Blue Ant Marks Ten-Year Anniversary with New Originals Slate

Blue Ant Media is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with ten new and returning originals that will premiere on its portfolio of Canadian broadcast channels.

The programming lineup includes outdoor lifestyle and survival shows, paranormal anthology series, documentaries and relevant specials. The new commissioning slate will begin airing across Blue Ant’s Canadian channels this fall and into 2022. Several of the programs will be available for licensing globally by Blue Ant International.

Cottage Life’s Life Below Zero: Canada has been renewed for a second season co-produced by Blue Ant Media, Quebecor Content and APTN. Also returning to Cottage Life, the Blue Ant Media and APTN co-production Merchants of the Wild has been renewed for a fourth season. Blue Ant Media has greenlit a third installment of Ice Vikings and acquired seasons one and two of the Ice Vikings franchise to air on Cottage Life.

On T+E, the new original anthology series Eli Roth Presents: A Ghost Ruined My Life examines horrifying real-life stories of hauntings. Executive produced by Eli Roth and Cream Productions, it is a Blue Ant Media and discovery+ co-production. Also new on T+E, The Lost Colony of Roanoke follows a team of archaeologists as they dig for evidence that could help solve the mystery of what happened to the English colony on Roanoke Island.

The new six-part docuseries Griff’s Great Canadian Adventure, which marks the first original commission for BBC First in Canada since Blue Ant Media launched the channel in partnership with BBC Studios in March 2021, follows the Welsh comedian and travel enthusiast on a journey across the commonwealth country as he explores Canadian cultures and traditions. It is co-produced by Nikki Ray Media Agency and EQ Media Group, in association with Blue Ant Media, Channel 4, Abacus Media Rights, Quiver Entertainment, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The History Channel (NZ).

Additionally, Blue Ant Media has greenlit two new Canadian documentary specials: the tentatively titled The Digital Divide and Strange Creatures for BBC Earth. This is the first time Blue Ant Media has commissioned originals for BBC Earth in Canada since the channel launched in partnership with BBC Studios in 2017. While The Digital Divide explores the growing chasm between the have and have-nots of digital, mobile and satellite technology, Strange Creatures is a nature and wildlife documentary about Canada’s unusual and fascinating creatures.

On Smithsonian Channel in Canada, the Blue Ant Media and Channel 5 co-production World’s Most Scenic River Journeys has been renewed for a second season. Also new is History by the Numbers (Canadian Broadcast Premiere), a 20-part series about the extraordinary and often overlooked numbers that help decode world history.

Craig Junner, VP of programming of Canadian media at Blue Ant Media, said: “We’re so proud to celebrate ten years of storytelling at Blue Ant Media. Over that time, our roster of Canadian specialty channels has truly evolved into a premium lineup of household names, such as Smithsonian Channel, BBC Earth and BBC First; and homegrown brands that include Cottage Life and T+E. Over the past decade, we have been committed to delivering premium, entertaining programming that tells diverse stories from Canada and around the world with our partners and some of the best filmmakers out there. We’re so pleased to unveil our latest slate of specials, documentaries and anthology series that we know will resonate with our highly engaged audience.”