CHAN's original logo, used until 1963.CHAN-TV and CHEK-TV shared this logo in the 1960s; it was often used when the stations simulcast programming.
The station first signed on the air at 4:45p.m. on October 31, 1960. Founded by Art Jones' Vantel Broadcasting, it originally operated as an independent station.[3] It acquired several programs from CTV upon that network's launch on October 1, 1961; it would eventually join the network formally in 1965.[4]
The station operated from a temporary studio housed at 1219 Richards Street in Downtown Vancouver, until its full-time studio facility at 7850 Enterprise Street in Burnaby was opened in 1962.[5] Soon after the station's launch, CHAN began installing relay transmitters across the province, and now reaches 96% of British Columbia. Through its over-the-air signal, CHAN also reaches an American audience in neighbouring Whatcom County, Washington.
BCTV's original logo, used for more than 20 years from 1973 to 1994. The logo featured the pacific dogwood flower, the provincial flower of British Columbia.
In 1963, local entrepreneur Frank Griffiths, owner of radio station CKNW (980 AM), purchased CHAN-TV from Vantel, along with nearby CBC affiliate CHEK-TV (channel 6) in the Vancouver Island city of Victoria, from its original owner, David Armstrong. At that point, CHEK began airing a few CTV programs, usually scheduled at different times than when CHAN aired them. It would become a full-time CTV affiliate in January 1981, but maintained a shuffled schedule. Griffiths' Western Broadcasting Communications later sold a minority share of the station to Selkirk Communications, before buying back full control in 1989.
In 1986, BCTV set up a fully functional broadcast studio pavilion at the Vancouver Expo 86, whose theme was transportation and communication. The BCTV pavilion allowed visitors to see, and participate, in every step of how a television station operates, as well as how newscasts and television shows were produced. The pavilion was also used by the station for coverage of the Expo, and by visiting journalists.[7][8][9][2]
As early as 1971, CHAN unofficially began using the brand "BCTV".[10][11] In 1973, BCTV became CHAN's official on-air branding, which remained in use until 2001, when it adopted the "Global BC" brand. The "BCTV" brand was retained for its local newscasts until February 2006. However, the "BCTV" brand became so firmly established in the province that many people still call the station by that name today.[citation needed]
Hostility to CTV
CHAN was CTV's third-largest affiliate, and by far the largest in Western Canada. As such, it was one of the backbones of the CTV network for many years and one of the network's most successful affiliates. However, it was always somewhat hostile toward CTV. Management believed that the network's flagship station, CFTO-TV in Toronto, had too much influence over the network. In particular, CHAN felt CFTO received favouritism in the production of CTV's Canadian programming in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
CHAN's final "BCTV" logo. The stylized pacific dogwood was modernized in 1994 and was used until the affiliation switch on August 31, 2001.
Nonetheless, until 1997, CHAN bought the provincial rights to several popular series from CFTO's parent company, Baton Broadcasting. However, tensions were exacerbated that year when Baton won a licence to operate a new television station in Vancouver, CIVT-TV (channel 32), and immediately moved much of CHAN's stronger programs there. Baton won controlling interest in CTV soon after channel 32's launch, and it became an open secret that CIVT would eventually replace CHAN as the CTV station for the Vancouver market.
CHAN had signed a long-term contract with CTV several years earlier that would not expire until 1999, but was extended to 2001. However, the sign-on of CIVT meant that CHAN could only air CTV's base schedule of 40 hours of programming per week. The station had to fill the schedule with its local newscasts and lower-profile programming supplied by parent company Western International Communications. A small amount of CHUM Limited-produced programs also aired on CHAN at times during the period from 1997 to 2001, including CityLine.
On June 6, 2000[13] WIC's stations were purchased by Canwest Global Communications, which owned the Global Television Network. As a result, CHAN was due to become the Global outlet for all of British Columbia. Although Global already owned a station in Vancouver, CKVU-TV (channel 10), it opted to sell CKVU to CHUM Limited and move its affiliation to CHAN. By this time, CHAN operated a network of over 100 transmitters covering almost all of the province, and had been the province's dominant news station for three decades. In contrast, CKVU operated only three transmitters covering the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
CHAN-TV's affiliation agreement with CTV expired on September 1, 2001, sparking a major shakeup in British Columbia television:
The CTV affiliation, jointly held by CHAN and sister station CHEK, moved to CIVT, which became a CTV O&O station that branded for a short time as "BC CTV" (later revised to "CTV British Columbia"). Both switches left CTV dependent on cable and satellite coverage to reach the rest of the province, as CTV has refused to set up rebroadcasters in the rest of the province. CHAN retained the rights to The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was carried by CTV in all of its other O&O markets, until the talk show ended its run in 2011.
