CFTO-DT

CFTO-DT (channel 9, cable channel 8) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media. It is sister to Barrie-based CTV2 flagship CKVR-DT, channel 3 (although the two stations maintain separate operations). CFTO-DT's studios are located at 9 Channel Nine Court in the former city of Scarborough, and its transmitter is located atop the CN Tower in Downtown Toronto. The station shares the Agincourt studio complex with CTV's national headquarters, which includes studios for the network's news programming (CTV National News and the CTV News Channel), along with most of Bell Media's specialty channels. The station first signed on the air at January 1, 1961. The inaugural program broadcast on CFTO was a telethon for the Ontario Association for Community Living, hosted by broadcaster Joel Aldred, complete with a fireworks ceremony. The station was founded by Baton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting, a joint venture between Telegram Corporation (owned by the Bassett and Eaton families), Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting (owned by Joel Aldred and Ted Rogers), and Foster Hewitt Broadcasting, which owned radio station CKFH (1430 AM, now CJCL on 590 AM). The 'Baton' portion of the name was pronounced /ˌbætən/, rather than the conducting tool's traditional pronunciation. The station's first children's show, shown on weekday afternoons, was The Professor's Hideaway, starring Stan Francis. American television network ABC held a minority share in the partnership, which it sold to each of the partners shortly before CFTO-TV went on the air.