Canadian specialty TV channel
Television channel
BNN Bloomberg
(formerly
Business News Network
and
Report on Business Television
) is a
Canadian
English language
discretionary
specialty channel
owned by
Bell Media
. It broadcasts programming related to business and financial news and analysis. The channel is headquartered at
299 Queen Street West
in
Downtown Toronto
.
Since April 30, 2018, the network has operated as a partner of the U.S. business channel
Bloomberg Television
, although BNN still produces a large portion of its business day programming in-house. Much of the channel's programming is also simulcast on radio, branded as
BNN Bloomberg Radio
, by
CKOC
in
Hamilton
and formerly by
CFTE
in
Vancouver
.
History
[
edit
]
As Report on Business Television (RoBTV)
[
edit
]
The network was licensed by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) in 1996 to a
joint venture
of
Thomson Corporation
(50%),
Western International Communications
(25%) and
Cancom
(25%).
[1]
It launched on September 1, 1999, as
Report on Business Television
(although using the abbreviation
ROBTv
); it was co-branded with
Report on Business
, the business news section of the Thomson-owned
The Globe and Mail
.
In 2000,
Canwest
acquired WIC and its interest in ROBTv. As part of the agreement transferring WIC's interests in Cancom to
Shaw Communications
, Canwest acquired Cancom's share of the channel as well.
The same year, the owners came into conflict with each other: Canwest acquired the
Southam
newspaper chain, including the
National Post
, the
Globe
'
s chief rival, while Thomson transferred the
Globe
and its shares of ROBTv to
Bell Globemedia
, a newly formed
media company
which also included
CTV
, in which Thomson held a 20% interest.
Following threats of legal action from both sides, in 2001 CanWest agreed to sell its 50% interest to Bell Globemedia, in exchange for carriage of a proposed competitor aligned with the
Financial Post
on
Bell Expressvu
.
[2]
Bell Globemedia assumed full control of ROBTv in late 2001; the channel was then rebranded as Report on Business Television, discontinuing use of the abbreviated "ROBTv" brand.
As Business News Network (BNN)
[
edit
]
On March 12, 2007, the channel was renamed Business News Network. The name change occurred to give exclusive rights to the "Report on Business" name to
The Globe and Mail
and for the channel to have its own identity. It also alleviated a common problem with the ROBTv name: other media and viewers called it "Rob TV", rather than sounding out the ROB acronym as preferred by the network.
BNN relocated its operations from 720 King Street West to
299 Queen Street West
on December 6, 2010, the building in which CTV's
Much
and Toronto's 24-hour news service
CP24
are based.
[3]
The Thomson family reacquired control of the
Globe
(and therefore Report on Business) in late 2010, and CTVglobemedia's broadcasting assets were sold to
Bell Canada
; as a result, the channel and the newspaper are no longer co-owned, although Bell retains a 15% interest in the paper. Following the merger with Bell Canada, on April 1, 2011, Bell Canada renamed its new business unit from CTVglobemedia to
Bell Media
.
As BNN Bloomberg
[
edit
]
On January 9, 2018, Bell Media announced that it had reached a licensing and content agreement with
Bloomberg L.P.
, under which BNN would be co-branded as BNN Bloomberg ? a rebranding which took effect April 30, 2018.
[4]
The rebranded network collaborates with Bloomberg's existing news bureaus, which include five Canadian bureaus staffed by over 25 reporters.
Bell Media Radio
also holds rights to distribute
Bloomberg Radio
content in Canada;
[5]
[6]
[7]
Bloomberg had previously partnered with
Channel Zero
on
Bloomberg TV Canada
, which was the U.S. service supplanted with programs covering Canadian financial news; that channel shut down in October 2017. BNN's existing domestic programming was largely maintained upon the rebranding, although the network does carry Bloomberg's business day programs for Asia and Europe outside of the North American business day. In addition, the 1:00 p.m. ET hour of
Bloomberg Markets: Americas
became a co-production with BNN, with
Amanda Lang
co-hosting from Toronto. As a result of the partnership, the U.S. Bloomberg Television was once again pulled from Canadian television providers, but the network, as well as BNN Bloomberg itself, can be streamed online by
BNN subscribers on participating television providers
.