The Global affiliation, held by CKVU, moved to CHAN, which became the network's new O&O under the "Global BC" brand. CKVU meanwhile adopted the "ckvu13" brand and briefly became an independent station carrying CHUM-supplied programming, some of which had aired the previous season on KVOS-TV (channel 12) in Bellingham, Washington. The station became a Citytv owned-and-operated station (the eventual television system-turned-network's first expansion outside of Toronto) several months later, after the sale to CHUM was approved.
Most of CHAN's former WIC-supplied programming, which migrated to Canwest's newly launched CH system, moved to CHEK (where other WIC programs already aired). The station was rebranded "CH Vancouver Island"; it was later renamed CHEK News in 2007 as part of CH's rebranding to E! and to simply "CHEK" in 2009 following the demise of the E! system.
Religious station CHNU (channel 10; later a Joytv station, now an independent station), launched two weeks later, and a CHUM-owned NewNet station in Victoria, CIVI-TV (channel 53), launched just over two weeks after that.
Programming
For the most part, CHAN does not deviate much from the Global schedule. Some programs carried on Global's daytime schedule in other markets – primarily library programs from Corus Entertainment's specialty channels – are not cleared on CHAN in order to make room for the station's various local news programs.
In February, the station broadcasts the annual VarietyShow of Heartstelethon.[14]
As CHUM Limited held the rights to this program throughout the rest of the country, when CIVI-TV launched in nearby Victoria, British Columbia, the broadcast rights transferred over to that station.
The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986–2011) aired at 4p.m. on CHAN because the station owned the provincial television rights to this show, dating back to its days as a CTV affiliate. In every other market in which CTV owned a station, that network owned the local rights to Oprah.
News operation
Global BC News Hour during the 2010 Winter Olympics.Global BC's microwave ENG vans.
CHAN-DT presently broadcasts 47+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7+1⁄2 hours each weekday and five hours on Saturdays and Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output among Global's television stations (either owned-and-operated or affiliated), as well as among all Canadian television stations (after the drastic reduction of Hamilton, Ontario's CHCH-DT total weekly news programming due to budget cuts in December 2015).
The station's Burnaby studios also serve as the production facilities for Global's Vancouver-based English national evening newscast Global National and the Shaw Multicultural ChannelMandarin national evening newscast Global National Mandarin (2012–2016). Unlike most Global stations that carry midday newscasts, CHAN airs its noon newscast seven days a week.
The station's newscast schedule is very similar to that of an affiliate of the Big Three television networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) in the United States, although as Global lacks a national morning news program, CHAN's weekday morning newscast runs a length similar to that of many Fox and other news-producing non-Big Three U.S. stations.
CHAN's news operation is well respected in the industry. Ever since the station first aired an hour-long newscast in the 1960s, a major part of the station's cash flow has gone into its news department, and it has garnered high ratings and major awards since then. The station's 6p.m. News Hour broadcast has been the highest-rated local newscast in the province for many years, as well as the most-watched in all of Canada.[15]
The station's on-air news style was even used as an inspiration for Ted Turner's CNN, as both use the newsroom as a backdrop during the broadcast. The current newsroom was constructed in 1975; it was rebuilt in the early 1990s, moving the studio out of the newsroom, but keeping it as a backdrop, and was later remodeled in 2001 and 2006.
Starting in the early 1990s, CHAN harboured ambitions of producing an early evening national newscast from its studios. In fact, several newscast pilots were produced at CHAN, suggesting the network was seriously considering such a move. However, that newscast never materialized; instead, CHAN began producing Canada Tonight, which aired on most WIC-owned stations beginning in 1993.
Two versions were produced: one for British Columbia itself, hosted by CKNW radio commentator Bill Good (who later went to CTV's current Vancouver O&O station, CIVT-TV, and retired in December 2010) and a national version, hosted by Tony Parsons, who also anchored CHAN's nightly news program, the News Hour. When Canwest purchased CHAN, the stories that were once sourced from CTV's other affiliates throughout the country were replaced by stories sourced from Global's affiliates.
