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CKEM-DT (channel 51) is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
in
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, Alberta, Canada, part of the
Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...
network. It is
owned and operated In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
by
Rogers Sports & Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sy ...
alongside
Omni Television Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and group of specialty channels owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multi ...
station
CJEO-DT CJEO-DT (channel 56) is a multicultural television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, part of the Omni Television network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Citytv station CKEM-DT (channel 51). Both stations share st ...
(channel 56). The two stations share studios with Rogers's local radio stations on
Gateway Boulevard Gateway often refers to a gate or portal. Gateway or The Gateway may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Gateway'' (film), a 1938 drama * ''The Gateway'' (2015 film), a horror film * ''The Gateway'' (2017 film), a science-fiction ...
in Edmonton; CKEM-DT's transmitter is located near
Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway () is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg west to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western provinces of Britis ...
/ Highway 16A. The station also operates a rebroadcast transmitter (CKEM-DT-1, channel 4) in
Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
. CKEM was built as part of
A-Channel A-Channel (proposed as The Alberta Channel) was a Canadian television system initially owned by Craig Media from September 1997 to 2004, then by CHUM Limited from 2004 to 2005 through A-Channel, Inc. It consisted of Craig's television stations i ...
, the regional television service constructed by Craig Broadcast Systems in 1997. Broadcasting from studios downtown in the historic Hudson's Bay Building, it was the first new commercial TV station in Edmonton since 1974; its style of news and programming was young and aggressive. The station also broadcast
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
hockey for its first several years on air. Ratings settled into third place, above
the CBC The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its English-language and F ...
but behind the established stations in town, CFRN and
CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...
. However, the station lost ratings momentum following a five-month strike by unionized employees. Craig, overextended by its launch of Toronto 1 in 2003, sold itself to
CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM (AM), CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in ...
, then-owner of Citytv, in 2004. CHUM moved other media properties into the Hudson's Bay Building, including a new radio station and
Access Media Group Access Media Group, legally Learning and Skills Television of Alberta Ltd., which also served as the corporate brand until 2005, was a privately held Canadian broadcasting and multimedia group based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada specializing in ...
; in 2005, the A-Channel stations took on the Citytv brand. Due to poor ratings and as part of a wave of layoffs, CHUM reduced the size of its local operation in Edmonton in 2006, cancelling the station's evening newscast. CHUM sold most of its assets to Bell Globemedia that same year; as Bell owned the
CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...
, the Citytv stations were spun off to Rogers. The station continued producing a morning newscast under the ''
Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...
'' brand until 2015 and reinstated evening local news programs in 2017.


A-Channel


Hearing process


Construction and early years

With the licence awards approved, Craig began construction on the Edmonton station. In Edmonton, A-Channel set up in the heritage-listed Hudson's Bay building on
Jasper Avenue Jasper Avenue is an arterial road in central Edmonton, Alberta, and is the city's main street. Jasper Avenue has no official street number but is aligned with 101 Avenue with the majority of its length. Jasper Avenue is a major public transi ...
, where it added large windows to its streetside studio; historic preservation conditions complicated work, with new tiles having to be ordered from Quebec. It obtained rights to midweek telecasts of
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
hockey, In the Edmonton market, Craig scored a coup by rights to midweek telecasts of
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
hockey, which had been held by CFRN. Most of the on-air talent hired for A-Channel Edmonton came from outside the market, except for Bruce Buchanan, who handled Oilers play-by-play.
Darren Dreger Darren Dreger (born June 13, 1968) is a Canadian sportscaster for TSN, and is one of TSN's Hockey Insiders. He had previously hosted '' Leafs Lunch'' on CFMJ AM640 Toronto Radio. Broadcasting career After graduating from the Western Academy B ...
was the first sports anchor, coming to the station from
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
; Janis Mackey was a substitute anchor for
CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the nationa ...
in Toronto. A-Channel launched in Edmonton on channel 51, cable 7 on September 18, 1997—two days before
CKAL-TV CKAL-DT (channel 5) is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the Citytv network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CJCO-DT (channel 38). The two s ...
in Calgary. The new station was the first addition to Edmonton broadcast television since
CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...
in 1974. Both stations relied on prime-time movies, a formula Craig had used with some success at MTN in Manitoba. For local programming, the station featured a two-hour morning show, ''The Big Breakfast''; 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts; and the local programs ''Live @ Five'' and ''Wired'', among others. A-Channel's debut was riddled with technical issues. Jennifer Lyall, the co-host for the local ''Wired'' entertainment magazine, quit after just one day on air after not being given time to rehearse. News footage showed on the wrong stories or froze, while sound failed to play out. At one news conference, a local politician saw an A-Channel cameraman enter the room and began mouthing his words without speaking. The Calgary station also faced similar issues when it started. Many of the issues came down to the tapeless playback and editing system used for segments: over five days, the Calgary control room was rewired to bypass it in favor of older, but more reliable, video tape equipment, which led to far fewer on-air errors. In the spring 1998 ratings, A-Channel Edmonton surpassed the CBC in prime time, but its local programs—outside of hockey—attracted few viewers. BBM found that ''Live@Five'', the station's 5:00 news program, had just 600 viewers. Over the next two years, the stations became more competitive with ratings rises for their local morning and evening programming. Craig agreed in building A-Channel to provide some protection to rural broadcasters by delaying the launch of rebroadcasters for one year. This resulted in uproar from Oilers fans who lived outside of A-Channel's coverage area and were shut out of seeing hockey. In December 1998, A-Channel debuted on cable in
Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
, with a rebroadcaster following the next year. On June 17, 1999, CKEM assignment editor Garnet Lewis was opening a videotape believed to contain news footage. It was actually a
letter bomb A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber. Some countries have agenc ...
, which exploded and injured Lewis and reporter Stacey Brotzel. The newsroom was able to return for its regular edition of ''News@Night'' after viewers saw the Calgary editions of the early evening news programs as a substitute. A month later, police arrested 28-year-old Raymond Neal Best for sending letter bombs to A-Channel and the Calgary police chief, as well as a hoax bomb to the police chief of Edmonton. Best was convicted of sending the bombs and sentenced to 12 years in prison. For the second year, Gene Principe joined Buchanan on the Oilers telecasts and became A-Channel's sports anchor. The Oilers departed A-Channel Edmonton after the 2000–2001 season and consolidated their television games with
Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...
West, adding 20 games to the cable channel's existing 28-game inventory. The team was believed to see increased revenue opportunity with a regional telecast. Principe, who had doubled as the sports director for A-Channel while appearing on its Oilers telecasts, left the station altogether to become a host for the Sportsnet telecasts.


