CHRO-TV
Encyclopedia
CHRO-TV is a television station
Television station
A 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...

 serving the National Capital
National Capital Region (Canada)
The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....

 and Ottawa Valley
Ottawa Valley
The Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...

 regions of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario 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....

, Canada
Canada
Canada 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...

. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Two television system.

While the station is licensed to Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke is a city in the province of Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...

, its main studios are located at 87 George Street in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa 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...

. The station broadcasts in analog on channel 5 in Pembroke and in digital on channel 43 in Ottawa, and airs on cable channel 6 in both cities.

Following a massive fire at CTV Ottawa
CJOH-TV
CJOH-DT is a television station serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding region. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network....

's longtime home on Merivale Road in Nepean
Nepean, Ontario
- Recent quantity of snow :- History :Nepean Township, originally known as Township D, was established in 1792 and originally included what is now the central area of Ottawa west of the Rideau River. Jehiel Collins, from Vermont, is believed to have been the first person to settle in Nepean...

, the station's studios and offices, including newscast production, are now co-located with CTV Two Ottawa and Bell Media's Ottawa radio properties in the "Market Media Mall" building in Downtown Ottawa's
Downtown Ottawa
Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Like other downtowns it is the commercial and economic centre of the city. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the...

 ByWard Market
Byward Market
ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government & business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive, on the...

.

History

The station went on air in 1961 as CHOV, a CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC 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 owned by Gordon Archibald Ottawa Valley Broadcasting, the owner of AM radio station CHOV
CHVR-FM
CHVR-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 96.7 FM in Pembroke, Ontario. The station airs a country music format branded as Star 96....

. Workers of the station unionized and a labour dispute began.
A financial crisis in 1976 led to the station going dark for six days in August of that year. Ottawa Valley sold the station to J. Conrad Lavigne
J. Conrad Lavigne
J. Conrad Lavigne, CM, O.Ont was a pioneering Canadian media proprietor.Born in Chénéville, Quebec, Lavigne was raised in Cochrane, Ontario. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1942 and fought in World War II...

 in 1977. Lavigne adopted the CHRO callsign, and launched the station's sales office in Ottawa. Lavigne's company subsequently became part of the MCTV
Mid-Canada Communications
Mid-Canada Communications was a Canadian media company, which operated from 1980 to 1990. The company, a division of Northern Cable, had television and radio holdings in Northeastern Ontario.-MCTV:...

 system in 1980.

While most MCTV stations used MCTV, rather than their call letters, as their on-air branding, CHRO continued to use its call sign, although it used the same logo and programming schedule as the other MCTV stations.
In 1990, Baton Broadcasting acquired the MCTV stations. Because CHRO was carried by cable television companies in the Ottawa market, this was deemed an ownership conflict for Baton, who already owned Ottawa's CJOH
CJOH-TV
CJOH-DT is a television station serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding region. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network....

, and would therefore have a de facto twinstick
Twinstick
A twinstick, in Canadian broadcasting, is a term for two television stations, broadcasting in the same market, which are owned by the same company...

 in competition with the CBC's CBOT
CBOT (TV)
CBOT-DT is a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television station in Ottawa, Ontario. The station's studios are located in the CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre.-History:...

. However, the station's carriage in Ottawa was also deemed essential to its survival, since Pembroke was too small a market to support the station on its own. Thus, CHRO was disaffiliated from the CBC, becoming a CTV
CTV television network
CTV 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...

 affiliate. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) also ordered strict controls on CHRO's programming, so that Baton could not gain unfair audience advantage in Ottawa by airing shows at different times on CHRO and CJOH. Baton eventually became the sole corporate proprietor of CTV.

As The New RO

In 1997, CHRO was one of several stations transferred to CHUM in exchange for the ATV
CTV Atlantic
CTV Atlantic is a system of four television stations in the Canadian Maritimes, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media...

 stations in the Maritime provinces. CHRO did not have an over-the-air transmitter in Ottawa until it came under CHUM's ownership. After being acquired by CHUM, CHRO was re-branded to The New RO in 1998 and joined the NewNet system.

