CHEK-TV - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - Television and Cable Broadcasting Stations on Waymarking.com

CHEK first signed on the air on December 1, 1956, operating out of a purpose-built facility on Epsom Drive in nearby Saanich. The station started as a CBC affiliate, later adding CTV shows when it was purchased by CTV Vancouver owner Frank Griffiths in 1963. This mix of shows continued until 1981, when CBC launched their own repeater stations and CHEK became a full-time CTV-affiliated station.

In 1984, the station moved to new studios at its current location on Kings Road, a building which had originally been planned for a CBC station. They continued to air CTV shows until 2000, when CHEK was purchased by Canwest Global and the station became part of the new CH system, a secondary network of stations alongside the larger Global network. This change led to more local programming than previously.

In 2009, Canwest Global announced that it was planning on selling their CH stations. On July 22, 2009, Canwest announced that they hadn't found a buyer for CHEK and would be shutting down the station on August 31. The station employees came up with a proposal to buy the station, acquiring a 25% stake themselves and finding other investors for the remaining 75%. On the 5:00 pm newscast on August 31 - the day the station was planned to shut down - the station announced that the shutdown was on hold while negotiations were underway with Canwest Global. On September 4, an agreement was reached by Canwest to sell the station for the nominal amount of $2 to the CHEK Media Group, a consortium of the employees and several local investors. The agreement allowed for the station to continue to receive support from Canwest temporarily. The sale was approved by Canadian TV regulators on November 9, making CHEK the first privately-owned TV station in BC.

Under the new private ownership and without any affiliation, CHEK's programming changed once again. The schedule was initially a mix of movies and older Canadian and American shows, as well as syndicated programming and more local newscasts. In 2010, the schedule also started including simulcasts of American shows from ABC, NBC, CBS, and WB. CHEK's schedule continues to include many locally-produced shows and newscasts. In January 2013, the CBC radio station CBCV-FM moved into the 780 Kings Road building to share the space.

Address: 780 Kings Road Victoria, BC Canada V8T 5A2 Website: [Web Link] Programming: Local programming, including local, regional, national, and international news; syndicated American programming; movies Favorite Show/Personality: Ed Bain

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