The holidays are over and – now that so many cash-strapped, hibernating Canucks are attached securely to their living room couches – the big three nets have rolled out their mid-season schedules, laying down, in the process, the groundwork for some significant ratings rumbles on the weekend and Monday night schedules.

This time last year CBC seemed to have a near-bulletproof block of shows on Mondays – opening with the insta-hit Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, followed by The Newsroom and the well-received This is Wonderland. But as of Jan. 25, Wonderland has moved to Tuesdays and Ken Finkleman’s embittered newsies won’t be back on the air until Feb. 14 (with only six episodes, by the way), leaving Rick Mercer and his crew in a substantially weakened position at 8 p.m., leading into the six-part hockey stand-in The Tournament and the noble but less exciting The Passionate Eye.

To make matters worse, CTV has moved its homemade smash Corner Gas into the exact same slot, backing it up with the reliable Degrassi: The Next Generation at 8:30 p.m. – a move akin to throwing George Foreman and Mike Tyson into the ring against Muhammad Ali.

(CTV is downplaying the seemingly bold move, explaining that it had to make room for the new run of American Idol and that there were no other suitable spots on the schedule.)

The Monday Report season debut on Jan. 17, which was also competing with the much-hyped preem of CBC Newsworld’s The Hour, trailed Corner Gas in the ratings by a wide margin.

But CBC programming boss Slawko Klymkiw believes Mercer and Gas’ Brent Butt can share the time-slot – noting that the new season of Monday Report is performing on par with that of last year, just under the one-million mark (see story, this page).

‘They’re absolutely different audiences. Rick’s is an urbane and sophisticated show while Corner Gas is a broader comedy. They speak to different audiences,’ he says.

Klymkiw is quick to argue, as he often does, that CBC is not in direct competition with either CTV or Global. ‘I’m in the business of creating a Canadian schedule, and it’s a unique, singular and lonely process, because we’re the only ones that do it,’ he says. ‘I don’t have the lead-ins they have, I certainly don’t have the Wheel of Fortune or the CSI franchises, so to compare CBC in ratings to CTV or Global is specious at best.’

The Ceeb is also rolling out a new run of its successful Canadian Antiques Roadshow Wednesdays at 8 p.m. CBC Sports Saturday has returned and runs alongside the net’s coverage of the Snowboarding World Championships from Whistler and World Cup skiing.

CTV is also building a block of Canuck shows on Saturdays, opposite the Ceeb’s Movie Night in Canada. The final season of Cold Squad moves down from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m., following Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye and leading into The Eleventh Hour, which moves over from its plum spot last season on the Sunday night lineup. W-Five also returns to Saturdays at 7 p.m. with new but familiar hosts Lloyd Robertson and Sandie Rinaldo.

CTV execs were not available to discuss the switches – they were down at NATPE – but the net’s PR troops are optimistic that the Canuck shows will play well.

The network added six shows to its schedule this month and changed every night except Thursdays and Fridays. The returning imports, American Idol, Alias and The Simple Life, have all had strong successes here and are joining nights with high-performing auxiliary programs such as Law & Order: SVU and Desperate Housewives. In fact, Housewives’ ad time is now more expensive than CSI’s, thanks to its double-digit numbers and a 13 share with women. The net also added the promising NBC series Medium to Mondays and the homemade Instant Star to Sundays at 7 p.m.

CTV has become so crowded that, as of press time at least, its tentpole dramas Law & Order and The West Wing have actually fallen off the schedule.

CTV is also rebuilding its Sunday sked to deal with Global, which dominates the night, thanks to The Simpsons and Arrested Development. Instant Star – the two-ep sneak preview of which drew more than a million viewers in September – leads the pack of challengers followed by Cold Case, Housewives and Law & Order: CI, which moves from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

As for Medium, Linda Simmons, broadcast manager at Genesis Media, thinks it will be the top performer of the season’s new series. Though she expresses some concern that CTV’s airdate does not coincide with NBC’s 10 p.m. Monday time-slot, CTV’s 9 p.m. slot may benefit from not having to go up against CBS’ CSI: Miami, to which CTV also owns the rights. Medium, which stars Patricia Arquette as a paranormal crime solver, has already performed well in the U.S. and, according to Nielsen Media Research, pulled in NBC’s highest 18-49 rating and viewer total for a Monday premiere (6.3/16) in over 10 years.

With all this change, what can media buyers expect from the network that from September to December owned close to three-quarters of the country’s top 20 shows?

Theresa Treutler, SVP media director for Doner Canada, does not expect CTV to falter in the ratings, even with the various schedule shuffles. ‘CTV will continue its very strong and consistent performance,’ says Treutler, adding that with the majority of CTV’s successful props remaining in the schedule, and shows such as Desperate Housewives showing continued growth, ‘it’s hard to see them losing ground.’

Global’s mid-season schedule features many changes, with the net hoping that it can continue the growth it experienced at the end of 2004. The mid-season lineup features some of the most desirable properties of the year, including the Superbowl and new runs of The Apprentice and Survivor: Palau and 24.

On Jan. 10, a Sunday, the net’s two-hour, commercial-free 24 preem was a huge hit, beating its competition head-to-head for each half-hour with Toronto viewers and scoring its highest premiere ratings to date for the 18-49 demo. The Kiefer Sutherland thrill-ride has since moved to its regular spot, Mondays at 8 p.m. (adding up to still more competition for Rick Mercer).

Treutler feels that the third Apprentice will do well, adding that its strong lead-in, high volume of promos and concept change (book smarts vs. street smarts) should make a winning combination. Survivor: Palau doesn’t air until the end of February, but Treutler thinks advertisers and viewers might be turned off the tropic-set reality show because of the Asian tsunami. Though not likely to spell the end of reality television, it is likely to raise caution flags with some audiences.

24 is a strong show but media buyers are being realistic about its expected performance. Treutler suggests that while the show will certainly be in the top 20, the lack of a strong lead-in and its serial nature may warrant a second look. Even Global estimates the show will draw an average 5 rating (compared with the 7.1 of its debut).

Global has also added NBC’s Committed to Thursdays at 8:30 p.m., after Joey. Its debut did a good job of holding on to the numbers from its lead-in and Global expects the New York-set sitcom to draw an average 6 rating.

Global will also bolster its Sunday with the cartoon American Dad, from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, set to roll out in February and expected to draw big numbers in the male 18-25 demo.

The net also has Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Model Search, playing well with young males on Wednesday, and Wickedly Perfect, a reality skein that plays off the hoopla surrounding the Martha Stewart fiasco. On a similar note, Mark Burnett and Sylvester Stallone have teamed for the boxing reality show The Contender, starting Monday, Feb. 21, and the Ridley Scott-produced FBI drama Numb3rs.

Also of note is Global National’s move from five days a week to seven with a new weekend edition, and Steven Bochco’s new cop drama Blind Justice, which begins in March.

A version of this article ran in Media in Canada.

-www.cbc.ca

-www.ctv.ca

-www.canada.com/globaltv