Canada’s VisionTV Announces Programming Highlights

TORONTO: Highlights for the 2009-2010 lineup on Canada’s VisionTV include a refreshed British comedy block, with the addition of new titles throughout the season, as well as a host of factual and talk offerings.

VisionTV is refreshing its popular British comedy block, which airs weeknights at 8 p.m. Last week the multi-faith and multicultural network launched a So You Wanna Be In TV promotion, offering viewers a chance to help program this hour-long block by voting for various titles under consideration.

The drama lineup will continue to feature Murder, She Wrote weeknights at 7 p.m. and Quantum Leap Tuesdays at 9 p.m. VisionTV will feature a new season of the hit British dramedy Doc Martin, as well as presenting the final season of the Australian drama McLeod’s Daughters.

Factual programming highlights include the original Canadian series Crazy for Love, which looks at relationships between people of different faiths and cultures, and Sex + Religion, looking at how faith and human sexuality interplay. A new season of the doc series The Naked Archaeologist, as well as the 90-minute special Beasts of the Bible, will have spring premieres. Unscripted, a new talk series, will feature entertainment icons such as Bob Newhart and Florence Henderson. The show will air four nights a week starting in September.

The channel is also set to devote more air time to classic feature films in 2009-2010. New titles will include The Manchurian Candidate, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Searchers, Dances with Wolves, The Verdict and New York, New York. Three full weeks of Christmas programming is on the roster for December, with highlights such as the Canadian TV premiere of The Nativity Story. Other special programming events will mark Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday and the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species.

Mark Prasuhn, S-VOX’s COO and chief content officer, said: "VisionTV is committed to providing thoughtful, high-quality alternative programming with the 50-plus viewer in mind. In the season ahead, we will strengthen our already impressive prime-time schedule, while continuing to offer television’s most diverse lineup of inspirational programming, from Christian broadcast ministries to faith and entertainment series for Canada’s Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities. At a time when many conventional and specialty stations are fighting just to hold their ground, we expect to continue growing VisionTV’s audience share."