Ms. April Lim reports

W NETWORK DEBUTS ITS SPRING SCHEDULE WITH THIS SEASON'S FRESHEST PICKS

This spring, W Network, a Corus Entertainment Inc. top 10 specialty network, is blooming with freshly picked new series featuring star-studded performances, humour and heart. This season, W Network ushers in new comedies such as Laid and Small Town, Big Story as well as Hallmark's family drama The Chicken Sisters and Hallmark's unscripted series Small Town Setup. All series are available to stream on StackTV.

First to spring onto the schedule is Peacock's twisted romantic comedy, Laid, starring Academy Award-nominee Stephanie Hsu and Zosia Mamet. Premiering on Monday, March 24, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, a woman (Hsu) finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past in order to move forward. Laid is a dark rom-com where the answer to "why can't I find love, is there something wrong with me?" is a resounding "Yes. There is. The problem is definitely you."

Up next is the dramatic comedy Small Town, Big Story premiering Thursday, March 27, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Created and directed by Emmy Award winner Chris O'Dowd (Moone Boy), the series stars Emmy nominee Christina Hendricks (Good Girls, Mad Men) and BAFTA award-winner Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon, The World's End), and looks at the untold chaos caused when a big budget Hollywood production rolls into a small, rural Irish town. Wendy Patterson (Hendricks) is a local girl who found success as a TV producer in Los Angeles, returns to her hometown in Ireland after over 20 years, having left under something of a cloud. Back in the chaotic microcosm of Drumban, this time with a film crew in tow, Wendy is caught in between her past and her epic new production. Seamus Proctor (Considine) is the local doctor and pillar of the community. He has a neat and well-ordered life, or at least he thinks he does. Soon, he will find himself in the eye of a storm as a celluloid circus descends on the town, threatening to shine a spotlight on a secret he's been harbouring for ages.

On Sunday, March 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, W Network serves up new Hallmark series, The Chicken Sisters, based on the New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club selection of the same name by K.J. Dell'Antonia. Created for television and executive produced by Annie Mebane (Shrinking, Atypical, The Goldbergs), the eight-episode series is a family drama dipped in southern charm and served up with a saucy side of romance. The setting is the fictional town of Merinac, where a generations-old rift between duelling fried chicken restaurants -- Mimi's and Frannie's -- has left the founders' families fractured and the locals taking sides. When the popular cooking competition show Ultimate Kitchen Clash comes to town, it could be the recipe for ending this feud once and for all. But things are fixing to heat up both inside and outside of the kitchen as the reality show spotlight causes sparks to fly as secrets are spilled and feathers get ruffled. The series boasts an impressive cast, including Schuyler Fisk (Sam & Kate), Genevieve Angelson (The Handmaid's Tale), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me!) as the women at the heart of the restaurant rivalry. James Kot (Virgin River), Rukiya Bernard (Yellowjackets), Ektor Rivera (Groundswell) and Jake Foy (Ride) round out the supporting cast. Emmy Award-winning actress Margo Martindale (Justified) lends her voice as the nearly omniscient narrator, who serves up history and offers country fried context the way only the best town gossip can.

Following the premiere of The Chicken Sisters on March 30, Small Town Setup debuting at 9 p.m. ET/PT, explores the unique charm of small-town America and its welcoming community in this heartwarming unscripted, romantic comedy docu-style dating series, hosted by Ashley Williams. In each episode, viewers meet different hometown parents with a big problem -- their successful adult child is living far away in a big city -- and is still single. The couple gathers their neighbours and asks for help to find a match for them to go out with. Now, the entire community is on the hunt to find the best three daters for the "city single" to go on dates with, in the hope that they will fall in love, move back home and live happily ever after.

This spring will also see the Season 3 finale of the multi-generational family drama and top 5 specialty entertainment program The Way Home on Sunday, March 16, at 9 p.m. ET/PT and the season 2 finale of the dark comedic thriller based on a True Story on Monday, March 17, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

W Network can be streamed via StackTV, available on Amazon Prime Video channels, Bell Fibe TV app, Fubo, Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite Streaming. The network is also available through all major TV distributors, including: Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers, Bell, Videotron, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and SaskTel.

About Corus Entertainment Inc.

Corus is a leading media and content company that develops and delivers high-quality brands and content across platforms for audiences around the world. Engaging audiences since 1999, the company's portfolio of multimedia offerings encompass 30 specialty television services, 37 radio stations, 15 conventional television stations, digital and streaming platforms, and social digital agency and media services. Corus's roster of premium brands includes Global Television, W Network, Flavour Network, Home Network, The History Channel, Showcase, Slice, Adult Swim, National Geographic and Global News, along with streaming platforms StackTV, Teletoon+, the Global TV app and Curiouscast. Corus is also an internationally renowned content creator, producer and distributor, as well as the domestic advertising representative and an original content partner for Pluto TV, a Paramount company, which is the leading free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service. Corus is an internationally renowned content creator, producer and distributor through Corus Studios and Nelvana.