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CFTO-TV
Toronto, Ontario
Branding	CTV Toronto
Slogan	Toronto's number one newscast
Channels	Analog: 9 (VHF) Digital: 40 (UHF)
Affiliations	CTV
Owner	CTVglobemedia
Founded	December 31, 1960
Call letters meaning	Canada's Foremost, Toronto's Own
Former affiliations	none
Website	toronto.ctv.ca

CFTO-TV (now identifying as CTV Toronto) is a Canadian television station, licensed to, and serving Toronto, Ontario, and surrounding areas. It is the flagship station of the CTV Television Network and was one of the charter members of the network when it was launched in 1961. It broadcasts from the CN Tower in Toronto on channel 9 and cable channel 8 with a power output of 316 kW, with two repeater stations:

• Orillia (CFTO-TV-21, on channel 21 with 207.6 kW ERP)
• Peterborough (CFTO-TV-54, on channel 54, with 223.2 kW ERP)

Prior to 1995, CFTO only had one main transmitter (similar to CFCF and CIVT now), but with its two repeater stations, its signal now reaches all of Central Ontario.

It also transmits on the Bell ExpressVu (channels 212 SD and 800 HD) and Star Choice (channel 314) satellite systems. The station shares its premises with the network's headquarters, which includes studios for the network's news programming (Canada AM, CTV National News and the CTV Newsnet channel), along with CTV's specialty channels. This arrangement had existed even before CFTO's founder, Baton Broadcasting, purchased the network.

CFTO is one of several television stations in Toronto that broadcast descriptive video services for the blind on the Secondary Audio Program.

CFTO-TV can be viewed in these stations on the following cable providers, on the channel(s) shown below:

In the United States, CFTO-TV is carried in Western New York on Time Warner Cable:

Being the flagship station of the CTV network, its schedule is the main CTV schedule. This schedule is also seen on the other CTV stations in Southern Ontario, as CFTO acts as the master control for these stations.

CFTO's news programming is aired at noon (Monday to Friday), 6 p.m. and at 11:30 p.m. (all week, 11:30 p.m. bulletin repeated at 5:55 a.m. Monday to Friday before Canada AM begins). CTV News at 6 is the highest rated local newscast in Toronto - getting approximately 500,000 viewers each newscast. CTV News Toronto is also known for having the most live trucks in the market (multiple satellite and microwave trucks). CFTO is one of three television stations in Canada to lease a news helicopter which can broadcast live at 1500 feet above land. CFTO's twin chopper is in Vancouver at CTV's CIVT. CTV News also has the most advanced weather technology compared to other Canadian stations which incorporates WSI's TrueView technology and real time doppler radar with zoom and pan capabilities. Moreover, CFTO has bureaus at City Hall, Queen's Park, and downtown Toronto (Front St.). CTV News Toronto has the support of the entire CTV National News Team; it is not uncommon to see live reports from any one of CTV National News bureaus.

• Noon anchors
  • Tim Weber
  • Christine Bentley
• 6 p.m. anchors
  • Ken Shaw - formerly of CHFI FM
  • Christine Bentley
• 11:30 p.m. anchors
  • Bill Hutchison
  • Pauline Chan - formerly of Global TV
• Weekend anchors
  • Tom Hayes
  • Andria Case
• Fill-in anchors
  • Tom Gibney - retired as main evening news anchor
  • Janice Golding
  • Alicia Kay-Markson
  • Austin Delaney
  • Galit Solomon
  • Paul Bliss
  • Dana Levenson - on maternity leave

• General reporters:
  • Janice Golding
  • Alicia Kay-Markson - on maternity leave
  • Desmond Brown
  • Galit Solomon
  • Tom Hayes
  • Marcia MacMillan (Occasionally anchors at CTV Newsnet) and formerly with the The Weather Network
  • Andria Case
  • Bill Hutchison
  • Dana Levenson - on maternity leave
  • Chris Eby
  • Austin Delaney
  • Jim Junkin - crime and police reporter
  • John Musselman
  • Paul Bliss
  • Mairianna Bachynsky
  • Roger Petersen - formerly with Citytv in Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia
  • Naomi Parness - formerly with A-Channel/CKVR in Barrie, ON
  • Jacqueline Milczarek - formerly with Global News in Toronto, ON

• Entertainment reporters:
  • Jacintha Wesselingh - currently on her second maternity leave
  • Andria Case

• Consumer affairs reporter:
  • Pat Foran

• Weather:
  • Dave Devall[1]
  • Tom Brown
  • Dana Levenson - on maternity leave
  • Anwar Knight - formerly of Global TV [2]
  • Mairianna Bachynsky occasional fill-in

• Sports:
  • Lance Brown
  • Joe Tilley
  • Claude Feig
  • Suneel Joshi - formerly of Citytv

• Business:
  • Michael Hainsworth
  • Linda Sims

The station has recently rebranded its bulletin as CTV News Toronto, in line with all of CTV's other owned and operated stations, using generic CTV News graphics.