2003–2004 workers' strike

In July 2002, a majority of A-Channel Edmonton employees signed union cards and organized under the
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP; []) was a largely private sector, private-sector trade union, labour union with 150,000 members, active from 1992 to 2013. It was created in 1992 through the merger of three unions: th ...
(CEP), which represented employees at Edmonton's other TV stations. Contract negotiations were unsuccessful, with the parties at odds over wages and a promise to not move jobs from Edmonton to Calgary; for the start of the fall television season, on September 17, 2003, workers walked out and began a strike. A-Channel continued airing newscasts because 10 to 15 employees crossed the picket line. Picketers made it difficult for employees to get inside the studios and sometimes followed news crews, while the union mounted a pressure campaign to urge national advertisers to cease doing business with A-Channel. Union members rejected a contract offer in December 2003, though about a third of the members had returned to work. The strike was disastrous for A-Channel's ratings in the Edmonton market. ''A-Channel News at Six'' lost more than 60 percent of its viewership and slipped into a tie with the CBC for last. At the same time, startup costs for Toronto 1, a new station which Craig had built in 2003, and a series of new digital specialty channels proved to be a drain on the company's finances. In late January, Craig Media put itself up for sale. Weeks later, on February 14, strikers overwhelmingly voted to accept a contract offer, recognizing that much work was needed to regain the viewership that A-Channel had lost during the strike.


Acquisition by CHUM

On April 12, 2004,
CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM (AM), CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in ...
announced a deal to purchase Craig Media for $265 million. The move came more than a month after the CRTC denied CHUM's applications for new Calgary and Edmonton stations because the market did not have sufficient advertising revenue to support a new entrant. The sale was approved by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...
on November 19, 2004. CHUM had to sell off Toronto 1 because it already owned stations in Toronto (
CITY A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
) and nearby
Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...
( CKVR); Toronto 1 was sold to
Quebecor Media Quebecor Media Inc. is a Canadian media conglomerate that owns a wide array of media outlets, as well as an internet service provider. History In 1983 Quebecor purchased the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, which had been independently run. The newspa ...
, owners of the media units
TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
and
Sun Media Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49% owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. On October 6, 2014, Quebecor Media announced the sale of ...
. CHUM brought other media holdings into the Hudson's Bay Building on Jasper Avenue, which aside from A-Channel had few tenants. In February 2005, CHUM and
Milestone Media Milestone Media Company LLC is the media company which created the Milestone Comics line, which were published and distributed by DC Comics. Milestone Media created the source material that was adapted as the '' Static Shock'' animated series. T ...
launched a new Edmonton radio station,
CHBN-FM CHBN-FM (91.7 MHz) is a Top 40/CHR radio station based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The station, which is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, operates with an ERP of 96 kWs. CHBN's studios are located on Gateway Bouleva ...
"91.7 The Bounce", and built a streetside radio studio for it next to A-Channel's quarters. That same month, CHUM acquired all outstanding shares in Learning and Skills Television of Alberta (also known as
Access Media Group Access Media Group, legally Learning and Skills Television of Alberta Ltd., which also served as the corporate brand until 2005, was a privately held Canadian broadcasting and multimedia group based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada specializing in ...
), which operated
Access Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access International Advisors, a hed ...
, the provincial educational broadcaster. CHUM then moved Access Media Group's operations from an east Edmonton industrial park into the Hudson's Bay Building; traffic and master control were moved to Calgary and Toronto, resulting in 17 layoffs in Edmonton while creating four jobs in Calgary. The Calgary facility was already handling master control functions for A-Channel Edmonton.


