Editing W5 (TV program) (section)

==History==
It was launched as ''W5'' on September 11, 1966, just after the demise of [[CBC Television]]'s ''[[This Hour Has Seven Days]]'', at a time when the CTV network was on the brink of [[bankruptcy]]. The program's magazine format is considered an inspiration for a number of similar programs, including the American program ''[[60 Minutes]]'' which premiered two years later.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Taube |first1=Michael |title=There will never be another program like W5 on Canadian TV |url=https://troymedia.com/arts-entertainment/there-will-never-be-another-program-like-w5-on-canadian-tv/ |access-date=March 27, 2024 |agency=Troy Media |date=March 26, 2024}}</ref>

The program's first executive producer and host was [[Peter Reilly (politician)|Peter Reilly]]. He quit only a few weeks into the first season of ''W5'', in a dispute with [[John W. H.  Bassett]], who owned the CTV network's biggest station, [[CFTO-DT|CFTO-TV]] in [[Toronto]]. Reilly went on to become the first host of the CBC's later current affairs offering, ''[[The Fifth Estate (TV)|The Fifth Estate]]''. Peter Rehak was executive producer through the 1980s and 1990s.

[[Robert Hurst (broadcaster)|Robert Hurst]] oversaw a revamping of the program look in the fall of 1995. Fiona Conway became executive producer but left for ABC News in 1998. Conway was succeeded by senior producer Ian McLeod and after he left  Malcolm Fox became the executive producer from September 2000 until September 2009. Anton Koschany served as executive producer from 2009-2021, during which time the program moved into HD and produced an expanded number of episodes per season. He was succeeded by current Executive Producer Derek Miller.

The program's first regular host was [[Ken Cavanagh]], with reports from ''[[CTV National News]]'' journalists such as [[Doug Johnson (journalist)|Doug Johnson]] and [[Frank Drea]], who later became a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|member of Provincial Parliament]] in [[Ontario]] and [[Trina McQueen]], later president of CTV. During the 1970s, [[Henry Champ]] was a longtime host, along with Ken Lefolii and [[Tom Gould]]. [[Helen Hutchinson]], who also hosted during the 1970s (concurrent with her tenure as co-host of the morning show ''[[Canada AM]]''), was one of the first women to gain a prominent position in television news in Canada. Jim Reed joined the programme in 1972 as a field producer and was later appointed as host along with Hutchinson and Champ.

[[Eric Malling]] joined ''W5'' in 1990 from CBC's rival news magazine, ''The Fifth Estate''. In 1991, a new team of reporters also joined the program: [[Susan Ormiston]], Christine Nielsen, and Elliott Shiff.  The program was called ''W5 with Eric Malling'' until Malling moved to hosting the television program ''Mavericks'' in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |title=CTV Line Up |url=http://www.adnews.com/72 |url-access=limited |access-date=July 30, 2020 |website=Adnews}}</ref>

In 1993–94, an in-depth report on [[New Zealand]] showed the results of a nation that had suffered the effects of a [[debt wall]]. The report had a significant influence and was used by governments to justify cutting social services. The government of Alberta included transcripts of the program when it sent back rejected grant applications and Ontario Premier [[Bob Rae]] cited the program during cabinet debates on the deficit. Author [[Linda McQuaig]] criticized the program saying: "It was just full of misinformation," saying that Malling distorted the situation in New Zealand by presenting what was really a short-term currency crisis as something else: national bankruptcy and the loss of credit. The real issue - an overvalued currency - she says, was never brought up. "I'm talking about confusing the issues," she says, "making people believe things that aren't true because that's the point that he wanted to make. You don't need to come out with a technical lie to do that."<ref>{{cite news |last=Beresford |first=John |date=June 2000 |title=The Last Days of Eric Malling |newspaper=Ryerson Review of Journalism |url=http://www.rrj.ca/m3974/ |url-status=dead |access-date=September 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019114921/http://www.rrj.ca/m3974/ |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 1996 for its 30th anniversary, the program was rebranded to ''W-FIVE'' and became more populist. Hosts included top CTV journalists, including [[Lloyd Robertson]], [[Craig Oliver (Canadian journalist)|Craig Oliver]] and Jim O'Connell.

