CITY-DT
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Toronto television station that serves as the flagship outlet of Canada's Citytv network and produces the CityNews Toronto local news service.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
CITY-DT is a Canadian television station serving Toronto, Ontario, and the flagship station of the Citytv network. It broadcasts over digital channel 57 and is also widely distributed on cable channel 7 in the Toronto market. The station is owned by Rogers Communications through Rogers Sports & Media and operates alongside Rogers-owned Omni Television stations CFMT-DT and CJMT-DT. Its studios and related operations are based at the Rogers Building in Toronto, while its main transmitter is located on the CN Tower. The station began broadcasting on September 28, 1972, originally as CITY-TV on UHF channel 79. It was established by Channel Seventy-Nine Ltd., a consortium associated with Phyllis Switzer, Moses Znaimer, Jerry Grafstein and Edgar Cowan. The new station initially struggled financially, but developed a distinctive identity through informal, street-level journalism, unusual studio presentation, extensive local production and programming aimed at younger urban viewers. Moses Znaimer was particularly influential in shaping the station's visual language and editorial approach. CITY became known for reporters working outside conventional newsroom settings, direct interaction with viewers and a willingness to experiment with formats that were unusual in Canadian broadcasting. The station's early programming included locally produced news, talk, music, arts, entertainment and magazine programs. Citytv's interactive Speaker's Corner, in which members of the public recorded short messages at video kiosks, became one of its best-known innovations. Other programs associated with the station and its production culture included CityLine, The NewMusic, FashionTelevision, MovieTelevision, Toronto Rocks and Breakfast Television. CITY also became a source of programming for other Canadian markets and eventually provided the foundation for the wider Citytv television system. Multiple Access Ltd. acquired a minority interest in the station in the mid-1970s, and CHUM Limited gradually increased its involvement before acquiring CITY outright in 1981. The station moved from its original Queen Street East facilities to CHUM's 299 Queen Street West headquarters in 1987, a building that became strongly associated with the Citytv identity. CHUM expanded the brand nationally through additional stations and affiliations in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and other markets. CITY's flagship local newscast, originally CityPulse, was later renamed CityNews as the Citytv brand expanded. In 2006, CTVglobemedia proposed acquiring CHUM Limited. Because CTV already owned stations in Citytv markets, Canada's broadcast regulator required the Citytv stations to be divested. Rogers Communications acquired CITY-DT and the other Citytv stations in a transaction approved in 2007 and completed later that year. Rogers subsequently moved CITY's Toronto operations from 299 Queen Street West to 33 Dundas Street East in 2009, and Citytv and Omni Television later moved into the Rogers Building in 2025. Under Rogers ownership, the station retained a substantial local-news operation but adopted a more conventional programming mix than during the station's earlier Znaimer-era period. It continues to air CityNews Toronto and Breakfast Television, along with syndicated and network programming, entertainment, weather, traffic, special events and selected sports. CITY has carried programming connected with Rogers-owned sports properties, including Toronto Blue Jays, National Hockey League, National Football League and Toronto Raptors broadcasts at various times. The station remains one of the most prominent local television brands in the Toronto market and an important origin point for the Citytv network's programming and presentation style.
History
CITY-DT began broadcasting as CITY-TV on September 28, 1972, using UHF channel 79 in Toronto. The licence had been granted to Channel Seventy-Nine Ltd., an ownership group associated with Phyllis Switzer, Moses Znaimer, Jerry Grafstein and Edgar Cowan. The station operated from a former nightclub facility at 99 Queen Street East and entered a market in which the established VHF allocations were already occupied. Its transmitter initially operated at relatively modest power, and the station incurred financial difficulties during its first years. A significant technical change came in 1976, when the station's main transmitter moved to the CN Tower and increased its effective radiated power. In the mid-1970s, Multiple Access Ltd., the owner of Montreal station CFCF-TV, acquired a minority interest. CHUM Limited later purchased that interest and eventually acquired CITY outright in 1981. Although CHUM became the owner, Znaimer remained central to the station's creative and operational culture for many years. CITY's early identity differed sharply from the formal presentation common in North American television. Its news operation used mobile, street-level reporting and a more conversational relationship with viewers. The station invested heavily in local production and experimented with music, arts, fashion, talk, entertainment and public-participation formats. Speaker's Corner, a video-kiosk feature that allowed members of the public to record messages for broadcast, became a particularly recognizable example of the station's interactive approach. The station also developed a distinctive on-air look associated with Toronto's urban culture and younger audiences. The station changed frequency from channel 79 to channel 57 on July 1, 1983, after the upper UHF band was reassigned for mobile-telephone use. CHUM and CITY moved their operations to 299 Queen Street West in May 1987. The building became an important part of the Citytv brand and housed a broad production operation. CITY supplied or inspired programs that were distributed beyond Toronto, helping CHUM develop a larger television system. CITY established a rebroadcast transmitter in Woodstock in 1986, serving the surrounding area and nearby London, and another transmitter in Ottawa in 1996. For much of its first three decades, however, the Toronto station remained the sole outlet using the Citytv identity. That changed when CHUM acquired Vancouver's CKVU-TV in 2001 and rebranded it Citytv in 2002. CHUM subsequently converted stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg to the Citytv brand in 2005. CITY's CityPulse news branding was replaced by CityNews as part of this national expansion. CHUM also launched the specialty news service CP24 in 1998, using