-- Free buses deliver Idol hopefuls from outside of audition cities --

    TORONTO, March 29 2005 -- 
After a three-week hiatus, Canadian Idol's
exhaustive three-month cross-country talent search ramps up again next week -
and CTV has made it easier than ever to audition. CTV announced today that
free "Idol Buses" have been chartered in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia and Quebec to transport hopefuls from outside of the regional audition
cities.
    "The Idol Buses are an extension of our initiative to leave no singer
unturned in the search of the next Canadian Idol," said Executive Producer
John Brunton. "We've expanded our search to more and different cities this
year, but we want to take every step to ensure that the best talent has the
opportunity to audition."

    Below is a summary of the bus routes:

    (*) Sydney, Nova Scotia (Friday, April 8): the Idol bus will depart from
    Yarmouth and make stops in municipalities including Wolfville, Halifax,
    Truro and Antigonish.

    (*) St. John's, Newfoundland (Monday, April 11): the Idol bus will make
    28 different stops across the province starting in Port Aux Basques.

    (*) Moncton, New Brunswick (Thursday, April 14): the Idol bus will depart
    from Edmundston before making stops in Woodstock, Fredericton and
    Saint John.

    (*) Montreal, Quebec (Monday, April 18): the Idol bus will leave from
    Quebec City and make a stop in Drummondville before reaching Montreal.

    To catch a free ride to the Canadian Idol auditions, hopefuls should
first check out the bus route at www.idol.ctv.ca to locate the
pick-up point
closest to their home and then RSVP online to book their spot on the bus. Only
those competitors who have RSVP'd are permitted to travel on the Idol Bus.
Those who have registered for the bus should arrive at the stop 30 minutes
prior to the scheduled time. The bus will drop competitors off the following
day at the same location where they originally boarded the bus. Competitors
are required to arrange their own accommodation in the regional audition
cities.
    Canadian Idol has visited seven cities since the audition tour began on
February 11. With six cities still to go, 102 "Gold Tickets" have already been
given out to the quarter-final round in Toronto this May. The second leg of
the Canadian Idol audition tour begins Wednesday, April 6 in Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island before traveling to Sydney, NS (April 9); St. John's, NL
(April 12); Moncton, NB (April 15); Montreal, QC (April 19) and Toronto
(April 25).
    By the time it is over, the Canadian Idol audition tour will have visited
13 cities in total, from Whitehorse (Canada's most Westerly city) to
St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada's most Easterly city), covering a distance of
over 8100 kilometers and touching down in every single province of the
country. American Idol visited five cities for its current season.

    (xx)Media Note(xx) - High-resolution photography and program information
    about Canadian Idol can be found online at www.idolpix.ca.

    In December, CTV announced the return of Canadian Idol for a third
season, featuring host Ben Mulroney, judges Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass
Jordan and Zack Werner, and comedic correspondent Jon Dore. Season Three, set
to debut this summer, builds on the record-breaking success of the series'
second season. By the end of Season Two, ratings had increased by 14 per cent
and finished with a per episode average of 2.2 million viewers. Canadian Idol
remains the most-watched Canadian series (English language) since the advent
of electronic measurement.(*)
    Canadian Idol is produced in association with CTV by Insight Productions,
along with Atlantic Canada-based Rink Rat Productions and Alberta-based Aquila
Productions. John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby are Executive Producers. Mark
Lysakowski is Supervising Producer. Senior Producer is Sue Brophey. Rick
Lewchuk is Senior Vice-President, Program Planning and Promotion, CTV Inc.
Ed Robinson is Senior Vice-President, Comedy, Variety and Talk, CTV Inc.
Susanne Boyce is CTV President of Programming and Chair of the CTV Media
Group.

    L'Oréal Paris is a major broadcast sponsor of Canadian Idol. L'Oréal
Paris is a division of L'Oréal Canada, the leader in the Canadian cosmetics
market. The company, which is headquartered in Montreal, had sales of
$685 million in 2003 and employs 1,200 people. L'Oréal Canada, a wholly owned
subsidiary of L'Oréal Group, the world's leading cosmetics company, offers its
customers a wide range of choices with its diverse portfolio of brands and
encompasses all aspects of beauty. For more information on L'Oréal Paris visit
www.lorealparis.ca.

    FremantleMedia is one of the largest international creators and producers
of programme brands in the world, with leading prime time drama, serial drama,
entertainment and factual entertainment programming in over 40 territories.
FremantleMedia has production offices in over 20 countries worldwide,
providing local sales and production support for its international TV brands
such as Idols and the world's longest running game show, The Price is Right.
The company's licensing operation, FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide,
exploits FremantleMedia's many strong brands across multiple off-screen
platforms including merchandising campaigns, interactive and wireless support,
home entertainment and music publishing. Fremantle International Distribution,
the company's international distribution division licenses over 19,000 hours
of programming to 150 countries worldwide. FremantleMedia is the content arm
of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company. For
further information please see FremantleMedia's website
www.fremantlemedia.com.

    CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality
news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It boasts the
number-one national newscast, CTV News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the
number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTV owns 21 conventional television
stations across Canada and has interests in 14 specialty channels, including
the number-one Canadian specialty channel, TSN. CTV is owned by Bell
Globemedia, Canada's premier multi-media company. More information about CTV
may be found on the company Web site at www.ctv.ca.

    (*)Source: BBM




For further information: Scott Henderson, CTV Inc., (416) 332-5305 or
shenderson@ctv.ca; Emily Young Lee, CTV Inc., (416) 332-7367
or
eyounglee@ctv.ca; Anne-Marie La Pointe, CTV Inc., (416)
559-4365 or
alapointe@ctv.ca