Media of London, Ontario

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Contents

[edit] Communications and media

[edit] Personal Communication

Canada Post has a large presence in the London area. The postal region that London is located in is the Huron-Rideau Region. The London Mail Processing Plant (LMPP) is located at 951 Highbury Avenue and coordinates and processes all the mail for the N Code area from Kitchener to Windsor. Canada Post has several other administration offices, as well as six depots.

[edit] Telecommunications

The independent London Telephone Company (established 1879) was bought by the Bell Telephone Company of Canada in 1881; the Byron Telephone Company, serving areas annexed by London in 1961 and 1993, was purchased in August 1960. Bell Canada continues to be the incumbent local exchange carrier for London.

[edit] Television

London pioneered in the establishment of cable television in Canada, being either the first or second city in Canada with cable service, when Ed Jarmain and others wired the first 15 homes, and had to purchase TV sets for 14 of them. London's first cable system, established in 1952, broadcast American signals that crossed the border, including WICU from Erie, Pennsylvania. Shortly afterward, Community Television was also established serving southwestern London and a "gentleman's agreement" set a boundary, convoluted in the old London South (Wortley Road) area; Community Television was later purchased by MacLean-Hunter, and MacLean-Hunter was ultimately purchased by Rogers Cablesystems. London Cable TV later merged into Canadian Cablesystems, with Jarmain as a primary company officer, which was an acquisition by Rogers prior to its purchase of MacLean-Hunter.

London had the second private local television station in Canada, CFPL (on-air November 28, 1953), and CFPL was the first Canadian local channel to broadcast in colour (1966). It remains the only local TV station in London, and as part of CHUM Limited's NewNet system was branded as The New PL. In August 2005 CFPL was re-branded as A-Channel. Several other stations from neighbouring cities have established retransmitters or are otherwise available in London, as follows:

On cable, television stations from Detroit, Michigan are available, along with several stations from the Cleveland, OH, Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY markets.

From late 1970 to the mid-1980s, Erie dominated as its four network affiliates were the only American stations available on the basic cable dial of two-thirds of Londoners, and Londoners came to know Erie fairly well, familiar with Mayor Louis Tullio, Millcreek Mall, the Miracle Mile and other Erie landmarks. Londoners were contributors to WQLN-TV, the public broadcasting station. Erie stations have since been mostly shuffled to the expanded cable dial.

[edit] Radio

London also had radio since 1922 when CJGC was established. It joined a Windsor station in early 1933 to become CKLW, but a local station was reestablished late that year, CFPL. A sister FM station was established in 1948, and is now owned by Corus Entertainment. Competitor CKSL started in 1956; a third station, CJOE, was founded by Joe McManus in 1967, changing to CJBK in 1973. In addition to one station each with Fanshawe College (CIXX) and the University of Western Ontario (UWO) (CHRW), other stations are associated with existing stations.

CBC Radio One operates a local news bureau in London, but the city does not have a full CBC production centre — except for local newscasts, the station carries programming from Toronto's CBLA. Before 1978 CBC programming was carried on CFPL-AM, as well as on CFPL-FM prior to 1972. The CBC continues to operate rebroadcast transmitter CBBL for CBC Radio Two, relaying the signal of Toronto's CBL-FM.

The following stations broadcast in London:

Radio stations from other nearby cities, including Woodstock's CKDK ("The Hawk" 103.9), St. Thomas' CFHK ("Fresh FM" 103.1) and Tillsonburg's CKOT-FM ("Easy 101" 101.3) can also be heard in London, and are often (albeit incorrectly) considered London stations by the local radio audience. CKDK, however, does have a London office, and advertises for concerts and stores in London, Ontario as well as for stores in Woodstock, while CFHK operates from Corus Entertainment's studios in London even though its city of license legally remains in St. Thomas.

On March 13, 2008 the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) called for applications for a broadcasting licence to carry on a radio programming undertaking to serve the London market.[1] [2]

[edit] Newspapers

Until 1937, London had two daily newspapers: the London Free Press (established 1849) and the London Advertiser. The Advertiser folded in 1937. The Free Press, formerly owned by the Blackburn family, is now owned by Sun Media, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc.

Scene is London's entertainment, arts and news paper. Established in 1988, Scene is published bi-weekly and has a readership of over 77,000. Scene is independently owned.

Sun Media's subsidiary Bowes Publishing also owns and publishes The Londoner, a community-focused weekly started by Controller Gord Hume and former Free Press editor-in-chief Philip R. McLeod in 2002.

[edit] Alternative Media

Londoners also may take part in London-based online publishing at (in alpabetical order) Butch McLarty's Alt-London, Breaking News and Views, Blog London,From My Bottom Step, London Commons, The London Fog and London Indymedia.