CKNX-TV

CKNX-TV
(defunct, now a rebroadcaster of CFPL-TV,
London, Ontario)

City of license	Wingham, Ontario
Branding	A Wingham
Channels	Analog: 8 (VHF)
Affiliations	A
Owner	CTVglobemedia (CTV Corp.)
First air date	November 18, 1955
Last air date	August 31, 2009
Former affiliations	CBC (1955-1988) Independent (1988-1998)
Transmitter power	260 kW
Height	241.7 m
Transmitter coordinates	44°5′25″N 81°12′26″W / 44.09028°N 81.20722°W / 44.09028; -81.20722

CKNX-TV was a television station owned by CTVglobemedia which served mid-western Ontario, Canada. It was part of the A television network. The station was broadcast from Wingham and had offices in Wingham. A bureau in Owen Sound closed down in late 2004.^[1]

In February 2009, CTV announced it would not reconsider its decision to renew the station's broadcast licence for the 2009-2010 television season effectively putting CKNX up for sale, in April 2009, CTV announced a deal to sell the station along with two other sister stations in Windsor and Brandon to Shaw Communications for a dollar, however the deal was rejected in June 2009, and as a result, CKNX closed down and became a full time repeater of CFPL-TV in August 2009.^[2]

History

CKNX was built by W. T. "Doc" Cruickshank. It signed on as a CBC Television affiliate on November 18, 1955 and was located in a former high school along with its sister AM radio station CKNX. After going to air, one of their early identification cards displayed the station's mascot, which was a smiling television camera wearing a large cowboy hat.

CKNX-TV logo from 1969

On March 8, 1962, the building which accommodated the CKNX radio and television stations caught fire. Although nothing could be salvaged, CKNX-TV was on the air again later that night with the help of nearby stations in London, Barrie, Kitchener, and Toronto. CKNX operations continued as such (with various temporary offices set up in Wingham) until they purchased new equipment and moved into a new building in 1963.

Logo used while as BBS. Used until 1998.

In 1964, the station expanded its coverage to Kitchener in response to CKCO's affiliation with CTV. Staffers were required to be more versatile than ever to better compete, giving them well-rounded knowledge for moving up in the industry. For example, the zany host of the noon cartoon program would often become the serious anchor for the 12:30 newscast.

As an independent and The New NX

CKNX disaffiliated from the CBC in 1988 and remained an independent station for another ten years until CHUM Limited purchased the station from Baton Broadcasting. Under the ownership of CHUM, the station joined the NewNet system and was accordingly rebranded The New NX.

Logo used while as The New NX, used until 2005.

The New NX's news program, NewsNow, drew the lowest viewership of all NewNet stations (82,000) which is not surprising, since it was in the smallest NewNet market. News programming aired on CKNX is simulcast from CFPL in London, however CKNX viewers still receive a separate 11 p.m. news feed (Monday - Friday) which originates from the CFPL studios.

As A-Channel Wingham

On August 2, 2005, CKNX was rebranded "A-Channel", along with all of the NewNet Stations. NewsNow at Noon was discontinued a month before the rebrand.

On July 12, 2006, CTV owner CTVglobemedia announced plans to purchase A-Channel owner CHUM Ltd. for $C1.7 billion, with plans to divest itself of the A-Channel and Access Alberta stations.^[3]

Logo used while as A-Channel, used from 2005-2008.

On April 9, 2007, it was announced that Rogers Communications filed with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to purchase all of the A-Channel stations, including CKNX, CKX-TV, Access Alberta and several cable channels being put up for sale in the wake of CTVglobemedia's pending acquisition of the CHUM group.^[4]

On June 8, 2007, the CRTC announced its approval of CTVglobemedia's purchase of CHUM Limited, but added a condition that CTVglobemedia must sell off CHUM's Citytv stations to another buyer while keeping the A-Channel stations (including CKNX), in effect cancelling the planned sale of A-Channel to Rogers Media.^[5]

All of the CHUM Limited channels (with the exception of Citytv) were taken over by CTVglobemedia on June 22, 2007. On July 26, 2007, CTVglobemedia named Richard Gray the head of news for the A-Channel stations and CKX-TV will report to the CTVgm corporate group, not CTV News, to preserve independent news presentation and management. Gray will oversee the news departments for CKVR, CHRO, CFPL, CKNX, CHWI, CIVI-TV and CKX-TV.^[6]

As A Wingham

On August 11, 2008, CKNX was rebranded A along with all of the A-Channel stations. The A soft launch began in June 2008 in A-Channel's press releases and on the station's local newscasts known as A News.^[7][8]

On February 25, 2009, CTV announced that, given the ongoing structural problems facing the conventional television sector in Canada and the current global economic crisis, it will not be applying to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for renewal of the licences of CKNX-TV and its sister station CHWI-TV in Wheatley/Windsor. CTV said that with the CRTC's decision not to allow stations to bill cable systems for carrying them (similar to retransmission consent regulations in the United States), CKNX-TV and CHWI-TV—the two smallest stations in the A system—were no longer viable.^[9][10][11]

The stations' transmitters were slated to be shut down entirely instead of becoming rebroadcasters of London's A station, CFPL.^[12] CFPL is expected to be available on cable, and remain available on satellite, in the affected areas following the shutdown. CTV says it would continue news coverage of the Southwestern Ontario region through CFPL and CTV network station CKCO.

