Hamilton Media

[markbarbera]

I wouldn't be surprised to see cogeco seek intervenor status and make its own offer. Mountain Cable may find itself the object of desire in a bidding war, assuming the court rules in favour of Rogers' motion.

[SteelTown]

"Sports is something we'll investigate as the years go by."

Anyone else find that interesting? I'm assuming CHCH might want to try getting some possible NHL coverage from Copps.

[SteelTown]

All eyes on CHCH experiment
Hamilton TV station could show struggling industry the way

October 08, 2009
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/649566

Hamilton television is in the national spotlight as the industry watches its bold local news and movies format, hoping it shows the struggling business a way into the future.

Analysts say CHCH TV's new format certainly has the potential to do just that.

Six weeks after the once-struggling station shed its roster of American entertainment gossip shows for a package of local news through the day and movies in the evening, analysts see at least the promise of future success.

"So far it's what I expected it to be," said analyst Carmi Levy of AR Communications Inc. "They're making the best of a bad situation.

"I think CHCH is going to continue to be a viable local operation."

In Levy's analysis, the new owners of the Hamilton station are making the right decision by adding staff and resources to the local news operation when many other outlets are taking them away.

"For the most part it looks like it has been business as usual with no substantial job losses," he said. "New resources are being devoted to content where others are taking them away, so I expect the results to be quite positive.

"The new owners seem to have a much better sense of how to build a viable local organization."

That effort has seen about 15 jobs created under the new format, with some of them going to former staff fired during Canwest's relentless rounds of cuts.

Once part of the Canwest Global communications empire, CHCH was sold at the end of August to Toronto-based Channel Zero, owner of digital specialty networks such as Movieola -- The Short Film Channel and Silver Screen Classics and distributor of The Fight Network and adult channels.

Once Canada's largest media empire, Canwest faces the prospect of being broken up under court-supervised bankruptcy protection. The restructuring, which includes the National Post newspaper and the Global Television network, will mean the biggest sale of media assets Canada has ever seen. The process is expected to take four to six months.

In the days following the sale, new president Cal Millar spoke of ambitious plans, comparing the Hamilton operation to American superstations such as TBS and KTLA -- heavily local through the day and national in the evening with movies and sports.

Alan Sawyer, of Toronto-based Two Solitudes Media Consulting, also likes CHCH's chances -- it's a small station by Toronto standards, but with a wide reach through the Golden Horseshoe area.

"The breadth of its distribution might just make it viable," he said. "It's a hybrid local-national operation and in a market like Hamilton, that's a workable model."

Millar has said overnight ratings for the new format have been good. A full weighing of viewer opinions won't be available until January, when the next Bureau of Broadcast Measurement survey results are released. The study starts next Thursday and runs through Nov. 18.

Good numbers in that survey will help the station attract advertisers -- the critical piece to paying for the recovery.

The analysts think that's also a fair bet to succeed.

"CHCH was just priced out of the local market by Canwest, but Channel Zero seems to speak another language on pricing and it's a language local businesses want to hear," Levy said.

"I think Hamilton is going to be a template for how local television should be done."

Sawyer agrees, noting customers such as car dealers need local television exposure that they couldn't afford under the old regime.

"A local car dealer can't afford time on a Toronto station, even at the lower end," he said. "I think they're going to come back to local television because CH's rates are going to be lower than any Toronto station.

"I think this experiment has potential and it's going to be fascinating to watch over the next year or so."

[highwater]

October 19, 2009
Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
(Oct 19, 2009)

Global National will be showcasing Hamilton on its evening newscast today, as the broadcast goes live from Gore Park.

And Hamiltonians are welcome to head down to the core and watch.

Anchor Kevin Newman said the city is one of three municipalities in Ontario the show is visiting on a series of road trips.

It has already made a jaunt to Kitchener-Waterloo for Oktoberfest and will also stop by an eastern Ontario city in the future.

"Hamilton we're coming to because it's a good example of ... an industrial city that has tried to transform itself," Newman said.

"And there are plenty of other places during this recession that have faced the problems that Hamilton faced a little bit earlier. So ... things we're going to look at are examples of how Hamilton is, through the McMaster Innovation (Park) and things, trying to see the economy of the future."

This is the first time the newscast, which sets out to broadcast from different parts of the country each fall, has gone live from Hamilton. Global's parent Canwest owned Channel 11 in Hamilton, but sold in August.

The Gore Park broadcast will feature a story on Hamilton's waterfalls.

"We're going to use that to sort of surprise the rest of the country ... they have pre-conceived notions of what Hamilton is like and we're going to show them all the pretty places that they may not know."

The newscast begins at 5:30 p.m. Spectators are asked to be at Gore Park by 5 p.m.

[email protected]

905-526-4629

[Jon Dalton]

Originally Posted by highwater

"Hamilton we're coming to because it's a good example of ... an industrial city that has tried to transform itself," Newman said.

That '...' is priceless

[SteelTown]

Sweet must watch.

[SteelTown]

From Kevin Newman twitter......

Quiz time! Name the Canadian city with the most waterfalls within a few km. See if ur right Monday @5:30.
about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry

[matt602]

Yah, just another Ecklund publicity stunt. This time he somehow got Global on board. Oddly enough I actually had some hopes that the telecast would showcase some of the real positive parts of this city. Maybe the people, architecture or history? Not Chris Ecklund and his "philanthropy".

