CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a
television stationA television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
originating in
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, with transmitters located throughout
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a
CBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the now-defunct CH / E! system.
Owned and operated by Channel Zero, it is the oldest privately-owned television station in the Hamilton-Toronto area, having launched in 1954. CHCH's programming schedule features a weekday
rolling newsNews broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network...
format geared primarily to southern Ontario's Golden Horseshoe, along with feature movies on weeknights and weekends; some American entertainment series were added to the evening schedule in the fall of 2010.
CBC affiliation
CHCH-TV was founded by Ken Soble. A leader of Hamilton's urban renewal movement, and owner of CHML radio, Soble was regarded as a pioneer in all of his endeavours.
The station began broadcasting in
1954The year 1954 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1954.-Events:*January 1 – NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade in NTSC color on 21 stations.*January 3 – RAI launched in Italy....
as a
Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
(CBC) affiliate from the
CHCH Television TowerThe CHCH Television Tower is a 357.5 metre-high guyed TV mast located at 481 First Road West in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. It is the primary transmitter for television station CHCH-TV. It is also currently the third-tallest structure in Canada....
, a transmitter located at 481 First Road West in
Stoney CreekStoney Creek is a community in Ontario, Canada.Note: This article will only deal with matters up to its amalgamation with Hamilton.-Geography and population:...
. At the time, all private stations were required to be CBC affiliates. In
1961The year 1961 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1961.For the American TV schedule, see: 1961-62 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, CHCH disaffiliated from the CBC and became an independent. The reason for the disaffiliation from CBC was threefold. Toronto's CBLT already provided full network service to some of CHCH's viewing area, and a power increase and change of channels at CBLT (from Channel 9 to Channel 6 and eventually Channel 5) would result in an overlap of nearly all of the CHCH and CBLT coverage areas. Additionally, the station's managers wanted to produce a larger amount of local programming, instead of being forced to carry CBC programming.
Superstation CHCH
CHCH became the first (and for over a decade, the only) television station in Canada not to have any network affiliation, as the other private stations (which signed on the air in
1960The year 1960 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1960.For the American TV schedule, please see: 1960-61 American network television schedule.-Events:...
or early
1961The year 1961 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1961.For the American TV schedule, see: 1961-62 American network television schedule.-Events:...
) that were not affiliated with the CBC had formed the
CTVCTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
network in 1961. CHCH became a nationwide
superstationSuperstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
on January 1, 1982, when Cancom began carrying the station and three others to cable television operators in remote regions of the country that had access only to the CBC.
The station also produced a number of important Canadian syndicated series, including
The Hilarious House of FrightensteinThe Hilarious House of Frightenstein was a Canadian children's television series produced by Hamilton, Ontario's independent station CHCH-TV in 1971. It was syndicated to television stations across Canada and the United States and occasionally still appears today in some television markets...
,
Me & MaxMe & Max was a situation comedy produced for Canadian television station CHCH-TV in 1985.Evolving out of the sketch comedy series Smith & Smith, Me & Max starred husband-and-wife comedy team Steve Smith and Morag Smith, and their kids Max and David...
,
Party GameParty Game was a Canadian television game show in the 1970s, produced by Hamilton independent station CHCH-TV from 1970 to 1981. It aired throughout Canada in syndication, broadcast on 32 stations at its peak....
and
Smith & SmithSmith & Smith is a Canadian sketch comedy series, which aired from 1979 to 1985 on Hamilton, Ontario's CHCH-TV, and through syndication on other Canadian television stations...
, and was the original TV home of
The Red Green ShowThe Red Green Show is a Canadian television comedy that aired on various channels in Canada, with its ultimate home at CBC Television, and on Public Broadcasting Service stations in the United States, from 1991 until the series finale April 7, 2006 on CBC...
. Hamilton native
Martin ShortMartin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
also had his television debut on the station. CHCH also produced local broadcasts such as
Tiny Talent Time.
For a time, CHCH broadcast local mid-week telecasts of the
NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
's
Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. It also produced a wrestling show called Ringside Wrestling. It was originally filmed in the Telecentre, later moving to the Hamilton Forum. They later reproduced
World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
programming for Canadian audiences before the company's focus shifted entirely to cable.