On April 30, 2009, Shaw Communications announced it will purchase CKNX, CHWI and CKX in Brandon, Manitoba for a dollar each from CTVgm, pending CRTC approval.^[13][14] However, it was reported on June 30, 2009 that Shaw has backed out of the deal and is declining to complete the purchase, putting the stations' futures in serious doubt.^[15]

On July 8, 2009, CTV said it would not reconsider its decision to end separate local programming on CKNX. However, it has decided to maintain the Wingham transmitter as a rebroadcaster of CFPL, pending CRTC approval. The same date when CTV announced it would retain its sister station, CHWI in Windsor until at least 2010, based on temporary increases to the Local Programming Improvement Fund.^[2] In addition, the CRTC renewed the licences for CKNX, CHWI and CKX, even though CTV had not filed renewals for these stations. As a result, CTV closed down CKNX-TV and became a full time rebroadcaster of London's CFPL-TV on August 31,^[16] becoming the eighth and final television station in Canada of the 2000s to become a rebroadcaster since the CTV-owned CBC stations in Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario became rebroadcasters of CBKT Regina and CBLT Toronto in October 2002. In addition, Canwest-owned CHCA-TV, an E! station in Red Deer, Alberta, closed down that same day without becoming a rebroadcaster, but however, CTV-owned CKX-TV, a CBC Television affiliate in Brandon, Manitoba would follow, entirely closing down operations approximately one month later on October 2 after Bluepoint Investment Corporation reneged on the sale of CKX. Both CTVglobemedia stations (CKX and CKNX) were on-air from 1955-2009.

Presenters

Notable CKNX presenters include:

• Marty Adler (host, Uptight/Marty's Place)
• Brian Allen (anchor, Insight News)
• Johnny Brent (host/cohost, M'Lady/Circle 8 Ranch/Focus sports)
• Marg Brophy (hostess, M'Lady)
• Fred Burton (Insight sports)
• Jerry Chomyn (anchor, Insight News)
• Dave Curzon (host, Cartoon House)
• Crawford Douglas (Focus news/sports)
• Brian Elmslie (Insight news/weather)
• Don Fraser (Insight weather)
• Murray Gaunt (host, Agri-News)
• Ernie King (host, Circle 8 Ranch/The Great Outdoors)
• Jim Moore (host, Reach For The Top/Western Roundup)
• Anna Meyer (hostess, M'Lady/M'Lady's Matinee/The Anna Meyer Show)
• Kevin Stewart (host, Agri-News/This Business of Farming)
• John Strong (anchor, Focus News/The John Strong Report)
• Jim Swan (host, East Of The Sun).

Successful political careers were launched by former presenters:

• Murray Gaunt, elected Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament for Huron-Bruce (1962–81)
• Crawford Douglas, elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound (1974–79)

One of the founding members of Doc's CKNX team was John Strong who headed the news department for 35 years. For many years his show The John Strong Report brought the only daily TV news show to area homes. Strong also co-hosted the Barn dance in its early days.

References

1. ^ "News bureau shut down" yourmedia.ca Source: Owen Sound Sun Times 2004-08-24
2. ^ ^{a b} /A\ Windsor Station to Remain Open, CTVglobemedia press release, July 8, 2009
3. ^ "Bell Globemedia makes $1.7B bid for CHUM". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-07-12. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/07/12/chum-bell.html. Retrieved 2006-07-12. 
4. ^ "CRTC expected to OK Rogers' $137.5M buy of CTVglobemedia TV channels". Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News. 2007-04-09. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/technology_rogers_ctvglobemedia. Retrieved 2007-04-09. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "CRTC tells CTVglobemedia to sell 5 Citytv stations". cbc.ca via Yahoo! Canada News. 2007-06-08. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/08062007/3/canada-crtc-tells-ctvglobemedia-sell-5-citytv-stations.html. Retrieved 2007-06-08. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ CTVglobemedia
7. ^ A Launch Info
8. ^ A-Channel Forums - Its official, A-Channel rebrands as "A" debuting August 11 2008
9. ^ 'A' Television Stations in Wingham and Windsor to be Shut Down, CNW, 2009-02-25
10. ^ Ted Shaw, A Channel closing Windsor operation, The Windsor Star (online), February 25, 2009
11. ^ 'A' | NEWS | CKNX closing down www.atv.ca 2009-02-25
12. ^ CBC News Windsor at Six, February 25, 2009 (accessed February 25, 2009)
13. ^ CTV Accepts Shaw Offer to Buy Local Stations, CTVglobemedia press release via TradeMarkets, April 30, 2009
14. ^ 'A' | NEWS | Wingham Station Sold, www.atv.ca, April 30, 2009
15. ^ Grant Robertson, "Shaw cancels deal for 3 CTV stations". The Globe and Mail, June 30, 2009.
16. ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009-407, issued 7/6/2009.

External links

• Canadian Communications Foundation - CKNX-TV History
• YouTube - CFPL's tribute to CKNX-TV - August 31, 2009
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CKNX-TV
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for CKNX