CTV Television Network facts for kids
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| Type | Terrestrial television network |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Broadcast area | Canada (Available in parts of the Northern United States by cable or antenna) |
| Headquarters | 9 Channel Nine Court, Agincourt, Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | BCE Inc. |
| Parent | CTV Inc. (Bell Media) |
| Key people | Wade Oosterman President, Bell Media Karine Moses Senior Vice-President, Content Development and News Wendy Freeman Vice-President, CTV News |
| Sister channels |
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| History | |
| Launched | October 1, 1961 |
| Founder | Spence Caldwell |
| Former names | Canadian Television Network (CTN) (pre-launch name) |
The CTV Television Network, usually called CTV, is a Canadian English-language TV network. It started in 1961 and was bought by BCE Inc. in 2000. CTV is Canada's biggest privately owned TV network. It is now part of Bell Media, which is a company owned by BCE.
CTV has been Canada's most-watched TV network since 2002. It has 22 stations that it owns and operates across the country. It also has two stations that are privately owned but show CTV programs. Bell Media also runs other CTV-branded channels, like the 24-hour news channel CTV News Channel and the second TV system, CTV 2.
The letters "CTV" don't stand for anything official. Before it launched in 1961, it was going to be called "Canadian Television Network" (CTN). But the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) didn't like that name. They said they had the only right to use the word "Canadian" for TV. So, the name was changed to just CTV.
Contents
History of CTV
How CTV Started
In 1958, the Canadian government created the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG). This group was in charge of Canadian TV and radio. Before this, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was both a TV station and the boss of all TV. The BBG changed that.
The BBG's first big decision was to allow new "second" TV stations. People wanted more choices than just the CBC. These new stations were approved in big cities like Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Nine new stations were given licenses. The first eight were privately owned. The ninth, in Edmonton, was a CBC station. This meant the existing private station in Edmonton, CFRN-TV, would no longer be a CBC partner.
One of the new station owners, John Bassett from Toronto's CFTO-TV, wanted to create a second TV network. He talked to other new station owners. In July 1960, they formed the Independent Television Organization (ITO). This group wanted to share Canadian TV shows.
However, another person named Spence Caldwell also wanted to start a network. The BBG liked Caldwell's idea more. They worried that if the stations owned the network, the Toronto station (CFTO) would become too powerful.
Eventually, the BBG approved Caldwell's network, called the Canadian Television Network (CTN). But it had a condition: at least six of the eight new private stations had to join.
At first, CFTO in Toronto didn't want to join Caldwell's network. But then CFTO got the rights to show Canadian Football League games. To make sure these games could be shown across the country, CFTO decided to join CTN. Most other stations followed, except for CHAN in Vancouver, which showed some CTN programs but didn't officially join at first.
Early Years of the Network
The network officially launched as the CTV Television Network on October 1, 1961. The CBC's objection to the name "Canadian Television Network" is why it became just "CTV".
CTV's first night on air started with a documentary about the new network. Then, they showed a preview of their fall TV shows.
Some of the first shows on CTV in 1961–1962 included American hits like The Andy Griffith Show and Top Cat. They also had Canadian shows like Cross Canada Barndance and the quiz show Take a Chance.
At first, only CFTO in Toronto could broadcast shows live. Other stations got their shows later, on tape. Soon, a special microwave system allowed live shows to be sent across Canada.
The network, led by Spence Caldwell, quickly ran into money problems. Also, the relationship between the network and its stations was difficult. For example, the stations, not CTV, owned the rights to many American shows. This meant CTV sometimes had to compete with its own stations to get shows.
Growing and Changing
Spence Caldwell left in 1965, but CTV was still struggling financially. In 1966, the stations that were part of CTV asked if they could buy the network. They wanted to run it together, like a team. The BBG was worried that CFTO, the biggest station, would take over. But the stations promised that each owner would have one vote, no matter how big their station was. The BBG agreed.
By the start of the 1966–67 TV season, the stations owned their own network. CTV also started broadcasting in colour on September 1, 1966.
By the mid-1970s, CTV had grown across Canada. Many smaller cities got CTV through "twinstick" arrangements, where one company owned both a CBC and a CTV station. Also, some CBC partner stations switched to CTV when the CBC opened its own stations nearby.
CTV became well-known for its news when Lloyd Robertson, a famous CBC news anchor, joined CTV in 1976. He was the main news anchor until 2011. CTV's newsmagazine show, W5, has been on air since 1966. It's even older than the similar American show 60 Minutes.