ONtv era
In 1990,
Western International CommunicationsWIC Western International Communications Ltd.The apparent occurrence of "RAS syndrome" here was in fact part of the company's legal name. was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via...
(WIC) purchased CHCH. Although CHCH had been available on cable in many Ontario markets for years, the station's broadcast signal coverage was expanded throughout Ontario with repeaters in 1997, in an effort to compete with the reach of
GlobalGlobal Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
's Ontario station
CIIICIII-DT-41 is a television station owned by Shaw Communications that serves much of the population of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a flagship station of the Global Television Network...
, as well as the
Baton Broadcast SystemONT was initiated in 1991, consisting of eight CTV affiliates - seven owned by Baton and Electrohome's CKCO. Initially providing 10.5 hours of common programming each week, this was soon expanded to 35 hours....
, a group of mostly
CTVCTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
-affiliated stations which served most of the province. In turn, WIC renamed the station
ONtv, as in "Ontario Television", in line with the naming pattern of many of its other stations (such as
BCTVCHAN-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, broadcasting over-the-air on digital channel 22, and available via cable providers in the area on channel 11. Owned by Shaw Communications as a part of its Shaw Media division, it is the West Coast flagship station of the...
,
ITVCITV-DT is a television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Known on air as Global Edmonton, the station is owned by Shaw Media, and is an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network. It transmits on channel 13 and cable 8 in Edmonton, and is carried on the Bell TV and Shaw...
, and
RDTVCHCA-TV was a television station in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It was owned by Canwest, and was part of the E! television system. The station was seen on VHF channel 6 and cable channel 11 in Red Deer...
).
Local news shifted focus from the station's core market, the Hamilton area, toward Ontario as a whole, in an attempt to challenge what was then a regional news service provided by Global. However, with Hamilton now being largely an afterthought, and other local stations (in Toronto and elsewhere) already strong in the ratings, the shift was unsuccessful, and CHCH's ratings actually dropped. During the ONtv years, the station also aired WIC's nightly
Canada TonightCanada Tonight was a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two versions of the newscast; the one seen outside BC was anchored by...
newscast.
Canwest ownership
In 2000, Canwest purchased WIC's television assets. Since Global already served the Hamilton area through flagship
CIII-TVCIII-DT-41 is a television station owned by Shaw Communications that serves much of the population of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a flagship station of the Global Television Network...
's transmitter in
ParisParis, Ontario is a community on the Grand River in Ontario, Canada. The town was established in 1850. In 1999, its town government was amalgamated into that of the County of Brant, Ontario, thus ending about 149 years as a separate incorporated municipality.-History:The town was first settled in...
, Canwest rebranded the station
CH (or
CH Hamilton) on February 12, 2001 and subsequently launched the CH television system in September of that year. This move launched a secondary television system for Canwest's stations in medium-sized markets near larger markets. Local news coverage was revamped and re-focused on the Hamilton/Halton/Niagara region.
Despite the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s current TV station ownership restrictions (one station per owner per language per market), Canwest was permitted to maintain CHCH's coverage of other markets throughout most of Ontario. However, it could not broadcast to
Thunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
,
PeterboroughPeterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
, or
KingstonKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
due to opposition by local stations. Some cable systems outside of
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
also continue to carry CHCH as a form of "superstation". Additionally, its over-the-air signal easily covers
Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and
Erie, PennsylvaniaErie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
.
On June 7, 2004, at 8:00 p.m., CHCH-TV celebrated exactly 50 years on the air. At this precise time, the station aired a documentary profiling the station history, entitled
The First 50 Years: A Half Century of CH and hosted by Matt Hayes.
It was announced that the CH brand would change starting in 2007, however, it remained in use until September 7, 2007 when Canwest rebranded CHCH's local programming from CH Hamilton to
CHCH News after the following the relaunch of the national CH service as E!.
In late 2008, Canwest retired CHCH's longest serving news anchors, Connie Smith (last day on air November 28, 2008) and Dan McLean (last day on air December 12, 2008), blaming money troubles and having to cut budgets. After their departures, Annette Hamm began handling anchoring duties on a shortened CHCH News at Noon, as well as co-hosting Morning Live with Bob Cowan, while Nick Dixon took over anchoring duties on CHCH News at 6:00. Since being taken over by Channel Zero on August 31, 2009, Annette Hamm and Bob Cowan have co-hosted a restored hour long newscast at noon.
