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"ChCh" redirects here. For the Oxford college, see Christ Church, Oxford. For the former "Scrambled UHF" pay-television service, see ON-TV.

CHCH-TV
Hamilton, Ontario
Branding	CHCH News (local programming only)
Slogan	The most dependable name in local news
Channels	Analog: 11 (VHF) over the air; 12 (VHF) via cable Digital: 18 (UHF; assignment only)
Affiliations	E! (2001-present, known as CH prior to 2007)
Owner	CanWest Global Communications (CanWest MediaWorks Inc.)
Founded	1954
Call letters meaning	C Hamilton's CHannel
Former callsigns	None
Former affiliations	CBC (1954-1961) Independent (1961-2001)
Transmitter Power	325 kW (analog)
Website	www.chchnews.ca

CHCH-TV, channel 11, is a television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with additional transmitters throughout Ontario. Since 2001, it has been operated by CanWest Global as the flagship of its secondary broadcast service, E! (known as CH before 2007).

Contents 1 History 1.1 CBC affiliation 1.2 Superstation CHCH 1.3 ONtv 1.4 CH 1.5 E! 2 Local programming 3 Past slogans 4 Current slogans 5 Station presentation 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

CHCH-TV was founded by Ken Soble. Sobel was a leader of Hamilton's urban renewal movement, and owner of CHML radio. Soble was regarded as a pioneer in all of his endeavours. ^[1]

CHCH began broadcasting in 1954 as a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) affiliate from the CHCH Television Tower, a transmitter located at 481 First Road West in Stoney Creek. At the time, all private stations were required to be CBC affiliates. In 1961, CHCH disaffiliated from the CBC and became an independent station, the first independent television station in Canada. The move to become an independent station was twofold. First, Toronto's CBLT already provided full network service to the same area the CHCH signal could be received and secondly, the station's managers wanted to produce a larger amount of local programming, instead of being forced to carry CBC programming.

CHCH was the first independent English-language television station in Canada to have no network affiliation, as the other private stations that were not affiliated with the CBC had formed the CTV network in 1961. CHCH became a nationwide superstation on January 1, 1982, when Cancom began carrying the station and three others to cable television operators in remote regions of the country that had access only to the CBC.

The station also produced a number of important Canadian syndicated series, including The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, Me & Max, Party Game and Smith & Smith, and was the original TV home of The Red Green Show. Hamilton native Martin Short also had his television debut on the station. CHCH also produced local broadcasts such as Tiny Talent Time.

For a time, CHCH also broadcast local mid-week telecasts of the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 1990, Western International Communications (WIC) purchased CHCH. Although CHCH had been available on cable in many Ontario markets for years, in 1997 CHCH's broadcast signal coverage was expanded throughout Ontario, in an effort to compete with the reach of Global (CIII) and Baton Broadcast System. In turn, WIC renamed the station ONtv, as in "Ontario Television", in line with the naming pattern of many of its other stations (such as BCTV, ITV, and RDTV).

Local news shifted focus from the station's core market, the Hamilton area, toward Ontario as a whole, in an attempt to challenge what was then a regional news service provided by Global. However, with Hamilton now being largely an afterthought, and other local stations (in Toronto and elsewhere) already strong in the ratings, the shift was unsuccessful, and CHCH's ratings actually dropped. During the ONtv years, the station also aired WIC's nightly Canada Tonight newscast.

In 2000, CanWest purchased WIC and assumed control of its stations. Since Global already served the Hamilton area, CanWest rebranded the station CH on February 12, 2001 and subsequently launched the CH Television Network in September of that year. This move launched a secondary television system for CanWest's stations in medium-sized markets. Local news coverage was revamped and re-focused on the Hamilton/Halton/Niagara region.

Despite the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's current TV station ownership restrictions (one station per owner per language per market), CanWest was permitted to maintain CHCH's coverage of other markets throughout most of Ontario. However, it cannot broadcast to Thunder Bay, Peterborough, or Kingston due to opposition by local stations. Some cablesystems outside of Ontario also continue to carry CHCH as a form of "superstation". The station has been known to be picked up over-the-air in Buffalo, and in the Erie/Warren, PA area, and has long been carried by Western New York cable operators as well.

On June 7, 2004, at 8:00 p.m., CHCH-TV celebrated exactly 50 years on the air. At this precise time, CH aired a documentary profiling the station history, entitled The First 50 Years: A Half Century of CH and hosted by CH's Matt Hayes.

On September 7, 2007, following the relaunch of the national CH service as E!, CHCH's news programming was rebranded as "CHCH News."

