History
Global's first tentative steps towards a national news presence came in 1994 with the launch of First National , a regional newscast presented by Peter Kent which was aired in Manitoba, Ontario and (starting in 1997) Quebec. Around the same time, the rival WIC television station group launched Canada Tonight , a newscast produced at WIC's Vancouver station CHAN-TV (better known as British Columbia Television or BCTV), and also aired on its stations in Alberta and Ontario.
Following the purchase of WIC's television stations by Global's then-parent company Canwest, Global announced in January 2001 its plans to launch a new network newscast in September of that year, with Kevin Newman returning to Canada from ABC News as the newscast's chief anchor. [2] First National ended production in February, and the Global stations which had aired that program broadcast Canada Tonight in its place until the new newscast launched.
The final broadcast of Canada Tonight aired on August 31, 2001, and the new newscast, titled Global National, debuted on September 3 from a renovated studio at CHAN, which became a Global O&O two days earlier and produces its local newscasts from the same studio. As part of the deal in which Global bought CHAN, it became home to Global's national news centre; the station had wanted to do a national newscast for its former network CTV (with Canada Tonight emerging as the result after CTV's board turned CHAN's proposal down). When the program began, it had only 15 people on staff and a budget of $8 million; the newscast was tied in part to $20 million worth of funding Global had put aside, in exchange for the CRTC to give Global a national network license (a bid approved in January 2000); Global National, as well as public-affairs shows and "wellness documentaries" were the fruits of the deal.
Global National set several technological firsts; it was the first daily newscast in the world to use digital cameras in addition to videotape, as well as editing all stories on Apple's then-new Final Cut editing software. The look and feel of the newscast was also distinctively different in comparison to other national newscasts; eschewing common elements like maps and globes, instead swirling circles in the Global house colors of red (with burgundy and orange, known internally as the "vortex of news") were used with a circular logo integrating the Global "crescent" logo of the era; the music package was uniquely heavy on woodwinds, drums and flutes. The newscast name was originally Global Network News (or GNN), but Global's marketing department argued for a title that was shorter and more concise. [3]
Kevin Newman's name was added to the program's title from the start of its second season. The program initially only aired on weekdays; weekend broadcasts began on February 26, 2005, with Tara Nelson as the anchor. [4] The launch of the weekend editions precipitated the cancellation of the newsmagazine series Global Sunday . [4]
Global National initially aired in different time slots across the country: 5:30 pm in British Columbia; 6:00 in Saskatchewan and Manitoba; 6:30 pm in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec; and 11:15 pm in the Maritimes. In conjunction with the launch of Global's new visual identity in February 2006, the program began to be aired live at 6:30 pm in the Atlantic Time Zone, and 5:30 elsewhere. [5] This version of the program is then broadcast via satellite tape delay in time zones to the west (at 6:30 Eastern, 5:30 Central, Mountain, and Pacific, and 6:00 on CHBC Kelowna since 2009), with updates if news events warrant. This allows the newscast to air at a uniform time slot across most of the country, as well as to serve as a lead-in to local news in most markets. While strong in Western Canada from day one – particularly in British Columbia, where CHAN has dominated news ratings for four decades – the timeslot change allowed the program's ratings in Ontario to improve significantly as a result of having The Young and the Restless as its lead-in; that show had previously given a strong ratings bump to CIII's local newscast. (On October 11, 2011, CIII moved Global National back to 6:30 p.m. as part of a scheduling shift with its early evening newscast, the News Hour . [6] )
Opening used from February 2006 – September 2010.
Opening used from 2013–2022.
It is often difficult to compare Canada's national newscast ratings because the newscasts air at different times. Global decided to cut into their supper hour local newscast ratings to air Global National while rivals CTV and CBC air their national newscasts in the late evening. Despite airing in a more favorable timeslot, Global National is continually out-rated by CTV National News [7] and maintains a slight lead over CBC's The National.
In February 2008, Newman began presenting the weekday edition of Global National from a specially-built digital newsroom and studio facility in Ottawa. [8] The Ottawa studio's cameras were controlled remotely from CHAN in Vancouver, where the newscast's main editorial and production staff remain. Similar remote-controlled greenscreen studios were introduced at a number of local Global newscasts.
Tara Nelson was named Global's Europe bureau chief in September 2008; [9] her position as the program's weekend anchor was then shared by Carolyn Jarvis on Saturdays and Robin Gill on Sundays. Nelson resigned in October 2010 to become the new 6:00 pm anchor at CTV Calgary, Alberta (CFCN-DT). [10]
Newman announced his departure from the network on April 30, 2010, [11] and anchored the newscast for the last time on August 20, 2010. Dawna Friesen was named as his successor on July 13, 2010, [12] and began anchoring Global National on September 20, 2010. [13]
Carolyn Jarvis was reassigned to Global's newsmagazine program 16:9 in 2011, with Robin Gill taking over as Saturday anchor alongside her pre-existing Sunday hosting duties.
