Western International Communications
Encyclopedia
WIC Western International Communications Ltd.The apparent occurrence of "RAS syndrome
" here was in fact part of the company's legal name. was a Canadian
media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio
, and satellite
distribution via a majority interest in Canadian Satellite Communications
(or Cancom).
The company itself was acquired by CanWest Global Communications, which kept most of WIC's broadcast television stations and a variety of related television production assets. As a result of a takeover battle leading up to the acquisition, Shaw Communications
assumed WIC's interest in Cancom, while a separate company owned by the same Shaw family, Corus Entertainment
, acquired various radio stations and specialty services. A handful of assets would be acquired by other companies for competitive reasons.
With the sale of Canwest's broadcasting assets to Shaw a decade later, the Shaw family now controls almost all of the assets of the former WIC, through either Shaw or Corus.
established Western Broadcasting Company Ltd. in the late 1950s to hold his various broadcasting assets in British Columbia, including radio station CKNW and a majority interest in BCTV
, at the time the province's CTV
affiliate. WBC was publicly-traded for a time but was later reacquired by Griffiths's family.
In 1982, the Griffiths' media assets were again floated on the public markets in a restructured form via WIC. The Griffiths retained Western Broadcasting, which in turn held all of WIC's Class A voting shares; the Class B shares were sold to the public. Class B shares did not generally provide voting rights, but would be converted to voting shares should a majority of Class A shares change hands, a so-called coat-tail provision.
Over time, WIC would acquire various broadcasting assets from other companies, including Selkirk Communications
– the other major shareholder of BCTV, and also the owner of independent stations CHCH-TV
Hamilton and CFAC-TV (now CICT-TV
) Calgary – as well as Charles Allard's company Allarcom, which had launched CITV-TV
Edmonton and pay television service Superchannel
. Its final major acquisition was Montreal's CFCF-TV
, which it bought in 1997.
. Initially, they sold 49.98% of their Class A shares to Shaw, 49.98% to the Allard family, and 0.04% to CanWest, in order to evade the coat-tail provision while Shaw completed a takeover bid for the non-voting shares.
However, CanWest also coveted WIC, primarily for its independent TV stations in Alberta, the largest remaining hole in the company's Global Television Network
, Canada's third English-language over-the-air television network. CanWest also offered to buy the Class B shares and filed a lawsuit claiming that the division of Class A shares constituted a change of control.
The lawsuit eventually stalled, and CanWest and Shaw each ended garnered over 40% of Class B shares. The negotiations between Shaw and CanWest continued until 1999, when the two parties, as well as Corus Entertainment
, agreed to split the assets. (Corus, consisting of Shaw's former broadcasting division, had been spun off from Shaw earlier in the year, in the process receiving some of Shaw's interest in WIC.)
Under the agreement, CanWest was to acquire WIC's broadcast television division, various production assets, as well as its interests in Report on Business Television
. However, in Montreal
, where CanWest chose to keep its existing Global station CKMI
, the company was required to divest CFCF, and eventually sold it to CTV. Retaining CFCF would have given Global a monopoly on commercial English language
television in Montreal. CanWest also retained WIC's interest in Report on Business Television
; it was subsequently sold to rival Bell Globemedia
when that company acquired The Globe and Mail
, which owned the remainder.
Shaw would acquire WIC's interests in Canadian Satellite Communications
, which was in the process of merging with Shaw-controlled direct-to-home satellite provider Star Choice, meaning that Shaw would obtain a larger majority interest in the combined company. Cancom would be privatized by Shaw a few years later.
Meanwhile, Corus was to acquire WIC's radio, specialty, and premium television assets. The CRTC approved the sale of the radio stations, MovieMax, SuperChannel, and WIC's video on demand
services to Corus, but required WIC's shares of The Family Channel and Teletoon be sold to a new buyer. Astral Media
acquired those shares in 2001. (Corus already held a minority interest in Teletoon, which - following subsequent acquisitions - is now run as a 50/50 joint venture with Astral.)
, where the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had repeatedly denied the company's applications to open new stations. An earlier application by Global in 1997 had been turned down in favour of Craig Media's A-Channel
system. However, the WIC stations there were already purchasing broadcast rights to some of Global's programming.
In Vancouver
and Victoria
, Canwest's acquisition of CHAN set off one of the largest single-market network association shakeups in North America
n television history. There was already a Global owned-and-operated station
in the Vancouver market, CKVU
, but Canwest decided to sell that station and keep CHAN instead.
