The (ASN) is a
Television service serving
Atlantic Canada and owned by
Bell Globemedia through
CTV . Designated by the
CRTC as a "satellite-to-cable television programming undertaking," it is essentially a local
Station , based in
Halifax, Nova Scotia , without any broadcast transmitters, and available in the region on
Cable Television and throughout
Canada through
Satellite Television , but not
Over-the-air .
Launched by
CHUM Limited in
1983 as a supplementary service to its ATV system of CTV affiliates (now known as
CTV Atlantic ), ASN initially aired ''Atlantic Pulse'' newscasts at alternate times to ATV's newscasts. Atlantic Pulse used ATV reporters, but different anchors and graphics, with a comparatively spartan set located across the newsroom from ATV's. ASN also carried alternative entertainment programming, much of it produced by or otherwise sourced from CHUM's
Citytv .
ASN also devoted a significant amount of its daytime schedule to
Educational programming provided by provincial education departments and by local
Universities . (In the early years, some
TVOntario programs were carried on ASN, such as ''
Polka Dot Door '', ''
Today's Special '' and ''
Fast Forward ''.) Later it launched a local version of Citytv's ''
Breakfast Television '', moving educational programs to the weekend and to overnight hours. By the late
1990s , as specialty television began to grow in popularity, ''Atlantic Pulse'' gave way to a short-lived cut-back version called ''ATV Headline News''. While ATV aired some
United States syndicated programming that was shown on Citytv in Toronto (e.g. ''
Friends '' and ''
Seinfeld '' repeats), ASN aired programs associated with CTV in the rest of the country, such as ''
Wheel Of Fortune '', ''
Jeopardy! '' and ''
Camilla Scott ''. ASN was also the original home of ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show '' until it moved to ATV early in its run.
In
1997 , as part of a multi-station trade between CHUM and
Baton Broadcasting , ATV and ASN became Baton properties; ATV was integrated into the expanded CTV network, while ASN took over the few remaining CHUM programs from ATV. ASN is now, for all intents and purposes, the
Citytv affiliate in Atlantic Canada; while it once aired a strong lineup of nightly movies along the lines of Citytv's
Toronto and
Vancouver stations, its current mix of movies and series in primetime closely matches the schedules of Citytv's three stations in
Winnipeg ,
Calgary , and
Edmonton . In addition, a portion of ASN's programming (particularly in the afternoon) closely matches that of the
A-Channel stations in
Ontario and
Victoria, British Columbia . It also airs selected CTV network programming, including sports coverage and ''
Canadian Idol '', which would not otherwise be widely available in
Newfoundland And Labrador as a result of the
2002 disaffiliation of
CJON from CTV (the network has not yet indicated whether it will eventually seek a replacement affiliate in N.L.). Since fall
2005 , ASN has also carried same-night rebroadcasts of CTV programs, presumably for
Simultaneous Substitution purposes, on most nights at 11:00 p.m. AT (10:00 p.m. ET).
Since 1997, ASN's local programming has been cut back significantly. At its peak, ''Breakfast Television'' aired for two and a half hours daily; it now airs for 90 minutes, the first half-hour simulcast on CTV Atlantic. Also, while ASN still airs a noon newscast and an early-morning rebroadcast of CTV's ''Live at 5'', both are branded as ''CTV News'' programs. As of mid-
October 2005 ASN no longer carries a late newscast, due to the additional CTV programming noted above.
