so.da Transforms Trend-Setting Data Into Five New Creator Led Original Series

Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, HISTORY, Showcase and SLICE to Launch Digital-First Series Starting This Month

Branded Content Opportunities Currently Available

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TORONTO, May 14, 2021 /CNW/ - so.da, Corus Entertainment's award-winning social and digital agency, is launching five new originals series starting this month, producing serialized content in-house on a wide range of topics and trends from baking to cosplay (costume play) to sex education.

Tapping into in-depth research, insights on audience behaviours, trend data, as well as ongoing testing and optimization learnings from across Corus' portfolio of leading social brands, these new original series will provide high performing and authentic opportunities for advertisers to connect to highly engaged communities around their passion points. Developed for @FoodNetworkCa, @HGTVCanada, @HistoryCa,@Showcasetv and @Slicedotca, the new series will live across each brands' social and digital platforms, with extended content and resources to support themes presented in each episode.

"Across our brands, we have incredibly loyal, passionate and engaged communities who are connecting with us around their passion points - from Food to Home, to Fashion, Beauty, Wellness, Travel, Pop Culture, Music, and so much more, our audiences are looking to us not only to be entertained, but for advice, inspiration, recommendations, and connection to like-minded Canadians,"  said Dervla Kelly, Senior Vice President, Marketing & so.da. "Through a deep understanding of what drives our audience, along with data-driven insights, we continue to build out a ton of new content to engage our audiences, while providing seamless opportunities for advertisers to integrate into our short-form content."

The five new original so.da series include: 

Food Network Canada: Baking Therapy (8 x 5-10 mins)
Born out of the growing trend in baking, Baking Therapy is a laissez-faire, cathartic, weekly how-to series that plays out on Food Network Canada's Instagram stories. To date, Baking Therapy content delivers 37% higher engagement and completion rates greater than @FoodNetworkCa's average.* Based on the high organic performance, the series is being extended into a cross-platform so.da original and corresponding recipes will live on FoodNetwork.ca. From cakes, cookies and other desserts to breads, rolls and savoury baked goods, baker and on-staff Food Network Canada content creator Sabrina Stavenjord walks our audiences through the step-by-step process of a baking tutorial, inspiring audiences of any skill levels to get baking. Sabrina is a self-taught baker, was a Top 10 Finalist on Food Network Canada's Bake It Possible, and was featured on Cityline for winning a Cookie Swap Contest for her Ginger Molasses Cookie recipe. Baking Therapy goes into production this August, launching fall 2021 across Facebook, IGTV, FNC.ca, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and the Global TV App.

HGTV Canada: Plant Mama (6 x 5-10 mins)
Sprouted from the growing trend of gardening content in 2020, which received over four billion views from January to July, and increased engagement on @HGTVCanada's platforms for creator-led plant and green living content,** Plant Mama was born. Led by HGTV Canada's resident plant expert Amanda Roberts, she breathes new life into homes and teaches others about growing and caring for plants. Each episode explores a new leg of the vast jungle that is green living. Appealing to novice growers and green thumbs alike, Amanda nurtures the basics, cultivates challenges, and ultimately helps seedling audiences grow outside of their comfort zones. She's talking planting, propagating, styling, and more. The series is extended online with robust digital editorial, providing accompanying articles for each episode along with previously commissioned plant content authored by Amanda. Plant Mama premieres May 27 with new episodes weekly on HGTV Canada platforms including the Global TV app.

HISTORY: Canada Uncovered (4 x 4-6 mins)
Increased search data centered on Canadian history content has prompted the development of Canada Uncovered. In the past year, HISTORY's Instagram has seen a 77% increase in engagement on historic editorial content that continues to grow.*** In the four-part docu-series, award-winning journalist and anchor at Global News, Farah Nasser, investigates the Canadian histories that are so often left out of our textbooks, but have been imperative to making this country what it is today. Drawing together razor-sharp journalism and first-person experiences, the series highlights previously-untold histories about residential schools, the bathhouse raids, Africville, and women's suffrage movements. Currently in production, Canada Uncovered is set to debut in June across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and the Global TV App.

SHOWCASE: Queens of Cosplay (4 x 4-6 mins)
Showcase's first so.da original is derived from insights around the ongoing interest in cosplay and drag queen content, which have generated over 1.6 million interactions over the past few months on Facebook and related editorial has made up six of the Top 10 posts on Showcase's social platforms.**** Queens of Cosplay is a fight for good, evil, and high fashion! Canadian drag royalty Kyne (Canada's Drag Race) and Baby Bel Bel (Miss Crews & Tangos 2019) create two original characters – one superhero, and one supervillain, each using makeup, hair, costumes, and a whole lot of sass. The series is currently in production and slated to premiere on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and the Global TV App in June 2021 coinciding with Pride month.

SLICE: Sex Sessions (10 x 3-5 mins)
Throughout the pandemic, trends show stigma around sex and relationship content has decreased and for @Slicedotca, the topic has seen an up-tick, being the most-clicked digital editorial content on the brand's social.***** In Sex Sessions, sexual health and consent educator Samantha Bitty takes sex education to another, realer, level. The 10-episode series takes viewers through the ABC's of sex – literally – talking about everything – way beyond any sex-ed class in school. This sex-positive series is told through an intersectional, emotional intelligence and pleasure-centered lens. It evokes questions around all aspects of identity and society: gender, race, politics, and law. Samantha is here to have an open and honest conversation, inspiring empathy, liberation and much, much laughter along the way. Spanning across SLICE's ecosystem from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, audiences can also log on to Slice.ca to find in depth curriculum on the subjects discussed through the series including resources, glossaries and more. Sex Sessions debuted May 10, with new episodes weekly on @Slicedotca.

Sources:

*Minter.io, Instagram

**Tubular: YouTube, Home & DIY, January 1 – July 9, 2020; Minter.io, Instagram

***Facebook and @HistoryCA Instagram Analytics 

**** CrowdTangle; Google Analystics; Facebook Analytics  

******Minter.io, Instagram

About Corus Entertainment Inc. 
Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B) is a leading media and content company that develops and delivers high quality brands and content across platforms for audiences around the world.  Engaging audiences since 1999, the company's portfolio of multimedia offerings encompass 33 specialty television services, 39 radio stations, 15 conventional television stations, a suite of digital and streaming assets, animation software, technology and media services. Corus is an internationally-renowned content creator and distributor through Nelvana, a world class animation studio expert in all formats and Corus Studios, a globally recognized producer of hit scripted and unscripted content. The company also owns innovative full-service social digital agency so.da, lifestyle entertainment company Kin Canada, leading 2D animation software supplier Toon Boom and children's book publishing house, Kids Can Press. Corus' roster of premium brands includes Global Television, W Network, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, HISTORY®, Showcase, Adult Swim, National Geographic, Disney Channel Canada, YTV, Global News, Globalnews.ca, Q107, Country 105, and CFOX, along with broadly distributed Canadian streaming platforms STACKTV, Nick+, the Global TV App and Curiouscast. For more information visit www.corusent.com. 

SOURCE Corus Entertainment Inc.