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CKCO-DT (channel 13) is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...
in
Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...
, Canada. Part of the
CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...
, it is owned and operated by network parent
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 ...
alongside
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
-based
CTV 2 CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional cab ...
station CFPL-DT, although the two stations maintain separate operations. CKCO-DT's studios are located at 864 King Street West in Kitchener (across from the
Grand River Hospital Grand River Hospital is a 665-bed hospital serving Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, and surrounding communities, primarily through its KW and Freeport Sites, both located in Kitchener. The two sites were independent hospitals that merged to for ...
and Ion rapid transit light rail station adjacent to the Waterloo border), and its transmitter is located at Baden Tower between Snyders Road East and Highway 7 in
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
, just west of the Kitchener city limits.


History

The station first signed on the air at 6 p.m. on March 1, 1954. Its signal transmitted from the Baden Tower (a transmitter on Baden Hill), near
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
, just west of Kitchener. The transmitter has become one of the most identifiable landmarks in the area. Originally, like all privately owned television stations in Canada from 1953 to 1959, CKCO was an affiliate of the CBC; it became an affiliate of
CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
in 1964. The station increased its transmitter power in the early 1960s to reach
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, from which Kitchener then received CBC affiliate programs on CFPL-TV. CKCO was originally owned by Central Ontario Television, a consortium that included the Famous Players theatre chain (now owned by
Cineplex Entertainment Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included t ...
) and businessman
Carl Arthur Pollock Carl Arthur Pollock, OC (1903 – August 16, 1978) was a Canadian businessman. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, graduated from the University of Toronto in electrical engineering. A scholarship from the Massey Foundation financed two years at ...
, president of the family-owned television manufacturer Electrohome, although his broadcast holdings – which also included radio stations CFCA-FM and CKKW – were operated by a separate company. At one time, CKCO was owned by CAP Communications, whose name was taken from Pollock's initials; a corporate reorganization in 1970 placed the stations directly under the ownership of Electrohome, which also acquired control of CKCO when Canadian broadcasting laws required domestic ownership of stations, ending the involvement of American-owned Famous Players, which at the time was owned by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
' parent company Gulf + Western (the latter was acquired by the original Viacom). CKCO would become the first station in Canada to provide
closed captioning Closed captioning (CC) and subtitling are both processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a transcription of the audio po ...
for all of its local newscasts, in 1988. In the 1990s, Baton Broadcasting had owned competing local stations in southwestern Ontario (CFPL-TV in London, CHWI-TV in Windsor, CKNX-TV in Wingham). A deal between Electrohome and Baton in 1996 resulted in each company owning 50% of these stations, as well as CKCO-TV, among other Canadian stations. The following year, another deal gave Baton control over CKCO-TV, while CHUM Limited took control over the other southwestern Ontario stations (which presently operate as owned-and-operated stations of the CTV Two television system). CTVglobemedia reacquired CFPL, CHWI, and CKNX in 2007 as a result of a takeover of CHUM Limited. In 1998, Baton changed its name to CTV Inc. after becoming the sole owner of CTV, ending the decades of cooperative ownership of the network. In 2000, BCE purchased CTV Inc. and combined it with NetStar Communications and ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' into Bell Globemedia. The company changed its name in 2007 to CTVglobemedia after BCE reduced its ownership interest. In September 2010, BCE re-acquired full ownership of CTV Inc., which changed its name once again to Bell Media in 2011 when the acquisition was finalized. On October 3, 2005, CKCO ceased identifying by its call letters, adopting the local brand "CTV Southwestern Ontario", with its newscasts rebranding from ''CKCO News'' to ''CTV News''. The local brand reflected the fact that, at that time, the station provided some coverage of news in areas southwest of
Waterloo Region The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...
. While it remains the CTV main-network station for all of Southwestern Ontario, CKCO has since refocused its news-gathering resources exclusively on Waterloo Region and the
Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
area, avoiding direct competition with its sister CTV Two stations in other parts of southwestern Ontario for local news coverage. In early April 2012, presumably to end any confusion about its mandate, the station changed its on-air branding to "CTV Kitchener".


