CTV’s Robson Arms may not have looked like it stood much of a chance in the Friday 10pm timeslot, but the comedy finished its season on July 29 with a respectable season average of 450,000 per episode. This is a far cry from the first-run 1.5 million of Corner Gas, CTV’s homegrown hit, but not bad for such an under-watched summer timeslot.

CTV is giving Robson, an Omni Film Production about the residents of a Vancouver apartment complex, a chance to further build its audience, rerunning the first season on Sunday nights with two back-to-back episodes beginning at 10pm. Robson’s second run began Aug. 7, following Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Robson faces a strong Sunday lineup on Global, which, with its animated comedies, has gained some ratings respectability over the summer. Anchored by 16-year hit The Simpsons, the relaunched Family Guy and the first season of American Dad have been successful off-season additions, airing Sundays at 9pm and 9:30pm, and routinely appearing in the Canadian ratings top 20 since Family Guy’s May 1 return to air.

‘There’s a growing interest from the younger demos for that kind of programming and that style of storytelling,’ says Barbara Williams, Global’s SVP of programming/production. ‘We’re getting great audience flow through Sunday nights.’

Its reruns of House are also paying off. Thanks to strong word of mouth and promotion, the series – one of the net’s few 04/05 hits – finally penetrated the Canadian top 20 during the week of May 23 and has been there regularly ever since.

These are significant gains for a network that, for two seasons now, has struggled to crack the top 20. Over the week of July 18, Global had seven spots on the list, up from perhaps two or three during a typical week in the spring.

Global will try to capitalize on its momentum this fall starting with the early launch of Prison Break, about a man who gets himself thrown in prison in order to break his brother out, which will debut on Aug. 29.