Editing Craig Wireless

{{short description|Canadian communications company}}
'''Craig Wireless Systems, Ltd.''' (initially '''Western Manitoba Broadcasters Ltd.''', then '''Craig Broadcast Systems, Inc.''', & next '''Craig Media, Inc.''' before its current branding) is a Canadian company which offers [[Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service]] in [[Manitoba]] and [[British Columbia]].

In 2004, the company's media assets (its TV stations & A-Channel TV network) were acquired by [[CHUM Limited]].<ref name=":0" />

==History==

The company has its roots in '''Western Manitoba Broadcasters''', a company John Craig founded alongside Dr. H.O. McDiarmid, Alexander Boyd, Edmund, Fotheringham, Harold Smith, James Rust and M.W. Kerr in 1948.

In the mid-1940s, Craig had bought radio station [[CKX-FM]] from the [[Bell MTS|Manitoba Government Telephone System]] upon its relinquishment of its two licenses for [[CKX-TV]] & [[CITI-FM|CKY-FM]].

By 1955, John's son, Stuart Craig, had succeeded his father as President and General Manager of CKX-TV (which brought television to [[Brandon, Manitoba]]) & [[CKX-FM]] (which followed in 1963). Craig took it upon himself to expand the operations of both CKX stations; those expansion operations resulted in the launch of the broadcast company.

The company was based in [[Brandon, Manitoba]], then later in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]] with Drew Craig, John's grandson & Stuart's son, as its [[chief executive officer|CEO]].

In 1991, Western Manitoba Broadcasters changed its name to '''Craig Broadcast Systems'''.

Craig Broadcast Systems was the owner of the original [[A-Channel (1997-2005)|A-Channel]] system; CKX, a [[CBC Television|CBC]] affiliate, in Brandon, Manitoba; and three [[digital television]] specialty channels: MTV Canada (now [[MTV2 (Canada)|MTV2]]), MTV2 (now [[Stingray Juicebox]]), and TV Land Canada (later replaced by [[Comedy Gold (TV channel)|Comedy Gold]], now decommissioned).

For a time in the 1980s and 1990s, the company also produced a local newscast in [[Dauphin, Manitoba|Dauphin]], [[Manitoba]]; however, the company did not operate a full television station in that city, but had a contract with [[CBC Television]] to run the newscast as a [[local insertion]] on the city's [[CBWT]] retransmitter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1989/db89-114.htm|title=CRTC Decision 89-114|date=April 6, 1989}}</ref>

Eventually, the company was also operating in the telecommunications industry, offering wireless cable television and high-speed Internet services. The company also operated an American subsidiary in [[Honolulu]], which in early 2003 slashed its staff ahead of merger talks with Oceanic Cable.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sing |first1=Terrence |title=Craig Wireless slashes Hawaii staff |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2003/01/20/story1.html |work=Pacific Business News |date=January 20, 2003}}</ref>

In 2003, after securing financing in the area of $145 million ($110 million from [[Providence Equity Partners]] & a $35 million line of credit from [[RBC Capital Markets]] and [[BMO Nesbitt Burns]]), the company reorganized its conventional and specialty television operations, with the conventional TV operations (A-Channel & its stations) under the '''Craig Media''' branding, while the specialty television channels were placed within Craig Media under '''Craig Specialty'''.

Craig Media was the owner of [[CKXT-TV|Toronto 1]], a local television station in located in [[Toronto]].

In 2004, the company's TV broadcasting operations (A-Channel & its stations) were acquired by [[CHUM Limited]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=CHUM purchases Craig Media, adds to western TV holdings|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/chum-purchases-craig-media-adds-to-western-tv-holdings/article996916/|access-date=2020-09-08}}</ref> for [[Canadian dollar|CA$]]265 million ($197.8 million) in cash.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2004-04-12|title=Canada's CHUM To Acquire Broadcaster Craig Media|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles//1440039/canadas-chum-to-acquire-broadcaster-craig-media|access-date=2020-09-08|website=Billboard}}</ref> CHUM did not acquire the company's telecommunications operations, which remain in operation under the '''Craig Wireless''' name, which the company took on after CHUM's acquisition of its television broadcasting assets. Upon the name change, another of John's grandsons, Boyd, took over the company.

==Former assets==
===Local stations===
* [[A-Channel (Craig Media)|A-Channel]] (now [[Citytv]])
** [[CKAL-TV|CKAL]] - [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]]
** [[CKEM-TV|CKEM]] - [[Edmonton]], [[Alberta]]
** [[CHMI-TV|CHMI]] - [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]]
* [[CKX-TV|CKX]] - [[Brandon, Manitoba|Brandon]], [[Manitoba]] (ceased operations on October 2, 2009)
* [[CKXT-TV|CKXT]] - [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] (ceased operations as of November 2011)

===Digital television stations under Craig Specialty===
* MTV Canada, now [[MTV2 (Canada)|MTV2 Canada]] - originally conceived as "Connect" (youth lifestyle programming)
* MTV2 Canada, now [[Stingray Juicebox]] - originally conceived as "Music 5" (a service consisting of 5 separate music video channels: Pop, Dance, Urban, R&B, and "Hot Hits")
* TV Land Canada, replaced by [[Comedy Gold (TV channel)|Comedy Gold]] in 2010 (ceased operations as of September 2019) - originally conceived as "Retro" (classic television programming)

====Proposed, but never launched====
* A-Channel News Now (24 hr. news)
* Action Channel (action-oriented programming)
* Jazz & Blues TV
* PATV (Pets & Animals)
* The MET (music and entertainment television dedicated to the presentation and promotion of emerging Canadian artists in the rock genre)
* Stampede (western-themed programming)
* Click TV (programs about the Internet, computers and e-business)
* Style TV (devoted to programming about fashion, design and architecture)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041215183848/http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/article.asp?id=29242 Broadcaster Magazine: ''CHUM buying Craig, will spin-off Toronto 1'']
* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/craig-stuart Craig, Stuart | History of Canadian Broadcasting]
* [http://playbackonline.ca/2003/03/31/craig-20030331/ Craig gets financing » Playback]

{{Bell Media}}
{{CATV Canada}}

[[Category:Companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange]]
[[Category:Internet service providers of Canada]]
[[Category:Cable and DBS companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Defunct broadcasting companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Mass media companies established in 1948]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1948]]
[[Category:Companies based in Brandon, Manitoba]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in Manitoba]]
[[Category:Companies based in Winnipeg]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange]]