Programming

Before CKCO was a CTV owned-and-operated station, the station produced considerably more local non-news programming: * ''Canadian Bandstand'' (1958–1974), resembling ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pr ...
'' in some respects. Hosts included Wally Crouter, Gary McLaren, Ron Hill, Reg Sellner, Peter Emmerson and Grant (Grantly) Hoffman. * '' Bowling for Dollars'' (c. 1970s–1992) * ''
Camp Cariboo ''Camp Cariboo'' is a Canadian children's television program that aired on several CTV stations from 1986 to 1989. The show is best known for its rerun stint on YTV from September 2, 1989 to August 15, 1997. Premise ''Camp Cariboo'' grew out ...
'' (1985–1989) * '' Romper Room'', a children's program, was broadcast nationally on CTV from the mid-1960s to 1992 * ''Polka Time'' (originally ''Gemütlichkeit''), hosted by
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
winning polka musician
Walter Ostanek Ladislav John "Walter" Ostanek, CM (born 20 April 1935) is a Canadian musician. He is known as "Canada's Polka King." He has received twenty-one nominations for Grammy Awards and won three. Early life Born in Duparquet, Quebec in 1935, his f ...
* ''Sunday AM'' * ''Provincewide,'' anchored by award-winning journalist Daiene Vernile. (1985–2014) * ''Tree House'', a
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Christian children's program (1972–1990) *Several programs hosted by Big Al, including the noon-time ''Big Als Cartoon Capers'', ''Big Als Talent Showcase'', and ''Big Als Ranch Party'' in the late afternoon * ''The Johnnie Walters Show'' was an daily hourlong morning show hosted by
Johnnie Walters John Leigh "Johnnie" Walters (born c. 1933) is a Canadian retired broadcaster and television personality known for his on-air improvisation and sense of humour. He is best known for his long affiliation with CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario. He r ...
featuring guests, an exercise segment, horoscopes, and a cooking segment from the mid-1970s and esrly 80s. It replaced an earlier show hosted by Walters, ''Horoscope Dollars'', featuring Walters calling area residents at random with a question, the correct answer to which depended on them viewing that particular show. Some of the most entertaining moments came during the time spent dialing and waiting for numbers to connect, as he engaged in informal banter with offscreen crew and organist Pat Ludwig. *''Trivia Company'' featured Johnnie Walters and ran from 1983 to 1988. from 1983 to 1988. This half-hour show was done in a game show format, and featured Walters taking a mobile unit on the street asking various people trivia questions for cash prizes. The show was revived from 1992 to 1994 by CFPL-TV in London and then CFTO-TV in Toronto. The station continues to produce a limited amount of local programming in addition to its local newscasts. CKCO presently broadcasts church services each Sunday morning at 10 a.m. from two Kitchener area churches: St Andrew's Presbyterian Church and St. Peters Lutheran Church, which are alternated each week. CKCO serves as the
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...
for CTV's broadcasts of the
Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...
parade, which is held each Thanksgiving Day in the Twin Cities.


