One sign of softening in the market is that of all the local automotive dealer associations, only Ford is using television, whereas two years ago all dealer groups were spending large amounts on television, Butler says.

David Stanger of DSA Baron in Vancouver says program schedules seem to have taken a back seat to ownership and personality changes this year in Vancouver.

"For us this fall, the issues are going to be, What's it going to cost to buy short-term versus long-term? What impact is one new station [CIVI] going to have? What impact is it going to have on the views, the cost of buying television and its competitors?

"There are a number of direct questions and then there are secondary questions," continues Stanger, "such as what impact is all this going to have on secondary markets in B.C. that advertisers have traditionally counted on for spill from Vancouver, like Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George and Dawson Creek? June is generally what broadcasters refer to as the 'feeding frenzy' and I think we as buyers feel ill-prepared to deal with that right now."

On September 1, BCTV and CHEK, both previously affiliated with CTV, become Global Television Network stations. Global has sold its old station, CKVU, but the CRTC still has not given its approval for that purchase by CHUM Television. CKVU is currently being operated in trust and will lose its prime programming to Global properties BCTV and CHEK.

CKVU's new programming reflects a youthful format similar to other CHUM stations, such as Citytv in Toronto, VR in Barrie, RO in Ottawa and PL in London, with such programming as Blind Date, Temptation Island, Relic Hunter and Sex TV. Similarly, CHUM's CIVI Victoria will be positioned as "The New VI" and will have a younger-skewed format.

Stanger doesn't think there is a market for a Citytv-type station in Victoria and says that CIVI is nothing more than a "back door" into Vancouver.

Also signing on in Vancouver is NOWTV, a Christian station owned by Trinity Television that will focus on family-friendly programming.

There is also the unresolved issue of a multilingual licence being granted in the market that will result in a West Coast version of Toronto's CFMT. That is expected to happen within the next 12 months.

After all the retooling, CTV is left with only one broadcaster in the market, CIVT or VTV. VTV becomes the official CTV station and will go through a re-branding to become CTV British Columbia later in the summer. The station will assume a full CTV schedule, just like CFCN in Calgary and CFTO in Toronto, except for three shows - Oprah, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune - that stay with BCTV.

Contractually, BCTV can not use the name Global until September 1, while VTV is free to become CTV British Columbia any time after July 1. That transition is not expected to happen until closer to the end of August to avoid viewer confusion, since CTV news and programming will be seen on BCTV until September 1.