Historic First: CTV Vancouver Wins Prestigious National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence

TORONTO (June 24, 2016) – CTV News and Bell Media Radio are proud to be honoured with prestigious national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the U.S. arm of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), including an historic win for Overall Excellence by CTV Vancouver – a first for a Canadian Large Market television station in the Award’s 45-year history. CTV Vancouver joins the likes of ABC News, ABC News Radio, and The Washington Post as category winners for Overall Excellence this fall. CTV Vancouver will be presented with the recognition at the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala on October 10 in New York City. Announced earlier this week, the highly coveted National Murrow prizes will also be presented to CTV London, winning in the Investigative Reporting, Small Market Television category for its four-part series “MENTAL HEALTH 911”, and C-FAX 1070 winning the Newscast, Small Market Radio category for VICTORIA @ NOON. “We are honoured to have been judged by our peers and selected as the best overall large market news organization in the world this year,” said Les Staff, News Director, CTV Vancouver. “Morning, noon, and night, seven days-a-week, we are committed to delivering the highest quality news for our viewers, and it’s immensely gratifying to be recognized for our efforts.” “The Overall Excellence award is not just for one newscast or one breaking news event, but for the sum of all the team does every day to serve its audiences,” said Wendy Freeman, President, CTV News. “This prestigious award is a fitting culmination of a year filled with record successes for CTV Vancouver. And along with the well-deserved accolades for CTV London and C-FAX 1070 in Victoria, these nods acknowledge to the world the quality of our newsgathering operations.” The Overall Excellence award, as described by the RTDNA, is presented to a news organization that exemplifies “the highest standards in serving its audience through quality electronic journalism.” Selected among the world’s top 14 regional winners, CTV Vancouver’s winning submission represented the entire local news team. Showcasing a wide range of content aired over the course of 2015, from CTV MORNING LIVE and CTV NEWS AT NOON, through CTV NEWS AT FIVE, CTV NEWS AT SIX, and CTV NEWS AT 11:30, the entry featured breaking news coverage of a large chemical fire at the Port of Vancouver on March 4, 2015, for which CTV Vancouver also took home a Canadian Screen Award earlier this year. Judges considered examples of investigative reporting, feature stories, sports and weather coverage, the latest use of technology to cover news, and online journalism – all demonstrating why CTV Vancouver earned record audiences on TV and online in the last year. In fact, CTV NEWS AT SIX, CTV NEWS AT FIVE, and CTV NEWS AT 11:30 have respectively earned their highest audiences in more than a decade.* CTV London’s winning four-part “MENTAL HEALTH 911” investigative series focused on the gaps in healthcare resources for those with mental health emergencies, and the greater impact on the emergency response system. Winning the national Murrow award for best radio newscast in a small market, Bell Media Radio’s C-FAX 1070 has won for VICTORIA @ NOON, its regularly scheduled and longest weekday newscast. Additional information about RTDNA and the 2016 National Edward R. Murrow Awards can be found at RTDNA.org. *Source: – Television: Numeris, Vancouver/Victoria EM, Broadcast Years, Weeks 1-42, 2015-16. Audiences prior to August 31, 2009 are based on BBM Nielsen Media Research Mark II meters. – Online: ComScore, 2015 vs. 2016 monthly averages, all key metrics: video views, page views, and unique visitors