From the "Edmonton Journal"- 25 November:
Pilots kept Leno under the radar
Pilots kept Leno under the radar
By Alex Strachan, Canwest News ServiceNovember 25, 2009
Some takeoff, eh? Ice Pilots NWT, History Television's bracing docu-reality series about a renegade airline that links remote communities across Canada's north using vintage Second World War-era transport planes, roared to a ratings record last week, with 459,000 viewers.
That was the most viewers to watch a homegrown-series debut in History's history. To put that number in perspective, last week's audience for Ice Pilots NWT topped that of time-slot rival The Jay Leno Show( 306,000), even though Ice Pilots aired on a specialty channel and Leno aired on a conventional broadcast network.
In other words, "Buffalo Joe" McBryan, son Mikey McBryan and the hard-working guys and gals who manhandle DC-3s and DC-4s through some of the world's most frightful flying conditions drew a bigger crowd than Leno's celebrity gossip and chit-chat.
And small wonder. Ice Pilots NWT is a lot of fun to watch, fascinating and entertaining by turns, and a lot easier to watch from the comfort of home than to suffer through in person. As tonight's followup episode shows-- Ice Pilots is scheduled to fly another 12 weeks, right up to the time the Winter Olympics will distract viewers' minds from the weather outside-- the opener was no fluke.
Tonight's episode, Pre-Christmas Rush, finds the mercury dipping below-40, as remote communities in the Mackenzie Valley are running desperately low on supplies. Just as important, families are waiting for their Christmas presents, even as a gruff mechanic and a Curtiss-Wright C-46 flight crew are stranded in a motel room in Norman Wells, with a busted engine outside and a serious case of cabin fever brewing inside.
Ice Pilots NWT is white-knuckle viewing at its best, exciting without being voyeuristic or manipulative. Based on its early ratings, it might also be the biggest homegrown TV success story since Project Runway Canada.
And why not? These runways are real. (History Television--8 &11 p.m.)
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