In the 1970s, CTV often used popular songs as theme music for its shows. For example, W5 used music from the band Supertramp.
For many years, CTV didn't have a single, fixed schedule for all its stations, except for news. Each station had some freedom to choose its own shows.
Changes and Mergers
The way CTV was owned by many different stations often caused disagreements. Some stations felt that Baton Broadcasting, which owned the big CFTO station in Toronto, had too much control over network shows.
In the mid-1980s, Baton started buying more and more CTV stations. By 1990, Baton owned 11 of CTV's 24 stations. However, because of the "one owner, one vote" rule, Baton still only had one vote.
Around the same time, other CTV station owners also started expanding their businesses. For example, the owner of CHAN in Vancouver bought other independent stations.
After many discussions, the stations agreed in 1992 to change how the network was owned. In January 1993, CTV became a corporation instead of a cooperative. Seven of the owners invested equally, each getting a 14.3% share. One owner, CJON, decided not to invest more.
In 1996, Baton bought another station, CFCN, and its share of CTV. Baton also teamed up with Electrohome, which owned CFRN and CKCO. This allowed Baton to vote Electrohome's shares too. The next year, Baton bought Electrohome's share and also bought the ATV stations from CHUM. This gave Baton control of 57.2% of the network.
Baton then bought out the remaining station owners. Baton became the full owner of the CTV network. In 1998, the company changed its name to CTV Inc. It started using the CTV brand on all its stations, even for shows that weren't network programs.
In the late 1990s, CTV made some cuts to its smaller stations. For example, news staff were reduced in Yorkton and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. These stations now show news from bigger cities like Regina and Saskatoon, with only small local updates. Similar changes happened in the Maritimes and Northern Ontario, where local news was combined into one show for the whole region. This was a big change for these communities, especially in Northern Ontario, where MCTV's news was the only local news available.
The Bell Canada Era
In 2000, a large company called BCE Inc. bought CTV, Netstar Communications, and The Globe and Mail newspaper. They combined them into a new media company called Bell Globemedia.
Since 2000, CTV has been seen as a "television service" by the CRTC, not an official "network." Only CBC, Radio-Canada, TVA, and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network are official networks in Canada.
CTV lost some of its reach in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador in the early 2000s. In Vancouver, a long-time CTV partner station, CHAN, became a Global station in 2001. CTV then moved its programs to a station it already owned, CIVT-TV. Unlike CHAN, CIVT only covers the main cities, so people in other parts of British Columbia rely on cable or satellite to watch CTV.
In 2002, CJON-TV (known as "NTV") in St. John's stopped being a main CTV partner. This happened after CTV tried to change their agreement in a way NTV found unfair. NTV still shows CTV's national news, but most other shows are from rival Global. CTV doesn't have a main partner station in Newfoundland anymore.
In 2005, CTV launched MTV Canada in partnership with MTV Networks. In 2006, CTV's parent company, Bell Globemedia, bought CHUM Limited, another big Canadian broadcaster. Bell Globemedia was renamed CTVglobemedia in 2007. In 2009, CTV became the first Canadian TV network to offer its shows online in high definition.
In 2010, BCE Inc. bought the rest of CTVglobemedia. On April 1, 2011, CTVglobemedia was officially renamed Bell Media. In 2014, CKPR-DT in Thunder Bay, Ontario, switched from CBC to CTV, bringing CTV back to that city. In 2015, three more CBC partner stations in Ontario (Peterborough, Oshawa, and Kingston) also switched to CTV.
What CTV Shows
CTV shows many popular American TV series like The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, and Grey's Anatomy. But it has also had great success with Canadian shows. These include Due South, Corner Gas, Flashpoint, Canadian Idol, MasterChef Canada, and The Amazing Race Canada.
CTV also makes and shows Canadian TV movies. These movies are often based on Canadian news stories or history. They are shown under names like CTV Signature Series or CTV Movie.
For news, CTV has the nightly CTV National News. There's also Your Morning for eastern Canada and CTV Morning Live for western Canada. Local news shows are called CTV News. Newsmagazine shows like W-Five and Question Period (which talks about politics) are also popular.
In recent years, CTV has also bought the rights to show many American cable series. These include shows like The Sopranos and Nip/Tuck. CTV was one of the few regular TV networks in the world to show these series during prime time. Sometimes, this caused controversy with media groups and parents because CTV aired them uncensored.
Since 2003, CTV has been broadcasting some American shows in high definition (widescreen). Later, Canadian shows like Degrassi also started airing in HD.
