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Citytv is a television brand owned by CHUM Limited. Most commonly it refers to a system of five English language television stations in Canada which use that brand, all owned by CHUM, although the name has also been licensed to stations outside Canada.
The Canadian stations (CITY in Toronto, CKVU in Vancouver, CHMI in Winnipeg, CKAL in Calgary and CKEM in Edmonton) are treated as independent stations which share common branding and some common programming, and not as a television network.
Moses Znaimer, who developed the original format, once described the system's philosophy by saying, "It's not the show, it's the flow."
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History
The original Citytv station (granted callsign CITY-TV by the CRTC) was founded in Toronto in 1972 and began broadcasting for the first time on September 28 of that year. Known through its first decade as channel 79 on the UHF dial, programming shifted to channel 57 in 1983, where it remains to this day.
In 1987 Citytv moved to its current headquarters at the CHUM-City Building, making it one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.
Citytv gained a second station in Vancouver when CHUM bought CKVU-TV from Global in 2001. The station became Citytv Vancouver on July 22, 2002.
In 2004, CHUM bought Craig Media Inc., parent of the system in Manitoba and Alberta. These stations were rebranded as Citytv on August 2, 2005. CHUM then rebranded its so-called New Net stations as A-Channel.
On July 12, 2006, Bell Globemedia announced it was making a friendly takeover bid to buy CHUM Limited, with plans to maintain the Citytv system separate from its own CTV stations. The new A-Channel stations are expected to be sold. • On the same day that the takeover was announced, Citytv cancelled its supper hour, late night, and weekend newscasts at its local Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg stations, laying off hundreds of news department staff.
In September 2006, CHUM will launch a daily national Citytv newscast which will be produced in Toronto for broadcast on the western Canadian stations. The Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary stations will also begin broadcasting a daily 30-minute magazine show instead of a full-fledged newscast and will broadcast a national newscast called CityNews International that will be produced from the studios of Citytv Toronto. The Vancouver news operation, which had operated for 30 years under various owners and station identities, will not be maintained aside from BT.
The Citytv brand was originally created as a highly local concept. Each newscast highlighted a day in the life of the local city in which it was broadcast. It remains to be seen how the cancellation of local newscasts at the western Canadian stations will affect the Citytv brand and concept.
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Programming
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Citytv is best known for its unconventional approach to news and local programming. The lack of a news desk (anchors read the news standing up), and camera style is usually hand-held. Citytv also pioneered the concept of videojournalism, where reporters often carry their own cameras and report and videotape their own stories. Citytv calls its videojournalists "videographers", but unlike many American television markets which try to conceal the fact that reporters are so-called "one-man bands", Citytv embraced the use of videojournalism by highlighting the use of technology; Citytv videographers often carry a second home video camera to record images of them videotaping on the scene. The low-grade video is then incorporated into the final story to show viewers how the story was recorded.
Citytv Toronto's CityNews, formerly known as CityPulse, has developed a large following, but ratings have since been steadily declining. Other stations around the world have tried to imitate its format to varying degrees of success. However, Citytv itself was unsuccessful in expanding its audience to other markets; as of July 12, 2006, traditional newscasts have been discontinued on all Citytv stations other than the Toronto station. *
Citytv (specifically the Toronto station) also produces more local programs than any other television station in Canada, such as Speakers' Corner, CityLine, FashionTelevision, SexTV, and MediaTelevision.
The station also attracted attention and controversy by airing Baby Blue Movies, or soft-core pornography, on Friday nights after midnight. Although this programming strategy was discontinued in the 1980s, it has recently been reinstated.
As well, CITY was one of the first television stations in Canada to implement a diversity policy in hiring its on-air staff. Znaimer originally described the policy as wanting the station to "look like Toronto".
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Citytv stations
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Individual stations are normally branded on-air as "Citytv"; the location may be added if disambiguation is necessary.
The CTV-owned ASN in Atlantic Canada may also be considered a Citytv "affiliate", as it airs a local version of Breakfast Television and a mix of programming from both Citytv and A-Channel. ASN was previously owned by CHUM and has maintained its rights to most CHUM programming in Atlantic Canada. ASN's analog to CityPulse was called Atlantic Pulse, which was discontinued in 1996. With CTV parent Bell Globemedia announcing plans to buy CHUM, it is likely that ASN will be fully integrated into Citytv.
CHUM also owns CKX in Brandon, Manitoba, a CBC affiliate formerly owned by Craig Media, which rebroadcasts some Citytv programming.
CHUM has also licensed the Citytv name and brand identity to local television stations in Bogotá, Colombia (Citytv Bogotá) and Barcelona, Catalonia (Citytv Barcelona). The latter station's license agreement expired in 2006, and the station was renamed TD8.
Recently, CHUM has signed an agreement with WRUA channel 34 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico to establish a Citytv franchise on that channel -- a first on American soil. *
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Current Citytv employees
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Former Citytv employees
Zuraidah Alman former CityNews reporter and CP24 anchor - Now co-host of Morning News and anchor of Noon News on Global
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