Citytv


Rebrand and news cuts

In addition to launching The Bounce and becoming the sole owner of Access Media Group in February 2005, CHUM announced that it would rebrand the three A-Channel stations—in Calgary, Edmonton, and
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
—as Citytv, aligning with the stations it already owned in Toronto and Vancouver. No other significant changes were made, since the A-Channel stations' on-air look had always been very similar to that of Citytv; they initially retained their local programs, relaunched under Citytv's ''
Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...
'' morning brand and ''
CityNews City''News'' is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as City''Pulse'' as a standalone local newscast on the network's CITY- ...
'' news brand. CHUM hoped to lift the stations' ratings with the new moniker. The change took effect on August 2 of the same year, when the A-Channel name was transferred to CHUM's
NewNet CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional ca ...
stations. The rebrand failed to increase news ratings. The spring 2006 BBM survey showed that the 6 p.m. newscast on Citytv Edmonton had dipped from 11,000 viewers to 4,000. On July 12, 2006, CHUM announced that it would dramatically reduce its newsgathering operations in Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg, as well as in several other cities. It laid off 195 part- and full-time employees, including 47 in Edmonton. The evening newscasts were cancelled, while the noon newscast remained and ''Breakfast Television'' was expanded; news anchor Paul Mennier remained to host a new evening newsmagazine program. In a coincidental development, that same day, BCE Inc., the parent company of CTV, announced it would buy CHUM Limited.


Under Rogers ownership

On July 12, 2006, Bell Globemedia (later known as CTVglobemedia, and now
Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...
) announced plans to take over CHUM Limited. On June 8, 2007, the CRTC announced its approval of CTVglobemedia's purchase of CHUM Limited, but the commission added a condition that CTVglobemedia must sell off CHUM's Citytv stations to another buyer while allowing it to retain the A-Channel stations. The following Monday,
Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
agreed to buy the five Citytv stations. The sale was approved by the CRTC on September 28, 2007. In 2008, Rogers launched
Omni Edmonton CJEO-DT (channel 56) is a multicultural television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, part of the Omni Television network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Citytv station CKEM-DT (channel 51). Both stations share st ...
, part of its
Omni Television Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and group of specialty channels owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multi ...
multicultural station group. On January 19, 2010, ''CityNews at Noon'', ''Your City'', and ''CityNews International'' were cancelled as part of Citytv's corporate restructuring and concurrent layoffs. The CRTC approved the installation of digital transmission facilities for CKEM-TV on channel 17 that same year, ahead of the August 31, 2011, digital television switchover date. On May 7, 2015, Rogers announced that as part of further cuts, ''Breakfast Television'' would be cancelled on May 19, 2015. It was replaced by the spin-off ''Dinner Television'', a two-hour newsmagazine and discussion program hosted by
Jason Strudwick Jason Wayne Strudwick (born July 17, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and current broadcaster. Playing career Strudwick was drafted in the third round, 63rd overall, by the New York Islanders in the 1994 NHL Entry ...
. The program did not feature original news reporting. An encore of the previous night's ''Dinner Television'' with on-screen news, weather, and traffic updates replaced ''Breakfast Television'' in its morning timeslot. That December, the Rogers television stations in Edmonton moved from downtown to the headquarters of Rogers's Edmonton radio stations on
Gateway Boulevard Gateway often refers to a gate or portal. Gateway or The Gateway may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Gateway'' (film), a 1938 drama * ''The Gateway'' (2015 film), a horror film * ''The Gateway'' (2017 film), a science-fiction ...
. Where once CHUM had 220 employees in the Hudson's Bay Building, there were fewer than two dozen when the company moved out. Some of the space was absorbed by the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
, which had previously purchased the historic structure. On September 4, 2017, ''CityNews'' returned as part of a national expansion of local news programming across the Citytv stations, with ''Dinner Television'' being discontinued. CKEM airs two, hour-long newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m. nightly. Similarly to the format of its sister station in Toronto, Citytv Edmonton's newscasts use an "anchorless" format where all stories are presented by videojournalists on the field, eschewing in-studio anchors.


Notable former on-air staff

* Stephanie Beaumont – host of ''Wired'' (2002–2003) * Bill Welychka – host of ''Breakfast Television'' (2005–2006)


Technical information


Subchannel


Rebroadcaster

CKEM-DT has one dependent rebroadcaster, in
Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
. In 2020, the CRTC approved the conversion of CKEM-TV-1 in Red Deer from analogue to digital operation, switching from channel 4 to channel 15.


References


External links

*
CKEM-DT
profile at the
Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ckem 1997 establishments in Alberta KEM-DT Television channels and stations established in 1997 KEM-DT