As a result, on September 1, 2001, the Global brand and programming moved from CKVU to CHAN, the CTV association moved from CHAN to CIVT, and CKVU was purchased by CHUM Limited
, adopting the Citytv
brand the following year. CHEK also changed its association, from CTV to Global's new CH system; a NewNet station in Victoria, CIVI
, as well as religious station CHNU-TV
, also launched around the same time.
CHCH and CJNT's signals also overlapped with existing Global stations; these two stations were integrated with CHEK into the CH system. CKRD disaffiliated from the CBC in September, 2005, becoming CHCA, the fourth CH station (the station would go dark on August 31, 2009). CHBC's similar disaffiliation was approved by the CRTC on February 28, 2005, and disaffiliated on February 27, 2006 to join the CH system (although CHBC did not use the CH brand on-air, but rather its call letters, as it had done throughout its existence, until September 7, 2007, when it began using the E! brand for all programs outside of local news and regional programming).
Global did not have a true national newscast before it acquired WIC, although it aired First National in Ontario
, Manitoba
and, later, Quebec
. On acquiring WIC, Global briefly replaced First National with Canada Tonight
on stations carrying that program, and premiered its successor, Global National
, on September 3, 2001.
. Canwest fell into bankruptcy protection in 2009 under the weight of debt from various acquisitions including WIC, but more critically the larger purchases of the Southam newspaper chain and Alliance Atlantis
. In the process, it closed the CH / E! system, leading in turn to the sale of three of the WIC stations Canwest had acquired in 2000 (CHCH, CJNT, and CHEK), the conversion of another to a Global station (CHBC), and the closure of one other (CHCA).
In 2010, Shaw announced a deal to buy the entirety of Canwest's broadcasting division, which would place most of the former WIC assets under the control of the Shaw family, through either Shaw or Corus. The deal was completed that October, with the Canwest properties now being part of Shaw Media
.
or CBC
, while others operated as independent stations, although some of these stations also had program supply agreements with CanWest. At the same time however, WIC produced or purchased Canadian rights to enough programs to fill the schedule of CHCH (which had no third-party programming source), and many of these programs, including the newscast Canada Tonight
and foreign programming such as Touched by an Angel
, aired on other WIC stations. The WIC library of programming would ultimately form the initial basis of Canwest's ill-fated second broadcast service, CH (later E!).
At the time of its sale to CanWest, WIC owned the following stations. The year WIC first acquired control of each station, and the programming carried by each station immediately prior to the breakup of the company, is also noted.
WIC's CTV affiliates, CHAN and CHEK, as well as CFCF (even before its acquisition by WIC), had a hostile relationship with the network, due to these stations' desire to take a greater role in Canadian program production for the network. This relationship deteriorated even further in 1997, when rival Baton Broadcasting became the sole corporate owner of CTV, and opened its own independent station, CIVT
, in Vancouver. Baton, which owned the national rights to many programs aired in Vancouver on CHAN or CHEK, was able to move these programs, now being advertised as CTV programs outside B.C., to CIVT. However, the CTV network, which supplied 40 hours of programming each week, was still bound by affiliation agreements with CHAN and CHEK; these agreements did not end until September 2001.
Under WIC's ownership, CHAN used the brand BCTV. WIC also changed CHCH's branding to OnTV in 1997, when the station added several rebroadcast transmitters throughout Ontario.
.
RAS syndrome
RAS syndrome , also known as PNS syndrome or RAP phrases , refers to the use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism in conjunction with the abbreviated form, thus in effect repeating one or more words...
" here was in fact part of the company's legal name. was a Canadian
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...
media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, and satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
distribution via a majority interest in Canadian Satellite Communications
Canadian Satellite Communications
Shaw Satellite Services is a Canadian company responsible for providing and managing the distribution of television channels to cable companies via satellite...
(or Cancom).
The company itself was acquired by CanWest Global Communications, which kept most of WIC's broadcast television stations and a variety of related television production assets. As a result of a takeover battle leading up to the acquisition, Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
assumed WIC's interest in Cancom, while a separate company owned by the same Shaw family, Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
, acquired various radio stations and specialty services. A handful of assets would be acquired by other companies for competitive reasons.
With the sale of Canwest's broadcasting assets to Shaw a decade later, the Shaw family now controls almost all of the assets of the former WIC, through either Shaw or Corus.