• Glenn Cochrane - retired and living in the The Beaches area of Toronto
• Ali Velshi - now with CNN as business anchor
• Tom Clark - now CTV Washington Bureau Chief, and fill in anchor for Lloyd Robertson and/or Sandie Rinaldo
• Gail Smith
• Jim Wicks - now Executive Producer, Wicks Films, West Palm Beach, Florida
• Fraser Kelly - founding partner and Senior Associate - CorpWorld Group Incorporated, Toronto
• Arthur Vaile - business reporter, now deceased
• Teresa Roncon - now handling PR for Ontario Lottery Corp.
• Garth Turner - now Liberal Member of Parliament
• George Bryson - sports reporter now with Rogers Television in Barrie, Ontario as First Local news anchor
• Mary Ito - now with TVOntario
• Christine Crosbie - now health reporter with CIII (Global) in Toronto
• Steve Jacobs (2005-?) Chief Meteorologist at KIII-TV in Corpus Christi, Texas^{[citation needed]}
• Pat Marsden - former Sports Editor, now deceased
• Sharon Caddy - former weekend weather anchor, quit CFTO August 14, 2006; now on CTS
• Sharon Navarro - former reporter with Citytv; now senior consultant with Punch Communications
• Bobby Ash - host of the The Uncle Bobby Show, now deceased
• John Lancaster - now reporter for CBLT in Toronto, Ontario
• Vic Phillips - 1960s and 70s anchor and crime reporter, wrote best-selling novel "The Heroin Merchants" and is Chief Correspondent for the nationally-syndicated Travel Hour with Stephen Pickford and Friends (formerly Travel World Radio Show)
• Ted Stuebing -- legendary long-time CFTO News Director
• Wayne Dayton -- currently consulting with radio and television stations across North America on format shifts and personnel selection
• Tony Parsons - late 1960s reporter, early 1970s late night news anchor. Currently longtime News Hour anchor at Global BC, a position he's held since 1975.

An early-1990s version of CFTO's longtime multicoloured retina logo, first introduced during the transition to colour TV in 1965. This version was later used as the basis for the BBS logo.

CFTO went on the air for the first time on December 31, 1960 at 10.00 p.m. The first official day of programming was January 1, 1961. The opening program was a telethon hosted by Joel Aldred, complete with a fireworks ceremony. The telethon was for what was then known as the Ontario Association for Retarded Children.

The station was originally owned by Baton-Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting, made up of:

• Telegram Corp (Bassett and Eaton families)
• Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting Ltd (Joel Aldred & E.S. Rogers)
• Foster Hewitt Broadcasting Ltd (CKFH Radio)

The station's original studios and transmitter were located at 1550 McCowan Road.

In March 1961, Joel Aldred sold his interest in CFTO, and on October 1 that year, the station joined the CTV Television Network. In 1970, Ted Rogers sold his interest in CFTO and the Bassett-Eaton group sold their interest in Rogers Cable.

On May 31, 1976, CFTO began broadcasting from the CN Tower, while studios remained in Agincourt. CFTO began broadcasting in stereo in 1985.

In 1994, the station became part of the Baton Broadcast System, a subsystem within the CTV network.

In 1995, CFTO began operating rebroadcast stations at Orillia (channel 21) and Bobcaygeon (near Peterborough, channel 54).

On January 27, 1998, the Eaton family sold its 41% interest in Baton. On the same day the Baton Broadcast System was renamed as CTV.

With rumours of a takeover impending, Bell Canada Enterprises proposed to buy CTV Inc. for $2.3 billion. This was approved by the CTV board in March 2000. The deal still required CRTC approval, but with the promise of the largest benefits package ever presented to the regulators, the deal was approved on December 7 that year. BCE later sold most of its interest in CTV, with the parent company renamed CTVglobemedia.

The station began providing a digital signal on satellite on November 17, 2003, and on January 30, 2004, CFTO was granted a digital television channel signal, transmitting on channel 40VU from the CN Tower with an ERP of 17,400 watts. In mid 2005, CFTO's CN Tower transmitter began transmitting HDTV over the air. As this is presently the only HDTV feed of the CTV network emanating from eastern or central Canada, CFTO-DT is sometimes known as CTV HD East.

Before the CTV Acquisition (1994-1998).

CFTO-TV's former logo (1998-2005). As of October 2005 logos with the stations' callsigns are no longer used on CTV stations; instead they all use the main CTV logo.

The CTV Toronto studios are also the main headquarters for the CTV national network and the head administrative office for CTVglobemedia (the parent of CTV).

• CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson
• CTV Newsnet
• Canada AM
• TSN Sportscentre
• CTV National News with Sandie Rinaldo - weekends
• W-FIVE
• Countdown with Mike Duffy - certain seasons; others produced in Ottawa
• The Uncle Bobby Show

The studio scenes in the 1976 film Network were filmed at CFTO.

The Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Super 7 drawings are also held at CFTO studios, although they are not televised on CFTO.

• CTV Toronto
• CTV Main Website
• CTV Media website
• CTVglobemedia
• Canadian Communications Foundation (source)
• NelsonMedia (source)
• CFTO sign-ons, sign-offs and station IDs at MediaCanada
• From YouTube: CTV Ribbons Trailer (1998)