CKVR-DT (PatrZDZ's vision)

**CKVR-DT** (channel 3) is a television station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the NewNet system. It is owned and operated by CHUM Limited alongside Toronto-based station CITY-DT, channel 57 (although the two stations maintain separate operations); it is also sister to 24-hour regional news channel CP24. CKVR-DT's studios are located at 33 Beacon Road in Barrie, and its transmitter is located near Essa Road/Highway 27 on the city's southwest side (which also houses a camera that overlooks the city of Barrie, Lake Simcoe, and its environs; a live feed from this camera is available on the station's website).

## History

### Early history

The station first signed on the air on September 28, 1955; it was founded by Ralph Snelgrove, whose first initial and that of his wife, Valerie, form part of the station's callsign. It originally operated as a privately owned affiliate of CBC Television. In 1969, the station was purchased by CHUM Limited, becoming one of the first television stations owned by the company.

On September 7, 1977, a private aircraft, owned by Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd., dropped altitude to 500 feet (150 m) in dense fog and struck CKVR's 1,000-foot (300 m) transmitter tower, killing all five people aboard the plane and destroying the tower and antenna. The station's 225-foot (69 m) auxiliary tower was also destroyed and there was some damage to the main studio building. The tower also supported the antennae for CHAY-FM (93.1 FM) and a rebroadcaster (on UHF channel 55) of Radio-Canada station CBLFT (channel 25) in Toronto, the studio/transmitter link of CKBB (950 AM, now on 101.1 FM), as well as paging and other communications systems. The CKVR antenna was an RCA six-bay turnstile. On the following morning, the CBC secured the use of a 400 feet (120 m) tower for CKVR. The first sections of the new temporary tower were lifted into place on September 10. On September 19, CKVR's antenna was hoisted into place on the new tower, along with those for CBLFT and CHAY-FM, with the transmission line also being put in place. After work on the tower was completed, tests were made to the transmitter's signal. At 8:35 p.m. that evening, the transmitter was turned on with a colour bar test pattern being broadcast. At 8:55 p.m., CKVR vice president and general manager Jack Mattenley went on the air in a live broadcast with a message of sympathy and words of gratitude to viewers. CKVR returned to the air at a reduced power of 40,000 watts until a new 1,000-foot (300 m) tower was built in 1978.

### 1985 Barrie tornado

On May 31, 1985, an F4 tornado, one of the most powerful and devastating tornadoes in Canadian history, struck Barrie, just a short distance from CKVR's studio facility and transmitter tower (the twister was among several other ones that were spawned during a massive tornado outbreak that affected parts of Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States), killing 12 people, injuring 600 people and destroying many homes and businesses in Barrie. CKVR broadcast extensive coverage of the storm's aftermath for several days, and spent that summer helping the people of Barrie recover and rebuild. The station also held a day-long telethon in June of that year to raise funds for the tornado victims.

Once the CN Tower in Toronto was completed in 1976, atop which CBC flagship CBLT (channel 5) transmits from, the signal coverage areas of CKVR and CBLT overlapped considerably. CKVR management began to consider a different course for the station that took several years to become realized. By the late 1980s, programming outside of CBC and local news was mostly classic reruns such as I Love Lucy, Star Trek, The Addams Family and others, to the point where the station was often branded as CKVR Classic Television. Thanks to the acquisition of Toronto's CITY-TV by CHUM in 1979, CKVR was (technically) part of a twinstick, and Citytv programming began to air in limited timeslots.

### Disaffiliation from CBC and conversion into The New VR

Eventually, the station's financial situation became untenable; then-general manager Doug Garraway explained in a presentation to the CRTC in spring 1994, "the CBC no longer wants us, in point of fact we can no longer afford to remain affiliated with them." CKVR was expected to have lost $5 million by the end of 1995. As a result, the station made the decision to drop CBC programming and go in a new direction.

On September 1, 1995, CKVR ended its affiliation with the CBC and converted into an independent station as "The New VR", and began targeting its programming towards younger viewers. As part of the relaunch, newscasts were overhauled to be similar in format to Toronto sister station CITY-TV, classic shows were dropped in favour of newer programs (including, among others, the syndicated Action Pack block, the short-lived newsmagazine Day and Date, and encore presentations of Citytv's original productions, like CityLine and MovieTelevision; cross-promotion between both stations also commenced), and the station became an official broadcaster of the Toronto Raptors NBA franchise (sharing coverage with Citytv). Over $1 million was invested into new equipment for the station.

The new direction was successful—as CHUM Limited began replicating CKVR's format on its other stations, including several that it had acquired from Baton Broadcasting in 1997 (including CHRO-TV in Pembroke, CHWI-TV in Wheatley, CFPL-TV in London and CKNX-TV in Wingham), which formed the basis for a television system originally known as NewNet. CKVR also broadcasts mid-week games from the Raptors, as well as games from the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs and Raptors games are carried on all of NewNet's stations across Ontario with the exception of CHRO-TV, which does not carry Maple Leafs games due to the fact that CHRO is in the home market of the Ottawa Senators. CKVR also broadcasts WWE Raw as well.

In the early 2000s, plans were being created for CKVR to move from their original facility to a new, state-of-the-art broadcast centre in Barrie's historic Allandale Station, much as other CHUM properties had street-side studios located in city centres. CHUM purchased the 6.9 acres (28,000 m2) of land, including the station buildings, for C$1,050,000 in 2000. CHUM planned to restore the Allandale Station building as part of their plan, but changed their plan in 2004. In 2007, CHUM agreed to sell the property to the City for the same amount CHUM originally paid. CHUM received a Charitable Donation tax receipt reflecting the increased value of the property since 2000 largely due to the restoration and site works completed by CHUM.

## News operation

CKVR-DT presently broadcasts 12 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with one hour-long show each weekday at 6 p.m., and half-hour shows at 12:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays, and at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition to CKVR's news centre in Barrie, CKVR-DT also operates news bureaus in Collingwood and Muskoka. The station also simulcasts CITY-TV's morning program Breakfast Television, with local news inserts incorporated that focus on stories within the Barrie area.

During the station's CBC years, their newscasts were branded as CKVR Total News and featured a conventional newscast format. One young reporter, Kevin Frankish, reported for the station on the 1985 tornado, and eventually was promoted to CITY-TV's news operation.

When the station was relaunched in 1995, their newscast underwent a similar overhaul. The station's news now took after CITY-TV's groundbreaking CityPulse, including an open newsroom set where anchors and reporters stood up to present the news. The focus of the newscast was also broadened to include more of the communities around Barrie, resulting in the newscast being dubbed VRLand News, "VRLand" being an all-encompassing term for the station's coverage area. By 1999, the newscast had been renamed to simply VR News.

### Newscast times

Weekdays:

* 12:30pm - 1pm: VR News at 12:30 with Molly Frommer
* 6pm - 7pm: VR News at 6 with Dana Roberts and Molly Frommer
* 11pm - 11:35pm: VR News at 11 with Dana Roberts

Weekends:

* 6pm - 6:30 pm: VR News at 6 with Courtney Heels
* 11pm - 11:30 pm: VR News at 11 with Courtney Heels