‘Do better’: Former anchor furious at JPBG for CHAT-TV shutdown

By Medicine Hat News on June 4, 2025.

@MedicineHatNews

Count Rhonda Carlson among those broken hearted about the loss of CHAT-TV, but also among those angered by the decision.

The former lead anchor and news director at the station told the News on Tuesday that the station in the relatively small market “always fought upstream and punched above our weight” and could have survived and thrived with the proper corporate support.

It was shut down Tuesday by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, which said the financial picture couldn’t justify maintaining the station that went on the air in 1957.

“They’re owned by a billionaire, and if they say the economic conditions aren’t there, my reaction is, ‘Do better’,” she said. “Make it more watchable, evolve with the changing times … (local employees) did so much with so little at CHAT-TV for so long.”

Carlson was the supper-hour news anchor and news director at CHAT from 2004 to 2012, arriving after a career in ABC news and oversees reporting.

She said worry about closure was generally a concern even back then- less revenue and mounting expenses in a relatively small market – but, they responded with a professional newscast worthy of a larger city.

In her time, she approved trips for local reporters to cover local aid agency programs in Haiti, Ethiopia and Uganda, as well as local veterans as they travelled to retrace the Italian campaign in the Second World War.

Each time they returned with award-winning material.

Locally, they covered Medicine Hat with three anchors, a dedicated sports department and five reporters, along with a host of people behind the scenes.

“So many went on to pepper the industry all over the world. It was the start for so many talented people,” including not only on-air staff but also technicians, camera operators and directors.

Carlson fears the implications of that talent pipeline closing, but also the effects for Hatters.

She said consumers and media owners need to place value on local news.

“Sure, it’s interesting to hear about the crazy things that are going on in Ottawa or south of the border, but news that has day-to-day implications – if the South Saskatchewan River is rising, or what time is your son’s hockey game in the bantam tournament final – that stuff gets lost,” said Carlson.

“You just won’t see it. The last time I looked, Jim Pattison isn’t in financial disarray. If they say it’s about the bottom line, then I say local news should never be about the bottom line.”

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