CityNews
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CityNews is the name of Canadian local newscasts on the Citytv system. Previously seen on all five Citytv stations, it is currently only seen on Citytv Toronto.
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[edit] History
The newscast originated in 1977 in Toronto under its original title CityPulse. While the station promotes the myth that it was the "first" news show to abandon the traditional anchor desk, this is in fact, not true as CBS News in the United States had done this as early as the 1950s under Edward R. Murrow. Its main contribution and innovation in television news was to inject its reporters into their stories in a more participatory role that is still considered highly controversial by more traditional journalists.
By the mid-Eighties, the newscast's style, pioneered by Moses Znaimer, was promoted as a "format" for local news shows to copy around North America. The show has also been duplicated by other television stations owned by CHUM Limited as well, and its format has been licensed to several television stations around the world such as Citytv Barcelona and Citytv Bogotá.
CityPulse launched in Vancouver in 2002 when CKVU-TV re-branded as Citytv Vancouver. With the expansion of Citytv from two to five stations in August of 2005, the newscasts on all five Citytv stations were renamed CityNews.
On July 12, 2006, coincident with the announcement of Bell Globemedia's plans to take over CHUM Limited, all CityNews programs, with the exception of those on CITY-TV in Toronto, were immediately cancelled with 281 CHUM employees across the country being laid off. On CKAL-TV and CKEM-TV, CityNews was replaced with a new half-hour newsmagazine called your City , that launched in early October while CHMI-TV will launch it's version in January [1]. CKVU-TV's newscast has not be replaced.
When the show made the transition to CityNews, it lost multiple features, such as the CityPulse Webtest, which had existed since the 1980s as a phone-in contest. The new format on CHMI, which previously was called A-Channel News, had lost nearly half of its audience for the 6pm newscast before its cancellation.
Ratings for Toronto's CityNews have taken a dramatic nosedive over the past year. The flagship newscast for CityTV is now ranked a distant #4 in the Toronto market, outpaced by CTV, Global and even CH News (which actually focuses its local news coverage on the Hamilton/Halton/Niagara region). In addition, since Global's relaunch of its news package in February 2006, CityNews' numbers are down 15% among 18- to 49-year-olds. [2]
[edit] Personalities
- Anne Mroczkowski, Anchor/Reporter, "CityNews at Six", host of "The Mayor"
- Alex Pierson, Reporter, "CityNews"
- Ann Rohmer, Host, "Hot Property", "Animal Housecalls", Co-Anchor, "CityNews Tonight"
- David Onley, Science and Technology Specialist, "CityNews", Anchor, "CP24", Host, "Homepage"
- Gord Martineau, Anchor/Reporter, "CityNews at Six"; Host, "The Chief"
- Kevin Frankish, Host, "BT-BreakfastTelevision"
- Beatrice Politi, political specialist in Ottawa, Ontario
- Kathryn Humphreys, sports anchor
- Hugh Burrill, sports anchor
- Jim McKenny, sports anchor
- JoJo Chintoh, features and documentary specialist
- Tonya Rouse, fitness specialist
- Dwight Drummond, Co-Anchor, "CityNews at Noon", Crime Specialist, "CityNews"
- Larysa Harapyn, entertainment reporter
- Liz West, entertainment specialist
- Lorne Honickman, legal specialist, Host, "Legal Briefs"
- Peter Silverman, Ombudsman, "CityNews" & "Silverman Helps"
- Michael Kuss, meteorologist
- Dr. Karl Kabasele, medical specialist
- Cynthia Mulligan, education specialist
- Laura DiBattista, Co-Anchor, "CityNews at Noon" Health specialist, "CityNews"
- Frank Ferragine, Weather Specialist, "BT-BreakfastTelevision", Gardening Specialist, "CityNews"
- Jee-Yun Lee, Consumer Specialist
- Mark Dailey, Co-Anchor, "CityNews Tonight", "The Voice" of Citytv
- Marianne Dimain, news reporter, Anchor, "CP24"
- Kris Reyes, news reporter, Anchor, "CP24"
- Merella Fernandez, Weekend Anchor, "CityNews Weekend", Reporter, "CityNews
- Nalini Sharma, weather specialist
- Pam Seatle, news reporter
- Richard Madan, Money Specialist, "CityNews"
- Tracy Moore, Reporter, "BT-Breakfast Television" and "CityNews"
- Francis D'Souza, Anchor, "CityNews Weekend", Reporter, "CityNews"
- Jennifer Valentyne, LiveEye Host, "BT-BreakfastTelevision"
- Melissa Grelo, Anchor, "CP24"
- Omar Sachedina, Anchor, "CP24"
- Muhammad Lila, news reporter, Anchor, "CP24"
[edit] Notable contributors
Notable contributors to the Toronto show included:
- Stephen Lewis who provided a commentary for the program until his appointment as Canadian ambassador to the United Nations
- John Roberts (credited as J.D. Roberts), an entertainment reporter and weekend anchor now with CNN
- Mary Garofalo, who later moved to WNYW-TV in New York
- Thalia Assuras, who later moved to ABC and then CBS
- Bill Cameron, who later moved to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Denise Donlon, later CEO of Sony Canada
- Avi Lewis, who later moved to CBC.
- Dini Petty, later a talk show host (The Dini Petty Show)
- John Saunders, a sportscaster who later moved to ESPN
- Russ Salzberg, a sportscaster who later moved to WWOR-TV in New York
[edit] CablePulse24
In 1998, Citytv created CablePulse 24 (commonly CP24), a Toronto cable TV station that is Canada's only 24-hour local news channel. It shares the same staff as the Citytv Toronto newscasts.
