A-Channel
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New A-Channel logo |
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 stations that formed the
previous A-Channel system have now joined
Citytv, CHUM's primary local television system; Citytv operates in parallel with A-Channel in both Ontario and B.C.
On July 12, 2006,
Bell Globemedia announced they were to make a friendly takeover bid to buy CHUM Limited.
BGM also said they planned to divest themselves of
Access Alberta and A-Channel upon completion of the merger. It should be emphasized BGM intends to retain the whole of Citytv, including the
former A-Channel stations in Alberta and Manitoba, which are accordingly not for sale.
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.
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.
*
CHWI (
Windsor, Ontario/
Wheatley, Ontario)
*
CFPL (
London, Ontario)
*
CKNX (
Wingham, Ontario)
*
CKVR (
Barrie, Ontario)
*
CHRO (
Ottawa, Ontario/
Pembroke, Ontario)
*
CIVI (
Victoria, British Columbia)
*
List of programs broadcast by A-Channel*
Official site*
CHUM Announcement - Integration of Craig stations into Citytv*
CHUM Announcement - Local Stations Being Re-Branded as A-Channel*
Bell Globemedia bids $1.7B for CHUM Ltd.