In January 2009, CHCH's
Morning Live program began to be simulcast on former sister station
CIII-TVCIII-DT-41 is a television station owned by Shaw Communications that serves much of the population of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a flagship station of the Global Television Network...
due to low ratings leading to the cancellation of its own
Global News MorningThe Morning News is the name of local morning newscasts airing on Global Television Network's owned-and-operated stations in British Columbia, Calgary and Edmonton, with each station producing its own edition of the program.As part of Shaw Communications'...
. The simulcast on
CIII-TVCIII-DT-41 is a television station owned by Shaw Communications that serves much of the population of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a flagship station of the Global Television Network...
was dropped at the end of August after Channel Zero officially took control of CHCH. While the station continued to share helicopter traffic services provided by the Canadian Traffic Network, the arrangement between Canwest and CHCH ended on December 31, 2009 as Canwest held the exclusive rights to CTN services in the
Greater Toronto AreaThe Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
.
Channel Zero era
On February 5, 2009, Canwest (CHCH's parent company at the time) announced it would explore "strategic options", including possible sale or closure, for CHCH and its other stations in the E! system, saying "a second conventional TV network is no longer key to the long-term success" of the company. A grassroots group, fronted by
Live @ 5:30 co-host Donna Skelly, surfaced with an intent to purchase CHCH from Canwest and return the station to its former local focus.
In March 2009, paperwork to the CRTC for a one-year renewal of CHCH's licence revealed that the station is projected to lose nearly $30 million during the 2010 fiscal year, which begins September 1, 2009—the station would make $41 million, but the profits would be outpaced by costs of $69 million. John Douglas, a spokesperson for Canwest, said that CHCH, and its other stations in the E! group, were money losers during the last decade, coupled with the Canadian broadcasters' dependency on American programming for profits.
On June 30, 2009,
Channel ZeroChannel Zero is an independent Canadian broadcasting and media group, which holds assets in television broadcasting and film distribution.The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Ownership structure:...
announced that it would purchase CHCH and
CJNTCJNT-DT is a Canadian multicultural television station in Montreal, Quebec. The station is owned and operated by Channel Zero and uses the on-air brand Metro 14.-History:...
in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
from Canwest in exchange for $12 in cash and the assumption of various station liabilities. The CRTC approved the sale on August 28, 2009.
Channel Zero took control of the station's programming at midnight EDT on the morning of August 31, beginning its tenure with a film from the 1980s. CHCH disaffiliated from E! (which shut down at the end of that day), adopted a new format consisting of local news all day on weekdays and movies at night (all day on weekends), and reverted to branding itself as simply CHCH. The first film broadcast in primetime that night was
RockyRocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, signifying the new ownership's come-from-behind spirit. CHCH would add, in sparse amounts, additional programming during the 2009-2010 season, including
Let's Get It On, a
mixed martial artsMixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
program;
Ed the SockEd the Sock is a puppet, created and voiced by Steven Kerzner, that became a Canadian television personality in the 1990s, best known for his appearances hosting programming on MuchMusic and his own talk show, Ed's Night Party, later renamed Ed & Red's Night Party...
's
This Movie Sucks!This Movie Sucks! is a Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premièring on May 28, 2010, two years after Ed's Night Party went off the air. The show is similar to another former Ed the Sock series, Ed's Nite In...
, a movie show featuring the former
MuchMusicMuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
character alongside co-host Liana Kerzner and comedian Ron Sparks; and
infomercialInfomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
s.
In September 2010, CHCH, for the first time since its purchase by Channel Zero, began airing American network television series; many of the added shows, including
SmallvilleSmallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
,
SupernaturalSupernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
,
Jimmy Kimmel Live!,
48 Hours Mystery,
20/20,
ChuckChuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
, and
60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
were previously seen in the Toronto-Hamilton market on
CKXT-TVCKXT-DT was a broadcast television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and serving much of southern and eastern Ontario, owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. At the time of the station's closure on November 1, 2011, the station was serving as an over-the-air simulcast of...
