Rogers titles will be providing content for new 24-hour news TV channel

Maclean's and other Rogers Publishing magazines will be tapped for content for the new 24-hour news television channel being launched by Rogers Communications Inc. CityNews Channel will be launched in October, a complement to the company's 24-hour news radio station 680 News and Citytv. The new channel will be going up against the recently launched Sun News as well as established all-news outlets CTV News Channel and CBC News Network and Toronto-only CP24.

“We're taking the number one news radio format in Canada, 680 News, and bringing it to television under the brand CityNews Channel,” president of Rogers Broadcasting, Scott Moore, said in a statement Monday.
“By incorporating our trailblazing and trusted news brands from CityNews, 680 News, and publishing – including Canada’s most trusted news magazine, Maclean’s – CityNews Channel is poised to be the destination local news channel.”

House & Home TV show now to be self-produced online rather than on TV

House and Home Media, the publishers of Canadian House & Home magazine, is switching its House & Home Television programming online, leaving a 12-year relationship with conventional television. It has aired on CTV, Global and HGTV, dating back to 1998, when CTV first launched a new daily show hosted by publisher Lynda Reeves. It was said to be the first of its kind in Canada.

"Much has changed since then," said the company in a release. "The conventional and cable networks are, today, overcrowded with decorating and lifestyle programming, largely reality-based.The decision to move H&H TV online was, in part, a reaction to viewers' appreciation for the high-quality, magazine format of the show. This, plus a determination to keep the program on brand with Canada's premier home design magazine, made the decision to self-produce a natural one."

Shows are filmed both inside the House & Home Media offices in Toronto and on location. Original content is updated weekly, and viewers can subscribe to a custom e-newsletter to receive show updates.The tenth season of H&H Online TV is currently in production, with 50 new shows hosted by Lynda Reeves and H&H Editor Suzanne Dimma. 

Lynda Reeves admits her initial reluctance to switch to an online format. "I was concerned about production values and our ability to make a show as good or better than anything on TV in our category. Now, I'm so proud of our online show that I'm guilty of showing it to anyone who will let me. The production value is fabulous," she says.