A-Channel

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Image:Achannelnew.gif A-Channel, formerly known as NewNet or The New Net, is a system of six local Canadian television stations in Ontario and British Columbia, all owned by CHUM Limited. CHUM acquired the brand as part of its purchase of Craig Media in 2004. The original A-Channel stations have now joined Citytv, CHUM's primary local television system; Citytv operates in parallel with A-Channel in both Ontario and B.C.

1 The original A-Channel: 1997-2005
- 1.1 Programming
2 NewNet (1995-2005) / A-Channel (2005-present)
- 2.1 Programming
- 2.2 Stations
3 Slogans
4 See also
5 External links

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The original A-Channel: 1997-2005

Image:A-ChannelLogo.pngA-Channel was first used by Craig Media as it sought to develop a national presence. Originally, Craig owned only two stations: CKX, a CBC affiliate in Brandon, Manitoba, and CHMI, branded as the Manitoba Television Network (or MTN), in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Looking to expand, Craig decided to counter CanWest Global's attempts to obtain licenses from the 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 would later buy out WIC and assume control of its Alberta-based stations.)

A-Channel stations in Edmonton (CKEM) and Calgary (CKAL) launched in 1997. Programming included the local morning show The Big Breakfast, as well as Prime Ticket Movies, a brand initially used at MTN. MTN adopted A-Channel branding in 1999.

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.

On April 12, 2004, CHUM 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 became official on December 1. CHUM was forced to sell Toronto 1, because it already owned stations in Toronto and nearby Barrie. Toronto 1 was sold to Quebecor, owners of the media units TVA and Sun Media.

In March 2005, CHUM announced it would align Craig's A-Channel stations with its existing major-market stations under the Citytv brand. The change took effect on August 2 of the same year.

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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.

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NewNet (1995-2005) / A-Channel (2005-present)

The NewNet stations began to develop in 1995, when CHUM disaffiliated its longtime CBC affiliate in Barrie, Ontario, CKVR, and tried to give it a more youthful image to make a stronger appeal to the neighbouring Toronto market, which included acquiring broadcasting rights to Toronto's new NBA franchise. The resulting station became known as "The New VR".

The experiment apparently worked. In 1997, when CHUM acquired similar stations in Pembroke (near Ottawa), London, Wingham and Windsor, Ontario, as part of a trade with Baton Broadcasting, these stations were similarly rebranded. Most of these were also former CBC affiliates, and all were in markets where CITY-TV Toronto was already available on basic cable. CIVI in Victoria, British Columbia was added when it launched in 2001.

The name "NewNet" was never used on the stations themselves, only as an advertising vehicle. Instead, each station was known as "The New XX", where XX was the last two letters of the station's callsign (eg. "The New VR" for CKVR, "The New VI" for CIVI, etc.)

On March 15, 2005, CHUM announced that it would rebrand the NewNet stations under the A-Channel banner by that fall; the date was later decided as August 2, the same date as the old A-Channel's rebranding as Citytv.

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Programming

A-Channel stations broadcast programs which are syndicated or aired on the smaller American television networks (such as UPN and The WB) in addition to some local news programming and a few movies. Much of the primetime lineup on A-Channel stations comprises United States programming.

Many A-Channel programmes air on the former A-Channel (now Citytv) stations in Manitoba and Alberta, or even on Alberta's CHUM-owned educational service Access.

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