With broadcast shifting to HD for the [[2009–2010 Canadian network television schedule|2009–2010 season]] the program reverted to its traditional title ''W5'' with a revised graphic treatment and a new theme that reflects its investigative nature and culminates in five notes representative of the five Ws of journalism.

Recent hosts have included Robertson, [[Sandie Rinaldo]], [[Kevin Newman (journalist)|Kevin Newman]] and [[Lisa LaFlamme]] (with Robertson continuing to co-host following his 2011 retirement as anchor of the ''CTV National News'' until 2016 when he was named special correspondent). ''W5'' has produced such stories as a possible cure for [[multiple sclerosis]] ("The Liberation Treatment"), an investigation into fatal shootings by RCMP officers (nominated for a [[Michener Award]]), an investigation of abuses at the [[Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children]] ("The Throwaway Children"), an annual expose of [[used car]] dealer trickery, rampant corruption in [[Immigration to Canada|Canada's immigration]] system, and personal stories of burn recovery from the [[2002 Bali bombings|Bali bombing]].

Since 2000, the program had officially been designated a "[[Documentary film|documentary]] series", with only one or two segments filling an hour-long episode, due to [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] regulations that count documentaries, but not older-style newsmagazines, as "[[Canadian content#Regulations|priority programming]]". In the 2012–2013 season, the program began experimenting with loosening the format, with occasional three story episodes.

For a period of time in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the program's introductory theme music used part of "[[Fool's Overture]]", a song by the UK band [[Supertramp]]. The current theme was composed by [[Doug Pennock]], who has also composed the theme for ''CTV National News'' and music for other CTV special projects, including the 2007 two-hour documentary ''Triumph & Treachery: The Brian Mulroney Story''.

On October 24, 2009, CTV unveiled a new look for ''W5'', introduced a new logo and began broadcasting for the very first time in [[High-definition television|high definition]]. The title was once again rebranded, back to its original title as ''W5''. This look was further refined with the start of the program's 47th season on September 22, 2012. The start of the 48th season saw the introduction of [[David Tyler (voice actor)|David Tyler]] as the current in-show narrator.

=== Transition to CTV News unit ===
In February 2024, as part of cuts by [[Bell Media]], it was announced that ''W5'' would conclude as a regular television series, with its final episode airing in March 2024. Plans were announced for W5 to be relaunched as an investigative journalism unit of CTV News, which will produce [[Long-form journalism|long-form]] and documentary features across its platforms (such as the ''[[CTV National News]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thiessen |first=Connie |date=2024-02-08 |title=Bell to reduce workforce by 4,800, divest 45 radio stations |url=https://broadcastdialogue.com/bell-to-reduce-workforce-by-4800-divest-45-radio-stations/ |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=Broadcast Dialogue |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thiessen |first=Connie |date=2024-02-08 |title=Most noon, weekend CTV newscasts cancelled as part of cuts at Bell Media |url=https://broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cancelled-as-part-of-cuts-at-bell-media/ |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=Broadcast Dialogue |language=en-US}}</ref> The new W5 unit launched in September 2024, with ''W5'' host [[Avery Haines]] named managing editor and senior correspondent, Jon Woodward as an investigative correspondent, and [[The Sports Network|TSN]] writer Rick Westhead serving as a senior correspondent. Its first production, ''Narco Jungle: The Death Train'' (a five-part report on the [[Darién Gap]]), began airing on the ''CTV National News'' on September 30, 2024. The unit will also be producing a series of one-hour documentaries for CTV under the title ''W5: Avery Haines Investigates'', with a series premiere on the Darién Gap airing on October 5, 2024.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 26, 2024 |title=CTV launches new W5 investigative unit |url=https://broadcastdialogue.com/ctv-launches-new-w5-investigative-unit/ |access-date=September 27, 2024 |work=Broadcast Dialogue}}</ref>