History
Frank GriffithsFrank Griffiths
Frank A. Griffiths was a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada media mogul through his company, Western International Communications Ltd. ....
established Western Broadcasting Company Ltd. in the late 1950s to hold his various broadcasting assets in British Columbia, including radio station CKNW and a majority interest in BCTV
CHAN-TV
CHAN-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, broadcasting over-the-air on digital channel 22, and available via cable providers in the area on channel 11. Owned by Shaw Communications as a part of its Shaw Media division, it is the West Coast flagship station of the...
, at the time the province's CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
affiliate. WBC was publicly-traded for a time but was later reacquired by Griffiths's family.
In 1982, the Griffiths' media assets were again floated on the public markets in a restructured form via WIC. The Griffiths retained Western Broadcasting, which in turn held all of WIC's Class A voting shares; the Class B shares were sold to the public. Class B shares did not generally provide voting rights, but would be converted to voting shares should a majority of Class A shares change hands, a so-called coat-tail provision.
Over time, WIC would acquire various broadcasting assets from other companies, including Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company grew to own 14 radio stations, six television stations and cable television...
– the other major shareholder of BCTV, and also the owner of independent stations CHCH-TV
CHCH-TV
CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...
Hamilton and CFAC-TV (now CICT-TV
CICT-TV
CICT-DT is a Canadian television station, licensed to and serving Calgary, Alberta. It is owned by Shaw Media, and is an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network...
) Calgary – as well as Charles Allard's company Allarcom, which had launched CITV-TV
CITV-TV
CITV-DT is a television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Known on air as Global Edmonton, the station is owned by Shaw Media, and is an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network. It transmits on channel 13 and cable 8 in Edmonton, and is carried on the Bell TV and Shaw...
Edmonton and pay television service Superchannel
Movie Central
Movie Central is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories...
. Its final major acquisition was Montreal's CFCF-TV
CFCF-TV
CFCF-DT is a CTV-owned and operated station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
, which it bought in 1997.
Takeover battle
In 1997, wanting to exit the broadcasting business, the Griffiths agreed to sell WIC to Shaw CommunicationsShaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
. Initially, they sold 49.98% of their Class A shares to Shaw, 49.98% to the Allard family, and 0.04% to CanWest, in order to evade the coat-tail provision while Shaw completed a takeover bid for the non-voting shares.
However, CanWest also coveted WIC, primarily for its independent TV stations in Alberta, the largest remaining hole in the company's Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
, Canada's third English-language over-the-air television network. CanWest also offered to buy the Class B shares and filed a lawsuit claiming that the division of Class A shares constituted a change of control.
The lawsuit eventually stalled, and CanWest and Shaw each ended garnered over 40% of Class B shares. The negotiations between Shaw and CanWest continued until 1999, when the two parties, as well as Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
, agreed to split the assets. (Corus, consisting of Shaw's former broadcasting division, had been spun off from Shaw earlier in the year, in the process receiving some of Shaw's interest in WIC.)
Under the agreement, CanWest was to acquire WIC's broadcast television division, various production assets, as well as its interests in Report on Business Television
Business News Network
Business News Network ' is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel. BNN broadcasts programming related to business and financial news and analysis. As of December 2010, the station is based from 299 Queen Street West in Downtown Toronto and is owned by Bell Media...
. However, in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, where CanWest chose to keep its existing Global station CKMI
CKMI-TV
CKMI-DT-1 is the Global Television Network owned-and-operated station in Quebec.Originally a privately owned CBC Television affiliate in Quebec City, the station moved most of its operations to Montreal in 1997 after launching a rebroadcaster there and becoming a Global affiliate as Global Quebec...
, the company was required to divest CFCF, and eventually sold it to CTV. Retaining CFCF would have given Global a monopoly on commercial 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...
television in Montreal. CanWest also retained WIC's interest in Report on Business Television
Business News Network
Business News Network ' is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel. BNN broadcasts programming related to business and financial news and analysis. As of December 2010, the station is based from 299 Queen Street West in Downtown Toronto and is owned by Bell Media...
; it was subsequently sold to rival Bell Globemedia
CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia , was one of Canada's largest private media companies. Its operations include newspaper publishing , television broadcasting and production , radio broadcasting , and their respective Internet properties.Originally established by BCE and the Thomson family in 2001 combining CTV Inc.,...
when that company acquired The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, which owned the remainder.
Shaw would acquire WIC's interests in Canadian Satellite Communications
Canadian Satellite Communications
Shaw Satellite Services is a Canadian company responsible for providing and managing the distribution of television channels to cable companies via satellite...
