Global Television Network facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Global Television Network

Type	Terrestrial television network
Country	Canada
Broadcast area	Nationwide (available in parts of the northern United States depending on location)
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Programming
Picture format	1080i HDTV
Ownership
Owner	Corus Entertainment
Key people	Doug Murphy (President and CEO of Corus Entertainment) Troy Reeb (Vice President of Broadcast Networks)
History
Launched	January 6, 1974; 51 years ago (1974-01-06)
Founder	Al Bruner Peter Hill
Former names	CanWest Global System (used in the 1990s on non-Global branded Canwest stations)

The Global Television Network, usually called Global, is a major Canadian TV network. It broadcasts in English across the country. Global is Canada's second most-watched private TV network, right after CTV. It has 15 stations that it owns and operates across Canada.

Corus Entertainment owns Global. This company is part of the media businesses of JR Shaw and his family. Global started as a local TV station in Southern Ontario in 1974. This station was later bought by a company called CanWest Global Communications. Over the years, CanWest Global bought and started more stations across Canada. These stations formed a group called the CanWest Global System. In 1997, all these stations officially became part of the Global Television Network.

History of Global TV

Starting a New Network

The idea for Global TV began in 1966. A media owner from Hamilton, Ontario, named Ken Soble, wanted to create a new national TV network. His plan was to use a broadcast satellite to send TV shows from his station, CHCH-TV, to many new transmitters across Canada.

Ken Soble passed away that same year. His wife, Frances, and a former TV executive named Al Bruner continued to work on the plan. Their first idea was very big and included both English and French channels. However, the government decided to launch its own satellites, which changed their plans.

Global Communications is Born

In 1969, Al Bruner left the original company and created a new team called Global Communications. By 1970, they proposed a smaller plan. They would start with TV transmitters only in Ontario. This would be the first step toward building a larger network later. They also asked for a license to start a new main station in Toronto.

The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) approved their plan on July 21, 1972. They were allowed to launch a network with six transmitters across Southern Ontario. The main studio would be in Toronto. The group promised to show a lot of Canadian content (shows made in Canada).

The new Global Television Network, with the call sign CKGN-TV (now CIII-DT), officially started broadcasting on January 6, 1974. Its studios were in Toronto, where they still are today.

The first Global logo (1974–1997) had a stylish "G".

Early Challenges

Global faced money problems just three months after it launched. Many companies had already spent their advertising money for the year. Also, a change in daylight saving time meant Global's main show, Everything Goes, was on at the same time as a very popular American show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. This led to very low ratings.

To save the network, new investors stepped in. One of them was Izzy Asper, a politician from Manitoba who also owned a TV station in Winnipeg called CKND-TV. His station was already showing some of Global's programs.

Growing Across Canada

In the spring of 1974, Global had to cancel many of its shows. To fill its schedule, it started buying a lot of American programs. This made Global seem very similar to another Canadian network, CTV. Over time, Global's viewership grew.

Izzy Asper bought most of Global in 1985. He wanted to expand Global into a third national network. He started by launching stations in Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He also acquired stations in Vancouver and Halifax. By the early 1990s, Canwest's stations reached seven of Canada's ten provinces.

These stations bought many of their shows together, so they had similar schedules. However, they still used their own names and acted more like a group of independent stations. They were sometimes called the "CanWest Global System."

Global's second logo (1997–2006) appeared when it became a national network.

In 1997, Canwest bought a station in Quebec City, CKMI-TV. With this new station, Canwest had enough coverage to become a truly national network. So, on August 18, 1997, all of Canwest's stations changed their names to the "Global Television Network." This was the name previously used only by the Ontario station. CKMI-TV also started broadcasting Global shows in Montreal and Sherbrooke.

Even with these changes, Global still didn't have its own stations in Calgary and Edmonton. Instead, independent stations in those cities, CICT-TV and CITV-TV, showed some Global programs. The same was true in St. John's, Newfoundland, where CJON-TV carried Global shows.

The 2000s and Beyond

In 2000, Canwest bought more TV stations from a company called Western International Communications (WIC). This included the stations in Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge, which officially joined Global on September 4, 2000.

The next year, WIC's popular Vancouver station, CHAN-TV, also joined Global. This led to big changes in how TV channels were set up in British Columbia. Global sold its previous Vancouver station, CKVU-TV.

Global also started to work closely with other media companies owned by Canwest, like newspapers. Journalists from the newspapers would appear on Global's news shows, and Global shows were promoted in the newspapers. This practice has mostly stopped since 2010.

In 2004, Global made big changes to its operations. On February 5, 2006, Global launched a new logo and new graphics for its news and promotions. This new logo replaced the old "crescent" design.