[emge]

Did anyone actually see the newscast from Gore Park? How was it?

[flar]

I watched it, it was good that Hamilton got some publicity, but it was pretty weak.

They had a McMaster business prof on there calling Hamilton a bedroom community. He should check his numbers, but I'm sure he hasn't. Business profs like to repeat things they've heard from people in the "real world," that is, "common sense". Hamilton certainly needs to stop being so dependent on neighbouring cities and get more jobs in Hamilton itself, but the fact is that 83% of Hamilton's workforce works within the Hamilton CMA, hardly a bedroom community.

There was a segment on a small company developing hearing aids and the McMaster Innovation park. Good.

Unfortunately, the main segment was on Chris Ecklund and the ridiculous "Waterfall Capital of the World" theme. With about 20 people standing there with waterfall t-shirts. Amateurish.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by flar

Unfortunately, the main segment was on Chris Ecklund and the ridiculous "Waterfall Capital of the World" theme. With about 20 people standing there with waterfall t-shirts. Amateurish.

I can't stand the whole waterfall thing. Weak sauce.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by BCTed

I can't stand the whole waterfall thing. Weak sauce.

indeed.

[SteelTown]

That was Marvin Ryder. He's been pretty active in Hamilton over the years, used to have some sort of connection with HECFI, think he did the finanical reports for constructing Copps back in the 80's. Then he was a member of the transition committee that brought old City of Hamilton to the new City of Hamilton, it was his idea about area rating.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Then he was a member of the transition committee that brought old City of Hamilton to the new City of Hamilton, it was his idea about area rating.

Thanks for nothing, Marvin.

If I recall, he was also pretty pessimistic that Hamilton was on the 'right track' after the Mayor's address. Perhaps, like so many of our self-styled 'elites', he believes our only future is as a bedroom community with a few low-paying jobs in 'logistics'. As you said Flar, this is typical elite received wisdom. They should have talked to someone like Freiburger. You know, someone who is actually doing something.

And the waterfalls. Jeezus. Makes us look so lame. Frankly, I think the people who jump on the waterfall bandwagon actually hate Hamilton. The waterfall thing is all about turning your back on the city and denying it's urban character. Our proximity to nature is one of our selling points to be sure, but we focus on the waterfalls exclusively at our peril.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by highwater

Thanks for nothing, Marvin.

If I recall, he was also pretty pessimistic that Hamilton was on the 'right track' after the Mayor's address. Perhaps, like so many of our self-styled 'elites', he believes our only future is as a bedroom community with a few low-paying jobs in 'logistics'. As you said Flar, this is typical elite received wisdom. They should have talked to someone like Freiburger. You know, someone who is actually doing something.

I disagree.

I've only met Marvin once, but we didn't talk politics, economics, or city building (actually we talked about The Weakerthans). In that conversation, I found him to be very engaging and intelligent. While, he might see our future (or now) as a "bedroom community" (politicians doing), I don't think that what he wants that based on his quote below.

Originally Posted by Marvin Ryder

There are 40,000 more people leaving Hamilton every day for jobs than actually work here, he says, putting us in the category of a bedroom community.

None of that helps Hamilton's tax base, which is heavily dependent on homeowners, Ryder said. He said the community must find a way to bridge its past as a manufacturing centre with its future in a new economy.

From: http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/649572

[Jon Dalton]

I don't care how many jobs Burlington has. If 40,000 of us can't find jobs in our own city, our city is losing.

[markbarbera]

As posted on thespec.com:

Canwest says it must shift National Post to holding company, or shut it down

October 29, 2009
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Restructuring media giant Canwest Global Communications says it will be forced to shut down the unprofitable National Post newspaper if its operations aren’t shifted into a different holding company by Friday.
The company says in court documents that its creditors refuse to keep funding the newspaper, which continues to suffer significant operating losses.
A number of Canwest divisions, including the Post, are operating under creditor protection and it says without the approval it would be forced to shut down the paper and lay off its 277 employees immediately.
The company says the Post shares a lot of operations with other Canwest newspapers, which are in a division that is not included under creditor protection.
Canwest says moving it under the same umbrella as the papers would help the Post keep its costs down.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Friday in Toronto.

[SteelTown]

Marvin now regrets the area rating idea based on a previous interview.

During the newscast it said 1 in 3 commute outside of Hamilton's CMA for work.

[flar]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Marvin now regrets the area rating idea based on a previous interview.

During the newscast it said 1 in 3 commute outside of Hamilton's CMA for work.

It might be 1 in 3 outside city limits. The big deal is Burlington, where I think somewhere near 30,000 Hamiltonians work. I consider Burlington to be Hamilton. The QEW corridor in Burlington has been the most attractive choice for companies to locate in the Hamilton area for the past 30 years. Burlington should have been amalgamated into Hamilton long ago. The balance of the employment base (and municipal tax dollars) in Greater Hamilton has been shifting from the old lower city to Burlington during that time.

Hamilton should have been claiming ownership of Burlington all along too, even without legal amalgamation. If all those Burlington based companies wanted to locate in the Toronto area, they would be out in Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham, etc. No, instead they are in the Hamilton area, and Burlington has presented the most attractive location in the Hamilton area in recent years.

[Millstone]

I was cruising on King St during this and saw all the protestors and stuff. But Kevin had somehow separated himself from them, the police presence probably helped.