[6]
[7]
[5]
Programming
[
edit
]
A large majority of the programming carried on BNN is produced in-house. Previously, it had been the Canadian broadcast partner of
CNNfn
, an
American
business news channel which ceased operations in December 2004. BNN features a televised stock ticker with real-time data from the
Toronto Stock Exchange
, the
New York Stock Exchange
,
NASDAQ
, and many international financial exchanges. In addition to its homebase in Toronto, BNN also operates news bureaus located at the NASDAQ Market Site in
New York City
's Times Square, and in
Calgary
.
BNN attracts approximately 5,000 regular viewers daily and has a strong viewership outside of the home (such as in gyms, restaurants and offices) which is not reflected in its ratings. This is a situation also faced by networks with high out-of-home viewing patterns such as
CNBC
.
[
citation needed
]
In March 2016, ratings data from
Numeris
showed BNN had an average weekly reach of more than 1 million viewers since December 2015.
[8]
Special programming
[
edit
]
The network hosts a series of special presentations throughout the year, including specials for tax and
Registered Retirement Savings Plan
seasons. In the fall of 2006, Report on Business Television hosted its first "Live On Location" event in Toronto during which a studio audience was featured during two of the network's most popular shows,
Market Call
with Jim O'Connell and
SqueezePlay
with Kim Parlee and Andrew Bell. This was the first time viewers had the opportunity to go live in person with the network during its regular broadcasts of
Market Call
.
In May 2008, the network relaunched BNN.ca, featuring its first online contest called "The BNN.ca $25,000 Challenge". The updated BNN.ca showcased a new video player allowing investors to search, sort and personalize BNN video; and the new player increased availability of past BNN video by allowing viewers to access content for an unlimited period of time online. Other added features on the site included blogs, a "Market Monitor", feature video clips on the homepage, an online stock ticker, features such as "Hot Stocks" and "Guest Picks", stock indices, and tracking of the latest and popular news stories on the site.
BNN's weekend programming consists mainly of repeats of some of the programs aired on BNN's weekday schedule, as well as other Bloomberg Television series.
Radio
[
edit
]
Concurrent with the April 30, 2018, rebranding of BNN, Bell also relaunched its Vancouver radio station
CFTE
(formerly a
TSN Radio
station) as
BNN Bloomberg Radio
. The station features audio simulcasts of BNN Bloomberg television programs, as well as other
Bloomberg Radio
programs. The station is aimed to a national audience for streaming via
iHeartRadio
.
[9]
On February 9, 2021, Bell flipped
CKOC
in Hamilton to BNN Bloomberg Radio as well, after it dropped its own TSN Radio format.
[10]
In 2023, CFTE in Vancouver was closed and Hamilton's CKOC was sold, pending CRTC approval. The BNN Bloomberg Radio feed will continue to run until the sale of CKOC is completed.
[11]
Notable on-air personalities
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
CRTC 96-602
CRTC 1996-09-04
- ^
Samantha Yaffe, "
Global, CTV: unite and conquer
",
Playback
, April 30, 2001
- ^
BNN Wakes Up To Opening Bell Today In Brand New Toronto Studio at CTV’s Iconic Queen Street Headquarters
Archived
2011-09-28 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"BNN breaks new ground on April 30 with launch of BNN Bloomberg"
.
BNN
. 2018-04-18
. Retrieved
2018-04-19
.
- ^
a
b
"Bloomberg, Bell Media strike deal to rebrand BNN"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Retrieved
2018-01-19
.
- ^
a
b
"BNN to become BNN Bloomberg in new deal between Bell Media and Bloomberg Media"
.
Financial Post
. 2018-01-08
. Retrieved
2018-01-11
.
- ^
a
b
"BNN to rebrand as 'BNN Bloomberg' through new Bell Media-Bloomberg Media partnership"
.
BNN
. 2018-01-08
. Retrieved
2018-01-11
.
- ^
"Currency That Counts: BNN Grows to More Than 1 Million Canadians Reached per Week, as BNN.ca Tops Canadian Competitors with Visitor Time Spent"
.
The Lede - Bell Media
. Bell Media
. Retrieved
24 March
2021
.
- ^
Johnson, Patrick (April 18, 2018).
"TSN 1410 is ditching sports, rebranding as business radio"
.
The Province
.
Postmedia
. Retrieved
April 18,
2018
.
- ^
"Bell cancels all-sports radio format on channels in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton"
.
CBC News
. Retrieved
2021-02-09
.
- ^
Bell Media Shuts 6 AMs, to Sell 3 Others, as Part of Companywide Cuts
External links
[
edit
]
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