TORONTO (February 27, 2017) – Discovery today announced production is underway on a second season of its new, smash hit original Canadian series, HEAVY RESCUE: 401. With the Season 1 finale scheduled to premiere tomorrow night (Feb. 28) at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery, the network has confirmed 10 brand new episodes are already in production for broadcast in early 2018.
Debuting last month to a premiere episode audience of more than 760,000 total viewers, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 became the most-watched premiere in the network’s 22-year history. In all, nearly 3.5 million unique viewers – or one in 10 Canadians – tuned in to the first episode. To date, the series has an average audience of 627,000 viewers in its premiere timeslot.
“Appealing to audiences in much the same way as HIGHWAY THRU HELL, HEAVY RESCUE: 401’s debut season has proven to be a great success, surpassing the high expectations we had when commissioning it,” said Ken MacDonald, Vice-President and General Manager, Discovery Networks. “We’re thrilled to be working with Great Pacific Media and all of our fantastic partners on Season 2, bringing more of the nail-biting, real-life drama that our viewers – many of whom traverse the 400 series highways regularly – can’t seem to get enough of!”
Produced by Thunderbird Entertainment’s factual arm and the creators of Discovery’s HIGHWAY THRU HELL, Great Pacific Media, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 follows multiple major tow operators, rescue, and maintenance crews day and night along North America’s most intense stretch of highway, Highway 401. With the support of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, York Regional Police, maintenance contractors, and several other organizations, the series features the men and women who keep Ontario’s 400-series highways operating at any cost.
“HEAVY RESCUE: 401 is a remarkable series that not only helps to educate all of us about the importance of road safety – it is also a true testament to the incredible work that the OPP, road maintenance teams, tow truck operators, MTO enforcement and our safety partners do to keep our roads safe,” said Steven Del Duca, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation.
“This is an example of television making the world a better place,” said Mark Miller, Great Pacific Media. “By teaching Canadians about road safety and what it takes to run our highways, we can reduce the needless injuries and fatalities on our roads.”
More than 300 people work on the production of HEAVY RESCUE: 401. The series is made possible with the support of the Ontario government’s film tax credit program, and the Canada Media Fund.
Subscribers can access live streaming of Seasons 1 of HEAVY RESCUE: 401 through the Discovery GO app and Discovery.ca, in addition to catching up on past episodes. Complete series details about HEAVY RESCUE: 401 are available here.
HEAVY RESCUE: 401 is produced by Great Pacific Media (a Thunderbird Company) in association with Discovery. Executive Producer is Mark Miller and Blair Reekie. The series producer is Todd Serotiuk. For Discovery, Bruce Glawson is Executive Producer. Ken MacDonald is Vice-President and General Manager, Discovery. Tracey Pearce is President, Distribution and Pay, Bell Media.