CHUM Television is giving the A-Channels in Calgary, Edmonton, and Manitoba a branding makeover that will bring the former Craig stations into the CHUM family via its popular Citytv format.
The A-Channels previously carried some of the same programming as CHUM stations because of a cost-sharing deal between the two broadcasters but will get the full treatment for the fall 2005 season. This will include City’s well-known news format, roster of movies, and commitment to local and culturally diverse content.
Andrew McFallon, principal of Anderson McFallon Communications in Calgary says that bringing the new brand to the market will add some credibility to the stations and will be positive change overall. It may also encourage sampling for new programming that might not occurred with the A-Channel format.
But, McFallon says, there are real programming and share challenges ahead for the stations and the rebranding could contribute in part to resolving those challenges as other stations in the market respond to the new Citytv moniker by reaffirming their own identities. He doesn’t expect any short-term shifts in local-market pricing.
Steve Aronovich, broadcast investment manager at Starcom Worldwide in Toronto, says he expects to see increased ad costs because CHUM is going to want to recoup the dollars it put into acquiring Craig Media. He says buyers have traditionally used A-Channel stations to gain some cost efficiencies, so if CHUM increases costs by too much, demand for the stations will decrease.
On the other hand, Aronovich says the quality of programming across all CHUM stations will likely improve because with more regions added to the network, the broadcaster will be able to spend more on content and amortize it across the country.
In addition, he says, ‘Branding will be very local – which CHUM Television does already on all of their conventional stations. It will be more slick than the Craig branding, as CHUM has been doing this longer and can spend more to make the product visually look better than what Craig was doing.’