From 2001, when the station became "Global BC", the news department underwent a minor retitling as BCTV News on Global. CHAN opted to keep the "BCTV" name for its newscasts, since that brand was still very well respected in the province; it also wanted to keep CIVT from using the name itself, as it contained the letters "CTV". In addition, CHAN became the headquarters for Global's national news centre and the production facility for a new national newscast, Global National (which is currently anchored by former CTV and NBC correspondent Dawna Friesen on weeknights and on weekends by Robin Gill;[16] originally anchored beforehand by Kevin Newman), thus fulfilling its longstanding dream of producing a national newscast. The program is broadcast live-to-tape from Vancouver at 5:30p.m. (Pacific Time Zone), airing locally prior to the 6p.m. News Hour broadcast.
The "BCTV" brand was finally discontinued when Global introduced its new logo and on-air identity on February 6, 2006; CHAN's newscasts were rebranded as Global News (with its overall branding changing to "Global BC") at this point. In 2006, Global struck an agreement with the Canadian Traffic Network to supply the station with a Robinson R44 news helicopter with gyroscopic camera mounts. The helicopter is branded as "Global 1" – the same designation used for the news helicopters used by other Global stations – which is shared with CKNW, and is the second news helicopter in Vancouver (after that used by CIVT).[citation needed]
On December 16, 2009, Tony Parsons anchored his final newscast at CHAN after 34 years as anchor of the News Hour.[17] It was expected that he would remain until after the 2010 Winter Olympics, but left much earlier than expected for unknown reasons. Parsons joined CHEK as anchor of its 10p.m. newscast on March 15, 2010, and also began anchoring the evening newscasts at CBC Television O&O CBUT (channel 2) on April 12, 2010, remaining at both stations until his retirement in 2013.[18][19]
CHAN began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition on September 20, 2010 (Dawna Friesen was named anchor of Global National on that same date); the station debuted a new graphics package as well as an HD-ready virtual set two weeks later on October 4, which utilized the same set with minor changes to the desk. CHAN-DT uses Betacam SP analogue videotape for all of its local advertisements and for pre-recorded segments within its newscasts; however, the station is slowly moving to a digital format for video production. MPEG-2 transmission is used on nearly all non-local broadcasts.
On January 11, 2012, Shaw Media filed a license application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) – which was approved on July 20, 2012 – to launch a Category Bdigital-onlyspecialty service that would serve as a British Columbia-focused news channel operated by CHAN-DT and utilizing its news staff.[20] The channel, which was given the name Global News: BC 1, launched on March 14, 2013. It became the fourth regional news channel in Canada and the first outside of Ontario (joining Toronto-based 24-hour services CP24 and the now-defunct CityNews Channel, and Hamilton-based independent station – and former CHAN sister station under their prior Canwest ownership – CHCH-DT, which carries a heavy local newscast schedule along with some entertainment programming).[21]
On August 27, 2012, CHAN-DT expanded its weekday morning newscast to four hours, with the addition of a half-hour at 5a.m. (making it only the second Canadian station with a pre-5:30a.m. morning newscast, after CHCH-DT), the 5 to 6a.m. hour of the newscast was re-titled as the Early Morning News; in addition on September 2, 2012, the station also expanded its Sunday morning newscast to three hours with the addition of an hour at 7a.m. The expansions of CHAN's morning newscasts were part of a benefits package that was included as a condition of the sale of the Global Television Network to Shaw Communications.[22]
CHAN has been broadcasting in digital since April 11, 2008, on UHF channel 22.[24] On June 29, 2011, CHAN-DT increased its effective radiated power (ERP) from 8.3kW to its post-transitional allotment of 40kW. CHAN's primary Vancouver transmitter was the station's only one required to go digital by the transition deadline.
CHAN shut down its analogue signal, over VHF channel 8, on August 31, 2011, the official date on which Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 22,[25][26] using virtual channel 8. The station's electronic program guide began functioning properly on January 28, 2012.
On October 15, 2012, CHAN-DT's transmitters in Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon were converted to digital signals.[27] These were the station's first rebroadcast transmitters to be converted to digital as part of Shaw's efforts to convert all of its television transmitters to digital by 2016.
Transmitters
Note that the transmitters in Kelowna and the surrounding area (CHKL-TV) are in addition to CHBC-DT, a co-owned separate Global station in Kelowna that originates its own local evening newscasts, but which carries Global BC's programming at virtually all other times. CHAN is the last owned-and-operated station of the three major Canadian broadcast networks (CBC, CTV and Global) in the Vancouver market to still operate rebroadcasters throughout most of the province.
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a division of the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE. It is Canada's largest privately or commercially owned network consisting of 22 owned-and-operated stations nationwide and two privately owned affiliates, and has consistently been placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival Global Television Network in key markets.