On April 10, 2008, Global announced that its Toronto and Vancouver stations would start broadcasting in high definition (HD). CIII and CHAN began broadcasting in HD on April 18, 2008.

New Ownership

In late 2009, Canwest faced financial difficulties. Shaw Communications bought Canwest's TV and radio businesses on October 27, 2010. These businesses became a new division called Shaw Media, with Global as its main network.

On April 1, 2016, Shaw Media became part of Shaw's sister company, Corus Entertainment. Corus Entertainment now owns Global.

Global TV Listings

When you look at TV listings, Global is often shortened to "GLO," "GLB," or "GTV." However, the network's official short name for itself is always "Global."

Global TV Shows

News Programs

Global News is the news division of the Global Television Network. It is based in Vancouver. Global News produces national shows like Global National, which is Global's main national newscast.

Global also offers many local news programs on its stations. Most Global stations have morning news shows, a noon newscast, evening news shows, and a late-night newscast. Some Global stations in big cities also have local public affairs shows called Focus.

Corus Entertainment also runs several Global-branded news radio stations across Canada.

Entertainment Shows

Global doesn't have one main schedule for all its entertainment shows. Different Global stations often have different programs. This is because of time zone differences, local shows, and how well non-Global shows are doing in ratings.

Global often buys popular entertainment shows from the United States. It has sometimes been criticized for not investing enough in Canadian-made shows. Some Canadian shows on Global, like The Outer Limits, were made to appeal to audiences in the U.S. and other countries.

From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, Global aired more Canadian entertainment shows. These included the finance drama Traders, the animated comedy Bob and Margaret, the police drama Blue Murder, and the reality show My Fabulous Gay Wedding. Global also produces a Canadian version of the reality series Big Brother.

Global benefits from Canada's "simultaneous substitution" (or "simsub") rules. These rules allow Canadian networks to control the rights for a show in Canada. If an American network is showing the same program at the same time as Global, Canadian cable viewers will only see the Global broadcast. This helps Canadian networks earn more advertising money, which is meant to help fund Canadian content.

Sports Programs

Global has not always had its own sports production team like other networks. Sports broadcasts on Global are often shown at the same time as American networks or are produced by other companies.

Global used to broadcast National Football League (NFL) football games in Canada, including the Super Bowl. However, CTV took over these rights in 2007. Global was also a long-time broadcaster of PGA Tour golf events.

Many Global stations used to have local late-night sports highlight shows, like Sportsline in Ontario. However, most of these shows were canceled by 2005 due to fewer viewers. Global stations still cover sports in their local newscasts.

Online Video

Global offers live and on-demand TV shows through its website and apps for phones and other devices. In 2020, Global's apps were updated to include streaming for subscribers of other Corus Entertainment channels.

Global HD (High Definition)

In October 2004, Global launched a 1080i high definition (HD) version of its Toronto station, CIII-TV, called Global HD. It started showing some American programs in HD. Later, some Canadian shows also began to be shown in HD.

On April 18, 2008, Global officially started broadcasting its HD signal over-the-air in Toronto. It also launched an HD signal for its Vancouver station, CHAN-TV, on the same day.

Global HD is available across Canada through satellite and digital cable. You can also watch it for free over-the-air using a regular TV antenna and a digital tuner.

Global Stations

Global's network is set up differently from CBC or CTV. For most shows, there isn't one single "network" broadcast. Instead, each station has its own local commercial breaks. National ads are included smoothly within these local ad blocks.

Since 2006, all Global stations have their main control operations in Calgary. However, since August 29, 2022, the main control hub for all owned-and-operated stations is in Toronto.

Stations Owned by Global

Global owns and operates many stations across Canada. These are called "owned-and-operated stations" (O&Os).

Many of these stations serve their entire province or region through smaller relay stations.

Other Stations that Show Global Programs

Some stations are not owned by Global but still show many of its programs.

Former Global Stations

Some stations used to be part of the Global network but are no longer.

Owned-and-operated

Secondary affiliates

Other Channels with Global Branding

Global used to have a second group of TV stations called CH, which later became "E!". This system showed programs from U.S. networks that didn't fit on Global's main schedule. The E! system stopped operating in 2009 due to financial problems.

Other channels that used to have the Global logo include the Global Reality Channel, Prime, DejaView, and Mystery TV.

Images for kids

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  Global Television Network Logo

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  Old Global TV Logo

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  Global original

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  Global TV HD

See also

In Spanish: Global Television Network para niños

• List of Global Television Network personalities
• 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment
• CBS
• CITV