CIVI-DT
 | |
| Victoria/Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | |
|---|---|
| City | Victoria, British Columbia |
| Branding |
CTV Two Vancouver Island (general) CTV News Vancouver Island (local news) |
| Slogan | Your Island News |
| Channels |
Digital: 23 (UHF) Virtual: 53 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 53.1 CTV Two |
| Translators |
CIVI-DT-2 Vancouver Digital: 17 (UHF) Virtual: 17.1 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | CTV Two (O&O; 2001–present) |
| Owner | Bell Media |
| First air date | October 1, 2001 |
| Call letters' meaning |
C I Vancouver Island |
| Sister station(s) |
TV: CIVT-DT Radio: CFAX, CHBE-FM |
| Former callsigns | CIVI-TV (2001-2011) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 53 (UHF, 2001–2011) |
| Transmitter power |
CIVI-DT: 1.5 kW CIVI-DT-2: 35 kW |
| Height |
CIVI-DT: 99.6 m CIVI-DT-2: 634.3 m |
| Transmitter coordinates |
CIVI-DT: 48°25′30″N 123°20′13″W / 48.42500°N 123.33694°W CIVI-DT-2: 49°21′16″N 122°57′30″W / 49.35444°N 122.95833°W |
| Licensing authority | CRTC |
| Website | vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca |
CIVI-DT, UHF digital channel 23, is a CTV Two owned-and-operated television station located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The station is owned by Bell Media, as part of a twinstick with Vancouver-based CTV owned-and-operated station CIVT-DT (channel 32). CIVI maintains studio facilities located at the corner of Pandora Avenue and Broad Street across from Victoria City Hall, and its transmitter near Rockland. On cable, the station is also available on Shaw Cable channel 12 and in high definition on digital channel 212.
History
At the end of the 1990s, CHUM Limited only owned terrestrial television stations in the province of Ontario. Similarly, Craig Media only had stations in provinces within the Canadian Prairies. Both companies looked to expand their national presence, and both submitted a bid when the CRTC issued a call for applications for a new television station licence in Victoria; CHUM was awarded the licence in 2000. CIVI first signed on the air on October 4, 2001 as CHUM's first original station to be part of the NewNet television system.
Known on the air as "The New VI," the station started off with much pomp and circumstance. It boasted a large lineup of personalities, including former British Columbia New Democratic Party cabinet minister Moe Sihota. The station's news anchors walked around the studio instead of sitting behind a desk, mimicking the format used at Toronto sister station CITY-TV and other NewNet outlets. However, the station struggled to compete against CH owned-and-operated station CHEK-TV (channel 6, now an independent station), a station which had essentially held a monopoly over the television industry on Vancouver Island for more than four decades. Gradually, personalities from the original roster were replaced by new faces, and some were let go without replacements.
The station received a boost in 2004, when longtime CHEK-TV anchor Hudson Mack joined the station as its new chief anchor and news director. Changes were introduced to the station's newscasts such as the introduction of a desk for the anchors; theses changes appeared to have been effective – although it still ranks behind CHEK-TV, the ratings gap between the two has been narrowed.
Since Mack's arrival, the station has been honoured with a number of industry awards. In 2006, it received three Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association International, for Best Newscast, Best Investigative Reporting and Best Sports Reporting. It was the second straight year the station won Murrows for its newscast and investigative reporting. In 2005, the station won eight industry awards, including two Edward R. Murrow Awards from RTNDA International, for Best Newscast and Best Investigative Reporting; and top news honours from the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters.
As A-Channel Victoria
The station was rebranded as "A-Channel" on August 2, 2005, along with the rest of the NewNet system. The station would likely have been part of the original A-Channel system at its launch had Craig Media won the licence in 2000. On July 12, 2006, CTVglobemedia announced plans to purchase CHUM Limited, with the intention of divesting the A-Channel stations.[1] On that same day it was also announced that the morning news programme A-Channel Morning would be discontinued, although this decision was supposedly unrelated to the takeover by CTVglobemedia (CIVI later restored a morning programme to its schedule in the fall of 2007).
Rogers Communications announced a deal to buy A-Channel on April 9, 2007;[2] however, given the conditions of approval for the sale of CHUM on June 8, 2007,[3] Rogers acquired the Citytv system instead, while CTV kept A-Channel.[4] CTVglobemedia became the official owner of CIVI on June 22, 2007.
As A Vancouver Island
The A-Channel system and Atlantic Canada's ASN was rebranded as A on August 11, 2008, with CIVI becoming branded as "A Vancouver Island". As a result, CIVI's newscasts were rebranded as A News on that date, although the station's employees had been using that title for a couple of months prior to the relaunch; the station also began producing a morning newscast (under the title A Morning) on September 8, 2008, but was later canceled on March 4, 2009 due to economic issues. The programme was later replaced with a simulcast of the morning show from sister radio station CFAX (1070 AM).[5][6][7]
CTV Two Vancouver Island
As part of Bell Media's May 30, 2012 announcement of the rebranding of the A television stations to the CTV Two brand, CIVI became branded as "CTV Two Vancouver Island" on August 29, 2011.[8] As a result, CIVI's newscasts were rebranded as CTV News on that same date.
News operation
CIVI presently broadcasts 13½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 2½ hours on weekdays and a half-hour on Saturdays and Sundays); unlike most CTV Two owned-and-operated stations, the station does not carry an 11:30 p.m. newscast on weekend evenings (instead airing its late evening newscast at 11:00 p.m.), though it does carry a half-hour 6:00 p.m. newscast on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Notable former on-air staff
- Hudson Mack – main anchor
- Moe Sihota – political commentator (former president of the British Columbia New Democratic Party)
Digital television
Digital channel
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | CIVI | Main CIVI-DT programming / CTV Two |
Analogue-to-digital conversion
CIVI shut down its analogue signal, over UHF channel 23, on August 31, 2011, the official date in 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 23.[10][11] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CIVI-DT's virtual channel as its analogue-era UHF channel 53, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition. Since September 21, 2011, the station's high definition signal has been carried by satellite provider Bell TV on channel 1154.[12]
References
- ↑ "Bell Globemedia makes $1.7B bid for CHUM". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. July 12, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
- ↑ "CRTC expected to OK Rogers' $137.5M buy of CTVglobemedia TV channels". Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News. April 9, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
- ↑ "CRTC tells CTVglobemedia to sell 5 Citytv stations". cbc.ca via Yahoo! Canada News. June 8, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2007.
- ↑ "CTV expected to rebrand A Channel". Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. June 13, 2006. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2006.
- ↑ Morning TV show back on airwaves
- ↑ CNW Group | CTV INC. | Double Vision: Fall 2008 Schedules Announced for CTV and "A"
- ↑ "A Victoria website confirming 'A' Morning debut September 8th". Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
- ↑ "Bell Media's /A\ Network to Become "CTV Two" This Fall" (Press release). Bell Media. May 30, 2011. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for CIVI
- ↑ Digital Television - Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)
- ↑ CHCH - Hamilton shuts off analog signal YouTube. August 15, 2011.
- ↑ CTV Two Vancouver/Victoria Now Available in HD on Bell Satellite TV Bell Media press release, Retrieved September 26, 2011.
External links
- CIVI-DT ("CTV Two Vancouver Island") official website
- Canadian Communications Foundation - CIVI-DT History
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CIVI-DT
- Query TV Fool's coverage map for CIVI-DT