turkeytop wrote:

CITY TV News has the most boring, most austere set for their newscasts. The news reader sitting behind the desk with just a dark background.

Ironically, City was the station that expanded the newsroom in a way no one else had ever done before. While they were stuck in a small studio in the 99 Queen St. E. days, when they moved to 299 Queen St. W., things really changed in a big way. 

They used the entire newsroom as a set, walking from desk to desk and talking long sweeping shots of the entire place during transitions. 

To look at them now vs. then speaks volumes. How ironic they've become so claustrophobic considering how they were pioneers of the exact opposite only a few decades ago. 

The Weed wrote:

Not a lot of room to spread out at the Bloor/Jarvis - sorry, Ted Rogers Way - Mount Pleasant Campus.

Yes, and I think they had the same problem when they were at Yonge & Dundas, too, which may be one of the reasons the old presentation format ended. 
 

A desk+CGI=newscast...

Last edited by pinto (June 12, 2026 5:34 pm)

Capricasix wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

The Weed wrote:

Not a lot of room to spread out at the Bloor/Jarvis - sorry, Ted Rogers Way - Mount Pleasant Campus.

Yes, and I think they had the same problem when they were at Yonge & Dundas, too, which may be one of the reasons the old presentation format ended. 
 

But it seemed bigger (to my eyes, at least) because of the big windows looking out over the square, and also because they could do some segments on the roof when the weather was nice.

The odd time I look at BreakfastTelevision, it seems so claustrophobic and sterile.

The newer space IS smaller. 
 

Shorty Wave wrote:

The CityPulse newsroom was groundbreaking and very unique back at 299 Queen, probably because its owner, Moses Znaimer actually cared about how it appeared on TV, being a visual medium and all. Rogers has basically turned Citytv into a poor man’s CTV, if that’s possible and should have never got into broadcasting as they suck at it IMO.

HEY? Let's not forget the real hero here. 
Believe it or not, it's the CRTC!
Back in 2006 the CHUM group was quietly going bankrupt with a very bad debt situation (or at least indeed headed that way)
If Canada were more like the States (more like the FCC)
Bell would have had their way.
Remember?
Bell somehow thought that buying CHUM group meant that they would also get to keep both CTV and City TV.
NOPE. 
Bell even requested changes to allow more ownership of both TV and radio stations.
CRTC still said no.
It puts us all in  a situation where we have no real choice but to be thankful for both Rogers and the CRTC for keeping City and City TV separate under different owners. 

Yes, it's true, City TV could be run better, but at least it's not a CTV 2 or whatever today...

Radiowiz wrote:

Shorty Wave wrote:

The CityPulse newsroom was groundbreaking and very unique back at 299 Queen, probably because its owner, Moses Znaimer actually cared about how it appeared on TV, being a visual medium and all. Rogers has basically turned Citytv into a poor man’s CTV, if that’s possible and should have never got into broadcasting as they suck at it IMO.

HEY? Let's not forget the real hero here. 
Believe it or not, it's the CRTC!
Back in 2006 the CHUM group was quietly going bankrupt with a very bad debt situation (or at least indeed headed that way)
If Canada were more like the States (more like the FCC)
Bell would have had their way.
Remember?
Bell somehow thought that buying CHUM group meant that they would also get to keep both CTV and City TV.
NOPE. 
Bell even requested changes to allow more ownership of both TV and radio stations.
CRTC still said no.
It puts us all in  a situation where we have no real choice but to be thankful for both Rogers and the CRTC for keeping City and City TV separate under different owners. 

Yes, it's true, City TV could be run better, but at least it's not a CTV 2 or whatever today...

Same with TSN and Sportsnet.
 

Radiowiz wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

Back in 2006 the CHUM group was quietly going bankrupt with a very bad debt situation (

No.

Yes. Perhaps not as bad as Corus, but still not a pretty picture painted in 2006.

Are you banned from Google or something?

Radiowiz wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

Yes. Perhaps not as bad as Corus, but still not a pretty picture painted in 2006.

Are you banned from Google or something?

The controlling Waters family agreed to sell CHUM Limited to Bell Globemedia (now Bell Media) in 2006 for $1.7 billion due to weakening financial revenues and internal family tensions following the death of the company's founder, Allan Waters.

Financial Struggles: CHUM’s weakening financial picture and shrinking margins made it difficult to compete in an increasingly expensive Canadian television market. 


 

It was still hugely profitable! The opposite of "quietly going bankrupt". In fact, at the time of the sale, CHUM's stock had a higher value than Bell's! Specialty was massively profitable, with radio not far behind. Conventional TV was dragging down huge PROFITS a bit. 

Again, please stop just making stuff up.

Radiowiz wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

The controlling Waters family agreed to sell CHUM Limited to Bell Globemedia (now Bell Media) in 2006 for $1.7 billion due to weakening financial revenues and internal family tensions following the death of the company's founder, Allan Waters.

Financial Struggles: CHUM’s weakening financial picture and shrinking margins made it difficult to compete in an increasingly expensive Canadian television market. 

Again, please stop just making stuff up.

That was a google cut and paste. As you requested.
 

Nice edit in the quote.

It's my understanding that Ron Waters, who was one of the executives in charge of City TV at the time, told panicking employees definitively that the station "was not for sale" after his father passed away.

Not long after, it was sold to Bell, then transferred to Rogers by the CRTC. 

The firings and reduction of staff started soon after Rogers got its hands on the place, the exact thing the employees feared - and likely knew - would happen if a sale ever took place. 

So much for believing the promises of upper management and ownership!