Bright lights big summer begins with big ratings for Family Channel Original
Movie, Vacation with Derek

TORONTO, June 30 /CNW/ - Astral's Family Channel, saw summer begin with a blockbuster as the world premiere of the Family Channel Original Movie, Vacation with Derek on Friday, June 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, achieved an AMA of more than 900,000 viewers 2+. The premiere was also ranked the number one show for the day across all networks with audiences 2+ (1).

"Vacation with Derek truly is a home-grown hit," said Kevin Wright, Senior Vice President, Programming, Family Channel and Playhouse Disney. "It's extremely gratifying for all of us at Family to see a spin-off from one of our own Canadian hit series become one of our top five telecasts ever."

The premiere of Vacation with Derek marked the beginning of Family Channel's Bright Lights Big Summer, a season of excitement on Family including movie and series premieres, cool contests, rockin' Family.ca activities and a multi-city tour. Highlights of the summer include the premiere of JONAS L.A. on July 23, along with the premieres of the Disney Channel Original Movies, Den Brother (August 13) and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (September 3). More information on Bright Lights Big Summer is available at Family.ca.

Based on the hit Family Channel series, Life with Derek, the TV movie from Shaftesbury Films sees teen sibling rivals, Derek and Casey along with the rest McDonald-Venturi children, visit their hard-edged grandmother, Felicia, at her beautiful lakeside lodge. Vacation with Derek features Michael Seater and Ashley Leggat as Derek and Casey and guest stars Nico Archambault (Season One winner, So You Think You Can Dance Canada) as well as Gemini Award-winner Kate Trotter (Murdoch Mysteries, The Jane Show). Derek fans will be able to catch a 'What's What' version of the movie, featuring behind-the scenes trivia from the making of Vacation with Derek on Friday, August 6 at 8 p.m.ET/PT.

Family Channel is a premium, commercial-free network offering the best in family television entertainment in 6 million homes across Canada. Dedicated to celebrating family life and providing a fun experience for all, Family airs a unique mix of series, movies and specials, with a large portion of programming supplied by Disney. Family Channel also offers Family OnDemand in select areas, a Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) service that features hit Disney movies and series, top-rated Canadian series and Playhouse Disney programming, and Family OnLine, a broadband service offered to Bell TV subscribers. Visit us at Family.ca.

Family Channel is a member of the Astral family. Astral is one of Canada's largest media companies. It operates more than 100 of the country's most popular pay and specialty television, radio, out-of-home advertising and digital media properties. Astral plays a central role in community life across the country by offering diverse, rich and vibrant programming that meets the tastes and needs of consumers and advertisers. To learn more about Astral, visit astral.com.

For artwork and series information, visit http://tv.astral.com

    
    1.  Vacation with Derek Source: BBM/NMR (Infosys): P2+ AMA All Locations
        Total Canada 930,700 - June 25 - 8:00 p.m. ET/PT - Family Channel.
        Preliminary unconfirmed data.
    

For further information: Kate Dickson at 416 956 8584 or [email protected]