• Morning Live (5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.)
  • Bob Cowan
  • Annette Hamm
  • Lesley Stewart - Weather
  • Lori De Angelis - Community Reporter
  • Sean Cowan - News Reporter
  • Tracey Hemphill - Chopper 11 Traffic

• At Home (9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.)
  • Matt Hayes
  • Lesley Stewart

• CHCH News at Noon (12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m.)
  • Connie Smith
  • Dan McLean
  • Matt Hayes - weather

• Live @ 5:30 (5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
  • Mark Hebscher
  • Donna Skelly

• CHCH News at Six (6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)
  • Dan McLean
  • Laverne McGee
  • Matt Hayes - Weather
  • Ken Welch - Sports
  • Kate Stutsman - Entertainment
  • Kimberley Fowler - Chopper 11 Traffic

• CHCH News at Eleven (11:00 p.m. - 11:30p.m.)
  • Nick Dixon
  • Brian Wood - Weather
  • Ken Welch - Sports

• CHCH News at Six & Eleven (Weekends)
  • Maria Hayes
  • Steve Ruddick - Weather
  • Clint 'Bubba' O'Neil - Sports

• Niagara Express (Weekends)
  • Dan McLean

• Straight Talk (Weekends)
  • Connie Smith

• Sportscope (Sundays)
  • Clint 'Bubba' O'Neil

• 1970s - 1987: Join Us
• 1987 - 1995: Together, We're The Ones
• 1998 - 1999: There's Always Something ONtv
• 1999 - 2000: ONtv: Where You Are
• 2001 - 2007: Closer To You

• 2007 - Present: CHCH News - The most dependable name in local news (CHCH)
• 2007 - Present: Everything Entertainment (E!)

CHCH-TV's station presentation and logos have progressed and evolved over the years, showing different themes, styles, changes in ownership, and changes in network affiliation. Below are some of the more recent logos used by CHCH-TV during its colourful and frequently-changing network affiliation past.

CHCH logo as "ONtv" (1998-2001)	CHCH logo as ONtv, 3D	CHCH-TV's first logo as a "CH Network" station, branded as "CH Hamilton" (2001-2005)	CHCH-TV's logo for E! network programming (2007-present)
CHCH-TV's new CHCH News logo for local programming (2007-present)	CHCH-TV's alternate E! logo (2007-present)

1. ^ Hamilton Spectator: "The Greatest Hamiltonian". (II). Retrieved on 2007-02-11.

• List of programs broadcast by E!

• Official CHCH News website
• E!
• From YouTube: The 1996 launch video for OnTV, featuring some of CHCH's history
• From YouTube: The sign-on sequence for CHCH, circa 2002

v • d • e Broadcast television in the Greater Toronto Area
Toronto	CBLT 5 (CBC) • CFTO 9 (CTV) • Star Ray 15 (Pirate) • CICA 19 (TVO) • CBLFT 25 (SRC) • CIII 41 (Global) • CFMT 47 (OMNI) • CKXT 52 (IND) • CITY 57 (Citytv) • CJMT 69 (OMNI)
Hamilton	CHCH 11 (E!) • CITS 36 (CTS) • CKXT-1 45 (IND)
Barrie	CKVR 3 (A-Channel) • CBLT-1 (CBC) • CBLFT 11 (SRC)
Oshawa	CHEX-2 22 (CBC)
Cable	Cable 14 (Hamilton) • CablePulse 24 • Leafs TV • ShopTV Canada • Sportsnet Ontario • Rogers Television • TFO • TV Cogeco
See also: List of television stations in Ontario and Template:Buffalo TV

v • d • e E! Canada stations in Canada
Owned and operated stations	CHCH Hamilton • CHBC Kelowna • CHCA Red Deer • CHEK Victoria • CJNT Montreal
Affliates	CFJC Kamloops
See also	Global stations • CanWest Global Communications

v • d • e CanWest Global Communications Corp.
Corporate Directors	David Asper • Gail Asper • Leonard Asper • Lloyd Barber • Derek Burney • Ronald Daniels • David Drybrough • Paul Godfrey • Frank King • Lisa Pankratz
Newspapers	Calgary Herald • Dose • Edmonton Journal • Montreal Gazette • National Post • Ottawa Citizen • Regina Leader-Post • Saskatoon StarPhoenix • The Province (Vancouver) • Vancouver Sun • Victoria Times-Colonist • Windsor Star
Television Assets	E!: CHBC • CHCA • CHCH • CHEK • CJNT Global: CFRE • CFSK • CHAN • CICT • CIHF • CIII • CISA • CITV • CKMI • CKND CoolTV • DejaView • Fox Sports World Canada • Lonestar • mentv1 • Mystery TV1 • TVtropolis • X-Treme Sports
Assets outside of Canada	Original 106: Solent/Bristol/Aberdeen (UK)
1 Co-owned with Quebecor, with CanWest having management responsibilities.