[PR] Rogers Media Expands CityNews Across Canada

[lostjon]

Rogers Media Expands CityNews Across Canada

– In addition to Toronto, the award-winning local news broadcast will now serve viewers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal –

TORONTO ( June 5, 2017) - Building on its commitment to deliver more local news to even more Canadians, Rogers Media will expand its award-winning news program,CityNews ™, across Canada, beginning September 4. Currently seen in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, the expansion ofCityNews will now include local versions of CityNews produced locally and airing daily on City, in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal.

The one-hour newscasts will broadcast seven days a week withCityNews at Six at 6 p.m., and CityNews Tonight at 11 p.m. local time. Newscasts in Edmonton and Winnipeg will debut Monday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. local time. CityNews will expand into the Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary markets in Winter 2018.

“CityNews’s fresh and innovative approach to news reporting resonates strongly with younger viewers, with CityNews at Six – which we revitalized over the last 18 months – now ranking number one in Toronto among the coveted 18 to 34 adult demo*,” said Dave Budge, Vice President, News and Information, Television, Rogers Media. “It’s a winning format that connects with today’s viewer, and we’re excited to bring the same authentic local approach to new audiences.

Debuting in Toronto in 1975, the multi-award winning CityNews has been globally recognized as a trailblazer for news innovation, earning accolades for its local coverage including the esteemed RTDNA National Bert Cannings Award for Best TV Newscast in a Large Market in 2016. Late last month, CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan won the national RTDNA Adrienne Clarkson Award for Diversity in Reporting for her in-depth series on Danica Rain – a transgender Ontario woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery at a clinic in Bangkok.

“Staying true to the hard-hitting journalism that CityNews is known for, the content will focus on viewer-driven, original stories introduced by local reporters,” added Budge.
Adding regional and national perspectives, complementary stories from Rogers Media’s sister brands such as Maclean’s, Breakfast Television, and Sportsnet will also be featured in the broadcasts. Viewers will also see news content delivered across all platforms, with each CityNews team engaging with audiences through their respective local websites and social media channels.

Additional programming details and on-air news talent will be announced in the coming months.

*Source: Numeris, Toronto/Hamilton EM, City Ontario, CFTO, Global Ontario, CP24 Ontario, CBC Toronto, 8/29/2016 – 5/7/2017, A18-34, AMA(000)


Social Media Links

Like CityNews Facebook.com/CityNews
Follow CityNews on Twitter @CityNews
Like City Facebook.com/Citytv
Follow City on Twitter @City_tv
Follow Rogers Media PR on Twitter @RogersMediaPR
Follow City on Instagram @city_tv
Follow Rogers Media PR on Instagram @rogersmediapr

About City
City™ television stations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Saskatchewan offer viewers intensely-local, urban-oriented, culturally-diverse television programming. A distinct alternative to other conventional television stations, City engages its viewers with dynamic on-air personalities and delivers an entertaining mix of news, local-interactive formats, such as Breakfast Television and Cityline, as well as local Canadian and acquired prime-time entertainment programming. City is part of Rogers Media Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI and NYSE: RCI), which is a diversified Canadian communications and media company. For more information on City stations and programming, visit Citytv.com.

Media Contact
Charmaine Khan, CityNews, Charmaine.Khan@rci.rogers.com , 416.277.0450

Michelle Lomack, City, Michelle.Lomack@rci.rogers.com , 416.819.2783

Source: http://rogersmediatv.ca/pr_detail.php?id=1420

[j_levent]

interesting move, I wonder how long Rogers will commit to this. Looks like Dinner Television in Edmonton will be cancelled. It's already been announced that the radio morning show that airs in Winnipeg will no longer be aired. I wonder if they'll restore BT's in those markets or just have 6 and 11pm newscasts.

[InMontreal]

Haven't been mentionned yet on these forums, but CityNews Montreal, Calgary & Vancouver are launching Sept 3rd, 2018.

It's understood those 6pm & 11pm newscasts will be anchorless, an hour long, 7 days a week. New team members mentionned in the following links have already start working on segments, shown on their respective Breakfast Television show.

Vancouver : http://www.rogersmediatv.ca/pr_detail.php?id=1466
Calgary : http://www.rogersmediatv.ca/pr_detail.php?id=1465
Montreal : http://www.rogersmediatv.ca/pr_detail.php?id=1467 (français : http://www.rogersmediatv.ca/pr_detail.php?id=1468)

As the 1st message in this thread is any indication, the launch was expected for winter 2018 in these cities, a few journalists were hired in the fall for this and participated in BT, but the launch was push to this fall.
For Montreal, Tina Tenneriello and Cora MacDonald were named in the fall 2017. MacDonald joined Global Montreal, while Tenneriello filled-in co-anchor on BT, but left recently to host a webseries.

The 14 hours a week newscasts are just enough to satisfy the CRTC local content quotas, meaning Rogers can eliminate BT (15 hours a week) in those markets anytime.

Personally, I prefer the 95% local BT Montreal over Global's morning show (reverse-L, spend 33 % of the time with the Toronto anchor), Ben Baloney's 99% Toronto-based Your Morning on CTV, or Salut Bonjour on TVA. Only problem, it's Rogers, their sales department ain't great and commercials are inserted from their Toronto headquarters, so we get hammed daily with those stupid low-level-advertisers such as 1-minute "Canada Protection Plan" and "Acorn Stairlifts" commercials, which makes me reach the MUTE button instantly, which I assume makes other viewers change channels, while interesting interviews and opinion panels are rushed and wrapped quickly for time. If Rogers continues that way, ratings will go down, sponsors and advertisers won't pay as much and BT Mtl will end up cancelled.