Last issue, we reported on the lineups of CTV and Alliance Astlantis and CBC. In this issue, we feature what’s in store from Global/CH and CHUM/NewNets:

Global/CH: more than a dozen new shows

With Friends in its last year, and buyers dubbing Frasier, Raymond and Will & Grace as ‘tired’, Global has its work cut out for it in both the near and long term.

The Global strategy will be to anchor every night with an established franchise, counter-programming with CH to cover off demos. With the U.S. simulcast of Boston Public moving to Fridays, Global will shift top-20 ratings darling Fear Factor from CH as an anchor lead-in to Raymond on Monday nights. At 9:30, Global plugs in the only new show most buyers agreed might be a winner – Two and a Half Men, starring Charlie Sheen.

Tuesdays see the addition of buyer-unfriendly John Larroquette vehicle Happy Family as a lead-in to 24, which spent two seasons being weaned on CH and which, according to CanWest sales VP Kathy Gardner, increased its ratings in Toronto by about 50% last season. Wednesdays welcome the new David E. Kelley drama Brotherhood of Poland N.H.

The U.S. version of pseudo-Friends Britcom Coupling will debut on Thursday nights at 9:30. To set up the night, Friends will slip into the 7:30 slot before Survivor. (The winter version of the reality series features a much-anticipated all-star cast of returning contestants.) On Fridays, look for Alicia Silverstone to kick things off with Miss Match, leading into Boston Public. Sunday nights will see Global put its weight behind Rob Lowe’s Lyon’s Den, an offering which Gardner sees as one of the ‘crown jewels’ of the new dramas.

CH has new shows all week long, beginning with Las Vegas on Mondays at 9 p.m. Other highlights include NCIS (Naval CIS) on Tuesdays and a new series of Extreme Makeover. Sundays will heat up with Skin at 9 p.m. where Romeo and Juliet is retold with the kids of a porn king and a district attorney.

CHUM: NewNet build continues

Last year, recalls VP of programming Ellen Baine, CHUM went south in a buying mood, picking up a number of one-hour dramas. ‘This year we’re continuing that strategy. We’re looking for shows that we think will appeal to local audiences. We’re not really competing with CTV and CanWest and buying huge network shows. We try to look for the alternative. We’re looking at shows that we think we can build into a hit.’

CHUM picked up Fearless from the WB this year, and regained its claim to both Everwood (which ran on CTV in 2002) and Seventh Heaven, a move which should add extra weight and stability to the NewNets’ lineup, notes Baine.

Also joining the Nets (The New VR, The New VI, etc.) are Jake 2.0 (computer geek turned superhero), 10-8 (Baine calls it a ‘dramedy’ in the Training Day vein) and Tracker. While Baine says to expect the NewNets to go ‘for stuff that is a little younger-minded, a little bit edgier,’ the older crowd will probably welcome the addition of ABC news magazine Primetime on Mondays and Thursdays.

By contrast, Citytv (Toronto and Vancouver) will experience few major changes in the coming year. Both Joe Millionaire and The Bachelor will return, and viewers can look forward to a four-hour miniseries revolving around Trista’s (The Bachelorette) upcoming wedding.

With most buyers saying they’d like to see CHUM realize its two-outlet aspirations in Alberta – both because of the added ratings points and because they would offer alternative to the networks – Blaine says CHUM’s biggest strength is its independence from U.S. simulcasts, which allows it to find the audience for shows.

‘Every year we do a little better,’ she says. ‘If we can be more like the WB and less like ABC, then that probably works better for us.’

-www.canwestglobal.com

-www.chumlimited.com