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CHUM is giving Southwestern Ontario television a whole new look
Television will never be the same in Southwestern Ontario. As of last Aug. 23, CHUM Ltd. took over three former Baton Broadcasting stations in the region and started to shake things up. New programming went into effect in September, but only now are plans for changes to the stations' newsrooms and a new style for their newscasts beginning to form.
Like its September 1996 makeover of CKVR in Barrie, Ont. into the fast-paced The New VR, Toronto-based CHUM has big plans for CFPL in London, CKNX in Wingham and CHWI in Windsor. (CHRO, an Ottawa/Pembroke station, will also undergo similar changes.)
The revamping of the stations' programming lineups and presentation style will inevitably change the mix of advertisers they attract. Some will leave due to the program changes, while some will add the stations to their buy list for the first time to reach the younger audiences that programming attracts. For the people at CHUM, it's a matter of winning that second group over with strong local coverage and a fresh new look.
Moses Znaimer, president and executive producer at CHUM Television, says the changes will be individual to each community: "We want to make the stations much more powerfully local."
Znaimer says that all of the stations offer a lot of potential for the local look and feel that CHUM develops. The company's flagship station in Toronto, Citytv, is best-known for its involvement in the community....