September 1st, 2001

It's now a familiar (well, somewhat) story. We all know that there was an affiliation switch in BC, in which 4 TV stations were involved. But what happened before, during and after the switch? The Crossover Chronicles are here to answer.

CHEK-TV/6: From CHEK-TV to CH

August 31st: The last ever CHEK-TV News @ Five. I believe the switch to CH was the top story, but I'm not sure because I didn't happen to capture it. But in any case, the switch was indeed the top story on the last ever CHEK-TV Late News with Sophie Lui. Meribeth Burton took a look ahead at CH, then Bruce Kirkpatrick looked back at the station's past, in a report that showed vintage clips of the station, as well as shots of former talents. Near the end of the newscast (at around midnight), after Stacy Ross's sports report, Sophie announced that the station was now officially CH. A CH News promo followed immediately.

September 1st: While the station was off-air, it showed colour bars with the CH crescent logo placed at the center of the screen. The first ever CH newscast came on at 5pm. There was no opening animation, only the new theme music played over a live shot of Victoria's Inner Harbour for several seconds. The news was anchored by Phillip Campbell from the newsroom, as the main set was being renovated. Lower-third name graphics similar (if not identical) to those at CHCH Hamilton (also known as CH) were used. At the end of the newscast, Phillip showed viewers the new set in a taped report. The new set would debut on Monday the 3rd.

September 2nd: Sports Page, migrated here from CKVU, went on at 11pm. It was anchored by Barry MacDonald, oddly from Vancouver. From the looks of it, the program's still produced at the CKVU studios, as it still uses the old set. And I think I saw the overhead lights being labelled "CKVU." The show's still using the old graphics.

September 3rd: There was no noon news, as they claimed they were busy finishing up the set. So the new set debuted on the 5pm news anchored by Hudson Mack. Bruce McAllister, from Global TV in the Atlantic, made his debut on CH on the new 6pm news co-anchored with Meribeth Burton. The new Go! Magazine with Nancy Sinclair followed the 6pm news. CH News Final with Sophie Lui went on after Sports Page.

September 4th: CH News at Noon with Bruce McAllister finally debuted today. The Nanaimo bureau was introduced. Gordie Tupper became the weatherman for the newscast.

CHAN-TV/8: From BCTV to Global BC

August 31st: Brief mention of the switch on Morning News and Noon News Hour. Deborra Hope, Ted Chernecki and Tony Parsons explained the switch in detail in Early News, Canada Tonight and the News Hour respectively. The last ever edition of Canada Tonight went on at 5:30pm, anchored by Chernecki. There were previews of GlobalNational on both Canada Tonight and the News Hour. Kevin Newman, the anchor of GlobalNational, joined Chernecki on Canada Tonight to talk about the new national newscast. The GlobalNational preview on News Hour was the lengthier of the two, and was shown on other Global stations in the country. 

News Hour Final, anchored by Ted Chernecki, went on after the CTV National News. The switch to Global BC was the second headline mentioned during the opening animation. At some point in the newscast, Ted Chernecki explained the switch once again to the viewers, telling them BCTV would become Global BC at midnight, and the GlobalNational preview shown on the News Hour was shown here again. As Ted handed over to Barry Deley for sports, he mentioned that it was going to be the last ever sportscast on BCTV. Ted and Barry signed off at around 12:10am, with Ted reminding viewers to tune into the Saturday Morning News.

September 1st: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno followed the News Hour Final. There wasn't a Global ident leading into the show. Colour bars with the Global crescent logo at the center of the screen were shown while the station was off-air. The first ever newscast on Global BC, the BCTV Saturday Morning News on Global, went on at 7am with Jill Krop anchoring. The new news graphics, theme music and studio debuted on the newscast.

September 3rd: The Morning News went on at 5:30am. Steve Darling officially became a co-anchor, alongside Lynn Colliar who was already there. Zack Spencer and Sarah Daniels still handle weather and traffic duties respectively. The Morning News now ends at 9am.

