Hamilton Media

[durandy]

hopefully one of those five people is a boss.

Great news anyway. I hope wherever they go they put up a giant CBC logo just to give the impression of scale.

[SteelTown]

Would be nice if they go to the Lister Block on the main floor. A CBC logo would be wicked.

[SteelTown]

Good chance CBC will also have a local CBC radio station. Watch the CBC jobs board if that does indeed happen.

[SteelTown]

A breath of fresh airwaves revives fortunes at CHCH
On the verge of extinction two years ago, Hamilton’s CHCH has staked its future on news

http://www.thespec.com/news/business...rtunes-at-chch

The Jackson/Hunter Street home of Hamilton TV station CHCH seem a lot happier and more upbeat these days.

“It’s nice to be at a place now that is expanding and growing and hiring, rather than one that is imploding,” confides Brian Wood, a veteran on-air personality. “I’m very pleased to see it like that — and to be still a part of it.”

“There’s a big difference now,” echoes camera/microwave operator Nick Garbutt, another senior staff member. “It’s almost like the old days. Being independent again, decisions get made right away, here rather than at ‘corporate.’ Because this is ‘corporate’ now.”

It’s been a little more than two years since a small, relatively unknown Toronto-based media company named Channel Zero Inc. breathed new life into CHCH, bringing the beleaguered station back from the brink of broadcast extinction.

According to figures obtained from CHCH, the station has 141 full-time jobs on its payroll now, roughly a 20 per cent increase from the 117 full-timers in 2009. .

Today, CHCH is healthy again, insists Cal Millar, Channel Zero’s president and chief operating officer.

“We’re really thrilled with how it’s going,” Millar explained during a recent telephone interview from his Toronto office. “The progress, over two years, has been fairly steady. It’s going well in terms of viewership. It’s going well in terms of the kind of programming we’re doing. It’s going well in terms of the team in Hamilton. It’s going well in terms of the new shows we’ve launched. It even went well in the digital transition, the million-dollar-plus investment we made in new transmitters across the province.”

Numbers from BBM, Canada’s ratings service, bear that out. CHCH’s 6 p.m. newscast often pulls in anywhere from 100,000 to 140,000 viewers per night in the Toronto-Hamilton extended market. Both the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts regularly beat out those from CBC, CP24 and Citytv. In fact, CHCH’s newscasts usually rank third, behind CTV and Global, and sometimes even outperform Global enough to land in second place.

And although the balance of CHCH’s schedule may not be breaking ratings records, the shows are managing to hold their own.

“We’re sustainable at this point,” says Millar. “Nobody’s getting rich over night, but we’re making money.”

[scott000]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Good chance CBC will also have a local CBC radio station. Watch the CBC jobs board if that does indeed happen.

First Hamilton CBC Job Posting is up -
Executive Producer-Notice of Assignment (Hamilton Digital)
Posting number HAM00002

https://cbc.taleo.net/careersection/...ch.ftl?lang=en

[SteelTown]

OpenFile Hamilton pulls the plug

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...pulls-the-plug

OpenFile Hamilton will shut down next week.

The community online news site announced Friday its Hamilton operation – one of seven in cities across Canada – will close after Sunday’s CFL football game.

OpenFile CEO Wilf Dinnick said in a statement on the site OpenFile had tried to engage readers and communities with professional journalists, but what works in each of its seven sites did not work in Hamilton.

“Our audience has grown every month, every week and almost every day,” he said in a statement. “Except in Hamilton.

“With great sadness, after nearly a year of operation in the Hammer, I’m sorry say we won’t publish new content on the Hamilton site after Sunday’s CFL game,”

Existing stories and blog posts will remain online indefinitely, but all new additions will be suspended.

[durandy]

darn it. I liked it. Yet for some reason I rarely went to it. Bad marketing? Bad search engine optimization maybe? It never came up when I googled things relating to Hamilton, whereas the Spec, SSP, and RTH all do.

[mattgrande]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. It never really "grabbed" me like some of our other sites.

[durandy]

there was something kind of fake about it. Like it was 'citizen journalism' all gussied up, and yet still for free. Someone at RTH just suggested it was angling to get bought out by Torstar, which may just be the play.

[markbarbera]

I liked OpenFile Hamilton. Sure, it feels like a farm to feed stories to mainstream newspapers, but I liked its collaborative approach to developing a story. It's a good source for quality on-line news articles that generally upheld the principles of proper journalism. With the maintenance of an on-line presence, I am hoping it is in hiatus rather than dead. I would like to see it revived again down the road.

[SteelTown]

CHCH seeking a broader audience, sets sights on higher frequency

http://www.thespec.com/news/business...gher-frequency

CHCH is looking to power up and broadcast at a higher frequency as early as next spring.

The station recently applied for a licence to transmit on UHF (ultra high frequency) Channel 15 in hopes of allowing viewers who have had trouble receiving CHCH since its move to digital to access its programming.

Broadcasting on a UHF channel instead of the VHF (very high frequency) channel it currently transmits from would also allow the station to improve reception of Mobile DTV — a service CHCH is looking to develop, manager of broadcast operations Wayne Rabishaw said Friday.

Moving to the UHF channel would boost the station to 132 kilowatts effective radiated power from the current 6.1 kilowatts.

