• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Thought On Re-Branding From "New Net" To "A-Channel"

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
Why are CHUM's "New Net" stations being re-branded to "A-Channel" and the current "A-Channel" stations being re-branded to "City TV" on a Tuesday (August 2nd) instead of Sunday, July 31st or Monday, August 1st??

It seems quite odd.

I also noted that "Breakfast Television" (produced by CITY-57 Toronto; also seen on CKVR-3 Barrie with some local news inserts) isn't being broadcast on Monday the 1st either.

Is August 1st a Canadian or Ontario holiday?? Or might "Breakfast Television" be taking the day off on August 1st due to the rebranding of most of the CHUM-owned TV stations??
 
> Why are CHUM's "New Net" stations being re-branded to
> "A-Channel" and the current "A-Channel" stations being
> re-branded to "City TV" on a Tuesday (August 2nd) instead of
> Sunday, July 31st or Monday, August 1st??
>
> It seems quite odd.
>
> I also noted that "Breakfast Television" (produced by
> CITY-57 Toronto; also seen on CKVR-3 Barrie with some local
> news inserts) isn't being broadcast on Monday the 1st
> either.
>
> Is August 1st a Canadian or Ontario holiday?? Or might
> "Breakfast Television" be taking the day off on August 1st
> due to the rebranding of most of the CHUM-owned TV
> stations??
>
Monday, August 1st is the Civic Holiday nationwide.
 
> Thanks!
>
AND THANKS!!!!! Someone just reminded me to do some cross border shopping Monday! (-: <P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"
</P>
 
Thoughts On "A-Channel"

The first Monday in most of Canada is a paid holiday 'whoo-hoo'.
The 24th of June is their 'civic holiday'.
In the Yukon, I believe the second Monday in August is their holiday.

After watching the new "A Channel" for a day, here is a small synopsis.

If it is north of Barrie, it appears to have disappeared, no more Muskoka stuff, or other fun things related to the south end of Georgian Bay; Parry Sound is mentined as an afterthough in the weather.

Their focus is south of Barrie, the Regional Municipalities of Simcoe and York, with occasional forays to as far south as Finch Avenue.

When Geoffrey Sterling owned CKVR - after they bought the station from Valarie and Ralph Snelgrove (VR)- he wanted to move the tower south to a spot near Newmarket - that was nixed in 1965, or thereabouts.

As a speculative remark: Do you think the good folks at CHUM-TV want to do the same thing? move that transmitter? Though the present tower was built in 1978, it may need to be replaced soon. Or do they want to get a retransmitter for the areas south of Barrie?
 
Re: Thoughts On "A-Channel"

> If it is north of Barrie, it appears to have disappeared, no
> more Muskoka stuff, or other fun things related to the south
> end of Georgian Bay; Parry Sound is mentined as an
> afterthough in the weather.
>
> Their focus is south of Barrie, the Regional Municipalities
> of Simcoe and York, with occasional forays to as far south
> as Finch Avenue.
-----------
Toronto = The Centre of the Universe(TM). I think it's pretty stupid, because Barrie is a darn fast growing city, set to surpass the 200,000 mark for its population, if it hasn't already. The Georgian Bay/Muskoka region, in just a few short years, have gone from having three local television services to none. A brief timeline:

- CKCO Wiarton opened in 1970, with a rebroadcaster in Huntsville added in 1976. CKCO maintained bureaus in Owen Sound and Muskoka. The Owen Sound bureau closed around 1999, the Wiarton signal became a rebroadcaster of CKCO Kitchener, and the Huntsville signal became part of MCTV North Bay. Huntsville is now a full rebroadcaster of MCTV Sudbury, although there is apparently still an MCTV Muskoka bureau near Gravenhurst along Hwy 11. I am not sure how much Muskoka content there is today on MCTV. CKCO does not cover the Owen Sound area at all now.

- CKNX began broadcasting in 1955 and made the western Georgian Bay region a major part of its coverage. In the 90s CKNX evolved into a rebroadcast station of CFPL, and the Owen Sound bureau closed in 2004. The western Georgian Bay region now receives very limited coverage from the still-existing Wingham newsroom.

- Now, CKVR abandons Georgian Bay and Muskoka, after 50 years.

