CHRO-TV

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Coordinates: 45°25′39.1″N 75°41′28.2″W / 45.427528°N 75.691167°W / 45.427528; -75.691167 (CHRO's broadcast location)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

45°25′39.1″N 75°41′28.2″W / 45.427528°N 75.691167°W / 45.427528; -75.691167 (CHRO's broadcast location)

CHRO-TV
kW
  • CHRO-DT-43: 42.8 kW
    • HAAT
    • CHRO-TV: 162.9 m (534 ft)
    • CHRO-DT-43: 177.5 m (582 ft)
    Transmitter coordinates
    Translator(s)35 (43.1) CHRO-DT-43 Ottawa[1]
    Links
    WebsiteCTV 2 Ottawa

    CHRO-TV (

    owned and operated by Bell Media alongside CTV outlet CJOH-DT (channel 13). The two stations share studios with Bell's Ottawa radio properties at the Market Media Mall building on George Street in downtown Ottawa's ByWard Market; CHRO-TV's transmitter is located on TV Tower Road near Pembroke. The station operates a digital-only
    rebroadcaster in Ottawa, CHRO-DT-43 (channel 43), with transmitter in the city's Herbert Corners section.

    History

    The station first went on the air on August 19, 1961, as CHOV-TV, a

    AM radio station CHOV. 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 in 1977. Lavigne adopted the CHRO-TV callsign, and opened a sales office for the station in Ottawa. Lavigne's company subsequently became part of the MCTV
    system in 1980. While most of the 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 1986, MCTV filed an application to expand the service by disaffiliating from the CBC and adding a transmitter and broadcasting facilities in Ottawa,

    CJOH-TV, responded to the potential new competition by selling CJOH to Baton, who then surrendered the new independent license.[4] As a result, Mid-Canada submitted a revived application in 1989,[5] but the application was withdrawn after Northern Cable, the owner of the MCTV system, underwent an ownership change to be financed by selling off its broadcasting assets.[6]

    Logo used in 1993.
    Logo used from 1994 to 1997[a]

    In 1990, Baton Broadcasting acquired the MCTV stations. Because CHRO was carried by cable television companies in the

    CBOT-TV (channel 4). 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. Therefore, CHRO disaffiliated from the CBC, and became a CTV 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

    Logo used as The New RO from 1998 to 2005.

    In 1997, CHRO was one of several stations transferred to

    CITY-TV in Toronto, and even produced a pitch film.[8][9][10] CITY itself would set up an Ottawa re-transmitter in 1996.) CHRO did not have an over-the-air transmitter in Ottawa until it came under CHUM's ownership.[11] Ten months being acquired by CHUM, on September 7, 1998, CHRO was rebranded to "The New RO" and joined the NewNet system.[12]

    During its first two years under NewNet affiliation, CHRO began moving their operations away from their original Pembroke studios. They initially operated from a small studio at 10 Kimway Avenue, near CJOH's broadcast facility on Merivale Road. In October 2000, the station moved to a brand-new media complex, dubbed the CHUM MarketMediaMall, in Ottawa's historic

    Speaker's Corner video booth, the facility also housed CHUM's Ottawa-area radio stations (CKKL-FM, CJMJ-FM, CFRA and CFGO).[13]

    In February 2005, CHUM announced plans to consolidate the master control departments for CHRO, CKVR-DT, CFPL-DT, CHWI-DT and CKNX-TV at 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, and to consolidate the traffic and programming departments at CFPL in London, 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

    Former A Channel logo, 2005–2008.

    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 owner Bell Globemedia (now Bell Media) announced plans to purchase CHUM Limited for

    Access Alberta stations.[14] 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.[15]
    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,

    Canadian Learning Television and Access Alberta. The deal was contingent on full approval by the CRTC of the CTVglobemedia takeover of CHUM.[16]
    With CRTC approval being contingent on the sale of the Citytv 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 television broadcaster offering Ottawa news coverage; it owns both CHRO and CJOH-TV, which compete only with the CBC's CBOT 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).[17][18]

    As A Ottawa

    Former A logo, 2008–2011.

    The station was rebranded as 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.[19]

    Due to a major fire that destroyed the longtime studios of sister CTV station CJOH-TV on Merivale Road in

    A News broadcasts in 2009.[20][21][22]

    As CTV Two/CTV 2 Ottawa

    Former CTV Two logo, 2011–2018.

    On May 30, 2011, Bell Media announced that the A television system would be rebranded as CTV Two, with CHRO switching its branding from "A Ottawa" to "CTV Two Ottawa". The official relaunch to CTV Two took place on August 29, 2011.[23] In addition, CHRO's morning show, A Morning was renamed CTV Morning Live. In addition, CHRO started broadcasting in high definition as part of the relaunched system on August 31, 2011.

    Past programming

    • TSN5
      (also owned by CHRO parent company Bell Media)
    • Bob TV
    • Majic 100
      Top 20 Countdown
    • Speaker's Corner
      Ottawa

    News operation

    CHRO presently broadcasts 22 hours of locally produced newscasts each week, all consisting of four hours each weekday and two hours on Saturdays of a local version of CTV's local morning news program franchise CTV Morning Live.

