ETALK Kicks Off New Season with Canada's Most-Watched Coverage of The Toronto International Film Festival®, Beginning September 2 on CTV

– Heading into its incredible 13^th year, ETALK continues to reign as Canada's most-watched entertainment news program, ending the summer with a 76% lead ahead of ET CANADA –

– Canada's #1 entertainment news team returns as official 2014 TIFF^® red carpet media sponsor at Roy Thomson Hall –

– ETALK partners with Telefilm Canada for The Great Canadian Talent Faceoff competition event –

– Etalk.ca/tiff offers exclusive TIFF coverage including extended ETALK interviews, live streams of Roy Thomson Hall red carpets, and daily celeb galleries –

– Before Tinseltown heads north, ETALK reflects on its greatest TIFF moments in the new special, HOLLYWOOD AT HOME: 12 YEARS OF ETALK AT TIFF Monday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV –

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TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2014 /CNW/ - Just as Hollywood's elite make their way to the 39^th annual Toronto International Film Festival^® (Sept. 4-14), Canada's most-watched and most-trusted entertainment show, ETALK, kicks off its lucky 13^th season. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 2, ETALK returns with unparalleled entertainment coverage, including exclusive access to one of the world's biggest film festivals, airing weeknights at 7 p.m. ET on CTV and CTV GO, and 7:30 p.m. ET on CTV Two (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times). ETALK begins a new season on a high, coming off a successful summer that saw the program firmly hold its position as Canada's #1 choice for entertainment news. Reaching 4.3 million viewers every week, ETALK is averaging 556,000 viewers this summer, 76% ahead of ET CANADA (317,000), and 20% ahead of ET (462,000). ETALK's most-watched episode this summer brought in an overnight audience of 757,000 viewers on Aug. 21.   

Before all the glitz and glamour of the film festival invades Toronto, ETALK presents HOLLYWOOD AT HOME: 12 YEARS OF ETALK AT TIFF. Airing Monday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV and 7:30 p.m. ET on CTV Two, this 30-minute special features ETALK's best TIFF moments, with anchors Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim, along with senior reporter Danielle Graham (McGimsie), reporter Lainey, ETALK Executive Producer/Co-Creator Morley Nirenberg, and TIFF Artistic Director Cameron Bailey revisiting the Toronto International Film Festival^® of years past. An encore presentation airs Friday, Sept. 5 at 1:30 p.m. ET on CTV Two (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times).

** Media Note ** Download new photography for ETALK at BellMediaPR.ca

"Covering TIFF is always the perfect way to begin a new season of ETALK," said Morley Nirenberg, Director of Production/Executive Producer, ETALK. "For 12 straight years, viewers have selected us as their undisputed favourite because we consistently deliver the most comprehensive TIFF coverage, including exclusive access to both homegrown talent and international stars. We can't wait to start Season 13 and share all of our exciting plans with our viewers."

Presenting Canadian viewers with the best seats in the house, the entire ETALK team reports from various celebrity hotspots across Toronto during the 11-day festival. The ETALK team will also host celebrities from their ETALK Lounge and Gifting Suite at the InterContinental Toronto Centre Hotel. For a second year in a row, ETALK is the exclusive Broadcast Partner of Twitter Canada. Located throughout the duration of TIFF in the ETALK Interview Lounge, The Twitter Mirror will deliver a behind-the-scenes, celebrity experience allowing stars to Tweet autographed selfies directly from the lounge, using the hashtag #etalkTIFF.

ETALK will also live tweet each 7 p.m. ET broadcast on CTV every day of the festival, including the latest festival headlines and Instagram photos from red carpets, parties, and celebrity sightings. Fans can follow ETALK on Twitter (@etalkCTV) and Instagram (@ETALKCTV) with the hashtag #etalkTIFF, as well as on Facebook (facebook.com/etalkctv). And Etalk.ca/tiff will feature daily photo galleries of the latest celebrity sightings and red carpet arrivals, extended ETALK interviews, movie trailers, and additional festival coverage. Back for a second year, ETALK reporter Devon Soltendieck will document his insider view of the Festival daily through video diaries.

For the fourth straight year, ETALK returns as the official Red Carpet Media Sponsor of gala central at Roy Thomson Hall. From their coveted position, the team will produce 20, separate, live, half-hour red carpet shows featuring some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Robert Downey Jr., Reese Witherspoon, Morgan Freeman, Tina Fey, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, and many more. Viewers across the country can view the red carpet shows stream live at etalk.ca/tiff.  

Once again, festival goers can keep cool with the ETALK-branded ice cream truck, as it roams the streets of Toronto, handing out free ice cream to fans during the Festival. New this year, ETALK presents The Great Canadian Talent Faceoff with Telefilm Canada on Festival Street (King Street West between Peter Street and University Avenue), where this year's TIFF Rising Stars compete against well-known Canadian talent in hilarious games to put their knowledge of Canadian cinema to the test. The talent participating this year includes Zoie Palmer (LOST GIRL), Ray Ablack (DEGRASSI), Vinay Virmany (Dr. Cabbie), and Katie Boland (REIGN).

In advance of all the exclusive TIFF events, ETALK kicked off the party circuit as co-sponsor of the #TWIFF Party (August 27) at The Fairmont Royal York. ETALK also continues to give viewers exclusive behind-the-scenes party access including the most anticipated pre-TIFF bash, the 9^th Annual Canadian Filmmakers Party on September 3. Hosted by ETALK's Tanya Kim, Tatiana Maslany (ORPHAN BLACK), and David Alpay (THE VAMPIRE DIARIES), ETALK is a co-sponsor with The Spoke Club and The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT).

Viewers can catch up on highlights of ETALK following the television broadcast on CTV's digital platforms, including CTV.ca and the CTV GO app.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter:
@BellMediaPR
@CTV_PR
@CTV_Television
@etalkCTV
Ben Mulroney – @BenMulroney
Tanya Kim – @Tanya_Kim
Danielle Graham (McGimsie) – @DanielleGraham
Lainey – @LaineyGossip
Traci Melchor – @stayfabulous
Devon Soltendieck – @DSoltendieck
Jessi Cruickshank – @JESSI

Facebook:
facebook.com/ctv  

Instagram:
@ETALKCTV

About ETALK

Hosted by Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim, with Senior Reporter Danielle Graham, and Reporters Lainey Lui, Traci Melchor, Devon Soltendieck, and Jessi Cruickshank, ETALK is the #1 most-watched entertainment newsmagazine in Canada. From the OSCARS^® and the EMMY^® Awards, to the GOLDEN GLOBE^® and JUNO Awards, ETALK is front-and-centre, delivering up-to-the-minute news in film, television, music, and more. Celebrating both home-grown talent and international stars, ETALK became the first daily Canadian entertainment newsmagazine when it launched in 2002. ETALK is produced by Bell Media Production, and Morley Nirenberg is Director of Production and Executive Producer. Nanci MacLean is Vice-President, Bell Media Production. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks. Phil King is President - CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming. More information about ETALK can be found at etalk.ca, as well as on Facebook and @etalkCTV. 

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 13 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio and digital. 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.

– CTV –

Source: Source: Numeris (BBM Canada), Summer 2014 (May 26-Aug 10, 2014, final data); Summer 2013 (May 27-Sept 15,2013)

SOURCE CTV