Rogers Media made good on its promise to raise its game at last week’s Los Angeles Screenings against rivals CTV and Global Television.
NBC Universal said it sold Rogers the comedy 100 Questions for Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m., the medical action-drama Trauma for Mondays at 9 p.m., with a Saturday 9 p.m. encore, and Parenthood for Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
Rogers, which now programs for its Citytv and OMNI-branded local TV stations, also acquired the CBS Studios comedy Accidentally on Purpose for Mondays at 8:30 p.m., and ABC/Disney’s Cougar Town, the single-camera comedy that stars Courteney Cox and comes from Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.
Rogers won’t confirm any pickups until it unveils its fall schedule on June 9. But with CTV and Canwest Global Communications having reined back their spending this year, a raft of studio product was left on offer to Rogers from the Canadians’ annual TV shopping spree in Hollywood.
Rogers is also understood to have picked up a number of series from rival Canwest Global as it off-loaded programming from its conventional networks.
And Warner Bros. revealed a package sale of new series to CTV, with whom it has an output deal. Wednesday night ABC shows that CTV landed as part of the deal include the Kelsey Grammar sitcom Hank at 8 p.m.; another comedy, The Middle, at 8:30 p.m.; and at 10 p.m., Eastwick, a TV drama remake of the Jack Nicholson movie Witches of Eastwick that stars Paul Gross.
CTV also picked up ABC’s Flash Forward for Thursdays at 8 p.m., ahead of returning hits Grey’s Anatomy at 9 p.m. and Private Practice at 10 p.m.
Other CTV pickups include The CW’s Vampire Diaries from Warner Bros. and The Beautiful Life from CBS Studios.
CTV and Canwest Global will unveil their fall schedules to advertisers next week.