Shaw Media’s specialty channels are experiencing a record season, outperforming the competition in multiple demos and dominating the country’s television landscape.
With an industry leading growth of 9% (vs Fall 2012**), Shaw Media ownsfour of the Top 10 and eight of the Top 20 specialty channels and has a complete lock on the top five specialty entertainment programs. In addition, National Geographic Canada, Slice™, Food Network Canada and Action, each achieved all-time audience highs in their best seasons ever (A25-54*).
“Our exceptional roster of specialty channels continues to drive massive numbers with many shows breaking new audience levels,” saidBarbara Williams, Senior Vice President, Content for Shaw Media. “We are so proud of being the home of Canada’s favourite shows. Viewers can count on our commitment to deliver the most dynamic programming as we move into what we know will be another successful season.”
Shaw Media owned the three biggest premieres of the year, with viewers flocking to HISTORY for The Bible and VIKINGS, and to Slice™ for Big Brother Canada. The series dominate the top five entertainment specialty programs for the year across Adults 25-54 and Women 25-54****. VIKINGS currently reigns as the number one specialty drama of the broadcast year and Big Brother Canada comes in as the number one reality series of the year across specialty****. The newly launched Defiance is well on its way to solidifying its place as a top scripted specialty series. The premiere garnered nearly 750,000 viewers (2+) and 422,000 (A25-54***) and Showcase has picked up the series for its second season.
Highlights:
Shaw Media has 8 of the Top 20 specialty channels (A25-54*)
| Channel | Rank |
| HISTORY | #3 |
| HGTV Canada | #6 |
| Showcase | #8 |
| Food Network Canada | #9 |
| Slice | #13 |
| National Geographic Canada | #15 |
| Action | #17 |
| TVTropolis | #18 |
8 of the Top 20 specialty channels (W25-54*)
| Channel | Rank |
| HGTV Canada | #4 |
| Food Network Canada | #5 |
| HISTORY | #6 |
| Showcase | #8 |
| Slice | #10 |
| National Geographic Canada | #15 |
| TVTropolis | #16 |
| Action | #20 |
And 13 of the Top 20 specialty programs (excluding sports/A25-54*)
| Program | Rank | Channel |
| Vikings | #1 | HISTORY |
| The Bible | #2 | HISTORY |
| Big Brother Canada (Sunday) | #3 | Slice |
| Big Brother Canada (Thursday) | #4 | Slice |
| Big Brother Canada (Wednesday) | #5 | Slice |
| Counting Cars | #8 | HISTORY |
| Counting Cars | #9 | HISTORY |
| Pawn Stars | #10 | HISTORY |
| Swamp People | #11 | HISTORY |
| Yukon Gold | #13 | HISTORY |
| Pawn Stars | #14 | HISTORY |
| The Bible | # 17 | HISTORY |
| American Restoration | # 18 | HISTORY |
*–Source: BBM Canada Meter data, Total Canada, 12/31/12 – 4/21/13 (some data unconfirmed)
**–Source: All data is based on English Specialty stations, Total Canada audiences, M-Su 2a-2a, BBM Canada PPM Data. Dates = Spr’12 (Jan2-May27/12), Fall’12 (Aug27-Dec30/12), Spr’13 (Dec31/12-Apr22/13)
***–Source: BBM Canada, PPM data 4/15/13
**** Source: BBM Canada PPM data, 8/27/12-4/21/13