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CTV B.C. announces new shows, new anchors


Amra

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Canada AM is being smoked in the ratings books in Vancouver by the Morning News on BCTV.

 

And the morning show that will replace Canada AM "CTV Morning Live" will be launched in western markets over the next few months. The new local shows were promised as part of a benifits package that was included in the conditions of the sale of CTV to Bell. Right now Winnipeg is the only one to have launched the new show, the others will be following suit soon.

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Surprised that they're blowing out the national "Canada A.M." (even though it will still be available on CTV News Channel).

 

I was surprised when I first heard it too, but it does make sense. If they're being forced by the CRTC to spend all that money, they might as well do everything they can to make sure the new shows at least have a fighting chance against the all-local morning shows on Global (and Citytv, but they're much easier to beat than Global).

 

Of course, that's still no guarantee that the new shows will do well. The way I see it:

 

* They'll probably do OK in Saskatchewan (where there's no local competition in the morning) and Winnipeg (which does already have the all-local Breakfast Television on Citytv, but like I said they should be easier to beat).

 

* It'll be an uphill battle in Calgary and Edmonton to overcome Global's 17-year-or-so head start, but the local CTV newscasts in other timeslots compete pretty well against Global, so they might be able to at least get their existing viewers to sample their new product. And *if* CTV's willing to commit at least a few years to build the morning shows in these 2 markets, they might have a chance to at least break even.

 

* It's pretty much a lost cause in Vancouver. CTV spent the last 10 years trying to build up the evening newscasts, and their numbers have certainly improved a lot, but they still only get about a third of what Global BC's News Hour gets. I don't see CTV being patient enough to spend another 10 years on a local Vancouver morning show and get a third of what Global's morning news pulls in. I think the Vancouver show will be lucky to last even 2 years, short of Global somehow imploding spectacularly. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I'm pessimistic.

 

I'm actually quite amazed at how much money CTV's pumped into Vancouver in the last 10 years. I assumed they'd get rid of the chopper after the Olympics, but it's still around.

 

Wonder if the idea would spread to other CTV-owned stations.

 

I suppose they're keeping their options open. If they turn a profit or at least break even in AB/SK/MB (and don't lose too much money in BC), they might just pull the plug on Canada AM (seriously, does that show even come in first *anywhere*?) and implement local shows at the remaining O&Os (with perhaps a barebones show in Montreal). If it does well in SK/MB and bombs in AB/BC, they might keep SK/MB all local, and reinstate Canada AM in AB/BC, but perhaps with local cut-ins restored (they were cancelled in 2009).

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  • 2 weeks later...

CTV Morning Live launched in Calgary and Edmonton today. Judging from the Facebook and Twitter comments, barely anyone is missing Canada AM. In fact, it sounded like CTV didn't even come to mind as a morning news alternative to Global's Morning News or Citytv's Breakfast Television.

 

First thoughts:

 

Edmonton

- CTV Edmonton has a beautiful new set, but it's a shame that they are not in HD yet!

- On-air team is fine, they present the information well, but their chemistry needs some work. Nice mix of veteran anchors, experienced presenters, and new faces.

- Weather AND traffic every 10 minutes! Something that Global is not doing consistently (ground traffic presented every 30 minutes, and chopper every 10 minutes between 6:30 and 8:45 on Global). "Beat the Traffic" and city cameras are being used; BTT has congestion data. Citytv and Global both use TrafficCentral, but Citytv also has congestion data. Global has the city cameras tied in to TrafficCentral.

- Smartboard is used for their social media segments.

- Some on-air mistakes. Normally, this is a given for a new show, however I find that CTV Edmonton has some glaring on-air mistakes at the worst possible times on their established shows.

 

Calgary

- CTV Calgary has a new set as well and they are in "partial HD" (some of their studio cameras, none of their ENG cameras, new graphics and weather system), but it's very dark for a morning show.

