CH (Canada; PatrZDZ's vision)

**CH Television** or **CH** (derived from the call sign of flagship CHCH-TV in Hamilton) is a Canadian English language privately owned television system owned by Shaw Media — the media holdings of JR Shaw and other members of his family. It consists of eight local television stations located in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, including five stations owned and operated (O&O) by Shaw and three affiliates owned by Jim Pattison Group. The system was launched in 2001 and focuses on airing programs from the U.S. broadcast networks.

## History

The CH system had its roots in the television stations group owned by Western International Communications (WIC), which at one point owned ten stations, including three CTV affiliates, two CBC affiliates, three independent stations in Alberta that mostly carried programming from Global, Montreal multicultural station CJNT-TV, and independent station CHCH-TV Hamilton.

Aside from CHCH, many of WIC's stations were involved in various types of "twinsticks", or a set of two stations serving one market under a single owner – specifically in the British Columbia Lower Mainland, Alberta, Montreal, and Kelowna markets. The second stations were, respectively, CHEK-TV, CKRD-TV, CJNT-TV, and CHBC-TV.

WIC was an ownership group, and not a network unto itself; the company was rarely able to co-ordinate the programming of its first-string stations, much less the second-string outlets, due to the stations' different network affiliations. Even so, during the 1990s, WIC had been stepping up its acquisitions of American programming, eventually acquiring shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond, Will & Grace, Suddenly Susan, Just Shoot Me, and Touched by an Angel.

These programs were broadcast on CHCH (which was rebranded "ONtv" in 1997 in an effort to broaden the station into a province-wide outlet, a change that was not popular with the station's core Hamilton audience), and on its other stations when timeslots were available. For example, in the Vancouver area in the late 1990s, CTV network programming – i.e. the 40 hours per week not aired on VTV – would air in-pattern on BCTV, with some WIC programming airing in the remaining timeslots. On CHEK, the same CTV programs would generally air out-of-pattern, with additional WIC programming scheduled for the remaining timeslots when BCTV was airing network programs. This effectively gave WIC one "full" station to program itself in the Vancouver market. Similarly, in Alberta, Global or WIC programs that could not fit onto the schedules of WIC's Calgary or Edmonton stations would instead air on Red Deer CBC affiliate CKRD, available on cable in much of the province, in non-network timeslots.

Shaw reached an agreement to purchase WIC in 1999.

### Launch of CH

In February 2001, CHCH dropped its "ONtv" branding, becoming the first to adopt the CH brand. It was followed by CHEK (newly disaffiliated from CTV) and multicultural station CJNT that September. While CH briefly used the slogan "Closer to Home" when it launched, the letters "CH" were derived from the call sign of flagship CHCH. On the other hand, CJNT referred to the initials as Canal Horizon, or CH Horizon, until 2002.

CKRD joined in 2005 after disaffiliating from the CBC (having carried CH programming in non-CBC timeslots like it did during the WIC era prior to this), and reverted to its original call letters (CHCA) in the process. Kelowna's CHBC and Kamloops's CFJC, the latter owned by the Jim Pattison Group, also disaffiliated from the CBC in February 2006 and joined CH. Although CFJC is not owned by Shaw Media, its joint sales agreement with CHBC necessitated its affiliation switch. With a replacement brand for CH expected in the near future, both CHBC and CFJC maintain their own local identities.

### Sale to Shaw Media

Following Canwest seeking creditor protection in late 2009, Shaw Communications acquired Canwest's broadcasting and newspaper assets on October 27, 2010, and folded them into a new division, Shaw Media, of which Global and CH are the flagship.

## Programming

CH airs a number of programs from the U.S. broadcast networks, such as Young Sheldon, Lopez vs Lopez, Night Court, Chicago P.D., and Blue Bloods. As CH, local stations (except for CHBC and CFJC) use the "CH" brand throughout the day, titling their newscasts CH News as opposed to using their often well-known call signs.

### News

Local news coverage and other regional programming on the CH stations use the CH News brand. Some CH stations also air Canada Tonight, a national newscast produced by CHAN in Vancouver, British Columbia.

## CH HD

On April 18, 2008, CH launched a high-definition simulcast of its Ontario station (CHCH). The channel was available on digital cable in many areas, and also via an aerial signal in the Hamilton-Toronto-Buffalo area on CHCH-DT Channel 18. All 8 stations have since converted to digital signals due to the 2011 analog-to-digital conversion.