OMNI Television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Broadcast television system |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Availability | Semi-national (most urban areas of Canada) |
| Owner | Rogers Communications |
| Key people | Leslie Sole - CEO of Television for Rogers Media |
| Launch date | 1979 (first station) 2002 (OMNI brand) |
| Website www.omnitv.ca |
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OMNI Television is a Canadian television brand owned and operated by Rogers Communications. It is used for the company's conventional television stations which are licensed as multicultural stations. "OMNI" is not an acronym, however the name is generally written all in capital letters.
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[edit] Multicultural stations
CFMT was Canada's first free, over-the-air multilingual/multicultural television station. It had launched in 1979; after financial difficulties, Rogers bought the station in 1986. CJMT was launched as a sister station in fall 2002 to provide room for additional multicultural programming; it was at this point that the current "OMNI.1 / .2" nomenclature was adopted.
CFMT airs programming targeted to Toronto's European and Caribbean language communities, while CJMT airs programming in Asian and African languages. Five nights a week, news is aired in Cantonese, Mandarin, English (for the South Asian edition), Portuguese, and Italian. On weekends, magazine programs air in at least 20 additional languages. The news programming consists of both Canadian news translated into the language, and news feeds from countries in which the language is natively spoken.
Both stations also air considerable English language commercial programming in off-peak hours to help defray the costs of their multicultural content. This includes syndicated repeats of The Simpsons and Family Guy, as well as Late Show with David Letterman. Generally, these are programs that other Canadian stations could not air in the same timeslots due to Canadian content and/or local news commitments fulfilled during these hours.
In 2007, OMNI was licensed to launch stations in Calgary and Edmonton, and in early 2008 the system's proposed purchase of the existing CHNM-TV in Vancouver was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
[edit] Religious stations
Rogers also formerly owned two religious TV stations: CHNU (CHNU 10, Channel 66 in Vancouver, British Columbia) and CIIT (OMNI.11, Channel 35 in Winnipeg, Manitoba). Both stations were acquired in 2005 from Trinity Television, and previously used the NOWTV brand. CIIT was launched on February 6, 2006, after Rogers had already bought Trinity Television. On October 31, 2007 CHNU was rebranded as CHNU 10, in order to reduce viewer confusion when the OMNI brand moves to CHNM.
Both stations have since been sold to S-VOX, and will be rebranded as Joytv in 2008.
[edit] Programming
While there is a difference in the nature of service of multicultural and religious stations, both classes of stations could air many of the same types of programs. CHNU had previously aired many of the same types of syndicated sitcoms and multicultural programs aired regularly on the OMNI stations in Toronto, and the Toronto stations carry some religious teaching programs. The common brand allowed cost savings for promotions and for the acquisition of the general-entertainment programs all of the OMNI stations have used to generate most of their revenues.
However, due in particular to Vancouver multicultural station CHNM and Toronto religious station CITS, which both opposed Rogers's acquisition of the NOWTV stations, the OMNI stations' core formats have remained intact.
At least one OMNI-produced program, the interview series The Standard, produced and aired nightly by CHNU, is available in all three areas served by OMNI stations.
[edit] 2007 realignment
Several proposed changes to the OMNI system were announced, either by Rogers or by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), during a one-month span in June/July 2007. First, on June 8, the CRTC licensed Rogers to operate new multicultural stations in Calgary and Edmonton, beating out a competing proposal from CHNM's owner Multivan. CJCO and CJEO are expected to launch in the fall of 2008.
On June 28, Rogers made public its offer to sell the religious-licensed OMNI stations in Winnipeg and Vancouver as part of its contemporaneous purchase of Citytv. Rogers indicated, however, that it viewed retaining the multilingual licences in Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton as compatible with CRTC policy, since they are licensed to serve a different programming niche than the general interest Citytv stations.[1] (See also twinstick.)
On July 7, Rogers announced an agreement to purchase the aforementioned CHNM, finally securing (pending CRTC approval) a true multicultural TV licence in Vancouver after several failed attempts.[2] The fact that Rogers had acquired the Calgary and Edmonton multicultural licences, beating out Multivan's competing applications, was cited as a major reason for the sale.
On September 28, the CRTC approved Rogers' takeover of the Citytv stations, giving the company one year to divest itself of the religious OMNI stations. A tentative deal to sell the stations to S-VOX, the owner of VisionTV, was announced on November 6. On March 31, 2008, the CRTC approved both Rogers' acquisition of CHNM[3] and its sale of CIIT and CHNU to S-VOX.[4]
CHNM is currently expected to be rebranded as OMNI Television in the fall of 2008, at the same time as the launch of the Calgary and Edmonton stations.
[edit] OMNI Television stations
| Call Sign | Analogue Channel | Digital Channel | City/Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFMT | 47 | 64 | Toronto |
| CJMT | 69 | 44 | Toronto |
| CJCO | 38 | -- | Calgary |
| CJEO | 56 | -- | Edmonton |
| CHNM[5] | 42 | 20 | Vancouver |
| CIIT | 35 | 2 | Winnipeg |
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Rogers offers to sell two stations, Grant Robertson, The Globe and Mail, June 28, 2007
- ^ Rogers Media to Acquire Vancouver's 'Channel M' From Multivan Broadcast Corporation, Rogers press release, July 6, 2007
- ^ CRTC Decision 2008-72.
- ^ CRTC Decision 2008-71.
- ^ Will not be officially branded as OMNI until the fall of 2008.
[edit] External links
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