Yellowknife, NWT – Producers of the Northwest Territories’ latest reality TV show hope to conquer the United States and Europe after receiving their latest viewing figures.
Fur Harvesters NWT, which follows Hay River fur trapper Andrew Stanley, has just finished its first season on Wild TV. Northwestel customers can see the first season on channel 20 from September 22 onwards.
“Out of 97 shows on Wild TV, we are in the top six,” Fur Harvesters NWT producer Pablo Saravanja – one half of Yellowknife’s Artless Collective production company – told Moose FM.
“We have the third-lowest budget on that channel. So far we’re getting about 90,000 viewers per episode. We’re estimating 2.4m viewers [in total] for this homegrown, micro-budget TV show from the Northwest Territories.
“We’re looking to do this show on an American network, which would take us from a 2.4m audience this year to potentially 5m or 10m with just that other broadcaster.”
Stanley himself, speaking at an event to celebrate the show’s first season in Yellowknife on Thursday, said he was proud of the production team behind Fur Harvesters NWT.
“AÂ lot of people put a lot of work into making the show. They did a great job,” said the 31-year-old.
“Canada was founded on the fur trade. It’s an important part of our history and important to get it out there. The fur trade is still going strong.”
While Stanley says appearing in the show has not changed him – “I hear about it almost daily but other than that, no” – Saravanja hopes additional TV exposure can make his star’s life a little easier.
“We want to make Andrew Stanley a household name. He deserves it, man. He’s a hard-working trapper,” said Saravanja.
“I want to make sure he can live off this trapping celebrity for a long, long time. I want to see Andrew Stanley Buck Knives at Canadian Tire. That would make me really, really happy.”
You can watch Fur Harvesters NWT on Vimeo at a cost of $1.49 to rent each episode or $14 for the 10-episode season.
CJCD Moose FM News
