9 Channel Nine Court
9 Channel Nine Court as seen from Ontario Highway 401
Alternative names9 Dave Devall Way
CTV Toronto Studios
CFTO-TV Studios
Bell Media Agincourt
General information
Address9 Channel Nine Court
Toronto, Ontario
M1S 4B5
Coordinates43°46′58″N 79°15′26″W / 43.78278°N 79.25722°W / 43.78278; -79.25722
Current tenantsCTV Television Network
CFTO-DT
CTV News Channel
TSN
Discovery Channel
OwnerBell Media

9 Channel Nine Court (alternatively known as the CTV Toronto Studios, CFTO-TV Studios, Glen Warren Studios or Bell Media Agincourt and temporarily known as 9 Dave Devall Way)[1][2] is an office and studio complex owned by Bell Media (formerly CTVglobemedia) in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The civic address of the complex refers to the over-the-air channel on which CFTO-TV, the building's original tenant, broadcast. It is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Highway 401 and McCowan Road near the Scarborough City Centre.

History

CTV Television Network started using the studio for CTV News's local Toronto broadcasts in the mid-1960s; its head offices were located in Downtown Toronto. Original programming included the weekly children's show The Professor's Hideaway.[3]

The station was acquired by CFTO's parent, Baton Broadcasting, in 1997. It is now home to CTV, its flagship station CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto), and The Sports Network (TSN). It was previously the headquarters of CTVglobemedia and its predecessors until it was relocated to 299 Queen Street West in 2008 when it became Bell Media.

Operations

In addition to CTV and CFTO, channels based at the Agincourt complex include:

The complex also houses the master control facilities for several other CTV stations in Eastern and Central Canada, specifically:

CTV 2 had its master control facilities moved here in 2011, housing the following stations:

In addition the building also serves as the new home for the technical operations of Bell Media's all-sports radio station in Toronto TSN Radio 1050 which launched on April 13, 2011.

TSN, Sportsnet, and the "parking lot"

From 2001 until early 2008, both TSN and its main competitor Rogers Sportsnet were based at the Agincourt complex. Sportsnet, originally controlled by CTV before the latter's acquisition of TSN in 2000, had been based there since its launch in 1998, but did not move out immediately after TSN moved in.

Hence, when on-air hosts, such as Darren Dreger, moved from one channel to the other, it was referred to as "crossing the parking lot" or, less commonly, "crossing the street". Some at Sportsnet had complained about feeling like "poor country cousins" to CTV and TSN at Agincourt.[4]

This peculiarity had been made light of by a couple of notable hosts on Rogers Sportsnet. Bob McCown, a radio host on Rogers-owned The Fan 590, had constantly commented on his show Prime Time Sports (a simulcast of his radio show on The Fan 590) that Sportsnet executives throw bottles across the street at the TSN studios. In addition, Sportsnet Connected anchor Sean McCormick had openly stated on-air that he drives to work with his wife, Jennifer Hedger, who anchors SportsCentre on TSN.

This arrangement ended on April 30, 2008, when Rogers Sportsnet moved broadcast operations from the Agincourt complex to a new studio in the Rogers Building, a cluster of buildings in the Mount Pleasant-Jarvis Street area of downtown Toronto.[4]

Other Bell Media facilities in Toronto

Alongside 9 Channel Nine Court, several other Bell Media properties are operated from other facilities in the Toronto area:

References

  1. ↑ Agenda - Scarborough Community Council, March 26, 2009. Accessed online May 24, 2009.
  2. ↑ Scarborough renames street in honour of Dave Devall, CTV News Toronto, March 26, 2009
  3. ↑ "Happy Homes for Adoptable Children". Broadcaster, April 25, 1963, page 90
  4. 1 2 "Going Downtown". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
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