, which was in the process of merging with Shaw-controlled direct-to-home satellite provider Star Choice, meaning that Shaw would obtain a larger majority interest in the combined company. Cancom would be privatized by Shaw a few years later.
Meanwhile, Corus was to acquire WIC's radio, specialty, and premium television assets. The CRTC approved the sale of the radio stations, MovieMax, SuperChannel, and WIC's video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
services to Corus, but required WIC's shares of The Family Channel and Teletoon be sold to a new buyer. Astral Media
Astral Media
Astral Media Inc. is a Canadian media corporation. It is Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 83 radio stations in eight provinces, and is a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Teletoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV,...
acquired those shares in 2001. (Corus already held a minority interest in Teletoon, which - following subsequent acquisitions - is now run as a 50/50 joint venture with Astral.)
Effects of WIC breakup
CanWest's acquisition of WIC's television stations finally brought the Global network's service to AlbertaAlberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, where the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had repeatedly denied the company's applications to open new stations. An earlier application by Global in 1997 had been turned down in favour of Craig Media's A-Channel
A-Channel (Craig Media)
A-Channel was a Canadian television system owned by Craig Media from 1997 to 2004 and CHUM Limited from 2004 to 2005. It consisted of Craig's television stations in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, and was the company's unsuccessful attempt to build a national network.CHUM Limited, which acquired...
system. However, the WIC stations there were already purchasing broadcast rights to some of Global's programming.
In Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Canwest's acquisition of CHAN set off one of the largest single-market network association shakeups in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n television history. There was already a Global owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
in the Vancouver market, CKVU
CKVU-TV
CKVU-DT is a television station based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Media , it was the second station to become part of the Citytv system in Canada.-History:CKVU's history dates back to 1975, when Western Approaches Ltd...
, but Canwest decided to sell that station and keep CHAN instead.
As a result, on September 1, 2001, the Global brand and programming moved from CKVU to CHAN, the CTV association moved from CHAN to CIVT, and CKVU was purchased by CHUM Limited
CHUM Limited
CHUM Limited was a media company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1945 to 2007. Immediately prior to its acquisition, it held full or joint control of two Canadian television systems — Citytv and A-Channel — comprising 11 local stations, and one CBC Television affiliate, one...
, adopting the Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
brand the following year. CHEK also changed its association, from CTV to Global's new CH system; a NewNet station in Victoria, CIVI
CIVI-TV
CIVI-DT, also known as CTV Two Vancouver Island, is a television station based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Currently owned by Bell Media, the station serves the Vancouver Island area, and operates as part of the CTV Two system...
, as well as religious station CHNU-TV
CHNU-TV
CHNU-DT is an English language television station based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The station is licensed to the Fraser Valley Region, and also serves Metro Vancouver, Victoria and surrounding areas. CHNU is owned by ZoomerMedia, and is an owned and operated station of the Joytv...
, also launched around the same time.
CHCH and CJNT's signals also overlapped with existing Global stations; these two stations were integrated with CHEK into the CH system. CKRD disaffiliated from the CBC in September, 2005, becoming CHCA, the fourth CH station (the station would go dark on August 31, 2009). CHBC's similar disaffiliation was approved by the CRTC on February 28, 2005, and disaffiliated on February 27, 2006 to join the CH system (although CHBC did not use the CH brand on-air, but rather its call letters, as it had done throughout its existence, until September 7, 2007, when it began using the E! brand for all programs outside of local news and regional programming).
Global did not have a true national newscast before it acquired WIC, although it aired First National in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and, later, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. On acquiring WIC, Global briefly replaced First National with Canada Tonight
Canada Tonight
Canada Tonight was a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two versions of the newscast; the one seen outside BC was anchored by...
on stations carrying that program, and premiered its successor, Global National
Global National
Global National is the national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Dawna Friesen anchors the program's weekday edition from the Global BC studios; Robin Gill currently anchors the weekend edition...
, on September 3, 2001.
Later ramifications
While the acquisition was important to filling in some of the gaps of the Global network in western Canada, it eventually proved to be something of a Pyrrhic victoryPyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
. Canwest fell into bankruptcy protection in 2009 under the weight of debt from various acquisitions including WIC, but more critically the larger purchases of the Southam newspaper chain and Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Toronto-based media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon and Sydney.Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Canwest...
. In the process, it closed the CH / E! system, leading in turn to the sale of three of the WIC stations Canwest had acquired in 2000 (CHCH, CJNT, and CHEK), the conversion of another to a Global station (CHBC), and the closure of one other (CHCA).
