CTV Two Atlantic - History

History

ASN launched in 1983, under the ownership of CHUM Limited, as a supplementary service to its ATV system of CTV affiliates (now known as CTV Atlantic). ASN initially aired Atlantic Pulse newscasts at alternate times to ATV's newscasts. Atlantic Pulse used ATV reporters, but different anchors and graphics, with a comparatively spartan set located across the newsroom from ATV's. ASN also carried alternative entertainment programming, much of it produced by or otherwise sourced from CHUM's Toronto station CITY-TV.

In 1997, as part of a multi-station trade between CHUM and Baton Broadcasting, ATV and ASN became Baton properties; ATV was integrated into the expanded CTV network, while ASN took over the few remaining CHUM programs from ATV. ASN remained, for all intents and purposes, the Citytv affiliate in Atlantic Canada, and until recently carried a similar mix of movies and series in primetime. However, by the mid-2000s, the amount of CHUM programming on the ASN schedule had in fact decreased, and CHUM-supplied soap operas and movies (aside from a handful of weekend timeslots) were no longer present.

Following the merger between CHUM and CTVglobemedia, it appeared likely that ASN would become the Citytv owned and operated station for Atlantic Canada. However, the merger was made conditional on the sale of Citytv to a third party (Rogers Communications); as such, ASN was re-launched as part of the CTV's also recently acquired A system August 11, 2008 and became known as A Atlantic.

On May 30, 2011, Bell Media announced that A Atlantic along with the rest of the A television system will once again be rebranded as CTV Two effective August 29, 2011.