- Popular weatherman Todd Gallant defected from Global's Morning News earlier this year. He's a much-missed personality on Calgary TV. Also, former Citytv presenter Aisling Tomei (nee Slattery) is one of the anchors. Seems the on-air team has a lot of chemistry, and Todd is probably the guy that helps with that.

- Traffic segments also use "Beat the Traffic" like CTV Edmonton, however they do not have as many cameras as Global (Global has three in their in-house camera network, as well as their chopper, and the city cameras).

 

I think CTVML has a good chance of rocketing past Citytv's BT for the following reasons:

- CTV has well-established news teams in both cities, and can use their evening shows to promote their morning show.

- There's probably a number of people who watch Global, but do not necessarily like it because they found Canada AM, or BT to be worse. It'll be interesting to see how many viewers Global loses in both cities to CTVML.

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Saw a bit of Calgary Morning Live, looks decent enough, though Pearl Tsang (traffic) doesn't seem completely at home yet. Aisling Tomei's also 9 months pregnant and ready to give birth any moment, will be interesting to see who will cover for her, and if she even comes back to the A.M. after her mat leave.

 

Speaking of BT, I wonder how they're doing in the ratings compared to the A-Channel Big Breakfast days.

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ED2 and hinto, just curious what makes some people think Canada AM worst than other counterparts? I thought a while back they were like the top rated national morning show in Canada, or that's how they promoted to that effect. If so, How bad are they doing in the ratings by comparison. Were they number one before, if so when? Do people really miss Canada AM at this point if not the future if for some reason the plug would be pulled?

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ED2 and hinto, just curious what makes some people think Canada AM worst than other counterparts? I thought a while back they were like the top rated national morning show in Canada, or that's how they promoted to that effect. If so, How bad are they doing in the ratings by comparison. Were they number one before, if so when? Do people really miss Canada AM at this point if not the future if for some reason the plug would be pulled?

 

Canada AM was probably #1 in every market, until the competition started to launch local morning shows. While it's true that Canada AM is "Canada's most watched morning show", they lose badly in most markets where there is a local morning show. Check out the ratings that Global brags about in the morning:

 

http://shawmedia.ca/advertising/broadcast/television/stations/globalbc/pdf/GlobalBCMorningNews.pdf

http://shawmedia.ca/advertising/broadcast/television/stations/globaledmonton/pdf/2011/Morning%20News%20A25-54%20Fall%202010%20Edmonton%20EM.ppt.pdf

 

Canada AM is presented as a 3 hour tape-delayed morning show with zero local content (CTV scrapped the local updates at :25 and :55). That's why it loses in the biggest markets in Western Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton) where local news, traffic, and weather is presented live to the local audience. CTV tried to do a live version of Canada AM for western viewers, but viewers found the format disjointed, and went back to the original taped format months later. And during times when breaking news is happening, while Global and Citytv are on top of things, CTV remained silent and continued on with Canada AM.

 

Even in Eastern Canada, Canada AM gets beaten. In Toronto, Breakfast Television (Citytv) is #1; CTV Two's Morning Live shows in Ottawa and Atlantic Canada are #1.

 

In short: Local wins, especially in the mornings.

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How come CTV chose to preempt Canada AM outright on its O&Os in the Central, Mountain and Pacific Time Zones with local morning newscasts, rather than run 90 minutes of local news, then Canada AM (similar to the model NBC, ABC and CBS use here in the states) or at the very least, use a model similar to what a lot of CBS affiliates did (including KWTV here in Oklahoma City) with The Early Show prior to 2007, air a local newscast that runs until 8 a.m., but have the 7 a.m. hour be a hodgepodge of local news and national segments from Canada AM, then go to Canada AM in full afterward? Also, it seems odd that CTV hasn't expanded or at least said if they planned to add Morning Live local newscasts to the Eastern and Atlantic time zone O&Os.

