Vision TV
Encyclopedia
VisionTV is a Canadian
English language
Category A specialty channel
that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic.
VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia
, a company controlled by Moses Znaimer
. VisionTV's funding comes from cable subscription fees, viewer donations, advertising revenues and the sale of airtime to faith groups.
's operation in Toronto
was criticized in 1997 for moving Vision to Channel 59, rendering it inaccessible to many residents of the city because 59 is the channel most commonly overridden by the lobby camera service in apartment
buildings.
Network vice-president Rita Deverell
, who hosted interstitial segments between programs, was the network's most prominent on-air personality from its launch until she left in 2002 to work for APTN
.
Some evangelical
Christian denominations view the station as liberal
in orientation, and thus prefer more evangelically-oriented operations such as the Crossroads Television System
(CTS).
The channel was originally operated by a non-profit organization most recently known as S-VOX
. In June 2009, S-VOX announced it would sell its broadcasting assets to ZoomerMedia
, a company controlled by Moses Znaimer
. The sale was approved by the CRTC on March 30, 2010. ZoomerMedia assumed control of S-VOX's broadcasting assets on June 30, 2010.
In December 2010, ZoomerMedia introduced a new logo and on-air identity for the channel with the tagline, "Zoomer Television" (Zoomer being a word coined by Znaimer meaning "boomers with zip"), emphasizing its focus on more general entertainment programming for the 45 and older demographic.
, most of its Christian programming tends to originate from more mainstream denominations such as the United Church of Canada
and the Catholic Church.
The network also sponsors an annual Canadian drama competition, which solicits television series proposals revolving around faith and cultural diversity and then funds a pilot episode for the winning proposal. Two noted Canadian series, Lord Have Mercy! and Da Kink in My Hair
, have been developed from pilots commissioned by VisionTV.
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Note: This is only a partial list of programs listed as of January 2009.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Category A specialty channel
Specialty channel
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic.
VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia
ZoomerMedia
ZoomerMedia Limited is a group of Canadian media operations controlled by Moses Znaimer. According to Znaimer, these media outlets primarily target what he calls "zoomers" or "baby boomers with zip", defined as people in their 50s, 60s and 70s who want to remain socially and culturally engaged and...
, a company controlled by Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.-Early life and career:...
. VisionTV's funding comes from cable subscription fees, viewer donations, advertising revenues and the sale of airtime to faith groups.
History and viewership
Licensed in December 1987 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the channel was launched in 1988 and was initially one of Canada's more popular cable channels. However, with the proliferation of new cable channels, and with VisionTV lacking clout with cable carriers due to it being, at the time, owned by a one channel operation owned by a not-for-profit organization rather than a large commercial entity operating many channels, the service has been moved up the dial by carriers and become less available to audiences causing a drop in its viewership. Notably, Rogers CableRogers Cable
Rogers Cable Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, in Manitoba, Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.The...
's operation in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
was criticized in 1997 for moving Vision to Channel 59, rendering it inaccessible to many residents of the city because 59 is the channel most commonly overridden by the lobby camera service in apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
buildings.
Network vice-president Rita Deverell
Rita Deverell
Rita Shelton Deverell, CM is a Canadian television broadcaster and social activist, who was one of the founders of the Canadian television channel Vision TV...
, who hosted interstitial segments between programs, was the network's most prominent on-air personality from its launch until she left in 2002 to work for APTN
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples...
.
Some evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian denominations view the station as liberal
Christian left
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
in orientation, and thus prefer more evangelically-oriented operations such as the Crossroads Television System
Crossroads Television System
Crossroads Television System, or CTS, is a privately held Canadian television system.CTS airs predominantly Christian-based religious programming, most notably 100 Huntley Street, The Michael Coren Show and LIFE Today with James & Betty Robison, as well as other religious and faith based...
(CTS).
The channel was originally operated by a non-profit organization most recently known as S-VOX
S-VOX
S-VOX Foundation is a Canadian non-profit media organization dedicated to producing content on faith and spirituality.The organization is the successor to the non-profit entity that operated VisionTV, and later other related Canadian specialty channels, from 1988 to 2010...