(that station's owner,
QuebecorQuebecor Inc. is a communications company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded by Pierre Péladeau, and remains run by his family. Quebecor Inc. owns 55% of Quebecor Media Inc...
, was in the process of replacing it with
an all-news cable channelSun News Network is an English language Category C news and opinion channel owned and operated by Quebecor Media through a partnership between two of its subsidiaries, TVA Group Inc. and Sun Media Corporation...
). CHCH also debuted additional original local programs
Sportsline with Mark Hebscher & Clint "Bubba" O'Neil, and will launch a second series with Ed the Sock, the entertainment newsmagazine spoof
I Hate Hollywood. Coinciding with the schedule changes was a return to an updated version of the classic CHCH multi-coloured logo used from the 1960s to the 1980s.
On April 10, 2011
Green partyThe Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
leader
Elizabeth MayElizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
participated in a panel interview on CHCH, which she was invited to attend, as were the leaders of the Bloc, Liberals, NDP and Conservatives, by
Channel ZeroChannel Zero can refer to:*Channel Zero Inc., a Toronto-based broadcasting company*Channel Zero , a Belgian musical group*Channel Zero , a comic book by Brian Wood*She Watch Channel Zero?!, a song by the Hip hop band Public Enemy...
, whose president was disappointed by May's exclusion from the 2011 election leaders' debates.
On April 18, 2011,
CKXT-TVCKXT-DT was a broadcast television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and serving much of southern and eastern Ontario, owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. At the time of the station's closure on November 1, 2011, the station was serving as an over-the-air simulcast of...
Toronto switched from a independent station to a simulcast of the Sun News Network, leaving CHCH the only independent station in the Toronto/Hamilton area.
On June 8, 2011, at Channel Zero's upfront presentation for advertisers, the company announced they would be adding the series
Hart of DixieHart of Dixie is an American medical-drama television series, created by Leila Gerstein. On May 17, 2011, The CW officially picked up the series...
and
The Secret CircleThe Secret Circle is a fictional novel series created by L. J. Smith. The series revolves around thirteen teenage witches that form an infamous coven known as 'The Secret Circle'....
, both of which will premiere on The CW in the United States for the 2011-12 Fall television season, on the CHCH primetime schedule, as well as the entertainment news show
The InsiderThe Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
(the same show that was last aired when the station was under the E! moniker between 2007-2009).
The company also announced a programming deal with Twentieth Century Fox, that will allow Channel Zero's CHCH and Metro 14 TV stations to show first-run exclusive broadcast movie premieres, most notably
AvatarAvatar is a 2009 American epic science fiction motion capture film written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel David Moore, Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver...
, scheduled to air in Spring 2012 on both stations. The station will be airing the director's cut version of the film not shown in theatres. Other debut titles include
Crazy HeartCrazy Heart is a 2009 American musical-drama film, written and directed by Scott Cooper and based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb. Jeff Bridges plays a down-and-out country music singer-songwriter who tries to turn his life around after beginning a relationship with a young...
,
TakenTaken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
and
X-Men Origins: WolverineX-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American action film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. The fourth installment in the X-Men film series, it was released worldwide on May 1, 2009...
.
Newscasts and other local programming
CHCH currently airs 84 hours of local news content every week, more than any local television station in Canada or the United States. In contrast, CHAN in Vancouver broadcasts 45 hours of local news a week,
WSVN in MiamiWSVN, channel 7, is a television station located in Miami, Florida, USA. WSVN is owned by Sunbeam Television, and is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company. The station has its studio facilities located in North Bay Village and transmitter based in north Miami-Dade County.WSVN operates a Key...
airs 55.5 hours,
WDAF in Kansas CityWDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...
runs 57.5 hours,
WTVT in TampaWTVT, channel 13, is a television station in Tampa, Florida. It is an owned and operated station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the News Corporation...
carries 60 hours and KRON in San Francisco does 60.5 hours of local programming each week. CHCH broadcasts 15.5 hours of local programming every weekday (4 a.m.-5 p.m., 5:30-7:30 p.m. and 11-11:30 p.m.) and two hours a night (6-7 p.m. and 11 p.m.-12 a.m.) on weekends.
