The Legacy, an ancient and influential secret society dedicated to exploring the mysterious realms of the paranormal. With a wealth of financial and technological resources at its disposal, the Legacy is humanity’s last line of defense in the battle against evils from the realm of the occult. Derek de Lint and Helen Shaver star.
Joytv 10: 2008-2009 – New Comedies
Scrubs
Mondays to Fridays, starting Sept. 1, 7 p.m.
This Emmy Award-winning comedy follows the strange experiences of medical resident John “J.D.” Dorian (Zach Braff) as he pursues his healing career in a surreal hospital crammed full of unpredictable staffers and patients – a place where humour and tragedy can collide at any time. Joining the rumpled J.D. at Sacred Heart Hospital are fellow residents Chris Turk (Donald Faison) – J.D.’s college buddy, now part of the elite surgical group – and the beautiful but socially awkward Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke). Keeping a watchful eye over these young doctors are the caustic chief of medicine Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), the abrasive but caring Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), and Turk’s wife, the no-nonsense nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes).
Dharma & Greg
Mondays to Saturdays, starting Sept. 1, 6 p.m.
This Emmy Award-nominated romantic comedy series stars Jenna Elfman as Dharma Finkelstein, a free-spirited San Francisco yoga instructor, and Thomas Gibson (Criminal Minds) as Greg Montgomery, a straightlaced, Harvard-educated attorney. Raised by hippie parents, Dharma was taught to shun convention, trust her instincts and find the joy in everyday life. When Dharma lays eyes on Greg, she’s sure that he’s the one. And even though they come from different worlds, the feeling is mutual. Married before their first date is even over, Dharma and Greg remain committed to each other, in spite of their dysfunctional families and all the craziness that the world throws at them.
May to December
Fridays, starting Sept. 5, 8 p.m.
It was a day like any other for fiftysomething widower Alec Callendar (Anton Rodgers), a small-town solicitor with a passion for Perry Mason and old Broadway musicals. And then Zoe Angell (Eve Matheson) walked into his life: a bright young gym teacher looking to divorce her unfaithful husband. The sparks would fly, and to their mutual surprise Alec and Zoe soon find themselves in a relationship. But can love really span the age divide? This witty ensemble series remains to this day one of the BBC’s most popular and successful comedies.
No Place Like Home
Fridays, starting Sept. 5, 8:30 p.m.
After devoting 24 years to raising their four children, Arthur and Beryl Crabtree (William Gaunt and Patricia Garwood) feel entitled to some peace and quiet. But their grown offspring have other ideas. In this popular British series, all four young Crabtrees flee the adult world and return to the parental nest, to the consternation of mum and dad. With Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) in his first regular series role.
Waiting for God
Sundays, starting Sept. 7, 8 p.m.
Welcome to Bayview Retirement Village, a seniors’ home where any show of independence on the part of the residents is strictly frowned upon. But that doesn’t daunt Tom and Diana (Graham Crowden and Stephanie Cole), two elderly eccentrics who form an alliance and begin to subvert the rules and regulations. A British comedy classic.
Keeping Up Appearances
Sundays, starting Sept. 7, 8:30 p.m.
Smug, social-climbing, status-obsessed and tyrannical: Meet Hyacinth Bucket, a suburban snob who cultivates her image of superior breeding with a pit-bull relentlessness that leaves friends and neighbours quaking in terror. In this award-winning BBC Britcom, Patricia Routledge brings the monstrous Hyacinth to life in all her terrifying glory.
Joytv 10: 2008-2009 – Returning Programs
Current Affairs Series
The Daily with Mark & Laura-Lynn
Mondays to Fridays, 6 a.m., 9 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Former BC Lions defensive back Mark Washington and Vancouver broadcast personality Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson host Joytv’s flagship series: a half-hour weekday talk show offering a unique perspective on issues, events and news-making personalities. The program, which features both in-studio interviews and location segments, has a different thematic focus each day of the week – from business and world events to family and wellness.
Watch for The Daily Weekend Edition, an hour-long weekly installment set to air Sundays, starting Sept. 7, at 9 p.m.
Drama Series
Jozi-H
Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
At Johannesburg Metropolitan Hospital, cutting-edge medical technology collides with ancient African healing traditions. Jozi-H, a critically acclaimed Canadian-South African drama, delves into the personal and professional lives of an international team of doctors and nurses working in Johannesburg Metropolitan’s trauma department. Drawn from South Africa, Canada, the U.S. and Britain, these dedicated healers confront the sometimes violent reality of the post-apartheid era, while operating at the very front line of Africa’s HIV/AIDS crisis. Canadians Vincent Walsh (ReGenesis) and Sarah Allen (M.V.P.) star, along with South African actors Tumisho Masha, Thami Ngubeni and Neil McCarthy, and American Billoah Greene.
Family Drama Series
7th Heaven
Mondays to Fridays, 4 p.m.
Life is never simple for Reverend Eric Camden (Stephen Collins) and his wife Annie (Catherine Hicks) This long-running, inspirational family drama chronicles their happiness and heartache, as they contend with seven strong-willed kids and their assorted friends and sweethearts.
Family Comedy Series
Happy Days
Mondays to Fridays, 5 p.m.
Relive the fabulous Fifties with this nostalgic comedy series starring Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley and Marion Ross.
Growing Pains
Mondays to Fridays, 5:30 p.m.
Fatherhood takes on a whole new meaning for Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke), who assumes the chores of cooking, cleaning and minding the kids so that his wife Maggie (Joanna Kerns) can pursue a career in journalism after spending 15 years as a housewife.
George Lopez
Mondays to Saturdays, 6:30 p.m.
Popular standup comic George Lopez stars as a Los Angeles factory manager who handles a complicated and tumultuous job, a strong but challenging marriage, two rebellious children and a mother who can’t keep track of her own lies about his childhood – all with his sense of humour intact.
Documentary Series
Enigma
Fridays, 9 p.m.
This weekly anthology series features eye-opening original documentaries exploring all aspects of “the spiritual unexplained,” from secret cults to psychic communication with the afterlife.
Joytv 10: 2008-2009 – New Factual Programming
Information Series
The Search with Rafe Mair
Tuesdays, starting Sept. 2, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesdays, starting Sept. 9, 3 p.m.
Why are we here? Is there a God? Do Heaven and Hell really exist? From childhood, we all grapple with such questions. In this weekly half-hour program, veteran broadcaster Rafe Mair embarks on his own search for answers. One of Canada’s most renowned – and most outspoken – political commentators, Mair engages guests of many different faiths in lively discussion about the nature of belief. Says Mair: “I’m not for counting the number of faeries that can dance on the head of a pin. I’m simply looking for a set of beliefs, which include a supreme being: a code that is simple to understand, though not simple to abide by.”
Information Series
Randall Mark: Perspectives
Pr emiere date TBA
Religious scholar and award-winning broadcaster Randall Mark (The Standard) hosts this weekly half-hour, which offers an in-depth look at the most intriguing spiritual issues and personalities of our time. The multi-faith program will include studio interviews and field segments, along with book reviews, features on arts and culture, and much more. Engaging and unconventional, the series will examine the human spiritual experience from the perspective of many different faiths, including Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu.
Information Series
Foundations
Premiere date TBA
In this unique, hour-long talk series host Willard Thiessen (It’s a New Day) delves into issues such as temptation, mercy, forgiveness, shame, healing and grace, through interviews with guests from every major faith group in Canada.