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Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television (BT) is a Canadian morning television program that is broadcast by Citytv. First premiering in 1989, the program originated as the morning show of the network's original station CITY in Toronto. The program currently consists of a local segment for the Greater Toronto Area airing from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ET, which airs exclusively on Citytv Toronto. This is then followed by a national portion carried by most other Citytv stations (barring Citytv Saskatchewan, which does not air news programming due to its educational remits); in Toronto, this segment is carried from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET, with scheduling varying in other markets.
The BT format and branding had also been franchised to local morning shows carried by other Citytv stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Montreal, and the Atlantic Satellite Network (ASN)—which was owned by former Citytv parent company CHUM Limited (after the sale of CHUM to CTVglobemedia and resulting sale of Citytv to Rogers Media, ASN continued using the brand under license until 2011, when it rebranded as CTV Two Atlantic and the program was retitled CTV Morning Live). In the mid- and late-2010s, the local versions of BT began to either be cancelled or replaced by "hybrid" productions incorporating segments of national interest from the Toronto show. In 2020, the two remaining local versions in Calgary and Vancouver were cancelled by Rogers in preparation for the expansion of its national content.
Breakfast Television premiered on September 5, 1989 with co-hosts Ann Rohmer and David Onley, with MuchMusic VJ Steve Anthony broadcasting from a different spot around the area each day. Kevin Frankish handled news updates from the CityPulse (later CityNews) newsroom (he also handled the overnight updates broadcast from the assignment desk that flowed directly into BT). From 1995 to 2008, BT was simulcast on then-sister station CKVR in Barrie, with VRLand News inserts replacing the CityPulse/CityNews segments. Just as many people within the CityNews team started off on the CHUM phoneline, both Jennifer Valentyne and producer Kevin Forget started by working at "the BT Diner".
Co-host Liza Fromer quit her job at BT in July 2006, days after the birth of her child. Kevin Frankish has blogged that her departure from the show was "on the absolute best of terms". BT has encouraged people to send audition tapes for consideration. During the summer of 2006, a number of CHUM personalities were invited to guest co-host with Kevin Frankish in the search for the next permanent host. The guest hosts included CityNews sports anchor Kathryn Humphreys, health specialist Laura DiBattista, consumer specialist Jee-Yun-Lee, former Citytv weather specialist Nalini Sharma, former reporter Melissa Grelo, etalk correspondent Tracy Melchor, BT's own Jennifer Valentyne, and Star!'s Dina Pugliese. On October 13, 2006, Dina Pugliese became the show's new co-host.
Every August since 2005, BT has organized a "Viewer Appreciation Day", held in the BT parking lot. Gates open at 6 a.m., and closed due to capacity crowds early into 7 a.m. Some people began camping out at BT at 5:30 p.m. the day before the 2006 Viewer Appreciation Day. Breakfast Television has also held other events, such as a successful world record attempt and a Christmas party. The BT Viewer Appreciation Day has since been canceled, with only the Christmas Party remaining.
In 2009, with the acquisition of Citytv by Rogers, Breakfast Television moved from 299 Queen Street West to Rogers' 33 Dundas Street East complex at Sankofa Square (then known as Yonge-Dundas Square).
On September 5, 2011, each of the local editions of Breakfast Television across all of the Citytv owned-and-operated stations began starting a half-hour earlier, running from 5:30–9 a.m. In April 2012, the Winnipeg edition reverted to the 6-9 a.m. runtime.
In January 2015, the Winnipeg version of the program was cancelled and replaced with a simulcast of the CITI-FM morning show. In September 2019, the Montreal version of the program was cancelled, while the Calgary and Vancouver versions were re-launched on September 23, 2019 using a "hybrid" format incorporating segments of national interest from the Toronto version. Meanwhile, the Toronto version celebrated its 30th anniversary.
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Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television (BT) is a Canadian morning television program that is broadcast by Citytv. First premiering in 1989, the program originated as the morning show of the network's original station CITY in Toronto. The program currently consists of a local segment for the Greater Toronto Area airing from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ET, which airs exclusively on Citytv Toronto. This is then followed by a national portion carried by most other Citytv stations (barring Citytv Saskatchewan, which does not air news programming due to its educational remits); in Toronto, this segment is carried from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET, with scheduling varying in other markets.
The BT format and branding had also been franchised to local morning shows carried by other Citytv stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Montreal, and the Atlantic Satellite Network (ASN)—which was owned by former Citytv parent company CHUM Limited (after the sale of CHUM to CTVglobemedia and resulting sale of Citytv to Rogers Media, ASN continued using the brand under license until 2011, when it rebranded as CTV Two Atlantic and the program was retitled CTV Morning Live). In the mid- and late-2010s, the local versions of BT began to either be cancelled or replaced by "hybrid" productions incorporating segments of national interest from the Toronto show. In 2020, the two remaining local versions in Calgary and Vancouver were cancelled by Rogers in preparation for the expansion of its national content.
Breakfast Television premiered on September 5, 1989 with co-hosts Ann Rohmer and David Onley, with MuchMusic VJ Steve Anthony broadcasting from a different spot around the area each day. Kevin Frankish handled news updates from the CityPulse (later CityNews) newsroom (he also handled the overnight updates broadcast from the assignment desk that flowed directly into BT). From 1995 to 2008, BT was simulcast on then-sister station CKVR in Barrie, with VRLand News inserts replacing the CityPulse/CityNews segments. Just as many people within the CityNews team started off on the CHUM phoneline, both Jennifer Valentyne and producer Kevin Forget started by working at "the BT Diner".
Co-host Liza Fromer quit her job at BT in July 2006, days after the birth of her child. Kevin Frankish has blogged that her departure from the show was "on the absolute best of terms". BT has encouraged people to send audition tapes for consideration. During the summer of 2006, a number of CHUM personalities were invited to guest co-host with Kevin Frankish in the search for the next permanent host. The guest hosts included CityNews sports anchor Kathryn Humphreys, health specialist Laura DiBattista, consumer specialist Jee-Yun-Lee, former Citytv weather specialist Nalini Sharma, former reporter Melissa Grelo, etalk correspondent Tracy Melchor, BT's own Jennifer Valentyne, and Star!'s Dina Pugliese. On October 13, 2006, Dina Pugliese became the show's new co-host.
Every August since 2005, BT has organized a "Viewer Appreciation Day", held in the BT parking lot. Gates open at 6 a.m., and closed due to capacity crowds early into 7 a.m. Some people began camping out at BT at 5:30 p.m. the day before the 2006 Viewer Appreciation Day. Breakfast Television has also held other events, such as a successful world record attempt and a Christmas party. The BT Viewer Appreciation Day has since been canceled, with only the Christmas Party remaining.
In 2009, with the acquisition of Citytv by Rogers, Breakfast Television moved from 299 Queen Street West to Rogers' 33 Dundas Street East complex at Sankofa Square (then known as Yonge-Dundas Square).
On September 5, 2011, each of the local editions of Breakfast Television across all of the Citytv owned-and-operated stations began starting a half-hour earlier, running from 5:30–9 a.m. In April 2012, the Winnipeg edition reverted to the 6-9 a.m. runtime.
In January 2015, the Winnipeg version of the program was cancelled and replaced with a simulcast of the CITI-FM morning show. In September 2019, the Montreal version of the program was cancelled, while the Calgary and Vancouver versions were re-launched on September 23, 2019 using a "hybrid" format incorporating segments of national interest from the Toronto version. Meanwhile, the Toronto version celebrated its 30th anniversary.