Breakfast Television (Citytv Toronto) - History

History

Breakfast Television debuted on September 6, 1989, with host Ann Rohmer and news anchor David Onley; for its first few years, the program ran for two hours from 7-9 a.m. In 1994, Onley left the show to focus on CityPulse, being replaced by Kevin Frankish, who up to that point was BT's traffic specialist and previously was a reporter for Barrie's CKVR. Liza Fromer replaced Ann Rohmer in 2001, but then left the show in July 2006 to prepare for the birth of her child. Kevin Frankish blogged that her departure from the show was "on the absolute best of terms." On October 13, 2006, Dina Pugliese became the new co-host of the show, after a summer of guest co-hosts.

Jennifer Valentyne (née Peck) was previously the singing weather girl; she replaced Steve Anthony on the LiveEye segment after he left the station. Hugh Burrill presented the sports segment and also took part in early morning host chats before being assigned to a later time slot.

With the absence of Hugh Burrill, Nalini Sharma joined the BT team as a weather presenter. She went on maternity leave in 2005 and returned that September, before being reassigned to a different time slot. Frank Ferragine, the fill-in presenter during her maternity leave, returned.

Roger Petersen was a news reporter on BT before moving to Citytv Vancouver in 2004 (he has returned to Citytv Toronto as weekend anchor starting October 2008 after a stint at CFTO-TV). His replacement, Dave Pinton, left in 2005. Meanwhile, Tracy Moore held the same post until she went on maternity leave in 2007. She was slated to return to the show full-time but eventually became the new host of CityLine in September 2008.

Sharon Posius had been the morning news anchor on BT for A-Channel News until September 5, 2008, when A Barrie owned by CTVglobemedia as of 2007 and (Bell Media as of 2011) dropped its simulcast of BT and launched its whole new morning show A Morning on September 8, 2008.

BT also aired on Citytv's spinoff all-news channel CablePulse24 from its launch in 1998 until March 25, 2009, when the cable channel dropped its simulcast of BT and launched its whole new morning program (CP24 Breakfast). BT was the last remaining programming connection between the two channels since the cable channel abruptly preempted its simulcast of all CityNews programming in December 2008, which had fallen under separate owners (Citytv by Rogers Media, CP24 by CTVglobemedia now Bell Media) in 2007. Some hostility had become apparent in the weeks running up to the final split; BT had begun using the Citytv logo heavily in its graphics directing viewers to watch on that channel (e.g. BT only on Citytv Cable 7), while CP24 began to edit the program with its own news inserts known as More on CP24.

On September 5, 2011, CITY-TV's Breakfast Television program expanded to 3½ hours, pushing its start time a half-hour earlier from 6 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. The move was part of Citytv's systemwide expansion of its owned-and-operated stations' local editions of the Breakfast Television franchise to the 3½ hour time length. The 5:30 half-hour, which is broadcast from the newsroom at CITY-DT's 33 Dundas Street East studios, is more news-focused than the remainder of the program, and follows a general news/weather/traffic format.

When it launched on October 3, 2011, CityNews Channel, a 24-hour regional news channel for the Greater Toronto Area operated by CITY-DT, began simulcasting the program (along with Citytv Toronto's local evening news programs). On that date, a half-hour extension of Breakfast Television began airing exclusively on CityNews Channel weekdays from 9-9:30 a.m. (the program continues to run from 5:30-9 a.m. on Citytv Toronto). The 9 a.m. extension on CityNews Channel includes fewer references to being part of the main BT program itself and is formatted similarly to the previously-added 5:30 a.m. half-hour; though, "Live-Eye" reports are included as with the 6-9 a.m. portion of the main program.