As a longtime cottager in Muskoka, I have watched as the local television coverage has deteriorated over the years. When I first started going up there years ago we had CKCO on channels 2 and 11, and CKVR on channel 3. There was a good deal of Muskoka news on both CKCO and CKVR. The conversion of channel 11 to MCTV made the local news very watered down, particularly as MCTV became more and more Sudbury-centric. Channel 2 became all Kitchener news, so that left Channel 3 as the only local station - but compared to CKCO it was quite amateurish. Now, there is no local news in Muskoka. All that is left essentially is MCTV's Muskoka news bureau and sales office in Gravenhurst, and if I remember correctly, by last year watching MCTV for local news made you no better off than watching CFTO on channel 21.

> When Geoffrey Sterling owned CKVR - after they bought the
> station from Valarie and Ralph Snelgrove (VR)- he wanted to
> move the tower south to a spot near Newmarket - that was
> nixed in 1965, or thereabouts.
>
> As a speculative remark: Do you think the good folks at
> CHUM-TV want to do the same thing? move that transmitter?
> Though the present tower was built in 1978, it may need to
> be replaced soon. Or do they want to get a retransmitter for
> the areas south of Barrie?
-----------
CHUM will most likely apply to the CRTC for a digital programming undertaking at Newmarket or Aurora, and just let the Barrie NTSC station expire as analog is phased out.

There is no reason why Barrie cannot have two television stations, or even one station plus a twin-stick. I would like to see channel 7 become a CH (Global is already on 7 there), and a twin-stick for CBC and CTV, on channels 3 and 21 respectively. Why CBC on channel 3? CHUM should have their license for CKVR revoked if they want to operate a York Region station. I say let them have a station in York Region, but they can't have it as a Barrie license, and the CRTC should not allow them to use a coveted low-VHF channel for this Toronto-centric purpose. Plus, CBC was traditionally on channel 3 up there.

What I don't understand, why can't CHUM just use CITY-TV to cover York Region? This is about as redundent as CIII and CHCH covering the same story in Burlington or Oakville.
 
Re: Thoughts CKVR-3

M.J. Larochelle commented:

> Toronto = The Centre of the Universe(TM). I think it's
> pretty stupid, (to have CKVR focus on Toronto) because Barrie (CKVR's
> city of license) is a darn fast growing city,
> set to surpass the 200,000 mark for its population, if it
> hasn't already. The Georgian Bay/Muskoka region, in just a
> few short years, have gone from having three local
> television services to none.

At present, CBC and CTV's "affiliate" for Barrie are, IIRC, rebroadcasters of flagship stations CBLT-5 and CFTO-9, both in Toronto.

It was also noted in this thread that:

> When Geoffrey Sterling owned CKVR - after they bought the
> station from Valarie and Ralph Snelgrove (VR)- he wanted
> to move the tower south to a spot near Newmarket - that was
> nixed in 1965, or thereabouts.

I thought it was around 1969, and would have made CKVR a Toronto-centric independent station.

> As a speculative remark: Do you think the good folks at
> CHUM-TV want to do the same thing? move that transmitter?
> Though the present tower was built in 1978, it may need to
> be replaced soon. Or do they want to get a retransmitter
> for the areas south of Barrie?

> CHUM will most likely apply to the CRTC for a digital
> programming undertaking at Newmarket or Aurora, and just let
> the Barrie NTSC station expire as analog is phased out.

I suspect CKVR is on cable all the way down to Fort Erie. The only reason I could have seen CHUM seek to move CKVR's tower closer to Toronto would be to try to get the station's off-air signal to penetrate greater Buffalo and try to get cable carriage in the Buffalo area.

M.J. Larochelle commented:

> There is no reason why Barrie cannot have two television
> stations, or even one station plus a twin-stick.

Prior to the construction of Toronto's CN Tower, Barrie was a separate TV market. Now, however, it is generally considered part of the Toronto TV market.

Even before the rebranding to A-Channel, CKVR had become Toronto-centric in some of it's programming. Didn't they at one time broadcast some midweek games of the Toronto Maple Leafs and some games of the Toronto Raptors??