    Over the course of 1998, new graphics and presentation elements were added to the existing newscast that had been produced in Pembroke, and several reporters were forced out. By the summer, the only on-air staff in Pembroke were four anchors; the entire reporting staff was based in Ottawa. On September 7, coinciding with the change to The New RO, CHRO relaunched its news as NewsSixOttawa. The station dismissed Cathy Cox, who had been the lead anchor in Pembroke for seven years.

    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, which featured a mix of news, lifestyle and entertainment reports. Reporter Sandra Blaikie, who joined CHRO in 2000, took over from Caroline Redekopp after her departure in 2002. James Hendricks—by now the 11 p.m. 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 11 p.m. anchor in April 2004.[24]

    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 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 also owned by CTVglobemedia (now Bell Media) already produces higher-rated evening newscasts serving the Ottawa market.[25]

    In order to comply with the station's CRTC-mandated local programming expectation of 23+1⁄2 hours per week,[26] 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 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.[27] In December 2009, anchor Sandra Blaikie left the station to pursue other interests outside broadcasting, because of the uncertain future of local television in Canada.[28] In September 2010, late evening anchor and national reporter Tony Grace left the station to assume the 6 p.m. anchor position at CKVR in Barrie. In August 2011, Bill Welychka was let go from CHRO. In early September 2011, national reporter Jennifer Madigan left the station as all CTV Two stations began using CTV National News resources for national and international stories.

    Technical information

    Subchannel

    Subchannel of CHRO-DT-43[29]
    Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
    43.1 1080i
    16:9
    		 CHRO Main CHRO-DT programming / CTV 2

    Analogue-to-digital conversion

    On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory

    UHF
    channel 43. 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.

    Spectrum reallocation

    As part of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction, channels 38 through 51 were removed from television broadcasting in the United States and Canada. CHRO-DT-43 was reassigned from channel 43 to channel 35, using virtual channel 43. The change was completed on July 3, 2020.[1]

    Notes

    1. ^ Under the ownership of Baton Broadcasting, the MCTV branding used on CHRO still remained. The previous MCTV logo was dropped in 1994 when all of the other Baton-owned stations adopted a similar logo, the only difference being the call letters. Unlike other Baton-owned stations, the MCTV stations did not use their call signs in their logos. The logo featured multicoloured rings around the acronym BBS.[7]

    References

    1. ^ a b Filter Items: CHRO http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf11282.html
    2. ^ Yonson, Doug (January 22, 1986). "CHRO-TV seeks to leave CBC". Ottawa Citizen. p. F16. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
    3. ^ "CRTC ruling sparks network war". The Globe and Mail, March 3, 1987.
    4. ^ "Baton buys CJOH TV in Ottawa from Standard for $85 million". The Globe and Mail, July 15, 1987.
    5. ^ Atherton, Tony (April 29, 1989). "Drama unfolds as four firms go after new Ottawa TV licence". Ottawa Citizen. p. C11. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
    6. ^ Atherton, Tony (May 27, 1989). "Firm that owns CHRO sold; Deal for Northern Cable may halt bid for Ottawa licence". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
    7. ^ BBS logo on Canadian Trademarks Database
    8. ^ "Retrontario on Instagram: "We sent our VCR into a parallel dimension 🚨 #capitalcity #capitalpulse #1989 #markdailey #WTF #alternativeuniverse #retrontario #ottawa…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
    9. ^ "CHUM submits bid for new Ottawa station". The Ottawa Citizen. December 16, 1988. p. 38. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
    10. ^ "CITY-TV bids second time to launch Ottawa station". National Post. December 16, 1988. p. 19. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
    11. ^ "Decision CRTC 96-542: Disaffiliation of CHRO-TV Pembroke from the CTV Television Network; Addition of a transmitter of CHRO-TV at Ottawa and addition of a transmitter of CJOH-TV Ottawa at Pembroke". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. August 28, 1996.
    12. ^ a b Atherton, Tony (September 14, 1998). "'Remaking a station from scratch'". The Ottawa Citizen. p. F1. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
    13. ^ "CHRO-TV | History of Canadian Broadcasting". www.broadcasting-history.ca. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
    14. ^ "Bell Globemedia makes $1.7B bid for CHUM". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. July 12, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
    15. ^ Ottawa Sun, 13-07-2006[usurped]
    16. Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News. April 9, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.[permanent dead link
      ]
    17. ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-165, June 8, 2007 (see paragraphs 22, 30–31)
    18. ^ "CTV expected to rebrand A Channel". Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. June 13, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2006.
    19. ^ on Tuesday August 5th Edition Of Inside A-Channel Sandra Blaikie confirms "A" debut on Monday August 11th Archived June 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
    20. ^ "CTV Ottawa newsroom destroyed by fire", CTV Ottawa, February 7, 2010
    21. ^ CTV Ottawa to stay at A Ottawa indefinitely.
    22. ^ After the CTV fire, one last reunion at Merivale Road, CTV Ottawa, April 24, 2010
    23. ^ Bell Media’s /A\ Network to Become “CTV Two” This Fall Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
    24. ^ "We couldn't find the page you are looking for!" (PDF).
    25. ^ CTV press release, March 3, 2009
    26. ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-328
    27. ^ 'A' channel cuts jobs, drops local newscasts, CBC News, March 3, 2009
    28. ^ Blaikie quits A Channel – Ottawa Citizen[permanent dead link]
    29. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for CHRO
    30. ^ Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) Archived August 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine

    External links

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