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CKXT-DT
CKXT-DT (channel 52) was a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcast to much of southern and eastern Ontario. It was owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. Although beginning as a general interest independent station carrying a typical schedule of entertainment and information programming, by the time of the station's closure on November 1, 2011, the station had been converted into an over-the-air simulcast of Quebecor's cable news channel, Sun News Network. The station transmitted on channel 52 in Toronto.
CKXT began broadcasting on September 19, 2003, owned and operated by Craig Media as a general-interest independent station branded Toronto 1. Following the station's sale to Quebecor, it was renamed Sun TV on August 29, 2005. It then began to simulcast Sun News upon that channel's launch on April 18, 2011.
Although Sun News was licensed as a Category C (optional carriage) digital specialty channel, CKXT, as a broadcast station, had mandatory cable carriage in its over-the-air service area. Hence the simulcast meant that Sun News programming was available to analog cable subscribers throughout southern and eastern Ontario. However, the station retained its own broadcast licence separate from the specialty channel. The station's Ottawa transmitter was closed on August 31, 2011, while the remaining transmitters in Toronto, Hamilton, and London were closed on November 1, 2011.
Craig Media was awarded a licence for Toronto 1 (originally stylized as "Toronto One") by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 8, 2002, in a controversial split decision regarding five competing applications for new Toronto-area TV stations. Torstar, which proposed a "Hometown Television" format with a main station in Toronto and repeaters in Hamilton and Kitchener, was widely deemed the frontrunner for the licence. However, its proposed schedule, with minimum 85% Canadian content consisting primarily of local and regional programming and no U.S. simulcasts, was found to be unviable by most commissioners. Several existing broadcasters were opposed to any new stations being licensed in the Toronto area because of the unstable economic climate. Alliance Atlantis and Canwest were also unsuccessful applicants. At the same time Rogers applied for and received a licence for a second Toronto multicultural station, OMNI.2, in a much less controversial decision.
The CKXT license also marked the first time that Craig Media had been granted a licence to compete directly with a station owned by CHUM Limited, which meant that CHUM lost sales revenues from the broadcast rights it had contracted to Craig's A-Channel stations. CHUM retaliated by applying for broadcast licences in Calgary and Edmonton, two markets it had previously avoided so as not to compete directly with Craig. The CRTC denied CHUM's applications.
CKXT went to air on September 19, 2003, as the first new general-interest television station in Toronto in 30 years. Toronto 1 proved, however, to be a financial and critical disaster for Craig. The station was frequently criticized in the Toronto media, particularly for flashy but vacuous and repetitive local content, newscasts that had a tabloid feel, an uninspired daytime schedule laden with American talk shows and an equally uninspired prime time schedule based heavily on movies, much like CHUM's longstanding Citytv. Columnist Russell Smith of The Globe and Mail called Toronto 1 an "abject, wretched excuse for a television station" whose only truly locally-focused programming was a trio of celebrity-focused talk shows and a health-issues show.
On May 19, 2004, Craig announced that 28 Toronto 1 employees and nine employees working at CKAL in Calgary were being laid off. In addition, a large portion of Toronto 1's original programming, including weekday morning show Toronto Today, variety show The Toronto Show, and late evening talk show Last Call, were cancelled. Some of the hosts, such as Wei Chen and Roz Weston, were reassigned to other roles with the station at that point. Craig Media said the cuts were made to "further rationalize its operations and control costs".
None of the changes worked, however, and on April 12, 2004—seven months after CKXT launched—Craig sold its conventional television assets to CHUM Limited for $265 million. CHUM was required by CRTC competition regulations to put CKXT back on the market immediately, owing to its already strong presence in the Toronto television market through CITY-TV.
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CKXT-DT
CKXT-DT (channel 52) was a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcast to much of southern and eastern Ontario. It was owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. Although beginning as a general interest independent station carrying a typical schedule of entertainment and information programming, by the time of the station's closure on November 1, 2011, the station had been converted into an over-the-air simulcast of Quebecor's cable news channel, Sun News Network. The station transmitted on channel 52 in Toronto.
CKXT began broadcasting on September 19, 2003, owned and operated by Craig Media as a general-interest independent station branded Toronto 1. Following the station's sale to Quebecor, it was renamed Sun TV on August 29, 2005. It then began to simulcast Sun News upon that channel's launch on April 18, 2011.
Although Sun News was licensed as a Category C (optional carriage) digital specialty channel, CKXT, as a broadcast station, had mandatory cable carriage in its over-the-air service area. Hence the simulcast meant that Sun News programming was available to analog cable subscribers throughout southern and eastern Ontario. However, the station retained its own broadcast licence separate from the specialty channel. The station's Ottawa transmitter was closed on August 31, 2011, while the remaining transmitters in Toronto, Hamilton, and London were closed on November 1, 2011.
Craig Media was awarded a licence for Toronto 1 (originally stylized as "Toronto One") by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 8, 2002, in a controversial split decision regarding five competing applications for new Toronto-area TV stations. Torstar, which proposed a "Hometown Television" format with a main station in Toronto and repeaters in Hamilton and Kitchener, was widely deemed the frontrunner for the licence. However, its proposed schedule, with minimum 85% Canadian content consisting primarily of local and regional programming and no U.S. simulcasts, was found to be unviable by most commissioners. Several existing broadcasters were opposed to any new stations being licensed in the Toronto area because of the unstable economic climate. Alliance Atlantis and Canwest were also unsuccessful applicants. At the same time Rogers applied for and received a licence for a second Toronto multicultural station, OMNI.2, in a much less controversial decision.
The CKXT license also marked the first time that Craig Media had been granted a licence to compete directly with a station owned by CHUM Limited, which meant that CHUM lost sales revenues from the broadcast rights it had contracted to Craig's A-Channel stations. CHUM retaliated by applying for broadcast licences in Calgary and Edmonton, two markets it had previously avoided so as not to compete directly with Craig. The CRTC denied CHUM's applications.
CKXT went to air on September 19, 2003, as the first new general-interest television station in Toronto in 30 years. Toronto 1 proved, however, to be a financial and critical disaster for Craig. The station was frequently criticized in the Toronto media, particularly for flashy but vacuous and repetitive local content, newscasts that had a tabloid feel, an uninspired daytime schedule laden with American talk shows and an equally uninspired prime time schedule based heavily on movies, much like CHUM's longstanding Citytv. Columnist Russell Smith of The Globe and Mail called Toronto 1 an "abject, wretched excuse for a television station" whose only truly locally-focused programming was a trio of celebrity-focused talk shows and a health-issues show.
On May 19, 2004, Craig announced that 28 Toronto 1 employees and nine employees working at CKAL in Calgary were being laid off. In addition, a large portion of Toronto 1's original programming, including weekday morning show Toronto Today, variety show The Toronto Show, and late evening talk show Last Call, were cancelled. Some of the hosts, such as Wei Chen and Roz Weston, were reassigned to other roles with the station at that point. Craig Media said the cuts were made to "further rationalize its operations and control costs".
None of the changes worked, however, and on April 12, 2004—seven months after CKXT launched—Craig sold its conventional television assets to CHUM Limited for $265 million. CHUM was required by CRTC competition regulations to put CKXT back on the market immediately, owing to its already strong presence in the Toronto television market through CITY-TV.