TORONTO (October 12, 2018) – With production underway for the second season of CTV’s hit original music series THE LAUNCH, the network announced today additional celebrity mentors for the show. Grammy^® award-winning music legend Bryan Adams joins as celebrity mentor and producer, along with celebrated multi-platinum award-winning singer-songwriter Jann Arden.

Also confirmed to work with emerging artists aspiring for an opportunity to create a new hit single this season are some of the music industry’s most successful producers including Jon Levine (Avril Lavigne, Drake, Bebe Rexha); Alex Hope (Carly Rae Jepsen, Troye Sivan, Tove Lo); and Shaun Frank (The Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki, Dragonette).

Previously announced celebrity mentors include Grammy^® award-winner Sarah McLachlan, Arkells’ Max Kerman, and recording superstar Ryan Tedder, the creative force behind Season 1 certified platinum hit single “Ain’t Easy” by Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, who will also produce a new song in Season 2. Also previously announced for Season 2 are Québec pop star Marie-Mai as a permanent mentor on the weekly celebrity panel alongside music industry powerhouse Scott Borchetta, while entertainment reporter Liz Trinnear (ETALK) joins the series in the new role of Host. Details about how to attend live tapings are available below.

**Media Note** – Download photography and bios for THE LAUNCH’s Season 2 mentors and producers at BellMediaPR.ca.

“It’s a true honour to have musical icons such as Bryan Adams and Jann Arden join the second season of THE LAUNCH,” said Randy Lennox, President, Bell Media. “Our mentors and producers deliver an unparalleled degree of exceptional music industry knowledge that will be essential for our emerging artists to deliver hit after hit each week.”

“This list of additional top-names for Season 2 of THE LAUNCH continues to establish this platform as perhaps the most viable and exciting new music program on television,” said Scott Borchetta, Founder/President/CEO of the Big Machine Label Group and co-creator and Executive Producer of THE LAUNCH. “By matching up musical icons Bryan Adams and Jann Arden with an incredible stable of new and emerging artists, our second season is going to crush!”

THE LAUNCH is currently available for customized brand partnership opportunities. As announced earlier this year, each super-sized episode of THE LAUNCH will now feature reduced commercial time, delivering even more music and extended insight into featured artists’ auditions, and the process of recording, performing, and launching a new hit song. Each hour-long episode provides custom advertising opportunities including 30-second “superpods.” Featuring one advertiser per break, the custom creative offers a more seamless and engaging viewer experience between the commercial content and the program. THE LAUNCH is set to premiere on CTV and VRAK in early 2019.

About THE LAUNCH Season 1

• The breakthrough inaugural season of THE LAUNCH garnered an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with Sony Pictures Television (SPT).
• In addition, the series delivered a series of consecutive #1 hit songs amassing more than 21 million streams internationally to date, including certified platinum “Ain’t Easy” by Season 1 pop/hip-hop duo Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, who won the iHeartRadio MMVA for Best New Canadian Artist in August, and recently dropped their latest single “Better Off.”
• Season 1 chosen artists POESY (“Soldier of Love”), Logan Staats (“The Lucky Ones”), and The Static Shift’s (“Wide Awake”) singles also soared to #1 on iTunes Canada.
• Chosen artist Ethan Young’s “Giants” vaulted into the Top 5 iTunes pop chart upon release, while Jayd Ink’s “Codes” debuted at #7 on iTunes’ pop chart.
• Season 1 shortlisted aspiring artist Vivian Hicks was officially signed to a development deal with Big Machine Label Group in April 2018, with artist Zack Lane also optioned to a single deal.

In each stand-alone episode of THE LAUNCH, unsigned aspiring artists audition for the opportunity to learn, record, and perform their version of a new original song by a world famous songwriter/producer. The artists are mentored by a panel of internationally renowned music industry legends alongside Scott Borchetta and Marie-Mai, who then decide which version of the song will be released across the country immediately following the broadcast of the episode each week.

THE LAUNCH Live Studio Audience!
CTV is giving viewers in the Greater Toronto Area an opportunity to experience the excitement first-hand by attending a free taping of THE LAUNCH. The studio is located in downtown Toronto and those interested in tickets can go to CTV.ca/TheLaunch for more information. All audience members must be at least 11 years of age and an adult must accompany those under the age of 16. Upcoming tapings include:

THE LAUNCH format was put into development in January 2016 and was co-developed by Randy Lennox and Bell Media in association with Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Label Group, and Paul Franklin of Eureka (MASTERCHEF, THE BIGGEST LOSER), in partnership with John Brunton and Lindsay Cox of Insight Productions (THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, CANADIAN IDOL, THE JUNO AWARDS).

THE LAUNCH is executive produced by Randy Lennox, Scott Borchetta, and John Brunton; Lindsay Cox and Paul Franklin are Executive Producers; Executive Producers for Bell Media are Robin Johnston and Corrie Coe, who is also Senior Vice-President, Original Programming, Bell Media. Pat DiVittorio is Vice-President, CTV and Specialty Programming, Mike Cosentino is President, Content and Programming, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Bell Media.