GameTV, a rebranding of Insight Sports’ Casino & Gaming Television Canada, premieres Friday at 6 p.m. ET. And, true to its name, the aim of the Toronto company’s digichannel is to offer viewers ‘a never-ending schedule of innovative contests and great prizes,’ according to president of digital media, Mark Rubinstein.

Programming will include classic game shows, reality programming, poker and non-sports gaming, and gaming-related movies. Among the titles set to air are The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best, Last Comic Standing, America’s Next Producer, The Mad Dash, The Mole and Test Pattern.

Of particular interest to marketers is the chance to get in on GameTV’s nightly Watch & Win feature, says marketing VP Chris Doyle. Plugged via frequent interstitials in primetime, the interactive trivia contests will offer a variety of prizes via online entries. And that, he says, means there will be ‘many opportunities on the channel beyond traditional advertising — particularly the chance to get in on branded prizing. It could be anything from, say, movie passes to electronics.’ As well, the channel will award a weekly grand prize of $1,000 cash to randomly selected contest winners.

Although Doyle declines to disclose projected audience size, he says that ‘compared with the niche position of Casino and Gaming Television Canada, we think GameTV will open us up to a much broader audience.’

Promoted with the tagline ‘Winners Wanted,’ GameTV will be available on: Bell ExpressVu, Rogers Personal TV, Telus TV, Videotron, Cogeco Cable, Access Communications, Aurora Cable, CCAP, CityWest, Mountain Cablevision, MTS, Westman Cable, Persona Cable, SaskTel, Source Cable and Star Choice. In addition to GameTV, Insight Sports also operates the soccer channel GOLTV Canada and WFN: World Fishing Network.

From Media in Canada