CHUM Television is looking to get a little more out of its newsrooms following the rebranding of its Ontario and Alberta stations and a shuffling of duties among its entertainment reporters.

Earlier this month, the company renamed its former NewNet outlets – in Barrie, Ottawa, Windsor and elsewhere – as A-Channels while also putting its Citytv name on its newly acquired stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Manitoba.

The common brands and graphics make it easier for news departments to work together, says VP of news programming Stephen Hurlbut.

‘So, should we have the opportunity to share material, it looks like it’s cut from the same cloth,’ he says. ‘We’re in a better position now to cover news in general.’

CHUM stations still emphasize local news, he adds, but have experimented recently with broader, national-scope stories. A recent piece on gas prices included reports from several different City stations, for instance.

The CHUMs are also now sharing entertainment reports, courtesy of their sister specialty Star!. ‘So instead of 10 different newsrooms doing the story about J.Lo and Ben, I take it from… Star!,’ he says. ‘I take my local people and I put them on the street to do the local stories. It helps us do a better job by leveraging the big national stuff.’

CHUM outlets have had a similar arrangement for years on national politics, which is handled by its Ottawa bureau.

Star!, it seems, is being brought closer into the CHUM family. The broadcaster’s famous annual party, during the Toronto International Film Festival, has also been rebranded as the Star!Schmooze, bumping the City name out of the spotlight.

Longtime fest goers may recall that the channel debuted with a thud during the 1999 TIFF, having failed to gain national carriage in time for its September preem.

This fall will also see CHUM launching several new shows, including the much-ballyhooed Everybody Hates Chris – the caster’s first straight-up network sitcom. CHUM won the UPN series, which stars comic Chris Rock, after a vigorous bidding war at the L.A. screenings.

‘Before, we never really targeted sitcoms in our buying pattern because it’s a difficult market to be in. There are very few that actually make it,’ says programming boss Ellen Baine. ‘But this year it was too good a show to ignore.’

The show will run Thursdays at 8 p.m., against Joey on CH and The O.C. on CTV. The timeslot has been a hot spot for comedy since the days of The Cosby Show.

But ‘really nothing’s been that funny on Thursday night in the last couple years,’ says Baine. ‘This will be the last year of Will & Grace [at 8:30] and Joey’s not the ratings success NBC thought it would be.’

CHUM will also air its 8 x 60 pet project Eight Stories about Love, Sundays at 8 p.m., starting Sept. 25 on the Citys, and the Vancouver-shot Young Blades, Thursdays at 9 p.m., starting Sept. 1 on the A-Channels.

Come January, CHUM is also moving its original series The Collector to the Citys, where it will take over for Smallville on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

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