TVOntario

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CICA-TV

TVO branding logo.
Toronto, Ontario
Branding TVO
Slogan "makes you think"
Channels Analog: 19 (UHF) (Toronto) and 24 (UHF) (Ottawa/Gatineau)

Digital: (Not Yet Broadcasting)
Translators See below
Affiliations Ontario Educational Communications Authority
Owner Government of Ontario
(Crown corporation)
Founded September 27, 1970
Call letters’ meaning CI Communications Authority
Former affiliations Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Website http://www.tvo.org/

TVOntario, officially the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, is a Crown corporation serving as an educational public television broadcaster in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instead of following the model of the federally-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which shows commercials, TVOntario is instead, like PBS in the United States, funded by donations from the public, particularly from viewer contributions made during on-air pledge drives. However, the vast majority of TVOntario's funding is provided by the Government of Ontario, which contributed $58.8 million in 2005-06.[1]

TVOntario, currently branded TVO, is Canada's oldest educational TV service. It established the country's first UHF TV channel in 1970 at Toronto.[2] It has larger over-the-air coverage in Ontario than the CBC, reaching 98.5% of Ontario with 216 transmitters. TVO is also broadcast on the Bell ExpressVu satellite service on Channel 265, and on the StarChoice satellite service on Channel 353.

All TVO rebroadcast transmitters have the call letters CICA, CICO or CICE, followed by a number to denote their status as rebroadcasters.

All TVO transmitters are in Ontario, with one exception — its Ottawa transmitter, CICO-TV-24, is based at the Ryan Tower at Camp Fortune in Gatineau, Quebec, where it shares its site with its Quebec counterpart, Télé-Québec, as well as almost all of the region's television and FM radio signals.

TVOntario also formerly operated TFO, a separate network for Franco-Ontarian audiences. Before the launch of TFO, TVO aired French-language programming on Sundays. Even after TFO's launch, TVO and TFO swapped programming on Sundays well into the 1990s. TFO was separated from TVOntario and incorporated as an independent agency in 2007.

As well, TVOntario is also responsible for over-the-air broadcasts of the Ontario Legislative Assembly in some remote Northern Ontario communities that don't have cable television access to the Ontario Parliament Network.

In 2002, the Ministry of Education transferred responsibility to TVOntario for the Independent Learning Centre which provides distance education at the elementary and secondary school level.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1970s

CICA's history dates back to 1970, when its parent organization, the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, was created by then Education Minister Bill Davis in June that year. At that time, the OECA produced children's and educational programming which was aired on commercial television stations.

The CBC, acting on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Education's TV branch, eventually applied for and won a licence for the ministry's television station in Toronto, Ontario, CICA, with the mandate of "[using] electronic and associated media to provide educational opportunities for all people in Ontario". The 'CA' in the CICA callsign was derived from the last two letters in the OECA acronym. CBC initially operated the CICA transmitter while the OECA was in charge of programming. OECA assumed all operations of the station, independent of the CBC, when the provincial government declared the Authority an independent corporation in a 1973 Order-in-Council.

CICA Channel 19 began broadcasting on September 27, 1970 with 423,000 watts video and 84,600 watts audio. Its studios were located at 1670 Bayview Avenue and its transmitter was located at 354 Jarvis Street on the CBC tower; the height of its antenna was 550 feet. In 1972, the station moved to its permanent studios at 2180 Yonge Street where it remains today.[3] The station's broadcast name was OECA, sharing the name of its parent organization. In 1974, however, the station started to become unofficially known as TVOntario, a name change that was made official in 1981. The OECA name is still used for official purposes, such as legal notices and copyrights.

In the latter half of the 1970s, the network began adding rebroadcast transmitters in other Ontario communities. Its very first rebroadcast transmitter was added in Ottawa on October 25, 1975, under the callsign CICO.

[edit] 1980s-1990s

In 1987, TVOntario launched La Chaîne française, which became TFO in 1994. In 1995, the Mike Harris government promised to privatize TVOntario. They never carried through on this plan, but did cut its budget.

