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Wikipedia

For the system that operated in Manitoba and Alberta from 1997 to 2005, see A-Channel (Craig Media).

A-Channel is a Canadian English language privately-owned television system owned by CTV Limited, a division of CTVglobemedia. The current A-Channel system consists of five television stations in Ontario and one in British Columbia.

A-Channel's former parent company, CHUM Limited, acquired the brand as part of its purchase of Craig Media in 2004. At the time the A-Channel brand was associated with Craig's television stations in Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton. When CHUM purchased Craig Media, the A-Channel stations formerly owned by Craig became part of the Citytv system, while the NewNet stations were rebranded under the A-Channel banner.

In June 2008, CTV announced that A-Channel will be rebranded as A effective August 10, 2008, which will see the system expand to the Atlantic Canada via ASN and on a part-time basis in Alberta via Access. The phasing-in of the new brand has begun in press materials, on CTVglobemedia's website and on the station's local newscasts being branded as A News, although the A-Channel name remains predominant at present.

History

Beginning as NewNet

The NewNet stations began to develop in 1995, when CHUM disaffiliated CKVR, its longtime CBC Television affiliate in Barrie, Ontario, and tried to give it a more youthful image in order to generate interest in the neighbouring Toronto market, which included acquiring broadcasting rights to Toronto's new National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise. The resulting station became known as The New VR.

The experiment apparently worked. When CHUM acquired several other stations, including CHRO in Pembroke, CFPL in London, CKNX in Wingham, and CHWI in Wheatley in 1997 as part of a trade with Baton Broadcasting, these stations were similarly rebranded. Most of these stations were also former CBC affiliates, and all were in markets where Citytv Toronto was already available on basic cable. CIVI in Victoria, British Columbia was added when it launched in 2001.

The name "NewNet" was never used on the stations themselves, but only as an identifier for advertising buyers and news vehicles, mainly in Southwestern Ontario. Instead, each station was known on-air as "The New XX," where XX was the last two letters of the station's callsign (e.g., "The New VR" for CKVR, "The New RO" for CHRO, "The New PL" for CFPL, etc.)

A-Channel rebranding

On March 15, 2005, CHUM announced that the NewNet stations would be rebranded A-Channel by that fall; the date was later decided for August 2, the same date when the former A-Channel stations in Manitoba and Alberta were relaunched as Citytv.

Acquisition by CTVglobemedia

On July 12, 2006, CTVglobemedia (CTVgm, formerly known as Bell Globemedia) announced a friendly takeover bid to buy CHUM Limited. CTVgm initially intended to keep CHUM's Citytv system, while divesting the A-Channel and Access stations in order for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to approve the acquisition.

On April 9, 2007, Rogers Communications announced an agreement to purchase the A-Channel stations, along with CKX-TV and several cable channels being put up for sale as part of the CTV transaction.

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. At the same time, it was permitted to keep the A-Channel stations, in effect cancelling the planned sale of A-Channel to Rogers Communications.

On June 22, 2007, CTVglobemedia finalized its purchase of the CHUM Limited stations, while the Citytv stations were sold to Rogers Communications. The company initially intended to keep the A-Channel stations' branding and programming independent from the CTV Television Network. However, as with the relationship between Global and E! (formerly CH), CTV radically adjusted A-Channel's announced schedule over the summer of 2007 to make room for several series that could not be accommodated on the main network's fall schedule. Notably, A-Channel picked up CTV's rights to 30 Rock, Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Jeff Ltd.. In October, CTV also moved Dirty Sexy Money and Big Shots, both of which had originally premiered on the main network, to A-Channel.

Later in the fall, CTV also replaced A-Channel's daily entertainment newscast; Star! Daily with MTV e2 and strip reruns of Degrassi: The Next Generation, although new episodes of that series continue to air on CTV.

On July 26, 2007, CTVglobemedia named Richard Gray the head of news for the A-Channel stations and CKX-TV. Gray will report to the CTVgm corporate group, not CTV News, to preserve independent news presentation and management. Gray will now oversee the news departments for CKVR, CHRO, CFPL, CKNX, CHWI, CIVI and CKX.

A rebranding

Shortly after CTV took control of A-Channel and most of the other assets owned by CHUM, media analysts began to speculate that the A-Channel stations would be rebranded in 2008. Viewer surveys linked from the individual A-Channel station websites in 2007 and 2008 suggested that the names "Much TV and "CHUM TV" were under consideration.

At its fall upfronts presentation on June 2, 2008, CTV officially announced that the A-Channel stations will be rebranded as A effective August 10, 2008, (according to A-London's manager Don Mumford). In addition, Atlantic Canada's ASN and Alberta's Access stations will also officially join the system.

Programming

A-Channel stations broadcast American talk shows and gameshows, in addition to movies, Canadian programming, and local news. Much of the primetime lineup on A-Channel stations is comprised of simulcasted or syndicated United States programming from major American networks like NBC. Some of the American shows include Supernanny, AFV, Smallville, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Wheel of Fortune, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Additonally, early seasons of popular shows shown on CTV such as Grey's Anatomy can also be seen on these stations. Notable Canadian shows include Degrassi: The Next Generation, CityLine, and Dotto Tech with Steve Dotto . A few original productions, such as 11 Somerset and Charlie Jade, have aired on A-Channel. The drama series Missing was carried over from the former A-Channel (now Citytv) stations. Occasionally CTV will bump one of its programs over to A-Channel to make room for a different show.

CHRO also produces and broadcasts 20 regular-season games each year of the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators. These games are generally seen on Thursday nights and are usually CHRO's most popular programmes.

In April 2008, local CTV and A-Channel stations across Canada aired special reports celebrating "50 years of CTV news". The reports appear to be timed to a CRTC review of regulations for local TV stations, and not any particular anniversary.

Stations

Secondary carriers

The following CTV-owned stations also air some A-Channel programming, although they are not presently marketed as official affiliates:

CKX (Brandon, Manitoba) - CBC affiliate. While not marketed as A-Channel, the A-Channel logo is periodically shown on screen during non-CBC programming.
Access - CIAN Calgary and CJAL Edmonton; also carried province-wide in Alberta on cable television. Licensed as an educational television service for the province of Alberta, it also airs A-Channel programs during primetime hours.
Atlantic Satellite Network (ASN) - CTV-owned cable channel in Atlantic Canada, which was originally owned by CHUM but continued to carry Citytv and A-Channel programming following its sale to CTV in 1997.

As noted above, ASN and Access will officially be considered part of "A" effective fall 2008 (Access is expected to retain its current brand and its off-peak educational programming). ASN has committed to air the entire "A" lineup with the exception of local programming.