CTV announced yesterday that its Canada AM morning show will expand from its current 2.5-hour format to six hours, all live, beginning Jan. 28.

Now in its 37th year, the top-rated Canada AM will be the first national morning show in North America on a conventional network to be totally live across all domestic time zones. Programming will be beamed between 6 am-12 noon ET weekdays, enabling local stations across the country to join the live action between 6 am and 9 am local time. Meanwhile, CTV Newsnet will carry all six hours of the show live each week day.

The first hour of Canada AM will feature headline, national and local news with Marci Ien, along with weather and special features from Jeff Hutcheson. Canada AM co-hosts Beverly Thomson and Seamus O’Regan (pictured) will then lead coverage from Toronto starting at 7 am ET, continuing the show’s traditional blend of hard news and lifestyle stories with newsmakers, celebrities and musical stars. Local anchors from each market across the country will join Canada AM throughout the morning to deliver the latest local news, weather and traffic.

CTV also announced the acquisition of a new studio in Vancouver and the expansion of its on-air staff thanks to the addition of a Western anchor team: co-host Mi-Jung Lee, weather anchor Rena Heer and news anchor Omar Sachedina.

‘This is an exciting new era for Canada AM,’ says Robert Hurst, president of CTV news & current affairs. ‘The new format and the addition of a Western team allows us to do what we do best – deliver breaking news to Canadians as it happens. Establishing Canada AM‘s Vancouver studio also allows us to deliver an increased focus on the region and the countdown to the 2010 Olympic Games.’