A-Channel (Craig Media)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the television system operated in Manitoba and Alberta from 1997 to 2005. For the system now owned by CTVglobemedia currently operating in Ontario and British Columbia, see A-Channel.
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| Type | Defunct Broadcast television system |
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| Country | Canada |
| Availability | Semi-national; urban areas of Alberta and Manitoba |
| Owner | Craig Media Inc. (1997-2004) CHUM Limited (2004-2005) |
| Key people | Drew Craig |
| Launch date | September 18, 1997 |
| Dissolved | August 2, 2005 (relaunched as Citytv) |
A-Channel was a Canadian television system owned by Craig Media from 1997 to 2004 and CHUM Limited from 2004 to 2005. It consisted of Craig's television stations in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, and was the company's unsuccessful attempt to build a national network.
CHUM Limited, which acquired Craig Media in 2004, merged these stations into its flagship Citytv system on August 2, 2005. At the same time, the A-Channel name was transferred to the NewNet stations in Southern Ontario and Vancouver Island which are now owned by CTVglobemedia, while the three original Craig Media A-Channel stations are now owned by Rogers Media.
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[edit] History
A-Channel was first used by Craig Media as it sought to develop a national presence. Originally, Craig owned only two stations in Manitoba: CKX, a CBC Television affiliate in Brandon; and CHMI, branded as the Manitoba Television Network (or MTN), in Portage la Prairie. Looking to expand, Craig decided to counter CanWest Global's attempts to obtain licenses from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for television stations in Alberta, with a proposal it dubbed "The Alberta Channel", or "A-Channel" for short. During the first round of hearings in the early 1990s, neither company obtained a licence. However, after a second round in the mid-1990s, Craig won against CanWest. (CanWest later bought out Western International Communications and assumed control of its Alberta-based stations.)
A-Channel stations in Edmonton (CKEM) and Calgary (CKAL) were launched in 1997. They billed themselves as very locally-oriented stations, with programming decisions made in Alberta and not Toronto. Programming included the local morning show The Big Breakfast, and Prime Ticket Movies, a brand initially used at MTN. MTN adopted the A-Channel name in 1999.
Craig established the A-Channel Production Fund which provided financing for made-in-Alberta television movies which A-Channel would air. The most notable of these was an adaptation of A Christmas Carol starring Jack Palance.
Craig tried to expand the A-Channel network to Hamilton (CHCH), Montreal (CFCF), Vancouver (CKVU), and Victoria (what would become CIVI), but was either denied by the CRTC or outbid by other buyers. The company did, however, get a station in Toronto, CKXT (known as Toronto 1), which, while not part of the A-Channel network, broadcast a similar lineup to A-Channel's and also adopted a similar logo.
In Edmonton, labour issues led to a strike on September 17, 2003, when employees of the city's A-Channel went on strike during negotiations for a first contract.[1] The station filled airtime primarily with live feeds of MTV Canada.[citation needed] The labour dispute was resolved on February 14, 2004.[2]
On April 12, 2004, CHUM Limited announced a deal to purchase Craig Media for $265 million. The sale was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on November 19, 2004, and was completed on December 1. CHUM had to sell off Toronto 1, because it already owned stations in Toronto and nearby Barrie. Toronto 1 was sold to Quebecor Media, owners of the media units TVA and Sun Media.
In February 2005, CHUM announced it would align Craig's A-Channel stations with its existing major-market stations under the Citytv name. The change took effect on August 2 of the same year, when the A-Channel name was transferred to CHUM's NewNet stations. With the subsequent takeover of CHUM Limited in 2007, All of the former NewNet stations (now A-Channel) are now owned and operated by CTVglobemedia, while the former A-Channel stations (now Citytv) were sold to Rogers Communications.
[edit] Programming
A significant amount of the old A-Channel system's programming was subcontracted from CHUM, which did not have stations in the same markets. For several years before CHUM's acquisition of Craig Media, business analysts were already suggesting that some kind of merger between the two companies was likely, in part because of their already-established business relationship. The purchase of CHUM programming was diminished significantly following CKXT's launch, but increased following CHUM's purchase in the months prior to integration into Citytv.
Original programming on the old A-Channel stations included the police reality series To Serve and Protect, the drama 1-800-Missing and the variety series Pepsi Breakout and MTV Select.
[edit] Stations
CKXT in Toronto, then known as "Toronto One", carried most of the system's non-CHUM programming from 2003 to 2005. Its logo was also similar to the A-Channel logo, although with a numeral 1 in the square instead of a letter A.
[edit] Slogans
- "Very Independent" (1997-2003)
- "Connected To You" (2003-2005)
[edit] References
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