The fall schedule for Craig Media stations took shape this month with news that the chain has picked up both syndicated talker The Wayne Brady Show and the exclusive English-language rights for the NFL’s Monday Night Football. Both shows will air this fall on Craig’s A-Channel outlets in the Prairies, and on toronto|one, due to launch in September.

The Wayne Brady Show is little known in Canada but scored two Daytime Emmys on May 16, tying with The View for best talk show and besting the likes of Oprah and Dr. Phil for best talk show host.

The two-season NFL deal covers 16 games in the first year, 17 in 2004. It is the first time that terrestrial stations have landed exclusive rights to the live sportscast. Monday Night Football airs on ABC in the U.S.

Craig is also looking to ink deals with Toronto’s pro sports franchises – the Maple Leafs, the Raptors, the Blue Jays, but not the Argos – to air games on the startup station.

Such moves provide a window into toronto|one’s programming strategy. Critics have loudly complained that the new station would lead to inflated fees as it tried to outbid established players for popular shows. Making a play for pro sports will require toronto|one to bid against the likes of Global TV, which airs Raptors games, and CHUM Television, which aired about a dozen Leafs games last season on The New VR.

Craig will reveal more of toronto|one in early June, when the company rolls out the fall lineups for the A-Channels, TV Land and its MTV channels.

Barbara Williams, VP and GM of toronto|one, says the sportscasts would fit the station’s mandate for local programming. ‘A huge part of the Toronto experience is sports. It’s a big part of any town. So for us to have a hand in the major sport franchises in this city is a really logical place for us to be,’ says Williams.

Williams adds that Wayne Brady is a good fit for Craig’s entertainment and lifestyle programming. The daily hour-long is a mix of celebrity interviews, singing, dancing, talk and other performances. ‘It’s a whole bunch of stuff… He’s a very talented guy,’ says Williams. An afternoon timeslot will be set sometime in the next few weeks.

Brady is best known as a regular performer on the British improv hit Whose Line Is It Anyway? and as star of the VH-1 series Vinyl Justice. The show is distributed by Buena Vista Television and produced out of New York by Enjoy the Ride Productions.

Craig previously announced a host of primetime shows for the new station, including Second City Improv, a showcase of the famed Toronto comedy troupe; Toronto Life: The TV Show, a spin-off of the glossy monthly magazine; and The Toronto Show, a Monday-through-Friday hour of singing, dancing and theatre.

Williams hopes locally produced shows will eventually fill out the non-prime programming hours at toronto|one. ‘We can’t do all the shows we’d like to in the first year, but down the road we’ll be able to expand our local original programming into daytime.’