Who knew Big Brother would invoke such nostalgia?

Global Reality Channel — Canwest’s newest specialty and the first to be branded with the Global name — debuted July 1, programming the Sunday of its opening weekend with a Big Brother marathon that helped vault the channel into the top-five specialty rankings, according to BBM Nielsen.

The marathon was the highest rated programming with adults 18-49 during the channel’s first weekend, and helped Global Reality to a fifth place ranking amongst Canadian specialty channels, behind a quintessential long-weekend top-five that included National Geographic, Action, DIY Network, and Teletoon Retro, respectively.

In an interview at the Canwest upfront presentation in June, head of Canwest programming Barb Williams said that marathons would be a major part of the Global Reality programming strategy, adding that the mediaco’s research indicated a thirst for early seasons of popular reality shows like Big Brother and Survivor.

Up and coming marathons on Global Reality this summer include season four of Top Chef and season one of Top Chef Masters on July 24 and 25; an ‘All Star Weekend’ of Survivor All Stars and Big Brother All Stars July 31 and Aug. 2. Also coming up in August is The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, season one of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and season three of Hell’s Kitchen.

Global Reality is currently only available to Rogers Digital VIP customers, which has approximately one million subscribers.

From Media in Canada