299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
's media unit,
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
located at the intersection of
Queen Street West
Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east ...
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Str ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. The building previously served as the headquarters of
CTVglobemedia
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
until
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
acquired CTV again in 2011 as well as CHUM Television, a division of
CHUM Limited
CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CHU ...
, until CTV acquired CHUM in 2007, and was once known as the CHUM-City Building. It is now head offices and downtown Toronto studios for
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
.
With its 1913
neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
façade, the building is designated as a heritage property by the City of Toronto's Heritage Preservation Services under the
Ontario Heritage Act
The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...
and has served as a broadcast facility since 1987.
Overview
The building serves as the official headquarters of Bell Canada's media unit,
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
, as well as the home of various Bell Media television properties, most of which were originally owned by CHUM, although some properties that CTV already owned prior to 2007 have moved some or all of their operations here since then as well. Current occupants include
CTV Drama Channel
CTV Drama Channel (formerly known as Bravo) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media.
The channel was founded as the Canadian version of the U.S. channel Bravo (which is now owned by NBCUniversal) on January 1, 199 ...
,
BNN Bloomberg
BNN Bloomberg (formerly Business News Network and Report on Business Television) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. It broadcasts programming related to business and financial news and analysis. The channel is he ...
,
CP24
CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...
,
CTV Comedy Channel
CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octobe ...
Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...
,
CTV Life Channel
CTV Life Channel is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts factual and reality programming on lifestyle topics such as cooking, home improvement and real estate, along with scripted dra ...
,
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global.
The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...
CTV Sci-Fi Channel
CTV Sci-Fi Channel is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts speculative fiction and related programming.
The network was launched on October 17, 1997 as Space under its original pa ...
. In addition, selected CTV programs, including '' etalk'', ''
The Marilyn Denis Show
''The Marilyn Denis Show'' is a Canadian daytime television talk show which debuted on January 10, 2011, on CTV and CTV 2 (formerly A-Channel). Hosted by Marilyn Denis, the show airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on CTV and 11 a.m. ET on CTV 2 (timeslots v ...
'', and '' The Social'' are produced at the building and selected network offices are located here.
Aside from the CTV network programming, Toronto station
CFTO-TV
CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...
has relatively little presence at the Queen Street facility. The primary studios for CTV Toronto, and the CTV network's national operations are located at
9 Channel Nine Court
9 Channel Nine Court (alternatively known as the CTV Toronto Studios, CFTO-TV Studios, Glen Warren Studios or Bell Media Agincourt and temporarily known as 9 Dave Devall Way)Highway 401
King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one,
is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provinc ...
and
McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following:
* McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy
*Millar McCowan, Scottish confectionery company
*McCowan (surname)
*McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following:
* McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy
* Millar McCowan, ...
in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, where many of Bell Media's other co-owned channels such as CTV News Channel,
Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by CTV Speciality Television Inc. (a joint venture between Bell Media/ESPN Inc. (80%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns the remainin ...
, TSN, and their respective offshoot channels, as well as the master controls for the CTV stations in Eastern Canada, are located (see below).
Group tours of the facilities are held by email request.
History and architecture
The five-storey building was originally constructed as the headquarters of the
Methodist Church of Canada
The Methodist Church was the major Methodist denomination in Canada from its founding in 1884 until it merged with two other denominations to form the United Church of Canada in 1925. The Methodist Church was itself formed from the merger of four ...
in 1913 by Burke, Horwood and White. The Methodists joined with two other denominations to form the
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...
in 1925, for which the building served as the headquarters until 1959. By this time the
Ryerson Press
Ryerson Press was a Canadian book publishing company, active from 1919 to 1970.Janet B. Friskney"The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint" Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing. First established by the Methodist Book Room, a division of t ...
, originally the publishing arm of the Methodist Church, had grown to occupy the entire building.
CHUM Limited & CTVglobemedia
In 1979, family owned CHUM (then solely a radio network) purchased the rest of Citytv to which it did not yet own, which prompted the building purchase by CHUM in 1985. Toronto architecture firm Quadrangle was hired to restore and renovate the building into an innovative broadcast hub. After two years of outfitting for it broadcast operations, it was re-opened in May 1987 as the new headquarters for the company and its various outlets, including
Citytv Toronto
CITY-DT (channel 57) is a television station in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sp ...
