Global Television introduced audiences to its fall fare a little early this year, premiering Shaftesbury Films’ ReGenesis and Fox’s Prison Break on Aug. 29.

ReGenesis, about a team of bioscientists, drew a respectable national audience of 444,000 to its 10 p.m. Monday slot. The series’ first season, starring Peter Outerbridge and Ellen Page, ran on The Movie Network and Movie Central last year.

Its Global debut followed the 120-minute premiere of Prison Break – a Fox drama about a man who gets himself thrown in prison in order to break his presumably innocent death-row inmate brother out ­- which brought in an audience of 1.3 million. The same episode drew 18 million viewers in the U.S., according to Fox.

CTV ran Corner Gas, Instant Star and a double shot of CSI: Miami against Prison Break and ReGenesis, while CBC aired the feature film The Quiet American and its 10 p.m. CBC/BBC news programs. Broadcasters also ran against news coverage of Hurricane Katrina on CNN and other all-news nets.

Global’s airing of the Molson Indy Montreal on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 1 p.m. drew 206,000 viewers, a drop from its July races. The Toronto Molson Indy brought in 289,000 race fans, and the Edmonton Grand Prix delivered 253,000.