In truth, except for local news, CKVR has probably been a "Toronto" station for quite a while now. And except for some local news cut-ins, CKVR simulcasts "Breakfast Television" from Toronto's CITY-57.

> What I don't understand, why can't CHUM just use CITY-TV to
> cover the York Region? This is about as redundent as CIII and
> CHCH covering the same story in Burlington or Oakville.

There are many programs on CITY that are not seen on CKVR, and vice-versa, although there are some programs seen on both stations (like "Cityline" or Ellen DeGeneres), but at different times of the day on each.
 
Re: Thoughts CKVR-3

> Prior to the construction of Toronto's CN Tower, Barrie was
> a separate TV market. Now, however, it is generally
> considered part of the Toronto TV market.
----------
Yes, but Barrie is still a fair enough distance from Toronto, and it has a respectable, rapidly growing population. Don't forget the region to the north and west too.

> Even before the rebranding to A-Channel, CKVR had become
> Toronto-centric in some of it's programming. Didn't they at
> one time broadcast some midweek games of the Toronto Maple
> Leafs and some games of the Toronto Raptors??
----------
Raptors games were indeed broadcast on CKVR, but the Leafs were seen on CFPL/CKNX in addition to CKVR, if I recall correctly (CHWI likely could not due to Detroit's proximity). Of course CHRO showed the Senators.

> In truth, except for local news, CKVR has probably been a
> "Toronto" station for quite a while now. And except for some
> local news cut-ins, CKVR simulcasts "Breakfast Television"
> from Toronto's CITY-57.
----------
It has been somewhat of a Toronto station for some time now, but having watched the local news on that station for a number of years it also aimed a heck of a lot at Barrie, Alliston, Orillia, Collingwood, Midland, and Muskoka. I used to watch "Very Roger" back in the late 90s, and it had plenty of Barrie/Midland content, although there was also a bit from York Region, such as Canada's Wonderland.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by mjlarochelle on 08/04/05 02:14 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> > Thanks!
> >
> AND THANKS!!!!! Someone just reminded me to do some cross
> border shopping Monday! (-:
>

How was the shopping trip? where did you go?
 
The ironic part about "A-Channel" is that the branding was created by former owner Craig Media for two independent stations in Calgary and Edmonton. Didn't the "A" in "A-Channel" originally stand for Alberta??
 
Re: Thoughts On CKVR-3

What happened to Barrie seems similar to what happened to Allentown/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Many years ago, parts of the Allentown/Bethlehem market had only marginal (at best) reception of the Philadelphia VHF stations. Once UHF came to town, a couple of U's went on the air, and had moderate success.....until the Philly VHF's moved their transmitters to new towers built in Roxborough. Once that happened, the market suddenly had strong off-air reception of the Philadelphia VHF stations. The local commercial stations in that market bellied-up (I think they may have lost their network affiliations prior to that). Now, Allentown and Bethlehem are no longer in their own TV market. They're part of the Philadelphia TV market.

With Barrie now part of the Toronto market, at least CKVR is a VHF and has a lot of cable penetration throughout southern Ontario. Yes, it lost the CBC but seems to be doing well as an independent, whether as "The New VR" or "A-Channel".
 
> The ironic part about "A-Channel" is that the branding was
> created by former owner Craig Media for two independent
> stations in Calgary and Edmonton. Didn't the "A" in
> "A-Channel" originally stand for Alberta??
>
Depends on how you look at it.
In their original mission statement, A-Channel was television for Alberta(not the official slogan mind you) but then MTN became A-Channel Manitoba.
In a way, I guess the A stood for A-list programming.<P ID="signature">______________

Canada TV and College Radio</P>
 
> > The ironic part about "A-Channel" is that the branding was
>
> > created by former owner Craig Media for two independent
> > stations in Calgary and Edmonton. Didn't the "A" in
> > "A-Channel" originally stand for Alberta??
> >
> Depends on how you look at it.
> In their original mission statement, A-Channel was
> television for Alberta(not the official slogan mind you) but
> then MTN became A-Channel Manitoba.
> In a way, I guess the A stood for A-list programming.

When MTN moved to new studios and rebranded, there was a quote in the Winnipeg Sun from some exec or PR person: "The 'A' stands for 'excellence'". Still makes me laugh.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom