CTV News
Canadian center / mainstream private broadcaster
Background
CTV launched in 1961 as Canada's first private television network, breaking the public monopoly held by the CBC. The CTV National News debuted on September 24, 1962, as a 15-minute program. BCE Inc. acquired a controlling stake in CTV in 2000, and in 2001 formed Bell Globemedia in partnership with the Thomson family (owners of The Globe and Mail). Bell sold the majority of that stake in 2006, leaving the entity renamed CTVglobemedia, but then reacquired 100 percent of the company in 2011 for approximately $3.2 billion CAD; it was renamed Bell Media on April 1, 2011. Over the decades CTV News grew into Canada's most-watched private news operation, consistently ranking second to the publicly funded CBC in public trust surveys. The network faced significant upheaval beginning in early 2024, when parent BCE announced the elimination of 4,800 jobs (roughly 9 percent of its workforce), the cancellation of multiple regional CTV newscasts, and the departure of several well-known on-air journalists. Further rounds of voluntary separations in 2025 brought total BCE job cuts to roughly 7,000 in under two years, raising sustained concern among media critics about the health of Canadian private journalism. CTV News's editorial orientation is broadly centrist by Canadian standards, facing accusations of bias from both the left and right; Media Bias/Fact Check and Ground News both rate it near the center of the Canadian spectrum.
Sources
- CTV News – Wikipedia
- CTV Television Network – Wikipedia
- Bell Media Inc. – The History of Canadian Broadcasting
- CTV Television Network – The History of Canadian Broadcasting
- CTV News – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
- Bell Media planning cuts to CTV, BNN Bloomberg following BCE layoffs – CBC News
- Bell Media layoffs continue with another 100 staffers – BlogTO
- CTV News Editorial Standards and Policies
- CTV National News: Trump administration unveils revised tariff strategy
Profile compiled 2026-08-27; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.