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How come CTV chose to preempt Canada AM outright on its O&Os in the Central, Mountain and Pacific Time Zones with local morning newscasts, rather than run 90 minutes of local news, then Canada AM (similar to the model NBC, ABC and CBS use here in the states) or at the very least, use a model similar to what a lot of CBS affiliates did (including KWTV here in Oklahoma City) with The Early Show prior to 2007, air a local newscast that runs until 8 a.m., but have the 7 a.m. hour be a hodgepodge of local news and national segments from Canada AM, then go to Canada AM in full afterward? Also, it seems odd that CTV hasn't expanded or at least said if they planned to add Morning Live local newscasts to the Eastern and Atlantic time zone O&Os.

 

CTV did try the hodge-podge version of Canada AM. The entire show aired from 6am-12pm ET. Each CTV station would join in from 6am-9am local time (7am-10am AT) with expanded 10 minute segments at :25 and :55 past the hour, while the entire show aired on CTV News Channel. From 6-9ET, the Toronto-based hosts did the show. From 9-12 ET, Vancouver-based hosts took over, while airing certain segments and interviews from the 6-9 portion. Viewers complained about the new format, and eventually scrapped it and reverted back to its original format.

 

In the Eastern timezones, CTV does have Morning Live. However they air on CTV Two Ottawa (CHRO) and the cable-only CTV Two station in Atlantic Canada. The CTV (One) stations in those two markets air Canada AM live. In Toronto, CTV's 24-hour local news channel CP24 airs a breakfast show, which uses a mix of CP24 and CFTO News resources, while Canada AM airs on CFTO.

 

The execs probably figured that it was worth having AM replaced with Morning Live in the west, simply because AM was doing that terrible. Any increase in ratings could only help CTV as they've been giving away that timeslot to Global and Citytv for years.

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Yeah CTV just does horrible in the morning in BC and Alberta. Im not sure if its true but i have been hearing that CTV news at 6 is also starting to slip in the ratings in Vancouver.

Is there any way to view the ratings from BC?

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here are ratings from April 2011 according to shaw http://shawmedia.ca/...obalbc/news.asp

i was surprised to find Globals Morning news beating CTV news at 6

I saw that, but did CTV News at Six had more numbers than this 1.3 that Global is saying they have? And I find it hilarious that while they show the BC numbers, they don't show the ass whooping CTV Toronto must be giving Global Toronto.

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A number around 1.3 sounds about right for CTV in Vancouver there ratings don't come close to Global BC. Also CTV dominates local news everywhere in Canada but BC and Alberta where Global does well however they do ok in Toronto but CTV is still well ahead of them.

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Well CTV Morning Live started today. what did you guys think and how did it compare to Globals morning News.

Haven't seen Global Morning News, but I really liked what I saw on the online videos. Plus, the feedback on the FB page has been good. I really liked what I saw. Any comparison with Global and CBC would be appreciated.

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To watch Global's Morning News go to their website. CTV Morning Live was pretty good it will never beat Global but will definitely gain an audience and will likely dig a grave for CityTv's Breakfast Television which struggles to do well and CBC does nothing local in the mornings. No matter what this will do much much better then Canada AM and is the first time any station has really tried to compete with Global BC at morning and noon.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The show's decent from what I've seen so far. Some observations:

 

* Aamer Haleem seems more comfortable in a casual co-host kind of role (like on the old VTV Breakfast) than in his current role as co-anchor.

 

* They're also using Beat the Traffic, but for whatever reason they're not making use of the drive time feature. The inclusion of transit updates from Translink was unexpected, but I suppose useful nonetheless. (I also notice Global BC now mentions more transit information during their traffic segments.)

 

* For their birthday/anniversary milestone announcements, seems like all they mention are celebrity birthdays, even though they invite viewers to send in their own milestones. The lack of viewer submissions is very telling. It's just kinda sad. Even BT has more viewer submissions (though of course they've been around longer). I hope this picks up soon.

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