CHCA Red Deer and CHEK Victoria have both been told that they will be shutdown after its parent company, Canwest Global Communications Corp., failed to find a buyer and were unwilling to keep them afloat.
Two communities will now be without local news, one of which is the Capital City of the Province of British Columbia.
For some it may not be a big deal. Those living in Red Deer may watch Global Edmonton or Global Calgary instead of CHCA - or maybe they just get their news from the newspaper or by spending some time online.
While I agree that there are many ways to get your news fix, people will soon feel the void of not having a local station around. Where will you get in-depth news, information, highlights and post game reaction from the WHL's Red Deer Rebels? What about the Red Deer College athletic teams? What about sports at the grassroots level - local athletes who are training hard to get into major junior hockey or chasing after an Olympic dream. Stories that will go unheard.
While Global BC (based out of Vancouver) does a great job at covering local politics, there's a huge void in not having a base out of the Capital City. Should there be breaking news at the legislature, it will take longer for crews to get out there as opposed to now when you have CHEK situated in the City.
From a sports perspective, let's be honest - Global BC spends a great deal of coverage, and rightfully so, on the Vancouver Canucks and BC Lions. Add in the Vancouver Whitecaps (who will soon join MLS) and a mix of national and international sports - there's not much room for anything else. So how exactly will the local sports community of Victoria be served? Where will we get our information about the CJFL's Vancouver Island Raiders or Victoria Rebels? What about the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCJHL? Heck the RBC Cup was held in Victoria this past year - where would fans unable to attend the games get their hilites? The answer - no where.
Aside from news and sports, these stations did a lot to support the local community. From sponsoring major events to the station personnel donating their valuable time and efforts for various charities throughout the years. It's that community involvement that will also be missed.
As a child, I would watch RDTV (now CHCA) regularly. They'd air Hockey Night in Canada, NFL Football, and even WWF (now WWE) - I believe "Superstars". But the one thing I'll never forget was being so happy to join the RDTV "Toon Crew".
If memory serves me correct, I got a little membership card once I joined and some coupons for local places (I believe DQ was one of them). They also had a phone number that you could call where you'd get the "Joke of the Day" and other cool information like that.The sad part is that now a days, you don't see TV Stations doing things like that anymore. Due to cutbacks and stations being run by "number crunchers" as opposed to people who actually care about the business, you start to lose sight of things that matter and what helped set stations apart from others.
It's a sad day for local news and for two communities in our great country. It's also a sad day for the 80 or so people who will soon be out of a job - in a highly competitive industry that continues to downsize.
It may be too late for Red Deer and Victoria - but to anyone who reads this blog, make sure you support your local TV Stations and local newscasts. The people that work there put their heart and soul into providing some of the best local coverage possible under sometimes difficult and frustrating conditions. Don't let your city become another victim.
Save local news.
RIP CHEK Victoria: December 1, 1956 - August 31, 2009
RIP CHCA Red Deer: December 11, 1957 - August 31, 2009
1 comments:
Those two markets will still have local TV in ShawTV. It will be a great opportunity for each of those stations to take the reins and provide the community with the local news.
It is really sad about those two stations, though. Why does the dollar bottom line have to matter more than the community these days?
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