Citytv

This article is about the general Citytv brand. Individual stations are listed according to their call signs.

Citytv
Type	Broadcast television system
Country	Canada
Availability	Semi-national (most urban areas of Ontario, Alberta, southwest B.C. and much of Manitoba); also available in Northern United States via digital cable
Owner	Rogers Communications as of October 31st
Key people	Ellen Baine - VP Programming
Launch date	September 28, 1972
Website	www.citytv.com

Citytv is an English language privately owned television system in Canada. Previously owned by CHUM Limited, its sale to Rogers Communications was approved by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on September 28, 2007, and Rogers will take control of Citytv effective October 31.^[1]

Currently the system consists of five television stations located in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The stations are treated as independent stations which share common branding and some common programming, and not as a television network. The Citytv brand has been licensed to television stations outside of Canada as well.

Moses Znaimer, who developed the original format, once described the system's philosophy by saying, "It's not the show, it's the flow."

History

See also: 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment

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 under the ownership of Channel Seventy-Nine Ltd; CHUM Limited acquired the station in 1981. Broadcasting on UHF channel 79 through its first decade, the station moved to channel 57 in 1983, where it remains to this day. In 1987, the station moved to its current headquarters at the CHUM-City Building; the building has since become one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.

Citytv gained a second station in Vancouver when CHUM bought CKVU from Global in 2001. The station became Citytv Vancouver on July 22, 2002. Prior to CHUM's acquisition of CKVU, some Citytv programming was syndicated to KVOS in nearby Bellingham, Washington.

In 2004, CHUM bought Craig Media Inc., parent of the A-Channel system in Manitoba and Alberta. The Craig-owned A-Channel stations were relaunched as Citytv on August 2, 2005; the same date when CHUM Television's NewNet stations picked-up the A-Channel name.

On July 12, 2006, CTVglobemedia (CTVgm) 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 were expected to be sold.^[2] 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.

Citytv news vehicle, Edmonton

In October 2006, Citytv launched a daily national newscast, CityNews International. It is 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, was not maintained aside from BT. It remains to be seen how the cancellation of local newscasts at the western Canadian stations will affect the Citytv brand, which was created as a highly local concept.

In the same month, Citytv Toronto began broadcasting local news in high-definition.

On June 8, 2007, the CRTC approved the CTVgm takeover of CHUM. However, the CRTC made the deal conditional on CTVgm divesting itself of Citytv. As such, CTVgm retained the six A-Channel stations, and sold the five Citytv stations to Rogers Media Inc. for $375 million.^[3][4] The transaction was approved by the CRTC on September 28.

Programming

Old version of the Citytv logo. The red-blue version no longer appears on-air but it is still present on several Citytv/CP24 vehicles.

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, had 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 was recently reinstated.

This, along with the 'hide away' place on the UHF dial formed the basis of fictional station "CIVIC TV" (Channel 83 Cable 12) in David Cronenberg's Videodrome, which is set in Toronto.

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

Citytv HD

In 2003, CHUM Limited launched an HD simulcast of its Toronto station CITY-TV which is available national via satellite, digital cable and cable operators. In October 2006, Citytv installed a new control room, becoming one of the first fully HD broadcasters in Canada.

Citytv stations

CHUM-City Building, currently the home of Citytv Toronto. The CHUM and Citytv signs were removed after CTVglobemedia acquired control of CHUM Limited, Temporairly the Citytv sign still exists at the front of the building.

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 as part of CTV's acquisition of the channel, it agreed to continue airing CHUM programs on ASN. Its analog to CityPulse was called Atlantic Pulse, which was discontinued in 1996. It is possible that ASN will continue to air at least some of Citytv's more popular programs, even if it is involved in an expanded A-Channel.

CTV also owns CKX in Brandon, Manitoba, a CBC affiliate formerly owned by Craig Media, which presently rebroadcasts some Citytv programming.

The Citytv brand has been licensed to local television stations in Bogotá, Colombia (Citytv Bogotá) and Barcelona, Spain (Citytv Barcelona). The latter station's licence agreement expired in 2006, and the station was renamed TD8.

In March 2006, CHUM signed an agreement with WRUA channel 34 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico to establish a Citytv franchise on that channel -- a first on American soil.^[5] Rogers Media discontinued the licensing for WRUA, and the station now serves as a translator for WECN in Naranjito.

KVOS in Bellingham, Washington, which is close to Vancouver, carried some Citytv programming during the 1990s and early 2000s when Citytv didn't have a station in the Lower Mainland.

Current presenters

Past presenters

• Zuraidah Alman former CityNews reporter and CP24 anchor - Now co-host of Morning News and anchor of Noon News on Global TV Ontario
• Actor Dan Aykroyd (Citytv Toronto's first on-air announcer)
• Journalist Bill Cameron (Anchored late-night edition of CityPulse in the early 1980s before moving on to the CBC); now deceased
• Liza Fromer former co-host of Breakfast Television; now with Slice.
• Peter Gross former weatherman and funnyman; now sports reporter with 680 News
• Lance Chilton, former CityNews/CP24 Anchor now with A-Channel Barrie/Toronto
• Brian Hill (broadcaster) former weatherman; now meteorologist with 680 News
• Harold Hosein former weatherman for 25 years (1981-2006); now with 680 News
• Bob Hunter former CityNews environmental reporter; now deceased.
• Terrilyn Joe former reporter now residing in San Francisco, California
• Irshad Manji, host of QT: QueerTelevision
• Sharon Navarro former reporter with CFTO; now senior consultant with Punch Communications
• David Onley former science and technology reporter and anchor for CityNews and CP24. Now the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
• Beatrice Politi former CityNews, A-Channel News, CP24 Ottawa Specialist; now with Global Ontario.
• Roger Petersen former live reporter for Breakfast Television and CityNews - Now at CTV Toronto
• Alex Pierson former co-anchor of CityNews Tonight; now with Global Ontario.
• Dave Pinton former live reporter for Breakfast Television and CityNews - Now at CTV Vancouver
• Monita Rajpal former journalist for Pulse24, now with CNN International
• Ivan Reitman (Producer with Citytv Toronto)
• Anchor John Roberts (Hosted Citytv Toronto's The New Music, using the name J.D. Roberts); now with CNN
• John Saunders former sports anchor (1980-1982) - Has been working for ESPN since 1986 as a sportscaster
• Jim Tatti former sportscaster; later with Global TV Ontario

See also

• 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment
• CityNews

References

External links

• Official Citytv Website

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Conventional television:	OMNI Television: CFMT  · CHNU4  · CHXC  · CHXE  · CIIT4  · CJMT  · Citytv5: CITY  · CHMI  · CKAL  · CKEM  · CKVU
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Notes	1Co-owned with CTVglobemedia and Comcast. Rogers currently does not manage the channel. 2Sale to Larche Communications pending; if approved, Rogers will acquire CIKZ in the same transaction. 3These channels are only available on Rogers Cable and are not available on satellite or through other cable service providers. 4 As a condition of the CRTC approval of Citytv, Rogers must sell these stations in order to comply with CRTC restrictions on owning multiple stations in one market. Rogers has one year after approval to complete the sale. 5 With the CRTC approval of the Citytv sale to Rogers on September 28, Rogers will officially take control of the Citytv stations effective October 31.
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