– Season 2 to feature limited commercial time with custom advertising opportunities –
THE LAUNCH also announced today that Québec pop icon Marie-Mai (STAR ACADÉMIE, LA VOIX) joins the series’ as a permanent mentor on the weekly celebrity panel alongside music industry powerhouse Scott Borchetta. In addition, fan favourite entertainment reporter Liz Trinnear (ETALK) joins the show in a new hosting role. THE LAUNCH begins production on its second season Sept. 26 in Toronto. Audience tickets are now available; see details below.
**Media Note** – Download photography and bios for Marie-Mai, Trinnear, and Season 2 mentors announced to date at BellMediaPR.ca.
“Marie-Mai is an amazing artist and performer, and her vast industry know-how will provide a powerful counterpoint to Scott’s expertise, bringing a new and engaging dynamic for both artists and viewers,” said Randy Lennox, President, Bell Media. “We also welcome the superb energy that Liz brings as a host as she guides the performers and the audience through the emotional journey of launching new artists and new songs each week.”
“I’m truly so excited to kick off Season 2 of THE LAUNCH! We have great artistic talent from all across Canada, a new permanent second-seat mentor with the amazingly talented Marie-Mai, and we’ve landed the host with the absolute most, Liz Trinnear,” said Scott Borchetta, Founder/President/CEO of the Big Machine Label Group and co-creator and Executive Producer of THE LAUNCH. “Ryan (Tedder) is coming back and is so fired up about producing another LAUNCH winner, Sarah McLachlan will be amazing to work with as will my new friend Max Kerman… LETS. ROCK. THE. LAUNCH. S2!”
THE LAUNCH heads into production for Season 2 on the heels of a breakthrough inaugural season that garnered an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with Sony Pictures Television (SPT). In addition, the series delivered a series of consecutive #1 hit songs amassing more than 21 million streams internationally to date, including certified platinum “Ain’t Easy” by Season 1 chosen artists Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine. The pop/hip-hop duo won the iHeartRadio MMVA for Best New Canadian Artist in August, and recently dropped their latest single “Better Off.”
As announced earlier this year, each super-sized episode of THE LAUNCH will now feature reduced commercial time, delivering even more music and extended insight into featured artists’ auditions, and the process of recording, performing, and launching a new hit song. Each hour-long episode provides custom advertising opportunities including 30-second “superpods.” Featuring one advertiser per break, the custom creative offers a more seamless and engaging viewer experience between the commercial content and the program.
Following its hit inaugural season, THE LAUNCH vetted thousands of emerging performers for Season 2 following a coast-to-coast-to-coast casting call this past May. More celebrity mentors, songwriters/producers, as well as the artists selected to perform on Season 2 of THE LAUNCH, will be announced soon.
In each stand-alone episode of THE LAUNCH, unsigned aspiring artists audition for the opportunity to learn, record, and perform their version of a new original song by a world famous songwriter/producer. The artists are mentored by a panel of internationally renowned music industry legends alongside Borchetta, who then decide which version of the song will be released across the country immediately following the broadcast of the episode each week. THE LAUNCH is set to premiere on CTV and VRAK in early 2019.
Marie-Mai is the undisputed Queen of pop in Québec. As a supremely talented singer-songwriter, Marie-Mai dominated the Québec live music scene for more than 15 years, with more than two million spectators flocking to her successful live shows. Her four platinum albums, 17 #1 hits, 10 Félix Awards (the highest honour in Québec music – including five for Female Artist of the Year), have solidified her status as a force in the music industry. As a successful songwriter in both French and English, Marie-Mai has won seven awards from SOCAN and was honored as Songwriter of the Year in 2014. Marie-Mai was a featured performer at the Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Building on her success, she took on a coaching role on the Québec version of THE VOICE (LA VOIX) and THE VOICE KIDS (LA VOIX KIDS). Marie-Mai is set to release her sixth French album on November 9, 2018. Her first single “Empire” shattered records on the Québec music charts and her most recent second single “Je décolle”, was released last week.
Liz Trinnear is a well-known face to music and entertainment lovers in Canada, who built her career connecting with audiences and artists in a genuine and authentic manner while in the role as reporter for ETALK, Canada’s most-watched entertainment news program (2015-18), and previously on the front lines of MUCH programming for nine years. Hailing from London, Ontario, Trinnear was voted “most likely to be a MuchMusic VJ” in high school and in 2009, beat out 4,000 candidates to hand herself a job at the legendary music station. The former co-host of THE MUCH MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS (2012-14) has also interviewed some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Lady Gaga, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Harry Styles, and Justin Timberlake.
Scott Borchetta is Founder, President and CEO of Big Machine Label Group, the #1 independent record label in the world and home to superstars such as Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, and Thomas Rhett. Borchetta has led the charge on more than 50 million albums sold by Big Machine artists in addition to sending over 200 singles to #1 on the Country, Pop, and Rock charts. His groundbreaking business savvy, Borchetta has been included on Billboard’s Power 100 list and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. During the final two seasons of AMERICAN IDOL, Borchetta served as in-house mentor and guided contestants throughout the competition as well as signing the winners to record deals.
THE LAUNCH Live Studio Audience!
CTV is giving viewers in the Greater Toronto Area an opportunity to experience the excitement first-hand by attending a taping of THE LAUNCH. The studio is located in downtown Toronto and those interested in tickets can go to CTV.ca/TheLaunch for more information. All audience members must be at least 11 years of age and an adult must accompany those under the age of 16.