In 2010, Shaw announced a deal to buy the entirety of Canwest's broadcasting division, which would place most of the former WIC assets under the control of the Shaw family, through either Shaw or Corus. The deal was completed that October, with the Canwest properties now being part of Shaw Media
Shaw Media
Shaw Media is the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. Shaw Media owns the Global Television Network, which broadcasts via 11 television stations, as well as various specialty channels including HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History Television.Despite also...
.
Television stations
WIC was primarily an ownership group, not a television network. Some WIC stations were network affiliates of CTVCTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
or CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
, while others operated as independent stations, although some of these stations also had program supply agreements with CanWest. At the same time however, WIC produced or purchased Canadian rights to enough programs to fill the schedule of CHCH (which had no third-party programming source), and many of these programs, including the newscast Canada Tonight
Canada Tonight
Canada Tonight was a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two versions of the newscast; the one seen outside BC was anchored by...
and foreign programming such as Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
, aired on other WIC stations. The WIC library of programming would ultimately form the initial basis of Canwest's ill-fated second broadcast service, CH (later E!).
At the time of its sale to CanWest, WIC owned the following stations. The year WIC first acquired control of each station, and the programming carried by each station immediately prior to the breakup of the company, is also noted.
| City | Station | Year acquired | Primary programming source | Other programming sources | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Calgary Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies... |
CICT CICT-TV CICT-DT is a Canadian television station, licensed to and serving Calgary, Alberta. It is owned by Shaw Media, and is an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network... |
1989 | Global Global Television Network Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division... Although the station in question was nominally independent, the vast majority of its primetime programming was supplied by Canwest. |
WIC | Global O&O |
| Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... |
CITV CITV-TV CITV-DT is a television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Known on air as Global Edmonton, the station is owned by Shaw Media, and is an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network. It transmits on channel 13 and cable 8 in Edmonton, and is carried on the Bell TV and Shaw... |
1991 | GlobalAlthough the station in question was nominally independent, the vast majority of its primetime programming was supplied by Canwest. | WIC | Global O&O |
| Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe... |
CHCH CHCH-TV CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the... |
1990 | Independent (WIC programs only) | n/a | Independent station owned by Channel Zero Channel Zero Inc. Channel Zero is an independent Canadian broadcasting and media group, which holds assets in television broadcasting and film distribution.The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Ownership structure:... |
| Lethbridge Lethbridge Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's... |
CISA CISA-TV CISA-DT is a Canadian television station serving Lethbridge, Alberta. It is owned by Shaw Media, and is affiliated to their Global Television Network. It is branded as Global Lethbridge and transmits on channel 7 and cable channel 5 in Lethbridge... |
1989 | GlobalAlthough the station in question was nominally independent, the vast majority of its primetime programming was supplied by Canwest. | WIC | Global O&O |
| Kelowna Kelowna Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"... |
CHBC CHBC-TV CHBC-TV is a television station in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada owned by Shaw Media. It transmits on channel 2, and cable channel 4, and broadcasts on 18 relay stations.... |
1989WIC was already a partial owner of these stations, but acquired the remainder of each station, specifically 50% of CHBC and 41% of each of CHAN and CHEK, from Selkirk Communications Selkirk Communications Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company grew to own 14 radio stations, six television stations and cable television... (via Maclean-Hunter Maclean-Hunter Maclean-Hunter was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution.... ) in 1989. |
CBC CBC Television CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are... |
Global / WIC | Global O&O |
| Montreal Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... |
CFCF CFCF-TV CFCF-DT is a CTV-owned and operated station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada... |
1997 | CTV CTV television network CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival... |
WIC | CTV O&O |
| Montreal | CJNT CJNT-TV CJNT-DT is a Canadian multicultural television station in Montreal, Quebec. The station is owned and operated by Channel Zero and uses the on-air brand Metro 14.-History:... |
1999 | Independent multicultural | n/a | Independent multicultural station owned by Channel Zero |
| Red Deer Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills... |
CKRD CHCA-TV CHCA-TV was a television station in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It was owned by Canwest, and was part of the E! television system. The station was seen on VHF channel 6 and cable channel 11 in Red Deer... |
1991 | CBC | Global / WIC (programs not carried on CICT/CITV) | Later CHCA; closed in 2009 following shutdown of CH / E! |
| Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... |
CHAN CHAN-TV CHAN-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, broadcasting over-the-air on digital channel 22, and available via cable providers in the area on channel 11. Owned by Shaw Communications as a part of its Shaw Media division, it is the West Coast flagship station of the... |
1982 | CTV | WIC | Global O&O |
| Victoria Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian... |
CHEK CHEK-TV CHEK-DT, channel 6.1, is a television station based in Victoria, British Columbia and broadcasting to all of southwestern BC... |
1982 | CTV (timeshifted) | WIC (different programs from those on CHAN) | Independent station owned by CHEK Media Group |
WIC's CTV affiliates, CHAN and CHEK, as well as CFCF (even before its acquisition by WIC), had a hostile relationship with the network, due to these stations' desire to take a greater role in Canadian program production for the network. This relationship deteriorated even further in 1997, when rival Baton Broadcasting became the sole corporate owner of CTV, and opened its own independent station, CIVT
CIVT-TV
CIVT-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network...
