CityNews Channel
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Rogers Media (Rogers Broadcasting Ltd.) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Watch Live |
| Website | CityNews Channel |
CityNews Channel was a Canadian English language local news and information channel for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Owned by Rogers Media and licenced as a Category B digital cable specialty channel, it was only available in Ontario and broadcast a single feed in high definition which was also accessible through standard definition televisions.
The channel's branding was shared with its Rogers-owned conventional television system, City, and its news brand CityNews. The channel broadcast from 33 Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto which also houses studios for City Toronto, OMNI.1 and OMNI.2.
On May 30, 2013, Rogers Media ceased live broadcasts of the channel CityNews Channel in order to redirect their news resources in Toronto to 680News and City Toronto's "CityNews" newscasts. Going forward until the channel permanently ceases broadcasting in June 2013, the channel will continue to maintain the news ticker, with the live video portion of the channel broadcasting an array of live traffic camera feeds, weather maps, and promotions. [1][2]
Format
CityNews Channel broadcast as an all-news format, consisting of local news and information from the GTA, and national and international news. It operated on a 24-hour news wheel as seen on the screen, with traffic and weather reports every 10 minutes on the :1s, sports news at :15 and :45 past the hour, and CityBiz, business news at :26 and :56 past the hour, a similar format used on Rogers-owned all-news radio station in Toronto, 680News, and two of City Toronto's local newscasts, CityNews at Five and Breakfast Television.
The station also aired simulcasts of all City Toronto-produced local programming. Encore broadcasts of CityNews at Six was seen on CityNews Channel at 7pm while the 11pm newscast, CityNews Tonight was repeated on CityNews Channel at midnight. During the overnight hours when CityNews Channel was off the air between 1am and 5:30 a.m. weekdays and midnight and 7 a.m. ET weekends, it airs an audio simulcast of 680 News, along with live traffic camera feeds from and around the Toronto area.[3] Conversely, CityNews Channel had aired simulcasts of its weekend morning news programming on City Toronto from April 14, 2012 until the channel's closure, on Saturday mornings from 7-8 a.m. and Sunday mornings from 7-9 a.m.[4]
The channel contained a large news ticker consisting of news headlines, weather information, sports scores and advertisements. In addition to sharing branding and content with City Toronto and content from 680 News, the channel airs content and features from several other Rogers-owned outlets including specialty channel Sportsnet, and Maclean's,[5] MoneySense, Today's Parent and HELLO! Canada magazines.[3]
History
Under the ownership of CHUM Limited, Citytv previously operated CP24, another Toronto-based local news channel, from 1998 to 2007. However, CHUM Limited was purchased in 2007 by Bell Globemedia (later renamed CTVglobemedia, and again renamed Bell Media in 2011 following its purchase by Bell Canada), which then sold the Citytv stations to Rogers Media but CTV retained ownership of CHUM's cable channels, including CP24, which was paired with CTV's CFTO-DT instead of Citytv.
Rogers was granted approval for a television broadcast licence for CityNews Channel by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on December 10, 2008.[6][7] The channel was then tentatively known as CITY News (Toronto), and was initially set to launch in late 2009. However, this was delayed due to economic conditions as well as the reconstruction of Citytv's new headquarters at 33 Dundas Street East.
On May 30, 2011, the same date when Citytv's 2011-2012 television broadcast schedule was unveiled, Rogers officially announced plans to launch the new channel in the fall of the same year.[5] The channel officially launched on October 3, 2011, as CityNews Channel.
Rogers Cable initially carried the new channel on digital cable channel 1 in the GTA. However, on November 22, 2011, the channel was moved to Rogers digital cable channel 15, the former cable slot for CKXT (which had shut down on November 1, 2011 and had its licence revoked by the CRTC on November 18, 2011);[8] digital channel 1 has reverted to serving as a Rogers promotional channel. The channel was later added on Cogeco Cable in July 2012.