On September 12, 2011, CHCH increased its local news programming by launching a 90-minute extension of
Morning Live, called
Morning Live First Edition, airing weekdays from 4-5:30 a.m.
Newscast titles
- Newsroom 11 (1970s–1982)
- TV 11 Newsroom (1982–1997)
- On-TV News (Source) (1997–2001)
- OnTV News First Edition (6 p.m. newscast; 1997–2001)
- CH News (2001–2007)
- Live @ 5:30 (2005–2010; debate & talk program)
- CHCH News (2007–present)
- News Now (2009–present; late morning and afternoon newscasts)
- News Now Midday (2010–present; noon newscast)
- Square Off (2010–present; 5:30 pm debate & talk program)
- Evening News (2010–present; weeknights and weekends 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts)
Station slogans
- Serving Hamilton, Toronto and the Niagara Peninsula. This is CHCH TV 11 (1970–1988?)
- Join Us (1988?)
- Together, We're the Ones (1988–1997)
- There's Always Something ONtv (1997–1999)
- ONtv: Where You Are (1999–2001)
- Closer to Home (2001)
- Closer to You! (2001–2010)
- In Hamilton, Halton, Niagara, CH News is Closer to You! (2001–2007; news slogan)
- CH Has It All (2001–2007; general slogan)
- The Most Dependable Name in Local News (2007–2009)
- Everything Entertainment (2007–2009; localized version of E! ad campaign)
- Canada's Superstation (2009–2010)
- Your Superstation (2010–present; general slogan)
- Great Movies Every Night (2011–present; slogan for movie programming)
News team
Anchors
- Taz Boga - News Now (weekdays 11 a.m.-12 p.m. and 2-5 p.m.)
- Tim Bolen - Morning Live First Edition (weekday mornings, 4-5:30 a.m.) and News Now AM (weekday mornings, 9-11 a.m.)
- Kate Carnegie - Evening News (Sundays at 6 and 11 p.m.)
- Bob Cowan - Morning Live (weekday mornings, 5:30-9 a.m.), and News Now Midday (weekdays at noon)
- Nick Dixon
Nick Dixon is an English-born Canadian news anchor and reporter working for CHCH-TV. Dixon joined the CHCH News team in December 2004 as a reporter and anchor of CHCH News @ 11...
- Evening News (weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.)
- Annette Hamm
Annette Hamm is a Canadian news anchor and reporter. Along with Bob Cowan, she currently co-hosts Morning Live, a three-and-a-half hour morning show that airs on CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario. She and Cowan also co-anchor the noon newscast daily....
- Morning Live (weekday mornings, 5:30-9 a.m.), and News Now Midday (weekdays at noon)
Weather team
- Matt Hayes - lead weather anchor; News Now Midday (weekdays at noon), News Now PM (weekday afternoons 4:30-5 p.m.) and Evening News (weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.), also noon community reporter and 6 p.m. entertainment reporter
- Jaclyn Colville - weather and traffic anchor; Morning Live First Edition (weekday mornings 4-5:30 a.m.) and traffic anchor; Morning Live (weekday mornings, 6-9 a.m.)
- Nicola Jones - weather anchor; Morning Live (weekday mornings, 6-9 a.m.)
- Steve Ruddick - weather anchor; Evening News (weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.)
- Brian Wood (CMOS-endorsed weathercaster) - weather and traffic anchor; weekday mornings News Now AM (9 a.m.-12 p.m.), and weekday afternoons News Now PM (2-4:30 p.m.)
Sports team
- Ken Welch - lead sports anchor; Evening News (weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.)
- Jeff Leyland - sports anchor; Evening News (weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.)