Newscasts and other local programming

CKCO-DT presently broadcasts 20½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 3½ hours each weekday and 1½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). Prior to 1998, when Baton Broadcasting rebranded all the CTV stations identically, CKCO's newscast was called ''CKCO
Action News ''Action News'' is a local television newscast format originating in the United States. First conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it is characterized by a tight format with strict time limits on set packages, a focus on surrounding suburbs, ...
''. In the past, the station's newscasts were branded as ''Scan NewsHour'' and ''Ontario Report''. The station operates a news bureau in Chatham, Ontario, and also had a bureau in Windsor at the corner of Park Street and Victoria Avenue, on the ground floor of the Victoria Park Place apartments. This bureau was shut down in 1994, shortly after the launch of
independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, marke ...
/semi- BBS affiliate CHWI. The spot was abandoned for several years, still showing the faded "CKCO-TV 42" banners atop its storefront for a few years (it is now home to a
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ti ...
). News veterans who had their start at the station include Jeff Hutcheson,
Lisa LaFlamme Lisa LaFlamme (born July 25, 1964) is a Canadian television journalist, and formerly the chief anchor and senior editor of '' CTV National News''. She replaced Lloyd Robertson in this role on September 5, 2011. LaFlamme previously served as th ...
and Ron Johnston. Bill Inkol was a long-time sportscaster not only for the station, but often for CTV's national sports broadcasts. He was also a host of ''Bowling for Dollars''. "Big Al" ("Al" Elwood Jones) was the long-time host of after-school ''Big Al's Ranch Party'', ''Big Als Talent Showcase'', ''Big Als Cartoon Capers'', ''Big Al and the Flintstones'', as well as other children's programs at the station. Oopsy the Clown, a children's performer portrayed by St. Thomas native Bob McNea (1929–2005), moved to CKCO after appearing for several years on
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
NBC affiliate WWJ-TV (now WDIV-TV), where he served as Detroit's " Bozo the Clown." During the 1970s, it was found that the cartoons seen on ''Bozo'' were too violent and WWJ executives offered Bob the opportunity to create a new clown show. During a ''Bozo'' episode it was announced that Bozo was leaving television to go back and join the circus. He phoned his clown cousin "Oopsy" and during a split screen conversation (with Bob playing both Bozo and Oopsy) Oopsy agreed to replace him. ''The Oopsy the Clown Show'' aired for a while on WWJ as McNea decided to move back to Canada and join CKCO-TV. Gary McLaren worked in the station's news department for 39 years from 1957 to 1996, spending most of that time in an on-air role, and also hosted ''Canadian Bandstand'' in the 1960s and the weekend newsmagazine show ''Sunday AM.'' Daiene Vernile anchored and produced the weekly program ''Provincewide'' from 1985 until April 2014, making it the longest continuously running, locally produced newsmagazine program in Canada. Other personalities during the station's history included local daytime show hosts such as Elaine Cole,
Betty Thompson Betty Thompson (1934–1994) was a Canadian television presenter who spent most of her career at CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario. She was seen throughout Canada as host of CTV's version of '' Romper Room'', a children's programme produced at CK ...
and
Johnnie Walters John Leigh "Johnnie" Walters (born c. 1933) is a Canadian retired broadcaster and television personality known for his on-air improvisation and sense of humour. He is best known for his long affiliation with CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario. He r ...
. Thompson was also a long-time host of ''Romper Room''. Bob Bratina hosted Polka Time with
Walter Ostanek Ladislav John "Walter" Ostanek, CM (born 20 April 1935) is a Canadian musician. He is known as "Canada's Polka King." He has received twenty-one nominations for Grammy Awards and won three. Early life Born in Duparquet, Quebec in 1935, his f ...
and replaced "Big Al" as host of Talent Showcase prior to Oopsy the Clown and his talent show ''Big Top Talent.'' CKCO was known for many years for the red jackets worn by news anchors on their newscasts, a practice that began in 1967 with the emergence of colour television and continued until 1989. On August 18, 2012, the Saturday edition of ''
CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national ...
at 6'' was expanded to one hour replacing ''The Beat''. On April 20, 2014, the Sunday edition of ''CTV News at Six'' was also expanded to an hour replacing the long-running show ''Provincewide''. From January 2017, local news was presented in 16:9 SD. On September 18, 2017, CTV Kitchener launched its own edition of ''CTV News at Five''. Bell Media initially announced that high-definition production of CTV News Kitchener would commence on September 25. However, the launch date was delayed to October 2, with ''CTV News at Noon'' being the first local newscast to be presented in high-definition from the CTV Kitchener studios.