The New RO's first two years on the air originated from a small studio on Kimway Drive, near CJOH's broadcast plant on Merivale Road.The New RO's first anchor team comprised former New VR anchor Robert Maxwell and CHRO's Caroline Redekopp, with Ken Evraire on sports, former Weather Channel anchor Elissa Lansdell on weather and entertainment, and weekend anchor James Hendricks covering traffic and crime from the assignment desk. Cyndi Edwards hosted the "New RO at Noon", an amalgam of news, lifestyles, and entertainment. Reporter Sandra Blaikie, who joined the The New RO in 2000, took over from Caroline Redekopp after her departure in 2002. James Hendricks—by now the eleven o'clock anchor—replaced Robert Maxwell after his resignation in autumn 2003. Hendricks also continued to anchor the late news until Cory Atkins (late of CFRN-TV Edmonton) signed on to be the new eleven-oclock anchor in April 2004.

In February 2005, CHUM announced plans to consolidate the master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...

 departments for CHRO, CKVR
CKVR-TV
CKVR-DT, is a television station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media, it serves as the flagship station of Bell Media's secondary television service, CTV Two, with facilities located at 33 Beacon Road in Barrie...

, CFPL
CFPL-TV
CFPL-DT is a television station based in London, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. Part of the CTV Two television system, the station serves London, Sarnia and much of southwestern Ontario north of London, including Wingham since its former sister station, CKNX-TV which ceased operations and...

, CHWI
CHWI-TV
CHWI-DT is a Canadian television station owned by Bell Media. It is part of the CTV Two system. The station is licensed to Wheatley, Ontario, but operates out of Windsor. CHWI also has offices in Chatham....

 and CKNX
CKNX-TV
CKNX-TV was a television station owned by CTVglobemedia which served mid-western Ontario, Canada. It was part of the A television network. The station was broadcast from Wingham and had offices in Wingham...

 at 299 Queen Street West in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, and to consolidate the traffic and programming departments at CFPL in London
London, Ontario
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...

, resulting in the loss of approximately 19 staff members from CHRO. On June 3, 2005, at approximately 10:30 a.m., the Pembroke master control signal came to an end, as the new consolidated master control took to air.

As A-Channel Ottawa

The station was renamed A-Channel on August 2, 2005 along with the rest of the NewNet system, and began using the same logo as the rest of the system as well.

On July 12, 2006, CTV
CTV television network
CTV 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...

 owner Bell Globemedia (now Bell Media) announced plans to purchase CHUM Limited for $C
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

1.7 billion, with plans to divest itself of the A-Channel and Access Alberta stations. On the same date, CHRO cancelled its noon-hour lifestyles program and its 12:30 p.m. weekday newscast, citing low ratings and declining advertising revenues. Anchors James Hendricks and Dave Gross were also let go. A plan was announced to almost fully automate the station's news production system, which would see a few dozen staff members laid off by the start of the new year.

On April 9, 2007, Rogers Media
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., which owns Canada's largest publishing company, Rogers Publishing Limited, which has more than 70 consumer and business publications. Rogers Media Inc...

 announced an agreement to purchase all of the A-Channel stations including CHRO, SexTV: The Channel
SexTV: The Channel
W Movies is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel which focuses on films and film-related series aimed at women. It is a spinoff channel of W Network and is owned by Corus Entertainment.-As SexTV: The Channel:...

, CLT
Canadian Learning Television
Oprah Winfrey Network is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. OWN is a specialty television service targeted to women, offering a blend of lifestyle, information, and entertainment programming....

, Access Alberta. The deal was contingent on full approval by the CRTC of the CTVglobemedia takeover of CHUM. With CRTC approval being contingent on the sale of the Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...

 stations instead, Rogers bought the Citytv stations and CTV kept the A-Channel stations. The takeover transaction was completed on June 22.

With the CHUM acquisition, CTV became the only English-language private TV broadcaster offering Ottawa news coverage; it owns both CHRO and CJOH-TV
CJOH-TV
CJOH-DT is a television station serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding region. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network....

