With the CRTC hearings just over a month away, CHUM has announced the details for its ambitious move into Alberta – earmarking some $130 million to program two new stations over seven years and committing significant time and money to local, dramatic and multicultural shows.

The Toronto-based broadcaster plans to open new conventional channels in both Calgary and Edmonton and will also put up a rebroadcast transmitter near Red Deer, boosting the signal of CHUMTV Edmonton, pending federal approval.

‘Calgary and Edmonton audiences have fewer local television choices than any other major market in Canada. CHUM will fill that gap,’ said president and CEO Jay Switzer in a statement. The Calgary-Edmonton area is thought to be the fastest growing market in the country.

At the top of the list: local programming. CHUMTV Edmonton an CHUMTV Calgary will air a minimum of 27 hours per week of original or regional shows, of which at least 20 hours will be local, and 14 hours per week of similar non-news programming – focusing on business, agriculture and CHUM staples like entertainment and the youth scene.

The company will establish a news bureau in Red Deer to cover central Alberta. The new stations have also set aside 15 hours per week for multicultural programming, covering ethnic and aboriginal scenes, of which at least 10 hours will be produced in the region.

CHUMTV Calgary, on channel 58, and CHUMTV Edmonton, channels 56 and 58, have a slate of shows in the works. Calgary Tonight is a live, nightly look at the city’s arts and recreation scene, complemented by a Speakers Corner video booth. Live on Location is a weekly New Music-esque spotlight of local bands and venues, and the city will also get an outdoor sports show, and a weekly report on the oil business.

Edmonton will get similar entertainment shows plus weekly reports on provincial politics and the world of agriculture.

Not surprisingly, CHUM is also playing the drama card, following the lead of CRTC head Charles Dalfen, who since last year has been calling for more homegrown dramatic TV. The broadcaster plans to turn out a pair of new one-hour series, also multicultural, to air in primetime on its stations in Alberta, Vancouver and Toronto. Those same stations will also air Canuck drama in at least four hours of priority programming, says CHUM. A $15-million ‘indie initiative’ will also support the development and production of shows by small- and mid-sized prodcos in the region.

The new stations are generally seen as a counterstrike to Craig Media’s move into Toronto. The Calgary-based company operates A-Channel stations in both Calgary and Edmonton and will launch toronto|one this fall, taking an expected $6.5-million bite from the ad revenue of CHUM’s flagship station, Citytv Toronto.

Both companies downplay the rivalry, despite their constant regulatory knife-fighting. The two broadcasters had a close working relationship for years, with CHUM backing Craig’s Alberta licences and Craig acquiring much of its non-local programming from CHUM. As of last summer, CHUM was still supplying Craig with a limited number of programs.

The only competing proposal for the region came from CanWest Global and its subsidiary Global Communications, which plans to break Red Deer’s CKRD affiliation with CBC – introducing its CH television programming to the province. The plan also promises strong news and ethnic programming.

The CRTC will consider the proposals at public hearings in Calgary on June 16.