- Sept. 28: Max Kerman
Fans in attendance will have an opportunity to meet Season 1 chosen artists Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, who will be on set to greet fans. - Oct. 7: Sarah McLachlan
- Oct. 12: Ryan Tedder
THE LAUNCH format was put into development in January 2016 and was co-developed by Randy Lennox and Bell Media in association with Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Label Group, and Paul Franklin of Eureka (MASTERCHEF, THE BIGGEST LOSER), in partnership with John Brunton and Lindsay Cox of Insight Productions (THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, CANADIAN IDOL, THE JUNO AWARDS).
THE LAUNCH is executive produced by Randy Lennox, Scott Borchetta, and John Brunton; Lindsay Cox and Paul Franklin are Executive Producers; Executive Producers for Bell Media are Robin Johnston and Corrie Coe, who is also Senior Vice-President, Original Programming, Bell Media. Pat DiVittorio is Vice-President, CTV and Specialty Programming, Mike Cosentino is President, Content and Programming, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Bell Media.
ABOUT BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP
Led by Founder, President and CEO Scott Borchetta, the Big Machine Label Group encompasses Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., BMLG Records, Big Machine Records/John Varvatos Records and publishing company Big Machine Music as well as its own digital radio station, Big Machine Radio. BMLG artists include superstars Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Brantley Gilbert, Ronnie Dunn, Cheap Trick and Sugarland; chart-topping acts Justin Moore, Eli Young Band, Brett Young, Aaron Lewis, Midland, Carly Pearce; THE VOICE winner Danielle Bradbery, and 2015 AMERICAN IDOL winner Trent Harmon. BMLG artists have received multiple Grammy, CMA, ACM, AMA, CMT, Teen Choice, MTV, Billboard, People’s Choice, and Brit Awards. Big Machine is the first-ever American label to align with terrestrial radio for performance royalty rights for its artists and is an industry leader in fighting for artist, songwriter, publisher, and record company rights. Big Machine Label Group created the Music Has Value Fund to provide assistance to nonprofit organizations that make music, aspire to make music, and access and access and appreciate music. Visit BigMachineLabelGroup.com for more information.
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka is a next-generation production company combining the expertise, credibility and key relationships traditionally found within large multi-national production companies with the energy and nimbleness of a startup. Launched in January 2016, Eureka has offices in Los Angeles and Sydney and produces both unscripted and scripted programs. Within less than a year of opening Eureka has over sixty hours of programming commissioned in 2017 with more series to be announced soon.
ABOUT INSIGHT PRODUCTION COMPANY, LTD.
Insight Productions, known for its award-winning ratings juggernauts, is Canada’s most established content producer and an industry leader in the development, financing, and production of hit programming, both scripted and unscripted, as well as digital content. With thousands of hours of programming under its belt, the company has created some of the most dynamic and top-rated programs in the world including Canada’s Grammy Awards – THE 2018 JUNO AWARDS, THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, BIG BROTHER CANADA, TOP CHEF CANADA, INTERVENTION, and original formats including THE LAUNCH (for which Lindsay Cox serves as EP and Showrunner alongside EP John Brunton) and BATTLE OF THE BLADES Insight’s scripted programming includes award-winning READY OR NOT, FALCON BEACH, HATCHING, MATCHING & DISPATCHING, A FURY CHRISTMAS, BUT I’M CHRIS JERICHO!, and THE JON DORE TELEVISION SHOW. In 2017, Insight produced THE TRAGICALLY HIP: A NATIONAL CELEBRATION, a live concert special watched by one in three Canadians. Insight Productions was founded in 1979 and has since created thousands of hours of groundbreaking content. For more information on Insight Productions, please visit www.insighttv.com or on Twitter – @insightprod or Facebook www.facebook.com/InsightProductions.
ABOUT BELL MEDIA ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING
Bell Media has commissioned some of Canada’s most-watched and most-acclaimed original programming, working with the best Canadian independent producers in the country. Hit series commissioned by CTV include the hit drama CARDINAL; the record-breaking Canadian formats THE AMAZING RACE CANADA and MASTERCHEF CANADA; the original international TV format THE LAUNCH; satirical news series THE BEAVERTON; new comedy series JANN; new lifestyle series starring Mary Berg; and CANADA’S WALK OF FAME AWARDS. Among the original series on Bell Media specialty and streaming platforms are Space’s KILLJOYS and WYNONNA EARP; Bravo’s mystery dramedy CARTER; Comedy’s CORNER GAS ANIMATED; CraveTV’s hit comedy LETTERKENNY; and SnackableTV’s interactive stand-up series JOKEOFF and upcoming animated series LITTLEKENNY. In addition to adventure drama FRONTIER, Discovery is also home to Bell Media’s hit factual franchises HIGHWAY THRU HELL, HEAVY RESCUE: 401, and CANADA’S WORST DRIVER, in addition to new original series DISASTERS AT SEA, among others. Bell Media is one of the first media companies in North America to commit to producing all new original scripted series in 4K.
ABOUT CTV
CTV is Canada’s #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada’s most-watched television network for the past 17 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada’s premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network’s website at CTV.ca.
Wednesday night’s series premiere of Scott Borchetta’s new, innovative music show The Launch proved that a reality music competition series can do the unthinkable: pair an unsigned emerging artist with a superstar producer and an original song to “launch” a hit single in real time.