Technical information


Subchannel


Analogue-to-digital conversion

As part of Canada's transition to digital television, CKCO
flash-cut A flash cut, also called a flash cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period. In the United States, some telephone area codes were split or overlaid immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive d ...
to digital on August 31, 2011. While originally allocated channel 7 for its digital signal, CKCO-DT was established on channel 13 instead in order to avoid interference with the digital signal of
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
's WBBZ-TV.


Former rebroadcasters

CKCO was also previously seen in the Bruce Peninsula and
Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. T ...
region on channel 2 from the CKCO-TV-2 transmitter at
Wiarton Wiarton () is a community in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the western end of Colpoys Bay, an inlet off Georgian Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula. Wiarton is notable for the Wiarton Willie Festiv ...
, which began operation in 1971. CKCO-TV-2 was on a long list of CTV rebroadcasters nationwide that was set to shut down on or before August 31, 2009, as part of a political dispute with Canadian authorities on paid fee-for-carriage requirements for
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
operators. A subsequent change in ownership assigned full control of CTVglobemedia to
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 a result, CKCO-TV-2 remained in normal licensed broadcast operation. In February 2014, CKCO-TV-2 was shut down as a result of a power failure combined with a property dispute with a neighbouring landowner, which blocked service vans from driving up to the site to make repairs, forcing technicians to walk through fields in snowshoes in cold winter weather. A diesel generator kept the transmitter in operation in the short term, but it would later fail, with the ongoing property dispute blocking efforts to repair that as well. Bell Media applied to surrender its license for CKCO-TV-2 to the CRTC in August 2014, after CKCO received fewer than thirty calls from viewers and advertisers regarding the outage, as well as the fact that the transmitter cost six times more to run than the amount taken in. In addition to the Baden tower, CKCO was served in the
Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron f ...
area by rebroadcaster CKCO-TV-3, on UHF channel 42. This transmitter, actually located at Oil Springs, was established on May 16, 1975, and commenced broadcasts on November 5 of that year. The station was available over-the-air and on cable in extreme eastern and southeastern
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
in such towns as Port Huron and
St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ...
, and appeared in Detroit-area television listings. The station targeted Sarnia, Chatham, and most of Lambton and
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
counties. CKCO continues to be carried in these areas, along with Windsor and Essex County on
Cogeco Cable Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline ( ...
on channel 13 (SD only; HDTV is provided in these areas by sister station CFTO-DT). Programming on CKCO-TV-3 was originally the same as the main CKCO signal, except for local inserts during newscasts and local commercials. In 2009, it was announced that CKCO-TV-3 was scheduled to cease producing distinct local programming by August 31 of that year, but expected to continue operations as a rebroadcaster. As of September 2009, CKCO-TV-3 ceased airing alternate local programming for the Sarnia and Chatham area and became a direct simulcast of CKCO-DT. On July 30, 2019, Bell Media was granted permission to close down CKCO-TV-3 as part of Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2019-268. This transmitter was shut down on May 2, 2020. Prior to 1999, the station also broadcast on channel 11 to Muskoka and
Parry Sound Parry Sound is a sound or bay of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. It is highly irregularly shaped with many deep bays and islands. Killbear Provincial Park is located on the large peninsula that separates the sound from Georgian ...
from the CKCO-TV-4 transmitter at
Dwight Dwight may refer to: People * Dwight (given name) * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), 34th president of the United States and former military officer *New England Dwight family of American educators, military and political leaders, and authors * ...
, near
Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
. This transmitter first signed on the air on February 25, 1976. In 1999, that transmitter began relaying the signal of CKNY-TV in North Bay; it has since become a rebroadcaster of
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...
's CICI.


References


External links

*
ckco-history.comCanadian Communications Foundation – CKCO-TV HistoryExchange Magazine article on CKCO's 50th anniversary
(Jul/Aug 2004) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ckco-Dt KCO-DT Mass media in Kitchener-Waterloo Television channels and stations established in 1954 KCO-DT 1954 establishments in Ontario