(which was previously located at 99 Queen St. East).
The building's east wall was decorated with an actual older style news truck seemingly bursting out of the building; the front tires of the truck can still be seen spinning regularly. From the time the truck was erected there, it originally bore the old "
CityPulse
''CityNews'' (corporately styled City''News'') is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as ''CityPulse'' as a standalone loc ...
Live-Eye" decal; which has been replaced and overhauled with the "CP24 Breaking News" decal following the acquisition by CTVglobemedia.
Previously, the northwest corner of the building used to contain a ''
Speakers' Corner
A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London, England. Historically there were a number of other areas desig ...
'' videobooth, where for a
dollar
Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...
anyone could record two minutes of oneself. The booth was removed as part of renovations and upgrades to the MuchMusic studios in 2010, and the space where the video booth was located has since been enclosed and is used as production space for '' The Social''.
While the outside facade has been restored and remains intact, the building's interior has been modernized into one of the world's most innovative media complexes. 299 Queen Street West was designed to have no TV studios; the entire building was rigged for audio and video. The building has been engineered so that public space, working areas, offices, stairwells, and even the parking lot may all be used as optimal shoot locations. Many television shows produced by the various outlets operating out of the building over the years, such as Citytv's ''
Breakfast Television
Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...
'', ''
CityLine
''CityLine'' is a Canadian talk show and lifestyle television program hosted by Tracy Moore produced for the Citytv network at Toronto flagship station CITY-DT. Each show has a theme that changes daily. These include "Around the House", "Fami ...
'' and the former ''
Electric Circus
''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') was a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988 to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...
'', were filmed live on the ground floor. The ground floor at the corner of Queen and John features giant glass sliding partitions so that the building can be open to the street. The studios formerly used for
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
are now used for ''The Social'', and the studio used for ''CityLine'' and ''
Breakfast Television
Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...
'' on Citytv, then briefly for '' eTalk'' on CTV, is now used for ''
The Marilyn Denis Show
''The Marilyn Denis Show'' is a Canadian daytime television talk show which debuted on January 10, 2011, on CTV and CTV 2 (formerly A-Channel). Hosted by Marilyn Denis, the show airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on CTV and 11 a.m. ET on CTV 2 (timeslots v ...
''.
The annual MuchMusic Video Awards show is/was held as a street party that takes place in the parking lot, studios, rooftop, as well as Queen and John Streets adjacent to the building. Queen and John is subsequently shut down from the early-afternoon into the evening on the day the show is/was scheduled to take place.
299 Queen Street West served as the national broadcast headquarters for the 2007
Live Earth
Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment.
Background
Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the beli ...
concert, with several CTVgm-owned media outlets and personalities collaborating to broadcast the live event nationally for 28 hours. The building also served as the headquarters for CTV's multi-platform coverage of the 32nd
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
in September 2007, acting as the launching pad of red carpet coverage, galas, film parties, film premieres, festival breaking news, and other related events. Various corporate divisions, such as eTalk, Star!, MuchMusic, MTV Canada, Bravo!,
FashionTelevisionChannel
Fashion Television, also known as Fashion Television Channel, was a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media.
It was originally established in 2001 by CHUM Limited as a brand extension of the Citytv series ''FashionTele ...
and ''
Canada AM
''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...
'', collaborated on the event coverage.
Bell Media era
Although acquired by Bell Media together with other CHUM entities, the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
required CTVgm to sell
Citytv Toronto
CITY-DT (channel 57) is a television station in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sp ...
and four other
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
stations in Canada to
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...
in 2007. Since then, the Citytv signage at the front building was replaced with an '' eTalk'' logo (since removed); the Citytv logos on the landmark mural behind the former
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
previously known as the Much store and the CHUM-City Store prior to that were replaced and overhauled with various logos of Bell Media's co-owned television channels, as well as the logo for CTV's entertainment news program ''eTalk'' shown one dish (since removed); and the main Citytv signage on the building's east façade was replaced with a CTV logo and a private balcony, looking out from the company's boardroom. Additionally the Bravo sign (no confusion with the US version, at
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
) above the
CP24
CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...
studios was replaced with a Bell Media sign after the acquisition by
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
. Citytv Toronto officially moved out of 299 Queen Street West into its new home at 33 Dundas Street East on September 8, 2009.