On July 2, 2005, CTV broadcast 20 hours of the Live 8 concerts. Over 10.5 million people watched at some point, which was almost one-third of Canada's population. It was one of the most-watched programs in Canadian history.
In 2007, CTV and The Comedy Network got the exclusive rights to show all past and present programs from Comedy Central in Canada. This means Canadian users visiting Comedy Central's website are sent to The Comedy Network's site.
Sports on CTV
In the past, CTV had its own sports division. But after CTV bought the cable network TSN in 2001, TSN took over all sports broadcasting for CTV.
In 2005, CTV was part of a group that won the rights to broadcast the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. CTV and V (now Noovo) were the main broadcasters. TSN, RDS, and Sportsnet also provided extra coverage. CTV promised to show 22 hours of Olympic events per day during the 2012 Olympics. Regular CTV shows were moved to CTV's second TV system, CTV Two, during the Olympics.
On May 22, 2007, CTV announced it had bought the rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) Sunday games, the full NFL playoffs, and the Super Bowl. This ended a long partnership between the NFL and Global. TSN, which is owned by CTV, shows prime-time NFL games and helps produce the CTV broadcasts.
CTV High-Definition and Digital TV
CTV broadcasts its high-definition (HD) signal in 1080i. Many CTV stations are available in HD on digital TV.
On November 19, 2003, CTV launched an HD version of its Toronto station, CFTO-DT. The free-to-air HD signal started in 2005. Since then, CTV has launched HD versions of its stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Kitchener, Winnipeg, and Halifax.
Local News in High Definition
On May 12, 2009, Toronto's CFTO-DT became the first CTV station to broadcast its local news in high definition. Vancouver's CIVT-DT followed in November 2009. CFCN-DT in Calgary started broadcasting its local news in HD in October 2011. CFRN-DT in Edmonton upgraded its local news to HD in October 2012.
CTV Stations
CTV Owned-and-Operated Stations
Since mid-October 2005, all CTV-owned stations use the simple name "CTV" on air. They don't use their official call signs or channel numbers. If they need to be more specific, like for local shows, they might say "CTV Ottawa" or "CTV British Columbia." However, the official call sign is still the station's legal name.
| City of license | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Year of affiliation |
Owned since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary, Alberta | CFCN-DT | 4.1 (29) | 1961 | 1998 |
| Edmonton, Alberta | CFRN-DT | 3.1 (12) | 1961 | 1997 |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia | CJCH-DT | 5.1 (48) | 1961 | 1997 |
| Kitchener, Ontario | CKCO-DT | 13.1 (13) | 1964 | 1998 |
| Lethbridge, Alberta | CFCN-DT | 13.1 (13) | 1968 | 1996 |
| Moncton, New Brunswick | CKCW-DT | 29.1 (29) | 1969 | 1997 |
| Montreal, Quebec | CFCF-DT | 12.1 (12) | 1961 | 2001 |
| North Bay, Ontario | CKNY-DT | 10.1 (12) | 1971 | 1990 |
| Ottawa, Ontario | CJOH-DT | 13.1 (13) | 1961 | 1998 |
| Prince Albert, Saskatchewan | CIPA-TV | 9 (analog only) | 1987 | 1987 |
| Red Deer, Alberta | CFRN-DT | 3.1 (12) | 1973 | 1997 |
| Regina, Saskatchewan | CKCK-DT | 2.1 (8) | 1969 | 1997 |
| Saint John, New Brunswick | CKLT-DT | 9.1 (9) | 1969 | 1997 |
| Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | CFQC-DT | 8.1 (8) | 1971 | 1997 |
| Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario | CHBX-TV | 2 (analog only) | 1977 | 1990 |
| Sudbury, Ontario | CICI-TV | 5 (analog only) | 1971 | 1990 |
| Sydney, Nova Scotia | CJCB-DT | 4.1 (25) | 1972 | 1997 |
| Timmins, Ontario | CITO-TV | 3 (analog only) | 1971 (as rebroadcaster of CKSO/Sudbury) |
1990 |
| Toronto, Ontario | CFTO-DT | 9.1 (8) | 1961 | 1998 |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | CIVT-DT | 32.1 (32) | 2001 | 1997 |
| Winnipeg, Manitoba | CKY-DT | 7.1 (7) | 1961 | 2001 |
| Yorkton, Saskatchewan | CICC-TV | 10 (analog only) | 1971 | 1986 |
Regional Partner Stations
CTV doesn't have a special network license from the CRTC anymore. So, these stations get CTV shows through agreements with Bell Media. They show most CTV programs and usually have a similar schedule. But they control their own advertising and can decide which CTV shows to air and when.