, which compete only with the CBC's CBOT
CBOT (TV)
CBOT-DT is a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television station in Ottawa, Ontario. The station's studios are located in the CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre.-History:...

 in offering local news. The CRTC's decision to allow the joint ownership of CJOH and CHRO appeared to contradict its own rationale for forcing CTV to sell the Citytv stations, specifically that a single company could not own two stations, in the same language, based in the same large urban centre – however, even before CTV confirmed it would keep CHRO, the twinstick was approved by the CRTC on the basis of CHRO's financial situation and the stations' prior common ownership (until 1997).

As A Ottawa

The station was renamed A on August 11, 2008, along with the rest of the A-Channel system. The A soft launch began earlier in June 2008 in CHRO-TV's press materials and local newscasts.

Due to a major fire at CTV
CTV television network
CTV 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...

's CJOH-TV
CJOH-TV
CJOH-DT is a television station serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding region. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network....

 newsroom on February 7, 2010, CHRO and CJOH are now both operating from the A studios at 87 George Street in Ottawa's ByWard Market. This would be the first time since the studios had any nighttime newscasts since the cancellation of A News for CHRO in 2009.

As CTV Two Ottawa

On August 29 2011, CHRO was rebranded as CTV Two as part of the rebranding of A, thus A Ottawa became CTV Two Ottawa upon rebranding. In addition, CHRO's morning show, A Morning was re-named CTV Morning Live
CTV Morning Live
CTV Morning Live is the name of the local morning newscasts airing on CTV's owned-and-operated stations in Western Canada, specifically, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina as well as on CTV Two stations in Ottawa and Atlantic Canada...

. In addition, CHRO started broadcasting in HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 as part of the re-launched system on August 31, 2011.

Operations

The station's Pembroke facility, which once housed its entire operation and produced a number of local shows, now employs only about one staff - an on-call engineer. As of November 2011, the Pembroke transmitter remains in operation, and the otherwise vacant studio building is now occupied by the Upper Ottawa Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Digital television and high definition

On August 31, 2011, as part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion
Digital television in Canada
Digital television in Canada is transmitted using the ATSC standards developed for and in use in the United States. Because Canada and the U.S...

, CHRO's Ottawa transmitter, CHRO-TV-43, stopped broadcasting in analog and began broadcasting in digital on the same channel. CHRO's main transmitter in Pembroke is not yet required to switch to digital, since the CRTC did not designate Pembroke as a mandatory market.

Programming

Currently the station's locally produced programs include:
  • CTV Morning Live
    CTV Morning Live
    CTV Morning Live is the name of the local morning newscasts airing on CTV's owned-and-operated stations in Western Canada, specifically, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina as well as on CTV Two stations in Ottawa and Atlantic Canada...

    , 6 a.m.-10 a.m. weekdays - with Lianne Laing, Kurt Stoodley and Jeff Hopper.
  • Bob TV
    CKKL-FM
    CKKL-FM is a Canadian radio station, which airs at 93.9 on the FM dial in Ottawa. The station uses the on-air brand name Bob FM.Frank Ryan originally launched the station in 1947 as CFRA-FM, simulcasting the programming of its AM sister station. In 1959, the station began airing some separate...

    - Sunday 10 - 11 a.m.
  • Majic 100
    CJMJ-FM
    CJMJ-FM is an adult contemporary radio station at 100.3 FM in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The station uses the brand name Majic 100, and promotes itself as "Today's Soft Rock". It is also one of three adult contemporary outlets owned by Bell Media Radio...

     Top 20 Countdown
    - Sunday 11 a.m. - noon

Past programming

  • A News This Week (Sundays at 6:30 p.m. - a pre-recorded wrap of the week's top stories)
  • Ottawa Senators
    Ottawa Senators
    The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

     Hockey
    (20 regular-season games a year of the Canadian capital city's NHL team, which were usually, but not always, broadcast on Thursday evenings) - with Dean Brown
    Dean Brown (sportscaster)
    Dean Brown is a Canadian hockey commentator. He is known for being the main play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators since the team's return to the NHL at first on Ottawa's talk-radio station 580 CFRA in the franchise's first years, then on the Rawlco owned station...

     as play-by-play announcer and Gord Wilson
    Gord Wilson
    Gordon Allan Wilson was a professional ice hockey player who played two games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Boston Bruins.- References :...

     as commentator. Games were broadcast through the 2007-08 season; all local/regional Senators broadcasts now air on Rogers Sportsnet
    Rogers Sportsnet
    Sportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...

