Village Gamer

Corus Entertainment’s OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network (Canada) announced today that after searching communities across the country, Bowmanville, Ontario has been chosen as the next Million Dollar Neighbourhood. Financial expert and winner of The Ultimate W Expert Challenge, Preet Banerjee will host the 10×60 series, along with returning co-host Dr. Joti Samra. The series follows 100 families in one community as they attempt to raise their collective net worth by $1 million in only 10 weeks. Produced by Force Four Entertainment Inc. in association with OWN (Canada), Season 2 is scheduled to launch January 2013.

“We’re delighted that the people of Bowmanville have opened their lives – and wallets – to be the next Million Dollar Neighbourhood on OWN (Canada),” said Vibika Bianchi, Vice President, Original Programming, Lifestyle, Reality, Factual Entertainment, Corus Entertainment. “It’s sure to be a challenging and emotional ride for this community, but with money guru Preet Banerjee joining Dr. Joti Samra this season, Bowmanville couldn’t be in better hands.”

Season One saw the town of Aldergrove, British Columbia reach their million dollar goal, and now, Bowmanville will have the opportunity to rethink the way they earn, spend and save money when Season 2 goes into production in July. In the series, 100 families have only 10 weeks to raise their collective net worth by $1 million. In each episode, neighbours take on a community challenge and an individual challenge. They will need to dig deep, downsize, earn, barter, share, swap, scrimp, save and collaborate with their neighbours in ways they never could have imagined, and if all one hundred families in this community can do it, they will truly become a Million Dollar Neighbourhood. To raise the stakes even higher, if the community makes their $1 million goal, they’ll choose one family to win the life-changing sum of $100,000.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be producing a second season of our original format OWN (Canada) series Million Dollar Neighbourhood, and honoured to be in a position to help a new community turn their financial lives around. The enthusiasm and commitment Bowmanville has already shown tells us this will be a hugely successful experience for them, and a highly entertaining television series,” said John Ritchie, Executive Producer, Force Four Entertainment. 

Preet Banerjee is a Canadian personal finance expert and financial literacy advocate. Winner of The Ultimate W Expert Challenge in 2009, Banerjee is a regular Globe and Mail contributor and a panelist on CBC’s The National with Peter Mansbridge. He has also written two books, RRSPs: The Definitive Guide to Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Charitable Giving In Canada.

Dr. Joti Samra, R.Psych., is an innovator in the area of psychological health and wellness. She develops strategies for coping with life’s most common and difficult challenges, reaching beyond the clinic and classroom to spread powerful coping tools as widely as possible. Dr. Samra was a featured clinical expert in the Animal Planet docu-reality series Confessions: Animal Hoarding. She also writes a weekly “Ask the Health Expert” column for the Globe and Mail.