The Noon News Hour is now anchored by Randene Neill, with Deborra Hope anchoring the Early News. GlobalNational with Kevin Newman debuted at 5:30pm. It is housed in the same set as other BCTV/ Global BC newscasts. Graphics are based on the new typical Global News graphics, only slightly different.

CKVU-TV/10: From Global to ckvu13

August 31st: Global News at Six was solo-anchored by Jennifer Mather. About 10-15 minutes into the newscast, she mentioned the switch, voicing over the video showing the "ckvu13" sign being put up outside of their studio building. Near the end of the newscast, as Joe Leary (filling in for Marke Dreisschen) was taking one last look at the weather, he held in his hand a Global mic flag, taken off from his mic. As I recall, he jokingly said something like "I don't need this anymore!"

The last ever Sports Page on CKVU went on at 11. At the end of the show, Sean McCormack reminded viewers that the program would be switching channels, and thanked people who contributed to the show in the last 25 years or so. The program was followed by the last ever Global newscast on CKVU, anchored by Dag Sharman. At the end of the newscast (sometime past midnight), the scene where the "ckvu13" signs went up outside of the studio building was played once again, and Dag told viewers to say goodbye to Global News on CKVU. There was a simple transitional "ceremony." Under Dag's order, the "Global News" signs displayed on the monitors behind him were replaced by "ckvu News" signs. As he signed off, he bided viewers goodnight on behalf of the "ckvu Newsroom."

September 1st: Station IDs featuring construction workers supposedly working on some sort of project (obviously the station's switch to "ckvu13") and the text "under construction" were played throughout the day. There are several variants of the IDs.

There were several news updates in the morning, about an hour apart from each other. Apparently the station now goes by the slogan "The 24 Hour News Source." But the slogan is only used during the opens to such news updates.

The first ever "ckvuNews" went on at 6pm, anchored by Simi Sara. The newscast still uses the wire-frame globe symbol, the news theme and the news graphics left over from the Global era, only with the text "Global News" replaced by "ckvuNews." The "Global SkyTracker" logo is removed from all weather maps and graphics which otherwise looked the same as before. Deb Matejicka debuted on the newscast as the new sports anchor.

CIVT-TV/32: From VTV to BC CTV

August 31st: This was morning host Aamer Haleem's last day at the station. He co-anchored his last show with Tamara Stanners, his replacement. At the end of the show, some staff members, including Coleen Christie (who would move to the 5pm news), Dagmar Midcap (morning weather and traffic), Tamara Stanners and Jina You (moving to the morning show as news anchor), gathered at the set to send off Aamer. They showed flashback clips of him during his 4 years at the station. The show ended with "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim, as requested by Aamer.

At the end of the last "VTV News at Six," anchor Ravi Baichwal mentioned that it was also Environment Canada meteorologist David Jones's last day at the station.

At the end of the last "VTV News Late Night," anchor Sonja Nordahl mentioned the switch. She said that she would move back to reporting, and the late news would be anchored by Mi-Jung Lee starting Monday. She and sports anchor Kathy Kovacs hugged each other as the newscast ended.

September 1st: At 6am, the start of the broadcast day, the station showed a start-up sequence, featuring our national anthem "O Canada." The sequence lasted for a little more than 2 minutes. Afterwards, it switched to a legal ID, featuring the name "BC CTV" both visually and aurally. The first ever newscast on BC CTV started at 6pm, anchored by Bridget Anderson. New CTV standard news open, theme music and graphics, as well as the station's new set, debuted on the newscast, which lasted for half an hour.

September 3rd: Coleen Christie and Ravi Baichwal co-anchored the first "CTV News at Five." The anchors sat at the main news desk for the first block, then moved on to the interview/ armchair set (to the right of the news desk, I believe) for the rest of the show. Following the 5pm news, Bill Good (formerly of BCTV) debuted on the station at 6pm.

September 4th: "CTV Breakfast" went on at 5am. Tamara Stanners was the main host, Jina You read the news, and Dagmar Midcap handled weather and traffic. The show was followed by "Canada AM" at 7am.