Of Logos, Owners, and Cultural Intermediaries: Defining an Elite Discourse in Re-branding Practices at Three Private Canadian Television Stations

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the relationship between local television stations and national networks through a careful study of station re-branding. The relationship is explored through case studies of the three privately owned English-speaking television stations in Winnipeg, Canada. Through in-depth interviews with station and network executives, the author investigates the critical factors that facilitated the re-branding of Canada’s private television networks between 1997 and 2005. This period saw many English-speaking television networks unite their respective affiliate stations under a single logo and brand. Influenced by branding theory and scholarship on Canadian broadcasting, this article examines the shift away from local identification in Canadian broadcasting and the benefits, challenges, and resistances therein.