NOWTV was the previous on-air name of CHNU in Surrey, British Columbia and CIIT-TV in Winnipeg, which launched on September 15, 2001. Owned by Trinity Television, NOWTV was a Christian station which aired a blend of religious programming and classic family sitcoms.
NOWTV relied on television advertisements and donations from viewers for financial support.
On November 1, 2004, Trinity Television announced that it was selling CHNU and the licence for CIIT-TV Winnipeg, at that time not yet launched, to Rogers Communications, subject to Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval. The deal was approved several months later, finally giving Rogers a broadcast television station in the Vancouver market. (It lost the bid for a multicultural station in Vancouver a few years ago to CHNM.) The financial difficulties Trinity has experienced with operating CHNU and getting CIIT on the air, combined with the fact that it cannot raise capital from outside investors (because of its status as a charitable organization) are the main reasons given for the sale.
CHNU was renamed OMNI.10 in September 2005, in line with OMNI Television stations in Ontario. CIIT, which was slated to launch as a NOWTV station, has also launched with the OMNI brand as OMNI.11 on February 6, 2006.
Read more about NOWTV: NOWTV Stations