Global is airing Survivor fully simulcast with the U.S., meaning the Canadian network will also have to cut away when Trump is due to begin his speech.Paramount+/Supplied
Canada is not, as of this writing, the 51st state – but, in terms of television viewing, we’ve been a member of the American tribe for a very long time.
The tension between Canadians’ renewed nationalism and our cultural saturation in American TV will be reinforced on Wednesday night when Donald Trump takes to the airwaves for one of his surprise presidential addresses right in the middle of the Survivor season finale.
Though our citizens played no direct role in voting Trump back into the Oval Office (and many would have deployed a Survivor-style block-a-vote against him if able), the President’s latest speech from the White House will nevertheless throw Canadian couches into turmoil, too.
For viewers east of Alberta, the address is set to delay or discombobulate the three-hour episode in which the winner of the 49th season of Survivor and US$1-million will be revealed.
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Because Global is airing the popular CBS reality competition fully simulcast with the United States, the Canadian network will also have to cut away at 9 p.m. ET – delaying the discovery of the last castaway standing by about half an hour, or however long Trump ends up talking.
CBS plans to resume Survivor where it left off immediately after the President’s address for its Eastern and Central time zone viewers – and Global will go back to it then, too.
But at least Canadian viewers won’t be stuck listening to Trump as the top-rated reality show in Canada – which has allowed us to compete since 2019 – is delayed.
The Corus-owned network has decided to air a rerun of a Canadian reality show during the address – and the choice of show seems a little cheeky given the circumstances.
Border Security: Canada’s Front Line, a show that aired from 2012 to 2014 and followed the work of Canada Border Services Agency officers at land crossings and airports, is set to fill the airtime on Global, according to a network spokesperson.
A fine, wry choice – at least if you leave aside that Border Security was cancelled after the federal Privacy Commissioner recommended the border services no longer participate.
It will nevertheless be a pain for Canadian fans – especially those in Atlantic Canada – to stay up later than expected to find out if they have won their Survivor pool.
(For the record, I picked former reporter Savannah Louie as the winner all the way back on Oct. 1; she’s still in the running alongside Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Sophi Balerdi, Kristina Mills and Rizo Velovic.)
Trump’s address is also causing problems for CTV, which is supposed to broadcast the two-part, two-hour season finale of Fox game show The Floor at 8 p.m. ET.
When I checked in with Bell Media on Wednesday morning, it seemed that the Rob Lowe-hosted trivia competition would be shown as originally scheduled – with Canadian viewers finding out who won the US$250,000 prize ahead of American viewers, who would hit a Trump speedbump at 9 p.m. ET.
CBS and Global plan to resume Survivor where it left off immediately after Trump’s address.Paramount+/Supplied
But shortly before filing this column, a CTV spokesperson informed me the network might have to air something else during the Trump speech after all – though it hadn’t yet been decided what.
It was emphasized that Trump’s speech will not appear on CTV, however.
The American networks don’t actually have to carry presidential addresses live, either. In 2014, for instance, the big four – CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox – decided not to air a Barack Obama primetime address on immigration reform that would have pre-empted revenue-generating shows such as Grey’s Anatomy.
But given the current President’s propensity to involve himself in television matters – from calling for the firing of late-night hosts to meddling in mergers – it seems unlikely that any network would want to upset him by holding out.
In Canada, CBC’s plans to air the 1994 movie The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen, one of Hollywood’s more Trump-friendly star, on Wednesday night are unaffected.
And if you switch over to CityTV at 9 p.m., you’ll find previously scheduled Canadian content: Bryan Adams and Friends: A Great Big Holiday Jam – a one-hour special from the Canadian singer-songwriter. Adams is joined in his Warehouse studio by Alessia Cara, Alan Doyle, Barenaked Ladies, Lights and The Sheepdogs performing what a press release calls “festive hits.”
(If you stick around on that channel past Hudson and Rex and the news, you’ll find Kamala Harris on Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
As for me, I have tickets to see the play Rogers v. Rogers at Crow’s Theatre – so I was going to PVR the Survivor finale anyway. I’ll just make sure to extend the time. It’s always a good moment for a little satirical chinwag about Canada’s telecommunications industry but particularly tonight.