The Global Television Network is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CTV, and has fifteen owned-and-operated stations throughout the country. Global is owned by Corus Entertainment — the media holdings of JR Shaw and other members of his family.
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia.
CITY-DT is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT and CJMT-DT. The stations share studios at 33 Dundas Street East on Yonge–Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, while CITY-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.
CIVI-DT is a television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, part of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Vancouver-based CTV station CIVT-DT. Although the two stations nominally maintain separate operations, the Victoria station's newscasts have been anchored from the CIVT-DT studios since 2023. CIVI-DT's offices are located at the corner of Broad Street and Pandora Avenue across from the McPherson Playhouse and the Victoria City Hall in downtown Victoria, and its transmitter is located on the roof of Camosack Manor near Rockland. The station operates a rebroadcaster (CIVI-DT-2) on virtual and UHF channel 17 in Vancouver, with transmitter atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.
CKVU-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CHNM-DT. The two stations share studios at the corner of West 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver; CKVU-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver, with additional transmitter link facilities on the roof of the Century Plaza Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.
CHNM-DT is a multicultural television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, part of the Omni Television network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Citytv station CKVU-DT. The two stations share studios at the corner of West 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver; CHNM-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.
CBUT-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBUFT-DT. The two stations share studios at the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre on Hamilton Street in downtown Vancouver; CBUT-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.
Tony Parsons is a Canadian broadcaster whose career has spanned more than 50 years, and he has anchored the second most-watched local evening Television newscast in North America, the News Hour on Global BC in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was the co-anchor of CBC News: Vancouver on CBUT-DT with Gloria Macarenko, and the 10:00 pm newscast on CHEK-DT.
CHEK-DT is an independent television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, serving Vancouver Island and Greater Vancouver. The station is owned by the CHEK Media Group, a consortium made up of station employees and local investors. CHEK-DT's studios are located on Kings Road in Victoria, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Warburton Pike on Saturna Island.
Global National is the English language flagship national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Editorial and production staff are based out of Global's national news centre at Global BC in Burnaby, British Columbia, with Dawna Friesen presenting from the Global BC studios Mondays to Thursdays, and Farah Nasser presenting from the Global Toronto studios Fridays to Sundays. From 2008 to 2010, the program was the only Canadian network newscast to be regularly anchored from the nation's capital, Ottawa.
CIVT-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Victoria-based CTV 2 station CIVI-DT. Although the two stations nominally maintain separate operations, the Victoria station's newscasts have been produced at CIVT-DT since 2023. CIVT-DT's studios are located at 969 Robson Street at the intersection of Robson Street and Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver, which also houses the British Columbia operations of the CTV network itself, including the CTV National News Vancouver bureau. The station's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver.
CHBC-DT is a television station in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and maintains studios on Leon Avenue in Downtown Kelowna; its main transmitter is located on Blue Grouse Mountain in the Regional District of Central Okanagan.
Canada Tonight is a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications (WIC) from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV (BCTV) in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two versions of the newscast; the one seen outside British Columbia was anchored by Tony Parsons, and the one seen in that province was anchored by Bill Good. The British Columbia version, seen only on British Columbia Television, featured more stories related to Vancouver and British Columbia, as well as local weather and some national news reports sourced from CTV, which WIC's other stations were unable to use.
WIC Western International Communications Ltd. was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via a majority interest in Canadian Satellite Communications.
Mi-Jung Lee is a Canadian television journalist and news anchor based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She formerly co-anchored the weeknight 6pm newscast alongside Scott Roberts on CTV Vancouver, Roberts has since moved on to CTV Edmonton and Lee is anchoring solo.
In 2001, the Vancouver/Victoria, British Columbia, television market saw a major shuffling of network affiliations, involving nearly all of the area's broadcast television stations. This was one of the largest single-market affiliation realignments in the history of North American television, and had a number of significant effects on television broadcasting across Canada and into the United States.
Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and-operated stations.
CKY-DT is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios on Graham Avenue in Downtown Winnipeg; its transmitter is located near Lord Selkirk Highway/Highway 75 in Ritchot.
The first incarnation of E!, also referred to as E! Entertainment Television, was a Canadian English language privately owned television system that existed from 2001 to 2009 under the ownership of Canwest. At its peak it consisted of eight local television stations located in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, including five stations owned and operated (O&O) by Canwest and three affiliates owned by Jim Pattison Group.
Some of the assets listed above are majority-owned, wholly-owned, by Corus Entertainment, or are under license. Refer to full asset list for detailed information.
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