     East.
  • Senators Primetime (post-game show for CHRO's Ottawa Senators broadcasts through the 2007-08 season, produced in the A studios and from various live locations) - hosted by Ken Evraire and Lianne Laing.

News operation

In January 2007, CHRO began producing its newscasts with a new system called "Ross Overdrive" - an automated production system that replaced the need for a switcher, VTR operator, graphics operator and many other staffers. Some 25 staffers were affected by the change, which had been announced some six months earlier.

On March 3, 2009, CTVglobemedia cancelled almost all of CHRO's local news programming except for A Morning, laying off 34 Ottawa employees. CTVglobemedia cited the current recession
Late 2000s recession
The late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession or Lesser Depression or Long Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world...

 as a reason for cancelling the local news programming. In contrast, the A stations in Victoria, Barrie and London kept their evening newscasts but instead, had their morning shows cancelled; this was likely because CTV's CJOH-TV
CJOH-TV
CJOH-DT is a television station serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding region. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network....

 also owned by CTVglobemedia (now Bell Media) already produces higher-rated evening newscasts serving the Ottawa market.

In order to comply with the station's CRTC-mandated local programming expectation of 23.5 hours per week, the morning show was extended to four hours a day on weekdays, with a two-hour Saturday edition added as well (CHRO also continues two one-hour weekend music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 programs co-branded with local Bell Media Radio stations). Some high-profile CHRO personalities such as Sandra Blaikie, Tony Grace and Bill Welychka were moved to the extended morning show following the March 2009 layoffs. In December 2009, anchor Sandra Blaikie left the station to pursue other interests outside of broadcasting, because of the uncertain future of local television in Canada. In September 2010, late-show anchor and national reporter Tony Grace left the station to assume the 6:00 p.m. anchor position at A Barrie. In August 2011, Bill was let go from A-Channel Ottawa. No explanation was given to viewers.

Newscast titles

  • CHRO Newswatch (1981–1991)
  • CHRO News: (Early/Midday/Weekend) Report (1991–1996)
  • CHRO News: (Midday/Evening/Late/Weekend) Edition (1996–February 1998)
  • CHRO News On Six (February–August 1998)
  • News Six Ottawa (August 1998–2005)
  • A-Channel News (2005–2008)
  • A News
    A News (TV series)
    A News was the name of local newscasts on the A television system in Canada. A News programming was produced in markets which were not directly served by a local CTV News service....

    (2008–2011)
  • A Morning (morning newscast; 2005–2011)
  • CTV Morning Live
    CTV Morning Live
    CTV Morning Live is the name of the local morning newscasts airing on CTV's owned-and-operated stations in Western Canada, specifically, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina as well as on CTV Two stations in Ottawa and Atlantic Canada...

    (morning newscast; 2011–present)

Station slogans

  • "This is Ottawa's News" (1997–2005)
  • "The Team to Trust" (2006–2007)
  • "Ottawa's Fastest Growing News Hour" (2007–2008; promotion for 6 p.m. newscast)
  • "Ottawa's News Hour" (2008–2009; promotion for 6 p.m. newscast)
  • "Ottawa's # 1 Morning Show" (2008–present; promotion for morning newscast)


CTV Morning Live

Hosts
  • Kurt Stoodley - weekday morning host
  • Lianne Laing - weekday morning host
  • Annette Goerner - weekday morning news anchor/reporter
  • Angie Poirier - Saturday morning host


Weather
  • Jeff Hopper - weekday morning weather specialist


Reporter
  • Sarah Freemark - general assignment reporter
  • Melissa Lamb - general assignment reporter
  • Jennifer Madigan - CTV News national affairs reporter

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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