Bell Media has announced a programming slate with more than 1,000 hours of new and returning original English- and French-language content ahead of its 2023-24 upfront presentation Thursday (June 8).

In addition to the 1,037-hour programming lineup totalling 96 titles — which is roughly the same number as last year and includes a new daytime talk and lifestyle show led by Mary Berg (Mary Makes it Easy) — the broadcaster also announced the introduction of ad-supported tiers on Crave, set to launch this summer.

Details on the tiers, including how many there will be and at what price point, will be announced at launch, according to a news release, which noted that with any plan chosen, subscribers will have access to Crave originals and acquired content such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory and The Office, as well as HBO and Max originals, kids content, and “blockbuster movies.”

On the programming front, Bell Media has expanded its original commissions for Crave for 2023-24, revealing a dozen new scripted and unscripted titles for the streamer.

The new additions to Crave include a number of scripted companies. There’s Winnipeg-set Indigenous high school comedy Don’t Even, produced by Pier 21 Films, Frantic Films Manitoba and Sekowan Media, and working-class comedy The Trades from Roller Coaster Entertainment, producers of The Trailer Park Boys, and Blink49 Studios. Crave will also launch its “first-ever” short-form series with Nesting (Project Undertow).

Comedy duo Jae and Trey Richards lead scripted title The Office Movers (Counterfeit Pictures), about two college dropouts whose company is near bankruptcy, while Crave has also ordered the “rapid-fire” sketch comedy The Dessert (LaRue Entertainment), presented by Bruce McCulloch (The Kids in the Hall) and co-created by Shane Cunningham, who stars alongside Isabella Campbell and Jillian Smart, with music from Arkells singer and executive producer Max Kerman.

On the unscripted side, Bell Media confirmed the Cream Productions U.K./Canada docuseries The Optimist’s Guide to the Planet with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (pictured bottom left) will debut in Canada on Crave.

Bell Media also unveiled six new documentaries for the streamer: The Art of Dance (Hip Hop Films, Karma Film), directed and produced by Kevin John Fitzgerald; Garry Tutte’s Beauty Kings (Morro Creative); Nicole Bazuin’s Modern Whore (Clique Pictures, Virgin Twins); Postnatural (90th Parallel Productions), directed by Brett Story and co-directed by Ben Travers; Thyrone Tommy’s Russell Peters (Loft Entertainment); and Akash Sherman’s Singhs in the Ring (Fennessey Films, Score G Productions, FMT Productions).

The programming additions join previously announced scripted series Bria Mack Gets a Life (New Metric Media), Late Bloomer (Pier 21 Films; pictured top right), In Memoriam (Passez Go) and So Long, Marianne (Connect3, Letters From Leonard, Tanweer Productions); unscripted series Billionaire Murders (Entertainment One) and I Have Nothing (Blue Ant Studios in association with Catalyst); and documentaries 299 Queen Street West (Sean Menard Productions), Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (Banger Films, National Film Board of Canada [NFB]), Audiophilia: Adventures in the World of Hi-Fi (Sphinx Productions), Smoke & Gifts: It’s all Gonna Break (Fathom Film Group), Wilfred Buck (Door Number 3, NFB) and Naked: Sex and Gender (Primitive Entertainment).

Bell Media also announced that Crave unscripted series We’re All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel) (90th Parallel Productions) and Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World (Blue Ant Studios, Saloon Media, World of Wonder) have been renewed for season seconds.

Previously announced renewals include New Metric Media’s Letterkenny (season 12) and spinoff Shoresy (season two, produced in association with Play Fun Games), as well as season four of Canada’s Drag Race (Blue Ant Studios, Saloon Media, World of Wonder), season two of Pillow Talk (KOTV), and season three of Présumé innocent: l’affaire Sébastien Métivier (Trinome & filles), which also airs on French-language channel Canal D.

