 | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Crossroads Centre,Burlington, Ontario, Canada |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Crossroads Christian Communications |
| Key people | Kevin Shepherd (CEO, Crossroads & YesTV) Melissa McEachern (chief operating officer & chief content officer) David Darby (General Manager) Robert Melnichuk (Director of Western Canada) |
| History | |
| Launched | September 30, 1998 |
| Founder | David Mainse |
| Former names | Crossroads Television System (1998–2014) |
| Links | |
| Website | yestv |
Yes TV (stylized asyes TV) is an independently owned Canadian nonprofit[1] andCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission-licensed religious broadcastingtelevision system in Canada. It consists of three conventionalover-the-air television stations (located in theGreater Toronto Area,Calgary, andEdmonton), tworebroadcast transmitters, and several partial affiliates. Formerly known as the Crossroads Television System (CTS), the Yes TV stations and repeaters air a line-up consisting predominantly ofChristian faith-based programming, such astelevangelists and Crossroads' flagship Christian talk show100 Huntley Street, as well as religious programming from other faiths to meet "balance" expectations of Canadian broadcast policy. During the late-afternoon and evening hours, Yes TV broadcasts secular, family-orientedsitcoms,game shows, andreality series; the system's September 2014 re-launch as Yes TV emphasized its newly acquired Canadian rights to a number of major U.S. reality series, which at that point includedAmerican Idol andThe Biggest Loser.
Outside of the threeowned and operated Yes TV stations, the system also syndicates acquired programming to other Canadian independent stations through a secondary affiliation network called IndieNet (stylized as indieNET). It is operated out of Crossroads' headquarters inBurlington, Ontario.
The Crossroads Television System (CTS) originally consisted of a single television station,CITS-TV inHamilton, Ontario (also serving Toronto), with rebroadcast transmitters inLondon andOttawa. CITS, launched in 1998, was the second religious terrestrial television station launched in Canada, afterCJIL-TV inLethbridge, Alberta.
On June 8, 2007, theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved CTS' application for new television stations to serve theCalgary andEdmonton markets. Respectively, these areCKCS-DT, which broadcasts on channel 32, andCKES-DT, which broadcasts on channel 45; both stations launched on October 8, 2007.[2]
On August 12, 2014, CTS announced that it would relaunch as "Yes TV" on September 1, 2014. Describing the new brand as "embracing positivity and approaching the world with an affirmative position", the re-launch coincided with the announcement that it had picked up many new secularreality andgame shows for the 2014–15 season, includingAmerica's Funniest Home Videos (formerly aired byCitytv),American Idol (formerly aired byCTV andCTV 2),Judge Judy,Jeopardy! andWheel of Fortune (both formerly aired most-recently byCHCH-DT),The Biggest Loser (formerly aired by City), andThe X Factor (UK).[3]
On September 13, 2016, Yes TV started airing a 3-hour block (now a 2½-hour block) ofBuzzr programs from 1 to 3:30 a.m. (formerly 1 to 4 a.m.).[4] When the block started, the schedule aired original black and white episodes ofTo Tell the Truth,What's My Line? andI've Got a Secret followed by two episodes ofCard Sharks on Tuesdays and Saturdays,Double Dare on Wednesday,Beat the Clock on Thursdays andSale of the Century on Fridays. The schedule was updated on April 9, 2017, with two episodes ofMatch Game, episodes ofSuper Password andTattletales and concluding with an episode from eitherCard Sharks,Double Dare,Beat the Clock orSale of the Century (all four aired on the same day as the previous schedule). The schedule was updated again on October 10, 2017; the current schedule as of now is an episode ofMatch Game, an episode ofSuper Password, an episode ofTattletales, an episode ofBlockbusters and an episode ofPress Your Luck.Body Language briefly replaced theBlockbusters spot on the schedule in December 2017. The Buzzr block was phased out in September 2018.
Sometime around August 2023, Yes TV announced that they would resume streaming live in the 2023-24 season. The live video feed is restricted to Canadian viewers.[5]
| City of license/market | Call sign | Channel TV (RF) |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton, Ontario (Greater Toronto Area) | CITS-DT | Hamilton: 36.1 (36) CITS-DT-1/Ottawa: 15.1 (15) CITS-DT-2/London: 19.1 (19) |
| Calgary, Alberta | CKCS-DT | 32.1 (32) |
| Edmonton, Alberta | CKES-DT | 45.1 (30) |
Alongside the CTS O/A YES TV stations, the system sublicenses some of its commercial programs to other independent broadcasters inOntario,British Columbia, andNewfoundland and Labrador. The arrangement was first referred to in advertising sales information as Net5, referring to the three Yes TV stations and two secondary affiliates:CHEK-DT andCJON-DT.[6] Starting with the 2016-2017 broadcast season, Net5 rebranded as indieNET following the addition ofCHCH-DT andCHNU-DT.[7]
ZoomerMedia andCHNU-DT have since withdrawn from indieNET. The partnership continues with the remaining six stations.[8]
| City of license | Call sign | Channel TV (RF) | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton, Ontario | CHCH-DT | 11.1 (15) | Channel Zero |
| Victoria, British Columbia | CHEK-DT | 6.1 (49) | CHEK Media Group |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | CJON-DT | 21.1 (21) | Stirling Communications International |
In December 2010, CTS removedWord TV, a program hosted by televangelistCharles McVety, from their schedule, following a decision by theCanadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) over statements that he disparagedgay people while commenting onToronto's gay pride parade (which he called a "sex parade") and Ontario's sex education curriculum for public schools (which he charged that children would go to school not to learn, but to become gay). The CBSC has ordered CTS to announce the ruling at least twice on the air, and to take steps that incidents like this do not happen again.[9][10] In January 2011, CTS cancelledWord TV, leading McVety to announce his intention to sue CTS for political persecution.[11] CTS responded in a press release that McVety was asked many times to cease his distorting and polarizing behaviour, and to comply with broadcasting guidelines, yet he refused to do so.[12]
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–2002 | 2002–2005 | 2005–2014 | 2014–present |