CTV Newsnet

From Freepedia

CTV Newsnet is a 24-hour headline news specialty service in Canada which went onair on October 17, 1997. It is operated by CTV and owned by Bell Globemedia.

It was originally known as CTV News 1, and its news anchors sat at a desk which would periodically, while the anchor was not speaking, spin in a circle for dramatic effect. This gimmick was widely mocked, and soon abandoned.

At first, the service's licence restricted it to broadcasting the latest news headlines, weather, sports news, financial news and entertainment news, plus advertisements, in a 15 minute "wheel," beginning a new cycle every 15 minutes using a pre-taped, server-hosted configuration. Not long after its launch, however, it began covering breaking news with more audacity. CTV decided that Newsnet's licence did not prevent it from airing live events provided the anchor broke in at least once during a given 15-minute wheel to read items drawn from most or all of the categories noted above.

CTV progressively sought amendments to this condition to allow greater coverage of breaking news, longer-form news-oriented discussion, and other programming, and was met with mixed decisions from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. On April 7, 2005, the Commission removed previous conditions mandating a 15 minute news cycle, substituting new but much more liberal conditions. [1]

On August 22, 2005, CTV Newsnet introduced a new, full screen format and improved their late afternoon and prime-time programing, with increases to their anchor, reporting, and production teams. The network hoped to capitalize in part on the lockout which had nearly obliterated news programming on CBC Television (outside Quebec) and CBC Newsworld.

Along with CTV Newsnet-originated newscasts, the network carries the CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson and the weekend edition with Sandie Rinaldo. Sports segments are co-branded with TSN, and business news with Report on Business Television. Both share common ownership with CTV and Newsnet. Earlier in the network's history, weather reports were provided by The Weather Network, which is independently owned, and sports segments were once co-branded with Headline Sports, and then later by CTV Sportsnet, which CTV owned before it acquired TSN.