CITY-TV

:"This article is about the Citytv station in Toronto, Ontario. For the television system, see Citytv"Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = CITY-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Everywhere!
station_branding = Citytv Toronto
analog = 57 (UHF)
digital = 53 (UHF)
other_chs = see below
affiliations = Citytv
network =
airdate = September 28, 1972
location = Toronto, Ontario
callsign_meaning = City
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers = 79 (1972-1983)
owner = Rogers Communications, Inc.
licensee = Rogers Broadcasting, Ltd.
sister_stations = CFMT-TV, CJMT-TV, CFTR (AM), CJCL (AM), CJAQ-FM
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 310 kW (analog)
2 kW (digital)
HAAT = 515.1 m (analog)
515 m (digital)
coordinates = coord|43|38|33|N|79|23|14|W|type:landmark
homepage = [http://www.citytv.com/toronto/ Citytv Toronto]

CITY-TV is a television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned and operated by Rogers Media. It is the flagship station of the Citytv television system.

Broadcasting for the first time on September 28, 1972, CITY was best known for its unconventional approach to news and local programming, an approach that continues today and has carried over to the other stations in the Citytv system. "(See Citytv for more on these practices.)"

Originally owned by Channel Seventy-Nine Ltd., a group which consisted of Phyllis Switzer, Moses Znaimer, Jerry Grafstein, Edgar Cowan and others, CITY was in debt by 1975. Multiple Access Ltd. (the owners of CFCF in Montreal, Quebec) purchased 45% of the station. Three years later, it sold its stake to CHUM Limited. CITY was purchased outright by CHUM in 1981 with the sale of Moses Znaimer's interest in the station. Znaimer remained with the station as an executive until 2003, when he retired from his management role but continued to work with the station on some production projects.

History

CITY originally broadcast on the UHF band with a 31 kW signal on channel 79, since all the VHF licences in the Toronto area were taken.

In 1976, the station began broadcasting at 208 kW from the CN Tower. The channel CITY broadcast on was changed from channel 79 to channel 57 on July 1, 1983, because of complaints that the station was interfering with mobile radio in the Toronto area, and so that channels 70 to 83 could be reclaimed for use by new AMPS mobile phones in the Americas.

On September 1, 1986, a transmitter was put into operation in Woodstock, Ontario (CITY-TV-2 on channel 31, also serves nearby London, Ontario), and another was set up in Ottawa, Ontario in 1996 (CITY-TV-3 on channel 65).

CITY was also the first digital television station in Canada, using the ATSC DTV standard. It is still continuing its analogue broadcasts. The signal was first broadcast on January 16, 2003, and became a regular signal on March 3 of that same year.

Relocation and expansion

In 1987 CITY and the other CHUM-owned television stations moved to their current headquarters at 299 Queen Street West, making it one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.

For almost thirty years, CITY was an independent station in Canada (therefore making Citytv and CITY interchangeable names for the station). In 2001, however, Citytv became a two-station system when CHUM purchased Vancouver's CKVU from Canwest Global. In 2005, three more Citytv stations were added in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg after CHUM purchased the A-Channel television stations and the other assets owned by Craig Media. On the day when the three A-Channel stations were rebranded as Citytv, the flagship "CityPulse" newscast was rebranded "CityNews".

On July 12, 2006, it was announced that CTVglobemedia (CTVgm) would acquire CHUM Limited and its assets, including the Citytv stations, and related cable properties. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2006/07/12/chum-bell.html] .] One year later, in June 2007, Rogers Communications announced it would purchase Citytv, a sale required by conditions the CRTC placed upon CTV when approving the CHUM purchase. A stipulation of the sale to Rogers was that CTV will keep ownership of 299 Queen Street West, where CHUM's speciality television channels now owned by CTV such as CablePulse24, MuchMusic, Star!, Bravo! and Space would remain.

Rogers announced that it would keep the station's operations at 299 Queen Street West until it moves to 35 Dundas Street East, the former Olympic Spirit building, located at the edge of Dundas Square around March 2009. [ [http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/224640 "Rogers to move Citytv from Queen" "Toronto Star" June 13, 2007] ] [ [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2007/22/c6989.html October 22, 2007 press release via CNW Group] ] [ [http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/269424 "Dundas Square new home of Citytv," "Toronto Star" October 23, 2007] ]

Programming

Citytv has traditionally pursued a programming strategy targeting hip, young and urban audiences, as well as science fiction series, such as the "Stargate" and "Star Trek" franchises, with significant cult followings. The system has also sometimes aired more adult-oriented fare than most television stations, including "Baby Blue Movies" and the television edition of "Naked News".

The station also historically produced much more local programming than most Canadian network affiliates, including the daily talk show "CityLine", magazine series such as "The New Music", "Toronto Rocks", "FashionTelevision", "Life on Venus Ave." and "MovieTelevision", and interactive series such as "Speakers' Corner". As well, the station often pursued synergies with its sister cable networks, sharing programming with MuchMusic, Bravo!, Space and CP24.

On March 2, 2008, CITY aired its first Toronto Blue Jays baseball game, a spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds. [ [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2008/19/c3779.html February 19, 2008 press release via CNW Group] ] Citytv and the Blue Jays share common ownership by Rogers Media. This is not the first time that a live sport event has aired on a Citytv network station, it also was the Canadian broadcaster for ABC's Monday Night Football until its move to ESPN in 2006. CKVU-TV airs National Football League games during the 2007 NFL season as part of Rogers Media's broadcast rights with the NFL. Two late games are aired by Rogers properties weekly, with one game shown on Rogers Sportsnet, and the other game shown on CKVU-TV or CJMT-TV (alternating between Sportsnet West/Pacific and East/Ontario). Games on CJMT-TV moved to CITY for the 2008 season.

For the 2008 NFL season, CITY became a part of the Buffalo Bills television network, airing preseason games for the Bills beginning August 9, 2008. All Bills preseason games are also now presented in high definition television on CITY. [cite web|url=http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?NEWS_ID=6359|title=Bills preseason game an HD first|accessdate=2008-08-10] . The preseason schedule for the Bills also includes a game at Rogers Centre, which is also owned by Rogers.

Remote camera use

In addition to the Freeway Management System - COMPASS and RESCU cameras, CITY TV operates Bell EYES cameras located at:
* CN Tower
* Toronto City Hall
* Yorkdale
* Toronto Pearson International Airport
* Rogers Centre
* Toronto City Hall
* Don Valley Parkway

Famous alumni

Comedian Dan Aykroyd moonlighted as CityTV's announcer from 1972 until 1975 while working at Toronto's Second City before he moved to New York City to join "Saturday Night Live".

Former CBS News anchor and current co-host of CNN's "American Morning" John Roberts first got his start at CITY, where he was known on-air as "J.D. Roberts". Roberts also was an entertainment reporter on "CityPulse" at 6 in the early 1980s and a host of "The New Music", before becoming the anchor of "CityPulse Tonight" in 1987.

Afternoon CTV host Dini Petty got her start on Citytv as the co-host of "CityPulse" and later as host of "CityLine".

Transmitters

References

External links

* [http://www.citytv.com/toronto/ Citytv Toronto]
* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/television/histories.php?id=8&historyID=10 Canadian Communications Foundation - CITY-TV History]
* [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/citytv/citytv.htm Museum of Broadcast Communications: CITY-TV]
*RecnetCanada|CITY-TV