. In June 2009, S-VOX announced it would sell its broadcasting assets to ZoomerMedia
ZoomerMedia
ZoomerMedia Limited is a group of Canadian media operations controlled by Moses Znaimer. According to Znaimer, these media outlets primarily target what he calls "zoomers" or "baby boomers with zip", defined as people in their 50s, 60s and 70s who want to remain socially and culturally engaged and...
, a company controlled by Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.-Early life and career:...
. The sale was approved by the CRTC on March 30, 2010. ZoomerMedia assumed control of S-VOX's broadcasting assets on June 30, 2010.
In December 2010, ZoomerMedia introduced a new logo and on-air identity for the channel with the tagline, "Zoomer Television" (Zoomer being a word coined by Znaimer meaning "boomers with zip"), emphasizing its focus on more general entertainment programming for the 45 and older demographic.
Programming
VisionTV's programming consists of two programming streams; Mosaic and Cornerstone.Mosaic
Its Mosaic block consists of faith related programming representing 75 faith groups within various religious denominations, including Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. While the station sells time to several television evangelistsTelevangelism
Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A “televangelist” is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his ministry to television broadcasting...
, most of its Christian programming tends to originate from more mainstream denominations such as the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
and the Catholic Church.
Cornerstone
VisionTV's Cornerstone programs include music, feature films, dramas, comedies, documentaries and programming on social issues that explore spirituality, morality, and cultural diversity as well as other general entertainment programming.The network also sponsors an annual Canadian drama competition, which solicits television series proposals revolving around faith and cultural diversity and then funds a pilot episode for the winning proposal. Two noted Canadian series, Lord Have Mercy! and Da Kink in My Hair
Da Kink in My Hair (TV series)
'da Kink in My Hair is a Canadian television sitcom. Based on the play of the same name by Trey Anthony, the story was adapted into a television show currently airing on Global.-Cast:...
, have been developed from pilots commissioned by VisionTV.
Mosaic series
- 360° Vision360° Vision360° Vision is a Canadian television newsmagazine series, which airs on VisionTV. The program airs documentary and feature reports on matters of spirituality, religion and faith in news and current events....
- Sarghi
- Joel Osteen
- Joyce Meyer
- Des Pardes
- Food for Life
- Hour of Power
- Reflections on Islam
- Taur Punjab Di
- Visions of Punjab
- Punjabi Darkhan
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Cornerstone series
- SOUL
- 'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo! is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It is a parody of another BBC programme, the wartime drama Secret Army, and was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Lloyd and Croft wrote the first 6...
- The StandardThe StandardThe Standard is an English free newspaper of Hong Kong with a daily circulation of 231,018. It was called the Hong Kong Standard and changed to HKiMail during the Internet boom, but it changed back to The Standard in 2001....
- I Prophesy
- Last of the Summer WineLast of the Summer WineLast of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
- Murder, She WroteMurder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
- Quantum Leap
- Recreating EdenRecreating EdenRecreating Eden is a Canadian lifestyle and gardening television documentary program. Its aim is to examine the physical, mental, and spiritual healing effects that gardens have on their keepers-History:...
- The WaltonsThe WaltonsThe Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
- The BeachcombersThe BeachcombersThe Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran from October 1, 1972 to December 12, 1990 and is the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canadian television...
- Bless Me FatherBless Me FatherBless me, Father was a British situation comedy starring Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri, Gabrielle Daye, Patrick McAlinney, David Ryall, Derek Francis and Sheila Keith. It was aired on ITV from 1978 until 1981 and described the adventures of an Irish Catholic priest, Father Charles Duddleswell and...
- She's the MayorShe's the MayorShe's the Mayor is a Canadian television sitcom, scheduled to start on Vision TV from October 4, 2011. The show will star Janet-Laine Green as Iris Peters, a woman in her 60s who is newly elected as the mayor of the fictional city of Fairfax....
- Supernatural Investigator
- Waiting for GodWaiting for God (TV series)Waiting for God was a British sitcom that ran on BBC1 for five series from 1990 to 1994. It starred Stephanie Cole and Graham Crowden as two spirited residents of a retirement home who spend their time running rings around the home's oppressive management and their own families. It was written by...
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Note: This is only a partial list of programs listed as of January 2009.
External links
- VisionTV
- Broadcaster with Vision profile from For A Change magazine