I wonder if Kenora would even still count as a TV market, as their only local television station (CJBN) shut down several years ago.

Dave The OTA guy wrote:

There's always plenty of discussion in here of Toronto TV stations but not much talk abkut CHCH. I watch them for news, daily (because they're the closest to my house) on the Canadian side of the border, I also watch WGRZ (2) in the AM and CITY (57) from 11 PM, but CHCH is doing what many other stations just don't do: give local businesses and affordable(?) place to advertise on TV.  Sure, in Buffalo you'll see a handful of local ads, but do you really see any on and Bell or Rogers owned TV?

CHCH news director Greg O'Brien made a good point in one of their podcasts about being a station that doesn't have to answer to shareholders and only being focused on their broadcast area: Hamilton, Halton and Niagara. But are they profitable?  I'd like to think so.

As with these radio stations that Bell sold off perhaps the same is true for local TV:  Be more local.  If I'm going to see local commercials I don't mind seeing a low budget ad supporting my local TV. 

The perfect example is that really  budget looking ad on Buffalo TV for Airport Plaza Jewelers.  "Just look for the big red awning"  --You see?  It works...probably cost em $100 to make!

CHEK in Victoria, though obviously not in Southern Ontario, is another one that has been able to remain successful as an independent, and employee-owned. They produce some of their own non-news programming and even have a 2-hour Vancouver-oriented sports show every weekday morning - and they attract high profile guests like Sportsnet and TSN personalities. They are also one of the only television stations in Canada to have their own app to allow for live streaming of all local news - something that is commonplace in the US  but not in Canada.

The Victoria-Vancouver market is quite a bit smaller than the Toronto-Hamilton market, so CHEK is proof that you don’t need a market of 6+ million to have successful local TV.

Some of these towers are also used for FM radio, so those towers wouldn’t go away even if TV was removed. Case in point - London, where CFPL-DT, CFPL-FM (FM96), CFHK-FM (Fresh 103.1), and CHST-FM (102.3) are all on the same tower. 103.1 only just moved there in the past few years.

Of course that didn’t stop CBC from shutting down TV transmitters that shared tower space with their radio stations, but those were all rebroadcast transmitters and not originating stations.

Last time I drove through the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel (in 2019), there was an ad for WJR claiming it was the only radio station you could get in the tunnel. I didn’t test it though.

paterson1 wrote:

CFPL (CTV London) sure has a lot of land and greenery around the studio building and parking lot.  The Blackburn's always had good facilities and nice buildings.  I wonder if the TV building and property will be put up for sale like in Kitchener.  

Unlike Kitchener, CTV London has its tower and transmitter on the studio property, so I would doubt there would be a move off that property unless the tower were to be relocated at some point.

I once got WPBT/2 from Miami in London, in colour one of the few times I tried DXing. I was also able to faintly pick up CKVR on 3.

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

Unlike Candy, Levy, Thomas, Moranis, O'Hara and the others, Joe Flaherty never made a breakthrough into movies and as such, didn't get the financial rewards that came with that level of stardom. His most successful post-SCTV venture was a kid's show called Maniac Mansion, which ran for a few season in the early 90s.

A shame really, since Flaherty was able to take small parts and really make his presence felt, such as in this scene from Back to the Future 2.

End scene from Back to the Future 2 (Joe Flaherty and Michael J. Fox)

Another role Flaherty was known for was the heckler in Happy Gilmore, which led to the fight with Bob Barker.

“You will not make this putt, you jackass!!!”

ED1 wrote:

The Rogers/Shaw money must've kicked in.

On one hand I was concerned what this might mean for Global because of a shift of government money, but Global BC announced this morning they’re expanding their late news to one hour next week. Is this being done across the Global network?

The one that always irked me was the denial of TV Niagara in 2005. It was basically killed by an intervention from CanWest, which owned CHCH at the time.

The CRTC had no problem, however, allowing rebroadcast transmitters for CKVR in that area a few years later.

RadioActive wrote:

The original CKCO wasn't a TV station and it wasn't even in Kitchener. Not only that, the original idea was to put it on Channel 6, which was designated as a Toronto frequency, and in the days when UHF was practically unheard of, it could have wound up on Channel 45!

June 1949:



April 1953:


 

If I’m not mistaken, Channel 13 was originally allocated to Hamilton and was the original channel CHCH planned to use when it signed on later in 1954. It was only once Channel 11 got allocated to Pittsburgh and Kingston that CHCH could use it, and that would have opened up 13 for CKCO.

Channel 45 eventually went to Wingham and was used by the CBC after CKNX disaffiliated from the network in 1988.

paterson1 wrote:

I may be wrong here and if someone knows otherwise please correct.  CHCH may have been one of the original stations that ran the Simpsons series in Canada back in 1989.  CFPL and CKNX disaffiliated from CBC in 1988, and my foggy memory thinks that these stations along with CHCH ran the first season of the Simpsons.  They may have even had the Simpsons when it was a segment on the Tracy Ullman Show but again I am not sure.

I do remember that CFPL and CKNX had the Simpsons for one or two years, but after the show became a huge hit, it was snatched away.  PL and CKNX were in the same buying group for US programming as CHCH.  If true they are coming around full circle.

First year on FOX the Simpsons had a peak of 33.5 million viewers for one episode and an average of 27.8 million per week in 1989/90.  Last October the season premiere clocked in with 3.58 million viewers,  down from 4.15 million in 2022.   

I didn’t see it for myself as I was a tad young to be allowed to watch it in 1990, but I remember Bevin Palmateer once pointing out that CFPL had the first season of The Simpsons. Came up on their morning show once when there was an item about The Simpsons.

CFPL/CKNX did air a number of shows alongside CHCH back then. Notably, The Price is Right, ALF, and the Leafs.

RadioActive wrote:

Speaking of layoffs, this is actually pretty poignant - as well as sparking a hilarious but all too true reaction.  

Grover the Muppet becomes a journalist, shining a light on the plight of the industry

When I was of an age where I regularly watched Sesame Street, Kermit the Frog was a news reporter. Did he hang up his mic?

paterson1 wrote:

I think June 14th 2023 was much more of a big deal in broadcasting than what happened yesterday.  Bell closed 6 big heritage 50,000 watt radio stations, and layed off about 950 people. It took quite some time to sell 3 other stations that were for sale.   Yesterday was nothing like that. 

What has many people worked up is the incorrect reporting from far too many media outlets that gave the impression that BELL MEDIA was laying off 4,800 people.  Totally incorrect.   In fact it could be less than 400 including unionized employees. 

Other divisions of BCE are really doing the major cutting of staff, but getting no news coverage  .That is not very good news reporting, and this should be the real story from yesterday.  Bell is also pulling big money from their expansion of the fibre network, because of CRTC regs. and having to share their technology with start ups.     

Yesterday's story for broadcasting had some good in it beyond the loss of employment which is always bad.  The fact that ALL of the 45 stations that Bell wants to sell have buyers.  That actually is fantastic since some if not many of the employees that Bell is planning to let go could be rehired by the new owners.  This happens all the time.  It happend to me twice in my career where the new owners rehired everyone. This won't happen today but some will be rehired.  

I love the way one of the suits at Bell said that radio is no longer viable but somehow the company sold 45 stations to various smaller broadcasters.  No longer viable because Bell doesn't understand how to run smaller radio outlets, or just can't be bothered.  Remember this is the company that was still buying up smaller stations not many years ago. 

The bad news yesterday was the cancelling of weekend news (which is messed up part of the year by NFL football) and noon hour news.  Look for CBC at some point to add more local/regional TV news, even on CBC radio.

If enough people complain about

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