Like all specialty channels launched since 2001, CityNews Channel was not eligible to be carried on analog cable, and thus PBS member station WNED-TV/Buffalo was moved to the channel 15 position for Toronto-area Rogers subscribers without a set-top box (WNED remained on channel 61 for digital cable subscribers).
Former on-air staff[9]
Anchors and reporters
- Audra Brown - videojournalist
- Francis D'Souza - also CityNews at Five anchor and general assignment reporter
- Kevin Frankish - host of Breakfast Television (weekday mornings, 5:30-9:30 a.m.)
- Avery Haines - also feature reporter for The Inside Story
- Tom Hayes - also CityNews at 5:30 anchor and general assignment reporter
- Shauna Hunt - also general assignment reporter
- Jim Junkin - crime specialist
- Saphia Khambalia - also general assignment reporter
- Peter Kim - general assignment reporter
- Gord Martineau - weeknights at 6 p.m. on CityNews at Six
- Cynthia Mulligan - also general assignment reporter
- Melanie Ng - substitute anchor on Breakfast Television; also general assignment reporter
- Roger Petersen - weeknights at 11 p.m. on CityNews Tonight
- Andrea Piunno - also general assignment reporter
- Keeley Rogers - general assignment reporter; also CityNews producer
- Dina Pugliese - host of Breakfast Television (weekday mornings, 7-9:30 a.m.)
- Pam Seatle - also CityNews at Six and CityNews Tonight Sunday's anchor and general assignment reporter
- Galit Solomon - "CityNews at Six and CityNews Tonight" anchor Saturday's also general assignment reporter
- Tammie Sutherland - also general assignment reporter
- Anna Vlachos - also general assignment reporter
Weather team
- Adam Stiles - meteorologist on CityNews at Five, CityNews Tonight and occasionally on CityNews Channel
- Natasha Ramsahai (CMOS-endorsed weathercaster) - meteorologist on CityNews at Six and occasionally on CityNews Channel
- Frank Ferragine - weather anchor; Breakfast Television (weekday mornings, 5:30-9:30 a.m.), also gardening specialist
- Stella Acquisto - weather specialist for CityNews Channel and occasionally on CityNews at Six and CityNews Tonight weekends
- Jennifer Young - traffic and weather specialist
- Eva Fragiskatos - traffic and weather specialist for CityNews Channel and Breakfast Television
- Kerry Prunskus - traffic and weather specialist
- Diana Petrucci - weather and traffic specialist for CityNews Channel on Saturday evenings
Traffic
- Stella Acquisto - traffic specialist for CityNews Channel
- Russ Holden - traffic specialist; weekday mornings Breakfast Television (5:30-9:30 a.m.) and CityNews Channel
- Jennifer Young - traffic and weather specialist
- Eva Fragiskatos - traffic and weather specialist
- Kerry Prunskus - traffic and weather specialist
- Diana Petrucci - traffic and weather specialist; Saturday evenings
Sports team
- Kathryn Humphreys - lead sports anchor; weekday evenings (6 p.m. - 11 p.m.)
- Hugh Burrill - sports anchor
References
- ^ http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/news/rogers-media-cancels-citynews-channel-and-omnis-english-south-asian-newcast/1002360229/
- ^ CityNews channel shut down by Rogers
- ^ a b Rogers Media to Launch CityNews Channel, Broadcaster Magazine, September 6, 2011.
- ^ Citytv Toronto Expands News on Weekend, TVLoon.ca, April 9, 2012.
- ^ a b Rogers Media announces launch of new Toronto 24-hour CityNews Channel, Fall 2011 CNW 2011-03-30
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-347.
- ^ CRTC Grants Citytv Licence For All News Channel. CityNews Toronto, December 10, 2008.
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-719 CRTC 2011-11-18
- ^ Personalities
External links
- CityNews
- CityNews Channel live stream (news ticker is not displayed on live stream)