CTV

Launching on CTV during the 2023-24 broadcast season is the new daytime talk and lifestyle series The Good Stuff with Mary Berg. The daily series is produced by Bell Media Studios, hosted by Berg, and will be taped in front of a live studio audience weekday mornings at Bell Media’s Toronto location at 299 Queen St. W.

The Good Stuff with Mary Berg will include segments on cooking, gardening, home renovation and other DIY tricks from a variety of experts, as well as interviews with celebrities, influencers, authors and “everyday heroes.”

Opportunities for sponsorship and branding are currently available, including brand integration, social extensions, custom content, shoppable media and sponsored activations, said the release.

CTV has also ordered the lifestyle special The Take Back (McGillivray Entertainment Media), where an expert team will surprise Canadians across the country with a second chance at a cancelled celebration.

The network announced earlier this week that it has ordered reality competition series The Traitors: Canada, produced by Entourage Television, which is also producing a French-language version for fellow Bell Media channel Noovo. Both series are hosted by actor Karine Vanasse (pictured right).

Other previously announced titles include the game show Battle of the Generations (Bell Media Studios, GroupM Motion Entertainment), hosted by Lilly Singh, and scripted series Sight Unseen (Blink49 Studios, Front Street Pictures), created by Karen and Nikolijne Troubetzkoy.

Newly announced renewals on CTV include second seasons for romance competition Farming for Love (Lark Productions) and drama series Sullivan’s Crossing (Reel World Management, Fremantle), the latter of which is headed to The CW for its U.S. debut this fall.

The channel has also renewed its in-house daytime and lifestyle series, including season eight of Your Morning, season 22 of Etalk, and season 11 of The Social.

CTV’s previously announced renewals are season nine of reality competition The Amazing Race Canada (Insight Productions), season three of the comedy Children Ruin Everything (New Metric Media), and season four of the drama Transplant (Sphere Media).

Bell Media announced new acquisitions for CTV last week, including scripted dramas Tracker and High Potential. Its returning series include 9-1-1: Lone Star, Will Trent, Blue Bloods, Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, Magnum P.I., The Good Doctor, The Masked Singer, The Rookie, Alert: Missing Persons Unit, Bob Hearts Abishola, The Conners, The Cleaning Lady, Lego Masters, Not Dead Yet, Young Sheldon, and the continuation of the Got Talent franchise with the untitled America’s Got Talent series.

Specialty

Bell Media has ordered three new titles for its CTV-branded channels. CTV Sci-Fi Channel will be the “exclusive home” in Canada for horror comedy Reginald the Vampire (Great Pacific Media, Cineflix Studios, December Films, Modern Story Company), joining previously announced title Paranormal Revenge (Sphere Media).

CTV Drama Channel has greenlit the docuseries The Squad (Cream Productions), about a Texas woman who was arrested for hiring a hitman to kill her daughter’s cheerleading rival, while CTV Comedy Channel has ordered the comedy special The RP4 Hosted by Russell Peters (Just for Laughs, Counterfeit Pictures). The broadcaster previously announced CTV Life Channel’s upcoming series Staying Inn: Hotel Julie (Alibi Entertainment).

Bell Media has also announced a raft of renewals for its specialty channels, including scripted comedy Acting Good (Kistikan Pictures) and unscripted series Roast Battle Canada (Just For Laughs, Counterfeit Pictures) for CTV Comedy, as well as season three of Mary Makes it Easy (Proper Television) for CTV Life.

Unscripted titles Highway Thru Hell (Great Pacific Media), Forensic Factor (Bell Media Studios, Attraction) and Last of the Giants (Untamed Productions) have been renewed at Discovery for their respective 12th, seventh and third seasons, while season nine of Fear Thy Neighbor has been greenlit for Discovery ID.

Previously announced renewals include season two of CTV Sci-Fi’s SurrealEstate (Blue Ice Pictures) and season three of Discovery’s Mud Mountain Haulers (Great Pacific Media).

Image courtesy of Bell Media