Fox News has it's audience trapped in their own views and they will hear no other, excepting Fox News.
It's also a very large audience with influence.  You may disagree with what they say, but the say it and most of their audience agree with them.

CHCH has an established brand.  It's news about Hamilton/Niagara/Halton.  I doubt it's of much interest anywhere else. 

"Live" and "Local" are still brands with great value if marketed and sold properly.

If CHCH goes down and closes that audience will seek out new sources for the "local angle" that don't do their coverage as well or with as much responsibility as CHCH does now. 

That would be a tragic loss.

@Mark

Mark..I think your SOWNY is showing. 

The internet was the next revolution for radio 20 years ago. Real Networks (aka Real Player) was streaming interesting radio from all over the world.  I remember approaching the MD of CFNY and emailing him about streaming audio.  His response was he didn't see any value in doing it because no one would listen to radio online.  Years later, 102.1 would "brag" it was one of the top 10 streamed stations in the world. 

As for the next evolution of television, the revolution started when the programmers at Paypal coded something they called "Youtube".  A year later Google bought it.  That was 2006.  Netflix brought the stream on demand stuff to the populace. 

22 years online and I don't ever remember any of the major "media" business being a part of the revolution.  I do remember them suing people. I do remember them mocking the internet claiming it had no future and it was a fad.

But all that's really moot in this whole discussion.  This isn't just about a paradigm shift, it's about generational change. While the loss of CHCH news may be "major" to you, it's insignificant to the bulk of the population under 35.  They don't watch nightly news and never will. I mean, many of them will never pay a "cable bill".  "Live and Local" are sourced on their smart phones, not on their TV or FM radio.  I mean, cars aside, exactly who, under 45, still buys a "FM stereo". 

I'm not a fan of Fox News at all. But Fox News is no more inaccurate or stupid than the rest of the media.  The Toronto Star is just as biased as Fox News & just as inaccurate in it's reporting. So is the National Post and Sun Media or CFRB.  The major difference is that Fox News is just a bit more loud, proud and well endowed when it comes to spewing out bullshit. The "left wing" media is just a bit more subdued and quiet about spewing their own bullshit. Mainstream media isn't about the truth slick, it's about advertising dollars. The truth is a casualty and the target is advertising dollars whether those dollars come from AR15 carrying rednecks or left leaning NPR latte sipping types. 

Mark Elliot wrote:

I hate to tell you that -35s sit in offices and waiting rooms all over Hamilton, Halton, & Niagara all day long everyday of the week.  They also watch in truck stops and restaurants, and...anywhere really.
You are too hooked on your computer.
You should get out more.  Really.

Oh yeah, I forgot they watch in Bars too!

Local News is profitable if it is done right, four NBC O&O stations are expanding local news to 4:00 pm (New York, Miami, Hartford, Lost Angels).  The problem with Canadian news (CTV News One, CTV Newsnet, CTV Newschannel, CBC Newsworld, CBC News Net, CHCH, whatever...) is that it repeats itself every 30 minutes or less.  U.S. local news doesn't do that.  It was a mistake for CHCH News to run on Sunday nights after 7 not knowing when the NFL football game on WIVB would end rather than starting 60 minutes at 7:00 p.m. just so they could have the sim-sub on cable.

GHU.

My advise is this. I assume you're an older guy, so I recommend you take your entire retirement package and invest in "local news on local TV".  Invest millions dude.  You've got the answers so get in there and make some profit off of it.