From a media release:
Building on its commitment to deliver more local news to even more Canadians, Rogers Media will expand its award-winning news program, CityNewsâ„¢, across Canada, beginning September 4. Currently seen in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, the expansion ofCityNews will now include local versions of CityNews produced locally and airing daily on City, in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal.
The one-hour newscasts will broadcast seven days a week with CityNews at Six at 6 p.m., and CityNews Tonight at 11 p.m. local time. Newscasts in Edmonton and Winnipeg will debut Monday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. local time. CityNews will expand into the Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary markets in Winter 2018.
Debuting in Toronto in 1975, the multi-award winning CityNews has been globally recognized as a trailblazer for news innovation, earning accolades for its local coverage including the esteemed RTDNA National Bert Cannings Award for Best TV Newscast in a Large Market in 2016. Late last month, CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan won the national RTDNA Adrienne Clarkson Award for Diversity in Reporting for her in-depth series on Danica Rain – a transgender Ontario woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery at a clinic in Bangkok.
Adding regional and national perspectives, complementary stories from Rogers Media’s sister brands such as Maclean’s, Breakfast Television, and Sportsnet will also be featured in the broadcasts. Viewers will also see news content delivered across all platforms, with each CityNews team engaging with audiences through their respective local websites and social media channels.
Additional programming details and on-air news talent will be announced in the coming months.
I live in Toronto and the Rogers-era City newscasts are … not well produced. In fact, I’d be willing to say that the Buffalo and Hamilton newscasts are better put together. Some stories are told exclusively through text over video, field reporters are glued to their phones/tablets reading information while on-air, the in-studio ones miss teleprompter cues and there are technical issues galore. Their 11 PM ones are especially bad, often recycling the exact reporter throws from the earlier newscast. That means you’ll have someone on the streets in the afternoon telling you to stay tuned for a story coming up next on CityNews at 6 PM, when it’s 11:42 PM.
I’m also not a fan of their newspaper-style, “here’s the first half of this story, tune in 20 minutes to see the rest” show design.