7/8/2004: More Layoffs at the New VI

CIVI/53 "The New VI" has announced further layoffs. This time, 29 people were let go from the station Wednesday, allowing the station to save $1.4 million a year. The layoff encompasses several levels of the station, from management to public relations, including full-time, part-time and free-lance staff members.

Among the laid-off on-air personalities are Moe Sihota, Norm Spector, Pia Shandel and Briony Penn. As a result, shows featuring them, like VILand Voices, TalkTV, Right On and EnvironMental have been cancelled. Also let go are weekend anchor and urban specialist Klaudia Ceglarz, reporters Trina Maus and Cheekwan Ho, and news producer Cindy MacDonald.

Brad Phillips, the vice-president of CHUM Television’s BC division, admits that CIVI has been performing "below expectations", and that this move will better channel the station’s resources into more effective use. However, he adds that he does not foresee another round of layoffs, and he stresses that the station will not shut down or become a satellite of sister station Citytv Vancouver.

The New VI underwent the first round of layoffs late last year, when former chief anchor Tasha Larson and weather specialist Tony Latimer were among the ones being let go.

CIVT/32 "CTV News" weekend anchor Bridgitte Anderson had left the station as of last week. Her last newscast at the station was aired last Sunday (May 9th). She mentioned during that newscast that she would be going to Toronto, and "staying within the CTV family". As of right now, TVYVR is not sure whether she will be working for CFTO, Toronto's CTV station; CTV Newsnet; or other areas of CTV's network news output. Her official replacement is not yet known; meanwhile, Mike Killeen anchored the 6pm newscast last night (May 15th).

Bridgitte Anderson had been working at CIVT since the station's inception in 1997. At first she worked as a reporter. She then became the anchor and producer for the station's 11pm newscast. In 1999, she became a co-anchor on the station's 6pm newscast alongside Ravi Baichwal (who is now also in Toronto, as an anchor on CTV Newsnet). She moved to the weekends after the station became the region's CTV outlet, in the wake of the affiliation switch of 2001. Before her stint at CIVT, she worked as the legislative reporter for CKVU.

As of yesterday, her bio was still on CIVT's site, ctv9.ca. TVYVR wishes her the best of luck in her future endeavours.

"Sports Page" anchor Barry MacDonald had left the sportscast in April. He now co-hosts a radio show ("BMac and Ball") on CKST The Team AM1040.

Apologies for the delayed apperances of these articles.

CTV9 (CIVT) announced the introduction of its own newsgathering helicopter, "CTV Chopper 9". It will be Vancouver's first full-time news chopper. The station will collaborate with Talon Helicopters in the operation of the helicopter. The introduction of the helicopter will take place in 2 phases:

The price tag for the helicopter was not released. CTV9's sister station in Toronto, CFTO, also has a helicopter (nicknamed "CTV-1"), as does Global Ontario ("Global NewsChopper"), and Seattle's KOMO/4, KING/5, and KIRO/7.

2/24/2004: Fiona Forbes Let Go From CKVU

Fiona Forbes, who had been co-hosting CKVU's morning show "Breakfast Television" since its inception (and the station's relaunch as Citytv) in 2002, had been let go from the station. She had been a co-host on Shaw TV's "Urban Rush" with Michael Eckford for several years before the duo headed for the morning show on CKVU.

"Breakfast Television" was originally more feature-oriented, with the duo having a prominent presence on the show. However, despite having gained somewhat of a cult following, the show still lagged behind rival BCTV/Global in the ratings, so the station re-formatted the show with a tighter news wheel and shorter interview and feature segments. In giving the show a more mainstream feel, the duo's presence and interaction were significantly scaled down. Some speculate that this creative difference was the main reason behind Forbes' departure.

According to the Province, Michael Eckford had been given a week off the show after his longtime partner's departure. Tamara Stanners and Shane Foxman were filling in today.

1/20/2004: Roger Petersen Debuts on CKVU

Citytv Vancouver (CKVU) welcomed its newest member last night (1/19). Roger Petersen had joined the CityPulse news team as a 6pm co-anchor alongside Simi Sara. Petersen comes to Vancouver from CKVU's sister station Citytv Toronto, where he first served as a general assignment reporter and a weekend anchor before becoming the field reporter and fill-in anchor for Breakfast Television Toronto. Shane Foxman had returned to his sports duties as the sports director.

1/20/2004: New Look VILand News

The New VI (CIVI/53 Victoria) had debuted a new look for its VILand News broadcasts. Rather than having different open titles for its 5pm, 6:30pm and 11pm newscasts, all 3 newscasts now have an identical set of new open titles. The 5pm newscast is now only referred to as "VILand News (at Five)" rather than "VILand Live". The slogan "Live, Local, Out There!" is now used as a general slogan for all newscasts, rather than confined to the 5pm broadcast. The lower-third and split-screen graphics also had a makeover. The same news music package remains in use, but a new cut is now used to open all 3 newscasts, whereas the 11pm broadcast used to feature a slower, more tuned-down cut than the one used on the 5 and 6:30pm newscasts. The newsroom set remains largely unchanged.

Also, Erick Thompson and Susan Edgell had seemingly taken over as the station's main anchors. Edgell solo-anchors the 6:30pm newscast, Thompson handles the 11pm newscast, and the two anchor the 5pm broadcast together. The two had been interim anchors on the main newscasts since former lead anchor Tasha Larson was let go by the station last November.

Screenshots and videos of new look VILand News will be available on this site shortly.