- Natalie Marconi - sports reporter
Reporters
- Adam Atkinson - video journalist
- Sean Cowan - video journalist
- Cindy Csordas - video journalist
- Lori De Angelis - Morning Live community reporter
- Maria Hayes - health reporter
- Lisa Hepfner - general assignment reporter; also fill-in news anchor
- Lisa Knap - general assignment reporter
- Melissa Raftis - video journalist
- Alex Reynolds - entertainment reporter, film and theatre critic and host of The Movie Lounge (Saturday afternoons)
- Lauran Sabourin - Niagara Bureau reporter
- Lesley Stewart - fill-in news anchor/reporter
- Al Sweeney - general assignment reporter; also fill-in news anchor
- Cristina Tenaglia - video journalist; also fill-in news anchor
- Scot Urquhart - general assignment reporter
Square Off
- Mark Hebscher - host
- Liz West - co-host
- Lawrence Diskin - producer and fill-in co-host
Sportsline
- Mark Hebscher - host
- Clint "Bubba" O'Neil - co-host and producer
- Robin Sawh - field producer
- Candace Devai - feature reporter
Transmitters
On August 28, 1996, CHCH received CRTC approval to add new transmitters across most of Ontario. Their launch in 1997 coincided with the rebranding to ONtv.
| Station |
City of licence A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
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Channel In broadcasting, a channel is a range of frequencies assigned by a government for the operation of a particular radio station, television station or television channel. In common usage, the term also may be used to refer to the station operating on a particular frequency.-See also:*Broadcast...
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Virtual In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
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ERP In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
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HAATHeight above average terrain is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is actually much more important than effective radiated power in determining the range of broadcasts...
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Transmitter Coordinates |
| CHCH-DT-1 |
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
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22 (UHF Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
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11.1 (PSIP The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
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25 kW |
216 m |
45°13′2"N 75°33′49"W |
| CHCH-DT-2 |
London London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
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51 (UHF Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
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51.1 (PSIP The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
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190 kW |
296.5 m |
42°50′27"N 81°51′29"W |
| CHCH-DT-3 |
MuskokaThe District Municipality of Muskoka, more generally referred to as the District of Muskoka, or simply Muskoka, is a Regional Municipality located in Central Ontario, Canada. Muskoka extends from Georgian Bay in the west, to the northern tip of Lake Couchiching in the south, to the western border...
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23 (UHF Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
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67.1 (PSIP The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
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63 kW |
306.7 m |
44°58′14"N 79°46′57"W |
| CHCH-TV-4 |
Sudbury |
41 (UHF Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
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N/A |
35 kW |
171.9 m |
46°25′29"N 81°0′53"W |
| CHCH-TV-5 |
Sault Ste. MarieSault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
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38 (UHF Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
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N/A |
5 kW |
112.5 m |
46°35′50"N 84°16′53"W |
| CHCH-TV-6 |
North BayNorth Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
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32 (UHF Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
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N/A |
5 kW |
116 m |
46°18′10"N 79°24′39"W |
| CHCH-TV-7 |
Timmins Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...
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11 (VHF Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
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N/A |
3.3 kW |
142.2 m |
48°28′12"N 81°17′49"W |
During the
analog television shutdown and digital conversionDigital television in Canada is transmitted using the ATSC standards developed for and in use in the United States. Because Canada and the U.S...
in August 2011, CHCH's transmitters in Ottawa, London, and Muskoka (serving
BarrieBarrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...
, part of the Toronto market) converted to digital since transmitters in or near markets that were mandated to do so. However, the transmitters broadcast in
standard-definitionSorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
480i480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
since they receive the CHCH signal via Shaw Broadcast Services, which does not carry CHCH HD.
Digital television and high definition
CHCH currently broadcasts a digital signal on channel 11. The station's pre-transition digital transmitter on channel 18 in Hamilton was launched on April 18, 2008 by previous owners Canwest.
During the
analog television shutdown and digital conversionDigital television in Canada is transmitted using the ATSC standards developed for and in use in the United States. Because Canada and the U.S...
, which mandated stations in mandatory markets to shut down their analog signals before August 31, 2011, CHCH-DT moved from its pre-transition channel number, 18, to the channel position formerly occupied by its analog channel, 11, on August 15, 2011. The analog signal was discontinued immediately preceding the switch. CHCH-DT is available on digital cable as well as for free
over the airDigital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
using a regular TV antenna and a digital tuner, included in most new TVs. Reception of CHCH-DT on channel 11 has been difficult for some people in the GTA.
As of September 12, 2011, CHCH is now offered in HD on Bell TV via channel 1057.
External links