Citytv
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Citytv is a television brand owned by CHUM Limited. Most commonly it refers to a system of five English language television stations in Canada which use that brand, all owned by CHUM, although the name has also been licensed to stations outside Canada.
The Canadian stations (CITY in Toronto, CKVU in Vancouver, CHMI in Winnipeg, CKAL in Calgary and CKEM in Edmonton) are treated as independent stations which share common branding and some common programming, and not as a television network.
Moses Znaimer, who developed the original format, once described the system's philosophy by saying, "It's not the show, it's the flow."
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[edit] History
The original Citytv station (granted callsign CITY-TV by the CRTC) was founded in Toronto in 1972 and began broadcasting for the first time on September 28 of that year. Known through its first decade as channel 79 on the UHF dial, programming shifted to channel 57 in 1983, where it remains to this day.
In 1987 Citytv moved to its current headquarters at the CHUM-City Building, making it one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.
Citytv gained a second station in Vancouver when CHUM bought CKVU-TV from Global in 2001. The station became Citytv Vancouver on July 22, 2002.
In 2004, CHUM bought Craig Media Inc., parent of the A-Channel system in Manitoba and Alberta. These stations were rebranded as Citytv on August 2, 2005. CHUM then rebranded its so-called New Net stations as A-Channel.
On July 12, 2006, Bell Globemedia announced it was making a friendly takeover bid to buy CHUM Limited, with plans to maintain the Citytv system separate from its own CTV stations. The new A-Channel stations are expected to be sold. <ref name=takeover>Bell Globemedia makes $1.7B bid for CHUM. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2006-07-12). Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref> On the same day that the takeover was announced, Citytv cancelled its supper hour, late night, and weekend newscasts at its local Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg stations, laying off hundreds of news department staff.
In September 2006, CHUM launched a daily national Citytv newscast, CityNews International, which will be produced in Toronto for broadcast on the western Canadian stations, as well as on CHUM's Toronto news channel CP24. The Edmonton and Calgary stations also began broadcasting a daily 30-minute magazine show, Your City, instead of a full-fledged newscast. Winnipeg had been expected to launch a similar program at the same time which had not yet materialized. The Vancouver news operation, which had operated for 30 years under various owners and station identities, will not be maintained aside from BT.
The Citytv brand was originally created as a highly local concept. Each newscast highlighted a day in the life of the local city in which it was broadcast. It remains to be seen how the cancellation of local newscasts at the western Canadian stations will affect the Citytv brand and concept.
[edit] Programming
Citytv is best known for its unconventional approach to news and local programming. There is no news desk (anchors read the news standing up), and cameras are usually hand-held. Citytv also pioneered the concept of videojournalism, where reporters often carry their own cameras and report and videotape their own stories. Citytv calls its videojournalists "videographers", but unlike many American television markets which try to conceal the fact that reporters are so-called "one-man bands", Citytv embraced the use of videojournalism by highlighting the use of technology; Citytv videographers often carry a second home video camera to record images of them videotaping on the scene. The low-grade video is then incorporated into the final story to show viewers how the story was recorded.
Citytv Toronto's CityNews, formerly known as CityPulse, has developed a large following, but ratings have since been steadily declining. Other stations around the world have tried to imitate its format to varying degrees of success. However, Citytv itself was unsuccessful in expanding its audience to other markets, as evidenced by the recent cancellation of the other stations' traditional newscasts.
Citytv Toronto produces more local programs than any other television station in Canada, such as Speakers' Corner, CityLine, FashionTelevision, SexTV, and MediaTelevision. Many of these series are not strictly Toronto-centric – FT, for instance, consists largely of foreign runway footage – and are easily syndicated to other CHUM outlets.
The station also attracted attention and controversy by airing Baby Blue Movies, or soft-core pornography, on Friday nights after midnight. Although this programming strategy was discontinued in the 1980s, it has recently been reinstated.
As well, CITY was one of the first television stations in Canada to implement a diversity policy in hiring its on-air staff. Znaimer originally described the policy as wanting the station to "look like Toronto".
- Further information: List of programs broadcast by Citytv
[edit] Citytv stations
Individual stations are normally branded on-air as "Citytv"; the location may be added if disambiguation is necessary.
- CITY (Toronto, Ontario)
- CHMI (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
- CKAL (Calgary, Alberta)
- CKEM (Edmonton, Alberta)
- CKVU (Vancouver, British Columbia)
The CTV-owned ASN in Atlantic Canada may also be considered a Citytv "affiliate", as it airs a local version of Breakfast Television and a mix of programming from both Citytv and A-Channel. ASN was previously owned by CHUM and has maintained its rights to most CHUM programming in Atlantic Canada. ASN's analog to CityPulse was called Atlantic Pulse, which was discontinued in 1996. With CTV parent Bell Globemedia announcing plans to buy CHUM, it is likely that ASN will be fully integrated into Citytv.
CHUM also owns CKX in Brandon, Manitoba, a CBC affiliate formerly owned by Craig Media, which rebroadcasts some Citytv programming.
CHUM has also licensed the Citytv name and brand identity to local television stations in Bogotá, Colombia (Citytv Bogotá) and Barcelona, Catalonia (Citytv Barcelona). The latter station's license agreement expired in 2006, and the station was renamed TD8.
Recently, CHUM has signed an agreement with WRUA channel 34 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico to establish a Citytv franchise on that channel -- a first on American soil. [1]
[edit] Current Citytv employees
[edit] Former Citytv employees
- Producer Ivan Reitman (Producer with Citytv Toronto)
- Actor Dan Aykroyd (Citytv Toronto's first on-air announcer)
- Anchor John Roberts (Hosted Citytv Toronto's The New Music, using the name J.D. Roberts)
- Journalist Bill Cameron (Anchored late-night edition of CityPulse in the early 1980's before moving on to the CBC)
- Terrilyn Joe former reporter
- Sharon Navarro former reporter
- Harold Hosein former weatherman for 25 years (1981-2006)
- Liza Fromer former co-host of "Breakfast Television"
- Alex Pierson former co-anchor of "CityNews Tonight"
- Zuraidah Alman former CityNews reporter and CP24 anchor - Now co-host of Morning News and anchor of Noon News on Global
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| CHUM Limited |
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Television Assets: Citytv | A-Channel | Access media group | CKX-TV | Access Television | BookTelevision | Bravo! | CablePulse 24 | Canadian Learning Television | CourtTV Canada | Drive-In Classics | FashionTelevisionChannel | MuchMusic | MuchMoreMusic | MuchVibe | MuchLOUD | MuchMoreRetro | MusiquePlus | MusiMax | PunchMuch | Razer | SexTV: The Channel | Space: The Imagination Station | Star! | TV Land (Canada) |
| Broadcast television networks and systems in Canada |
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English networks/systems: CBC | CTV | Global | CH | Citytv | A-Channel |
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French networks: Radio-Canada | TQS | TVA |
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Provincial educational networks: TVO · TFO · ACCESS · SCN · Knowledge Network · Télé-Québec |
| See Also: Local Canadian TV Stations | Local American TV Stations (K) | Local American TV Stations (W) | North American TV | Canadian networks | American networks | Mexican networks | Superstations | List of local television stations in North America | Local Mexican TV Stations | List of American Over-The-Air Networks | Template:Insular Areas TV | List of Canadian Over-The-Air Networks |
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