| City of license/market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Year of affiliation |
Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan | CITL | 4.1 (4) | 1976 | Stingray Group |
| Thunder Bay, Ontario | CKPR | 2.1 (2) | 2014 | Dougall Media |
Former Partner Stations
| City of license | Station | Year of affiliation | Year of disaffiliation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown/Buffalo, New York, United States | WNYP-TV | 1966 | 1969 | Left after other local stations took legal action. |
| Kenora, Ontario | CJBN-TV | 1980 | 2011 | Became a Global partner; stopped broadcasting in 2017. |
| Kingston, Ontario | CKWS-DT | 2015 | 2018 | Now a Global station. |
| Oshawa, Ontario | CHEX-TV-2 | 2015 | 2018 | Now a Global station. |
| Pembroke/Ottawa, Ontario | CHRO-TV | 1991 | 1997 | Now a CTV 2 station. |
| Peterborough, Ontario | CHEX-DT | 2015 | 2018 | Now a Global station. |
| Thunder Bay, Ontario | CHFD-DT | 1972 | 2010 | Became a Global partner. (Another station, CKPR-DT, later became a CTV partner in 2014). |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | CJON-DT | 1964 | 2002 (primary) | Still shows CTV news, but is mostly an independent station. |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | CHAN-DT | 1961 (secondary) 1965 (primary) |
2001 | Became a Global station. |
| Victoria, British Columbia | CHEK-DT | 1963 (secondary) 1981 (primary) |
2001 | Now an independent station. |
Other CTV-Branded Channels
Besides CTV News Channel, other channels have been launched using the CTV brand.
In 2011, the A-Channel TV network was renamed "CTV Two" (now called CTV 2). CTV Two has stations in Ontario and British Columbia. It also has regional cable channels in Atlantic Canada and Alberta. It shows different programs than the main CTV network, often to smaller audiences.
In 2018, Bell Media announced plans to rename four of its existing specialty channels with the CTV brand. Bravo became CTV Drama Channel, The Comedy Network became CTV Comedy Channel, Gusto became CTV Life Channel, and Space became CTV Sci-Fi Channel. These changes happened on September 12, 2019.
In December 2018, Bell also launched two free streaming services: CTV Movies (for movies) and CTV Throwback (for classic TV shows). These services got their content from an agreement with Sony Pictures Television.
It was also announced that content from CTV, its new genre channels, and the streaming services would all be available in one "super-hub" for streaming video. The new CTV app was released in July 2020. It brought together the streaming apps for most other Bell Media networks.
CTV Logos
The first CTV logo, from 1961 to 1966, was an oval-shaped "C" that looked like a TV screen, with "CTV" inside.
In 1966, when colour TV started, a new logo was introduced. It had a red circle with a "C", a blue square with a "T", and a green upside-down triangle with a "V". This design, with small changes, has been used ever since.
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CTV's original logo (1961–1966)
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Original version of CTV's geometrical shape logo (1966–1975)
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The logo in use in the 1970s and 1980s added the colours, still in use today, to the shapes, with the letters being rounded and a white half-square representing a television picture tube (1975–1985)
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The logo in use in the late 1980s adds three diagonal stripes to the geometrical shape logo (1985–1990)
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The version in use from 1990 to 2018 drops any additional designs to the geometrical shape logo with letters being angled and tweaked. In 2004, the network added colour gradients to the shapes to create a 3D effect before brightening the shapes in 2011, although the plain version remained in use in print publications where the colour gradients could not be rendered.
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The 2018 logo switched exclusively to a flat version, with brighter colours and refined letter shapes. (2018–present)
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In 1990, the letters "CTV" were angled and updated. In 1998, CTV introduced a new "ribbons" look. The red ribbon and circle stood for entertainment, the blue ribbon and square for news, and the green ribbon and triangle for sports. In 2004, the logo got a 3D look with colour gradients. These shapes were made brighter in 2011.
On September 24, 2018, CTV launched a new, flatter, and more "digital" looking logo. They also started a new campaign called "Get into it."
Images for kids
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CTV logo, used from 1975 to 1985.
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The ribbons logo used from 1998 to 2018.
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Updated CTV logo for the 2018–19 television season; the basic design of this logo, with minor modifications along the way, has been in use since 1966.
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CTV Two
See also
In Spanish: CTV Television Network para niños
- List of CTV personalities
- Television in Canada
- Media in Canada
- Simultaneous substitution