Viewers will still find CHCH on channel 11, but the transmission would be from channel 15.

When the station moved to digital from analog last summer, it received hundreds of complaints from viewers about issues with receiving CHCH, Rabishaw said.

“Post Aug. 15, when we went live to air, what we found was the actual coverage area was considerably less than the theoretical coverage area,” he said.

The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission allows a period for input and intervention until Jan. 11.

“If all goes well, we’re looking at (transitioning) late spring,” Rabishaw said, adding they have received positive feedback from viewers so far.

If CHCH obtains the licence, viewers would have to rescan their TVs before accessing the station, he said.

Channel 15’s frequency became available when Sun TV stopped its on-air operations last month.

[LikeHamilton]

Budget could put CBC Hamilton in jeopardy

Mark McNeil The Hamilton Spectator February 7, 2012

A public broadcasting advocacy group says if expected funding cuts are made to the CBC in the upcoming federal budget, the corporation may have to kill its planned online service in Hamilton.

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison said the cuts would “have devastating consequences for listeners and viewers and could well scuttle new services the CBC has promised to Hamiltonians and residents of several other communities.”

A spokesperson for the CBC stopped short of saying the Hamilton service could be dropped, but acknowledged a heavy budget hit could send planners back to the drawing board.

“We’re facing a budget cut, questions about the future of the Local Programming Improvement Fund and a softening ad market. Dealing with the financial pressures will be a challenge,” CBC spokesperson Chris Ball said.

“If the budget reduction remains within the range originally envisaged and other funding sources remain stable, progress toward our five-year strategy may slow, but the ultimate goal remains achievable — including our expansion of local services across the country, including Hamilton.”

The federal budget is expected this month, and many believe it will contain at least a 10 per cent chop to the CBC.

In November, the CBC announced it was starting a digital service in Hamilton. The city is the largest community in Canada without any kind of CBC radio affiliate.

Last week, the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting released the results of a survey that found 65 per cent of Hamilton area residents want the CBC to establish a local radio station to cover community news. It also found that 69 per cent of the people in the community would support increasing or maintaining CBC funding.

The survey of more than 400 Hamiltonians was part of a larger national survey done Nov. 4-10.

Sources say the CBC has found the locale for its Hamilton operation and it will be 118 James St. N., between Cannon Street and Wilson Street. Springtime occupancy is being looked at. CBC officials did not return calls seeking comment about the location.

The 1920s-era building, formerly the home of Dominion Furniture, underwent a $3.5-million renovation and is now the home of Thier Curran Architects Inc. The Art Gallery of Hamilton is set to open an outlet in the building.

Neighbouring businesses are excited about seeing the CBC come to the street.

“It’s a positive development,” said Mixed Media owner Dave Kuruc, who’s been dubbed the King of James. “There’s definitely anticipation for this.”

http://www.thespec.com/print/article/667421

[CaptainKirk]

CBC announces location of Hamilton service

HAMILTON, ON, Feb. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - Today, CBC officially announced the location of its soon to be launched, Hamilton local digital service. Located at 118 James Street North, a street that is helping to lead the revival of downtown Hamilton, the new location will be home to CBC's next generation of local digital services, and be a centre of innovation for local services to come from the national public broadcaster.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/9181...milton-service


Roger Gillespie named Executive Producer CBC Hamilton

Mr. Gillespie was the assistant managing editor for visuals at The Toronto Star prior to his appointment at CBC.

Mr. Gillespie is a former Hamilton Spectator managing editor who, according to his Linkedin profile, served 20 years in Hamilton.

http://blog.joeycoleman.ca/2011/12/r...-cbc-hamilton/

[CaptainKirk]

They're already up and running!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamiltonblog/

[bigguy1231]

Seriously, a blog. Like anyone in this city is really going to notice.

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by bigguy1231

Seriously, a blog. Like anyone in this city is really going to notice.

I think there's gonna be more than a blog (if it survives the budget crunch)

[mishap]

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

I think there's gonna be more than a blog (if it survives the budget crunch)

They want a radio presence? No radio frequency available? Piggyback on CBLT's digital feed as a subchannel. Or if they want a Hamilton-area signal, rent subchannel space from another station like CTS or the proposed CKVR repeater (I'm assuming CHCH would say no). It's not perfect, but it's a start.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by mishap

They want a radio presence? No radio frequency available? Piggyback on CBLT's digital feed as a subchannel. Or if they want a Hamilton-area signal, rent subchannel space from another station like CTS or the proposed CKVR repeater (I'm assuming CHCH would say no). It's not perfect, but it's a start.

That would be an idea. The Buffalo stations all have substations that we can get with an antenna. But I don't think the CRTC has approved the use of substations here in Canada yet.

[markbarbera]

The free daily commuter newspaper "Metro" will start publishing a Hamilton edition on April 2. It will be published online only, no print editions.

Metro is owned by Torstar, the same company that owns the Spec. I suspect that this will just amount to a lot more of the same old, same old.

This is a peculiar move for a company to offer a free online newspaper in the same market where it is trying to push paid subscriptions for the online edition of a newspaper it already has in the market. Cannibalizing subscribers and advertising dollars doesn't seem like a well-thought-out strategy.

[mattgrande]

I just wish they had Metro at Hamilton GO. It seems to be the only station that doesn't have it there...