The Outlander season 3 Canadian premiere date is here — why that matters to global fans
Before diving too far into that, let’s start here with the facts. Season 3 is moving this year to the W Network, another channel owned by the same parent company (Corus Entertainment) as Showcase, which was the previous broadcaster.
While this move may raise some eyebrows just in terms of why, it may just have to do with desired demographics or the show making more sense schedule-wise on this network. The big thing to remember here is that these sort of moves are a little more common than you’d think on Canadian television. A great example of that is Pretty Little Liars, which moved from Much to M3 to Bravo (very different than U.S. Bravo) over the course of its run. Another example is Supergirl, which moved from the flagship Global (a major Canadian network) over toe Showcase for season 2. There are also some other shows that have effectively been “canceled” up north, at least in that they will air a season and then not get picked up by anyone.
As for why we know so much about Canadian television, some fun facts: We’re a dual citizen, we’ve spent several years in Canada over the course of our lifetime, and the first time we actually interviewed Sam Heughan was through the fine folks at Corus. It’s hard to imagine that was over two years ago! Imagine where the time goes…
One other thing worth noting here is that for the first time, Canadian viewers will get an opportunity to watch the show live on television alongside their American counterparts. This is huge, it reduces piracy threats, and it will create even more of a community atmosphere.
The teaser below is mostly just old footage, but it’s beautiful footage nonetheless.
So, why should you care if you’re not Canadian?
The biggest reason is that this drives significantly more attention to the show to have it airing concurrently, and it also could allow for further trending-topic opportunities to get more awareness out there about the show on a global scale. Remember here that as great as the show is, there are millions of possible Outlander fans who probably have either A) never heard of it or B) considered watching it but haven’t committed just yet. Expanding the audience only helps the show stick around even longer, and that’s tremendously important. In between this and the More4 acquisition in Britain, this summer has been tremendous when it comes to cementing the series’ status as an international heavyweight within the television world.
Also, you should care just because you love Canadians, and you should!
A little bit of irony
Just for fun, we’d like to point out that Outlander is airing on a different network in Showcase this fall … but it’s one in Australia. Why do all of these networks in different countries have the same name? Argh.
For other Outlander news
Be sure to visit the link here for our recent analysis of the new Lord John Grey photo and more! (Photo: Starz.)