It was announced in 2008 that Toronto radio operations including,
CHUM (AM)
CHUM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 1050 kHz. The station is owned and operated by Bell Media. CHUM's studios are co-located with TSN at 9 Channel Nine Court in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough ...
and
CHUM-FM
CHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 104.5 MHz. Owned by Bell Media, the station airs a hot adult contemporary format. CHUM-FM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District ...
, would be relocating to adjacent building 250 Richmond Street West. The iconic 'CHUM Dial 1050 / Radio 1045' sign was unveiled on June 15, 2009 and they officially moved on August 19, 2009.
2010–present
BNN later moved into the building on December 6, 2010, and uses the space previously utilized by
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
's
CityNews
''CityNews'' (corporately styled City''News'') is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as ''CityPulse'' as a standalone loc ...
department, the BNN newsroom is adjacent to that of
CP24
CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...
's newsroom.
On July 30, 2013, Bell Media announced that
CFRB
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a clea ...
and
CKFM-FM
CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's ...
would be moving to the adjacent building 250 Richmond Street West, (part of the Bell Media Queen Street complex) from 2 St. Clair Avenue West. This marked the end of CFRB's 49-year tenure at their 2 St. Clair Avenue West studios. The move took place on May 10, 2014.
In 2016, 299 Queen West received a landmark designation from the Ontario Association of Architects.
Other Bell Media facilities in Toronto
Alongside 299 Queen Street West, other Bell Media properties are operated from other facilities in the Toronto area:
* In mid-2015 it was announced the
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
at much store would become a new street front facility for Much Digital Studios as part of their multi-channel new media network. The facility is part of the Bell Media Queen Street complex but is not directly connected to any other building. It had previously been the expanded ChumCity Store (relocated from within the ground-floor studio at 299, when not in use for shows like ''Breakfast Television'' or ''Electric Circus''), as well as the first location for Moses Znaimer's MZTV Museum of Television.
* Studios for Bell Media's Toronto-based radio channels including 104.5 CHUM-FM, 99.9 Virgin Radio,
Newstalk 1010
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a clea ...
, and Downtown Toronto studios for TSN Radio 1050, are currently located at 250 Richmond Street West at Richmond and Duncan streets which is adjacent and connected to 299 Queen Street West by bridge to 260 Richmond Street West.
* Several other Bell Media television channels, including CTV's flagship station,
CTV Toronto
CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...
TSN2
TSN2 is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on August 29, 2008.
F ...
and
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
CTV 2 Atlantic
CTV 2 Atlantic is a Television in Canada, Canadian cable television, cable television channel serving Atlantic Canada owned by Bell Media, with its studios located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc., it operat ...
,
CTV 2 Alberta
CTV 2 Alberta is a Canadian English language entertainment and former educational television channel in the province of Alberta. Owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc., it operates as a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station of its se ...
,
CTV Winnipeg
CKY-DT (channel 7) is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios on Graham Avenue (adjacent to the Canada Life Cen ...
CTV Northern Ontario
CTV Northern Ontario, formerly known as MCTV, is a system of four television stations in Northern Ontario, Canada, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media.
These stations are:
* CICI - Greater Sudbury (flag ...
CTV Montreal
CFCF-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Noovo flagship CFJP-DT (channel 35). Both stations share studios at ...
) as well as some of the technical operations for TSN Radio 1050 are operated from
9 Channel Nine Court
9 Channel Nine Court (alternatively known as the CTV Toronto Studios, CFTO-TV Studios, Glen Warren Studios or Bell Media Agincourt and temporarily known as 9 Dave Devall Way)TSN Radio 1050's studios for television syndication of its radio programs are located inside 9 Channel Nine Court.