A file photo of the anchor desk in the CHAT-TV newsroom. The long-time local television station went dark earlier this week after staying on air for 68-years. -- NEWS FILE PHOTO
newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com
The loss of noon and supper hour newscasts, as well as up to 14 jobs, due to the closure of CHAT-TV, will continue to reverberate in the community for years to come, according to Medicine Hat’s mayor and other observers int he city.
The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group announced Tuesday television production in the city would cease that day after 58 years, while radio stations would continue to operate.
Mayor Linnsie Clark said in a statement that the station “gave residents information they needed to participate in civic life.”
“Local journalism is democracy’s most immediate watchdog (keeping policy decisions in the open,” it read in part.
“Beyond politics, CHAT-TV was a narrator of our story: the Tigers’ playoff runs, Mavericks league championship bids, the weather…, flood and drought responses, ribbon cuttings, and the thousands of everyday acts of neighborliness that make Southeast Alberta home.”
She extended council’s wishes to recent and former employees.
“Your important work promoted transparency, nurtured civic discourse, and chronicled our shared history.”
Former journalist and member of the Alberta Press Council David Forbes said the decision marked “a sad day for the Medicine Hat region with the loss of a local TV station” but local media must be supported.
“I have read that Medicine Hat is a dying community, and that we are back to being the forgotten corner of Alberta,” he wrote to the News. “That’s negative thinking.”
The company cited poor economics and a failure to recover revenue lost during the pandemic.
JPBG purchased the station and related radio properties in 2000 from the Monarch Corporation.
Monarch chairman Bill Yuill told the News that business decisions are difficult, but the model was likely under stress.
“As there is a dramatic increase in available technologies for producing audio and video, they will no doubt impact the existing market place,” he said, noting that he joined Hatters in lamenting the loss.
“Many of us have fond memories of the early days of CHAT TV, with local television programming like Sock Hop, Patterns for Moderns and Lorne Havard interviews.”
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