resources and personnel connected with CITY's news operation. CITY maintained programming relationships with CHUM specialty services, including MuchMusic, Bravo!, Space and CP24. The station continued to emphasize local news and lifestyle programming while also carrying syndicated shows, American series, films and occasional adult-oriented late-night material. In 2006, CTVglobemedia announced an intended acquisition of CHUM Limited. Since CTV already owned stations in several Citytv markets, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission required the Citytv stations to be sold. Rogers Communications acquired CITY and the other Citytv outlets; regulatory approval was granted in September 2007 and the transaction closed on October 31, 2007. Rogers did not acquire the former CHUM headquarters at 299 Queen Street West, which remained with CTV's specialty channels, so CITY moved to 33 Dundas Street East in 2009. Rogers continued expanding the Citytv footprint through affiliations and new outlets, including western Canadian affiliated stations, Citytv Saskatchewan and CJNT-DT in Montreal. In 2011, Rogers launched CityNews Channel, a Toronto regional rolling-news service drawing on CITY's newsroom and other Rogers media resources. The service ended live broadcasts in May 2013 and closed permanently the following month. The station's local-news schedule has undergone several reorganizations. In January 2010, Rogers cancelled a number of weekday, weekend and national Citytv news programs and reduced staff. Weekend evening newscasts returned in March 2011, while weekday CityNews at Five and an expanded Breakfast Television schedule returned later that year. CITY remains the principal Citytv-owned station with a full-scale local-news department, producing extensive Toronto news coverage alongside Breakfast Television and other local programming. CITY has also carried sports programming at different points, including Toronto Blue Jays games, National Football League games, Thursday Night Football, National Hockey League broadcasts under the Rogers sports-rights arrangement and selected Toronto Raptors games. In 2022, the station marked its fiftieth anniversary. In March 2025, its Toronto operations moved with Omni Television into the Rogers Building at Bloor Street and Mount Pleasant Road.
- 2025
Move to the Rogers Building
[1]Citytv and Omni Television moved their Toronto operations to the Rogers Building.
- 2022
Fiftieth anniversary
[1]Citytv Toronto celebrated fifty years of broadcasting.
- 2011
CityNews Channel launches
[1]Rogers introduced a 24-hour Toronto news channel based partly on CITY's news resources.
- 2009
Toronto operations relocate
[1]Rogers moved CITY-TV to 33 Dundas Street East.
- 2007
Rogers takes ownership
[1]Rogers acquired CITY and the other Citytv stations after the regulator required their divestiture from CTVglobemedia's CHUM transaction.
- 2005
Citytv branding expands to Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg
[1]Three former Craig Media stations adopted the Citytv brand, and CITY's principal local newscast changed from CityPulse to CityNews.
- 2002
Citytv expands to Vancouver
[1]CHUM rebranded Vancouver station CKVU-TV as Citytv, ending CITY's long period as the only station using the name.
- 1998
CP24 launches
[1]CHUM launched CablePulse 24, a local cable news service closely linked to CITY's newsroom and programming.
- 1987
Move to 299 Queen Street West
[1]CITY and other CHUM television operations moved into the company's Queen Street West headquarters.
- 1983
Frequency changes to channel 57
[1]The station moved from UHF channel 79 to channel 57 because of a nationwide reassignment of upper-UHF frequencies.
Products and positioning
A mass-market urban television station combining high-volume local news with morning television, entertainment, lifestyle programming, syndicated series and selected sports. Historically, its positioning emphasized informal presentation, youth-oriented culture, experimentation and direct viewer participation; under Rogers, the station has retained the Citytv name while moving toward a more conventional commercial broadcast model.
Local television news
CityNews Toronto
CITY-DT's principal local-news service, covering Toronto and the surrounding region through regularly scheduled newscasts, live reporting, weather, traffic, investigations and special-event coverage. The service evolved from the station's earlier CityPulse branding and remains the station's central editorial offering.
Morning news and talk · 1989
Breakfast Television
A locally produced morning program combining news, interviews, weather, traffic, entertainment, lifestyle segments and viewer-oriented features. The format originated at CITY and became one of the most durable programs associated with the Citytv brand.
Interactive public-affairs feature
Speaker's Corner
A viewer-participation format that used public video kiosks to let Toronto residents record short messages for broadcast. It became a signature example of CITY's participatory style and an early television form of user-generated media.
Lifestyle and talk programming
CityLine
A locally originated lifestyle and talk program associated with home, food, fashion, health and consumer features. The program was hosted at different times by Dini Petty, Marilyn Denis and Tracy Moore.
Brand decisions
2011
Launch of CityNews ChannelProduct launchBackground
Rogers sought to create a dedicated Toronto rolling-news service using resources from CITY's newsroom and other Rogers media properties.
Action taken
Rogers launched CityNews Channel with hourly news, traffic, weather, sports and business segments alongside simulcasts and related programming.
Aftermath
The service ended live broadcasts in May 2013 and ceased operation permanently in June 2013.
2010
Major local-news restructuringStrategyBackground
Rogers undertook a broad restructuring of its Citytv operations amid financial pressure and changing television-news economics.
Action taken
The station cancelled several weekday, weekend and national news programs and eliminated newsroom positions.
Aftermath
Some local news programs, including weekend evening newscasts, CityNews at Five and an expanded Breakfast Television schedule, returned in 2011.
2007
Divestiture and sale of CITY-DT to RogersM&ABackground
CTVglobemedia's proposed acquisition of CHUM created ownership conflicts because CTV already operated stations in Citytv markets.
Action taken
Following regulatory conditions, the Citytv stations, including CITY-DT, were sold to Rogers Communications.
Aftermath
CITY became part of Rogers Sports & Media, while CTV retained the former CHUM specialty channels and the 299 Queen Street West property.
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