CHCH-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = CHCH-TV
station_
station_slogan = "The most dependable name in local news"
station_branding = CHCH News
analog = 11 (VHF)
digital = 18 (UHF)
affiliations = E! (2001-present, known as CH prior to 2007)
founded = 1954
location = Hamilton, Ontario
callsign_meaning = C
Hamilton's
CHannel
owner = Canwest
licensee = Canwest Media Inc.
sister_stations = CIII
other_chs = CHCH-TV-1 11 Ottawa CHCH-TV-2 51 London (Alvinston) CHCH-TV-3 67 Muskoka (Port Severn) CHCH-TV-4 41 Sudbury
CHCH-TV-5 38 Sault Ste. Marie CHCH-TV-6 32 North Bay CHCH-TV-7 11 Timmins
former_callsigns = None
former_affiliations = CBC (1954-1961)
Independent (1961-2001)
effective_radiated_power = 325 kW (analog)
homepage = [http://www.chchnews.ca CHCH News]

CHCH-TV, channel 11, is a television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with additional transmitters throughout Ontario. Since 2001, it has been operated by Canwest as the flagship of its secondary broadcast service, E! (known as CH before 2007).

History

CBC affiliation

CHCH-TV was founded by Ken Soble. A leader of Hamilton's urban renewal movement, and owner of CHML radio, Soble was regarded as a pioneer in all of his endeavours. cite web| title = Hamilton Spectator: "The Greatest Hamiltonian". (II)| url=http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1143499813048&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815| accessdate = 2007-02-11]

The station began broadcasting in 1954 as a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) affiliate from the CHCH Television Tower, a transmitter located at 481 First Road West in Stoney Creek. At the time, all private stations were required to be CBC affiliates. In 1961, CHCH disaffiliated from the CBC and became the first independent television station in Canada. The reason for the disaffiliation from CBC was twofold, as Toronto's CBLT already provided full network service to CHCH's viewing area, and the station's managers wanted to produce a larger amount of local programming, instead of being forced to carry CBC programming.

uperstation CHCH

CHCH was the first independent English-language television station in Canada to have no network affiliation, as the other private stations that were not affiliated with the CBC had formed the CTV network in 1961. CHCH became a nationwide superstation on January 1 1982, when Cancom began carrying the station and three others to cable television operators in remote regions of the country that had access only to the CBC.

The station also produced a number of important Canadian syndicated series, including "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein", "Me & Max", "Party Game" and "Smith & Smith", and was the original TV home of "The Red Green Show". Hamilton native Martin Short also had his television debut on the station. CHCH also produced local broadcasts such as "Tiny Talent Time".

For a time, CHCH also broadcast local mid-week telecasts of the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs.

ONtv

In 1990, Western International Communications (WIC) purchased CHCH. Although CHCH had been available on cable in many Ontario markets for years, the station's broadcast signal coverage was expanded throughout Ontario in 1997, in an effort to compete with the reach of Global (CIII) and Baton Broadcast System. In turn, WIC renamed the station ONtv, as in "Ontario Television", in line with the naming pattern of many of its other stations (such as BCTV, ITV, and RDTV).

Local news shifted focus from the station's core market, the Hamilton area, toward Ontario as a whole, in an attempt to challenge what was then a regional news service provided by Global. However, with Hamilton now being largely an afterthought, and other local stations (in Toronto and elsewhere) already strong in the ratings, the shift was unsuccessful, and CHCH's ratings actually dropped. During the ONtv years, the station also aired WIC's nightly "Canada Tonight" newscast.

CH

In 2000, Canwest purchased WIC and assumed control of its stations. Since Global already served the Hamilton area, Canwest rebranded the station CH on February 12, 2001 and subsequently launched the CH television system in September of that year. This move launched a secondary television system for Canwest's stations in medium-sized markets. Local news coverage was revamped and re-focused on the Hamilton/Halton/Niagara region.

Despite the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's current TV station ownership restrictions (one station per owner per language per market), Canwest was permitted to maintain CHCH's coverage of other markets throughout most of Ontario. However, it cannot broadcast to Thunder Bay, Peterborough, or Kingston due to opposition by local stations. Some cablesystems outside of Ontario also continue to carry CHCH as a form of "superstation". The station is easily received over-the-air in Buffalo, New York and Erie, Pennsylvania; and has long been carried by Western New York cable operators.

On June 7, 2004, at 8:00 p.m., CHCH-TV celebrated exactly 50 years on the air. At this precise time, the station aired a documentary profiling the station history, entitled "The First 50 Years: A Half Century of CH" and hosted by Matt Hayes.

E!

On September 7, 2007, following the relaunch of the national CH service as E!, CHCH's news programming was rebranded as "CHCH News."

The station's over-the-air digital transmitter was launched on April 18, 2008. [cite web| url=http://www.canwest.com/media/viewNews.asp?NewsroomID=804| title=Canwest Broadcasting Launches Three New High Definition Transmitters In Major Canadian Markets| date=2008-04-10| work=Canwest Broadcasting| accessdate=2008-05-03]

Local programming

* Morning Live (5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.)
** Bob Cowan
** Annette Hamm
** Lesley Stewart - Weather (Brian Wood covering as Lesley is on maternity leave)
** Lori De Angelis - Community Reporter
** Tracey Hemphill - Chopper 11 Traffic

* CHCH News at Noon (12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m.)
** Connie Smith
** Dan McLean
** Matt Hayes - weather

* At Home (2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.)
** Matt Hayes
** Lesley Stewart (Maria Hayes covering as Lesley is on maternity leave)

* Live @ 5:30 (5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
** Mark Hebscher
** Donna Skelly

* CHCH News at 6:00 (6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)
** Dan McLean
** Matt Hayes - Weather
** Ken Welch - Sports
** Kate Stutsman - Entertainment
** Kimberley Fowler - Chopper 11 Traffic

* CHCH News at 11:00 (11:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.)
** Nick Dixon
** Brian Wood - Weather (Michelle Leslie covering as Brian Wood fills in on Morning Live)
** Ken Welch - Sports

* CHCH News at 6:00 & 11:00 (Weekends)
** Maria Hayes
** Steve Ruddick - Weather
** Clint 'Bubba' O'Neil - Sports

* Niagara Express (Weekends)
** Dan McLean

* Straight Talk (Weekends)
** Connie Smith

* Sportscope (Sundays)
** Clint 'Bubba' O'Neil

Past slogans

*1970s - 1987: Join Us
*1987 - 1995: Together, We're The Ones
*1998 - 1999: There's Always Something ONtv
*1999 - 2000: ONtv: Where You Are
*2001 - 2007: Closer To You

Current slogans

*2007 - Present: CHCH News - The most dependable name in local news (CHCH)
*2007 - Present: Everything Entertainment (E!)

tation presentation

CHCH-TV's station presentation and logos have progressed and evolved over the years, showing different themes, styles, changes in ownership, and changes in network affiliation. Below are some of the more recent logos used by CHCH-TV during its colourful and frequently-changing network affiliation past.

References

See also

*List of programs broadcast by E!

External links

* [http://www.chchnews.ca CHCH News]
*RecnetCanada|CHCH-TV