CKY-DT - History

History

In January 1960, the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) held public hearings in Winnipeg in response to three applications which had been submitted to operate a commercial Channel 7 television station in the city. These applications were presented by R. S. Misener and Associates, a group associated with radio stations CKY Winnipeg, CFAM Altona and CKSB St. Boniface; Perimeter Television Broadcasters Ltd., a group associated with Winnipeg radio station CJOB; and the Red River Television Association, a group associated with the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper and radio station CKRC.

The Misener application was subsequently approved by the BBG, and CKY was founded as independent station CJAY on November 12, 1960, joining CTV upon the network's launch on October 1, 1961. On June 1, 1973, the station's call sign was changed to CKY-TV to match Moffat's AM and FM stations, making it one of the only two Canadian TV stations, the other being the now-defunct CKX-TV, with three-letter call signs (from 2007 to 2009, they were sister stations following CTVglobemedia's buyout of CHUM Limited). The CJAY calls are now used on a Calgary rock station now owned by Astral Media. In 1992, Moffat sold CKY-AM and CKY-FM (subsequently CITI) to Rogers Communications while maintaining ownership of the television station.

In August 1992, General Manager Vaughn Tozer hired Jim Wicks, a Canadian-American broadcaster to be the main anchor and managing editor. Tozer and Wicks re-organized the newsroom and the on-air team to help accomplish their goal. Within three ratings periods, the newscast had climbed from 3rd place to 1st place, replacing CBWT's 24 Hours as the highest-rated newscast in Winnipeg. At one point the newscast was advertised on billboards throughout the city as Wicks at 6. The on-air chemistry between Wicks and Sports Director Steve Vogelsang was unique in broadcasting, adding to the popularity of the program. Although the personalities have since changed on several occasions, the station's newscast has remained Manitoba's #1 newscast, increasing its lead in recent years due in part to the demise of CHMI's newscasts and budget cuts at CBWT. Currently, CKY has a monopoly on local newscasts weekdays at noon. As of today, CKY-TV is the oldest private TV station in Manitoba since CKX-TV's demise.

In 2001, Moffat Broadcasting was purchased by Shaw Cablesystems, which was not interested in CKY or its sister cable station, WTN. CKY was purchased by Bell Globemedia, while WTN was purchased by Corus Entertainment, moved to Toronto, and became W Network. Now a CTV owned-and-operated station, promos on CKY became similar to the other CTV O&Os. However, Shaw returned to the TV station business five years later, as they acquired CJBN-TV (a Global affiliate) in nearby Kenora, Ontario.

On May 15, 2006, the station's studios moved to a new facility near Winnipeg's MTS Centre. This move was mostly caused by recent retail developments in the area, which includes the Polo Park Shopping Centre, and the likelihood that CKY's studios were bought off by developers who would use the space for additional retail opportunities. The recent demolition of Winnipeg Arena and the possible development of a new football stadium to replace Canad Inns Stadium would have likely placed the broadcasting facility in an awkward position of being surrounded by retail developments, making their property more valuable. CKY's new studios uses state-of-the-art technology, and virtually nothing was moved from the old studios to the new facility. The existing news set was moved to CFQC-DT, the CTV affiliate in Saskatoon, and some technical equipment was sent to CTV's Quebec City bureau. In addition, the master control of the station was moved to 9 Channel Nine Court, home of flagship CTV station CFTO-TV in Toronto.

Another likely reason for the move is that CKY had more space than it needed. With WTN, 92 CITI FM, and 102 Clear FM moving to new studios in recent years, plus the reduction of local, in-studio programming on CKY-TV since 1991, a new, although smaller, facility suited CKY-TV's needs.

In recent years, CKY has allowed studio space to be rented for third-party productions, including the locally produced film Blue State. The station marked its 50th anniversary in 2010.