, in Vancouver. Baton, which owned the national rights to many programs aired in Vancouver on CHAN or CHEK, was able to move these programs, now being advertised as CTV programs outside B.C., to CIVT. However, the CTV network, which supplied 40 hours of programming each week, was still bound by affiliation agreements with CHAN and CHEK; these agreements did not end until September 2001.
Under WIC's ownership, CHAN used the brand BCTV. WIC also changed CHCH's branding to OnTV in 1997, when the station added several rebroadcast transmitters throughout Ontario.
Specialty and premium television
- Superchannel (now Movie CentralMovie CentralMovie Central is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories...
) - MovieMax (now Encore AvenueEncore AvenueEncore Avenue is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Encore Avenue is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories. Encore Avenue is owned by Corus Entertainment...
) - Viewers ChoiceViewers ChoiceViewers Choice is a Canadian English language regional pay-per-view and Near Video on Demand service that is designated to operate east of the Manitoba-Ontario border, excluding the territories....
in Western Canada (now Shaw PPVShaw PPVShaw PPV is a Canadian English and French language pay-per-view service owned by Shaw Pay-Per-View Limited, a division of Shaw Communications. Shaw PPV is carried by Shaw Direct, Shaw Cable and others....
) - Report on Business Television (now Business News NetworkBusiness News NetworkBusiness News Network ' is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel. BNN broadcasts programming related to business and financial news and analysis. As of December 2010, the station is based from 299 Queen Street West in Downtown Toronto and is owned by Bell Media...
) - 50% - Family Channel - 50%
- Teletoon - 20% (via a 40% total interest held by Family Channel)
Radio stations
At the time of its sale to CanWest, WIC owned 12 radio stations. These were acquired by Corus EntertainmentCorus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
.
- CalgaryCalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
- CHQR, CKIKCFGQ-FMCFGQ-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 107.3 MHz FM stereo in Calgary, Alberta.-History:The station was launched on April 15, 1982 as CKIK-FM, and first broadcast an adult album rock format. Throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s, CKIK-FM played a variety of rock formats... - EdmontonEdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
- CHEDCHED (AM)CHED is a talk radio station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, broadcasting at 630 kHz on the AM dial and is owned by Corus Entertainment.The station originally began broadcasting at 1080 AM in 1954, until it moved to its current frequency in 1965....
, CKNGCKNG-FMCKNG-FM, broadcasting at 92.5 FM, is a radio station in Edmonton, Alberta. The station plays an adult hits format branded as Joe FM. Since Corus's other adult hits station in Kitchener, Ontario flipped to mainstream rock, CKNG-FM was the only adult hits station owned by Corus until 2011, when... - HamiltonHamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
- CHML, CJXYCJXY-FMCJXY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.9 FM and serving the Hamilton, Ontario market, but licensed to the nearby city of Burlington. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock format as Y108. Its signal can be heard as far north as Toronto and Vaughan and as far south as St.... - TorontoTorontoToronto 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...
- CFYI, CILQCILQ-FMCILQ-FM is a radio station, broadcasting at 107.1 FM in Toronto, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic rock format branded as Q107 and is also available through streaming audio.... - VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
- CKNW, CFMICFMI-FMCFMI-FM is a Canadian radio station in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia. It broadcasts at 101.1 MHz on the FM band with an effective radiated power of 75,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver... - WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
- CJOB, CJKRCJKR-FMCJKR-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 97.5 FM in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The station airs an active rock format branded as Power 97. It shares a studio location at 1440 Jack Blick Avenue in Polo Park, Winnipeg, with sister stations CJOB 680 and CJGV-FM "Groove FM". Currently CJKR-FM is...