[edit] 2000s

The positions of chair and CEO were divided in 2005 with film producer Peter O'Brian being appointed chair and Lisa de Wilde becoming CEO. On June 29, 2006, the provincial Ministry of Education announced a major overhaul of TVO: its production capabilities would be upgraded to fully-digital systems by 2009 (ministry funding would be allocated for this); and TFO would be spun off into a separate organization. [4]

Moreover, programming changes were announced later that day: thirteen hours of new weekly children's educational programming was added, Studio 2 was replaced by The Agenda, and More to Life and Vox were cancelled. [5] The move to digitize services represents a transition; The Globe and Mail quoted TVOntario CEO Lisa de Wilde saying “While television will remain an important medium for TVO, the days of defining ourselves as only a broadcaster are past.” [6]

In 2002 the Independent Learning Centre, which is responsible for distance education at the elementary and secondary school level as well as GED testing, was transferred from the Ministry of Education to TVOntario.[7]

[edit] Chairs and CEOs of TVOntario

[edit] Programming

See: List of TVOntario programs

TVO shows a mixture of original shows, children's programming, British imports, and movies from around the world. TVO's daytime schedule is mostly children's programming. One of the network's most famous children's series is Polka Dot Door. In the evenings, TVO runs a mixture of documentary, drama and public affairs programming for adult audiences, including the popular Saturday Night at the Movies, which presents classic films with commentary and interview segments. Late at night, TVO shows educational programming that is designed for teachers to tape and show in school. Much of TVO's instructional programming also airs on public television stations in the United States.

Initially, all dramatic programming was required to have some educational content. Actors, journalists or writers were hired to provide commentary on shows that would place them within an educational context. For instance Tom Gratton's War was bookmarked by segments that would use scenes from the series to discuss film making techniques. Episodes of The Prisoner were hosted by journalist Warner Troyer whose segments included interviews with the actors and a discussion of various psychyological, philosophical or sociological themes regarding the series.[8] Similarly Doctor Who was hosted by science fiction author Judith Merril who would use discuss each week's episode to explore various themes in science and science fiction. Saturday Night at the Movies continued to follow this format long after the requirement was dropped because of the popularity of its host, Elwy Yost.

Although French language programs were shown on TVO since its inception and gradually increased in number since then, they eventually moved to the French arm of TVOntario, TFO (originally known as La Chaîne française). When TFO started, TVO would run its English language shows on that channel on Sundays after noon, while the English TVO channel presented La Chaîne française programming at that time. This was done to give francophones without cable some French service, and discontinued in the 1990s after TFO began launching broadcast transmitters in some Franco-Ontarian communities.

[edit] Logo history

An early OECA TV logo

A TVO logo from the mid-to-late 1970s or 1980s

[edit] Noted shows

[edit] Transmitters

See List of TVOntario transmitters.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ministry of Education (Ontario). "Newly Aligned TVOntario to Support Government's Education Agenda", CNW Group, 29 September 2005. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 
  2. ^ Keast, Ron. Educational Broadcasting in Canada - A Brief Overview (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-01-08.. See page 10.
  3. ^ Canadian Communications Foundation - Fondation Des Communications Canadiennes
  4. ^ McGuinty Government Transforms TVOntario (PDF). Ontario Ministry of Education (2006-06-29). Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  5. ^ TVOntario to cancel Studio 2. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2006-06-29). Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  6. ^ Ontario Liberals deny role in cancelling TVO news show. Globe and Mail (2006-06-29). Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  7. ^ History of ILC, accessdate=2008-01-24
  8. ^ Patrick McGoohan Interview

[edit] External links


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Educational television channels in Canada

Provincial broadcasters: Télé-Québec • TVOntario • TFO (Ontario) • Saskatchewan Communications Network • Access (Alberta) • Knowledge Network (B.C.)
Other: Canal Savoir (Montreal) • Canadian Learning Television (National)
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Broadcast television in Ontario
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Southwestern Ontario
Eastern Ontario
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