Editing Baton Broadcast System (section)

===The BBS years: 1994-1997===

[[Image:Baton Broadcast System - CFTO-TV (mid-90s logo).jpg|thumb|right|CFTO BBS logo.]]
In October 1994, Baton hired the [[management consulting]] firm [[McKinsey & Company]] to help evaluate how to proceed with its national expansion plans. McKinsey's report recommended, first and foremost, that Baton attempt to take control of the [[CTV Television Network|CTV]] trademark, which it saw as one of the most valuable brands in Canada, through the acquisition of as many other CTV affiliates (and their corresponding shares in the network) as possible. However, the report also recommended that Baton create a new national brand as a backup, to help reduce the damage should Baton's gambit fail and CTV pass into a competitor's hands.<ref name="gittins" />

This new brand turned out to be BBS, with a logo adapted from [[CFTO-TV|CFTO]]'s multicoloured-iris logo. Baton's local stations dropped their individual logos and adopted the new BBS symbol, with the station call letters positioned beneath. In contrast, ONT was simply a secondary brand and had not replaced local station logos. Despite the value Baton placed in the CTV brand, BBS became more a more prominent part of these stations' branding than CTV itself.

BBS replaced ONT in fall 1994, with the addition of Baton's six stations in Saskatchewan &ndash; CTV affiliates [[CKCK-DT|CKCK-TV]] in [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]], [[CFQC-DT|CFQC-TV]] in [[Saskatoon]], [[CICC-TV]] in [[Yorkton]], and [[CIPA-TV]] in [[Prince Albert, Saskatchewan|Prince Albert]], and CBC affiliates [[CKOS-TV]] in Yorkton and [[CKBI-TV]] in Prince Albert. They had been jointly branded as the "Saskatchewan Television Network" since 1987.

Programming included U.S. series such as ''[[Law & Order]]'', ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]'', ''[[Melrose Place]]'', and ''[[Ellen (TV series)|Ellen]]'', the [[soap opera]] ''[[Family Passions]]'', a [[Saturday morning cartoon|Saturday morning]] block of mainly [[Disney]] [[cartoon]]s branded as ''BBS Master Control'' (including ''[[Timon & Pumbaa (TV series)|Timon & Pumbaa]]'' and programming from ''[[ABC Kids (TV programming block)|Disney's One Saturday Morning]]''), news and talk programming such as ''[[Sunday Edition (Canadian TV series)|Sunday Edition]]'' and ''[[The Dini Petty Show]]'', and sports programming such as Blue Jays games, which were again syndicated to other Canadian stations.

As a result of the [[Bell Media#Baton-Electrohome alliance|Baton-Electrohome alliance]], CKCO (now jointly owned by both companies) joined the system in 1996. Baton and Electrohome also jointly acquired [[CFCN-DT|CFCN-TV]] in [[Calgary]] around the same time; both CFCN and Electrohome-owned [[CFRN-DT|CFRN-TV]] in [[Edmonton]] aired much of the BBS lineup, but did not actively use the BBS brand.<ref>Internet Archive Wayback Machine for [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cfrntv.ca www.cfrntv.ca] and [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cfcn.ca www.cfcn.ca]</ref>