Dickinson returns to the Den
And enter the dragon. CBC has announced that venture capitalist Arlene Dickinson will return to homegrown entrepreneurial reality show Dragons’ Den for its upcoming 12th season.
Dickinson spent eight seasons on the series, from 2007 to 2015, but left to pursue other business opportunities.
“I left the Den to fulfil some big dreams,” says Dickinson. “Over the last two years, my team and I have fulfilled those dreams by raising a fund and launching two accelerators, the sole purpose of which is to help Canadian entrepreneurs. With these organizations, I’m looking forward to playing an even larger role in helping accomplish the show’s goals of inspiring entrepreneurs and building businesses.”
While away from Dragons’ Den, Dickinson launched District Ventures Capital, a fund that invests in food and health businesses — so far she’s raised about $30 million in capital. She also launched District Ventures, Canada’s first accelerator aimed at early-stage food and health companies, and the District Ventures and IBM Innovation Space, a tech hub connecting large enterprise to entrepreneurs.
With Dickinson back in the mix, Dragons’ Den will now boast six dragons for the first time ever: Jim Treliving (the only remaining original dragon), Joe Mimran, Manjit Minhas, Michael Wekerle and Michele Romanow are the others. Those dragons — a.k.a. investors — will take pitches from starry-eyed Canadians hoping to grow their businesses. Dianne Buckner is the host.
Dragons’ Den reached an average viewership high of about 1.7 million per episode in Season 4, but ratings have since become less fiery. Along with Dickinson, big-name investors Kevin O’Leary, Bruce Croxon and David Chilton left the show in 2014 and 2015, and the recently wrapped 11th season averaged 597,000 viewers per episode.
Jennifer Dettman, CBC’s executive director of unscripted content, told the broadcaster’s news service that many long-running shows can expect a dip in ratings.
“But for a series, we’re really pleased how Canadians are still engaging with the show,” she said.
GIDDY UP!
Country-music drama Nashville will be back for a sixth season, U.S. broadcaster CMT has announced.
The series, starring Hayden Panettiere, will air 16 new episodes starting in early 2018 on that network. No word yet on whether Nashville’s Canadian broadcaster, W Network, will air it.
CMT also announced that Nashville’s midseason premiere will air June 1 and pick up after the death of main character Rayna, who was played by Connie Britton.