Big personalities. Super-sexy production values. And dynamic, people-magnet hosts. These were the criteria for TORONTO 1’s informational programming lineup, debuting as Toronto’s newest channel launches Sept. 19 on channel 15.

With a schedule packed full of syndicated shows such as Monday Night Football and The Sharon Osbourne Show, one of the unique things that will mark Calgary-based Craig Media’s entry into the Toronto broadcasting market is its local programming. Consequently, a lot rides on the ability of these shows to deliver a compelling personality for the channel.

So, as much as TORONTO 1’s new morning, evening and late-night daily shows are focused towards capturing a demographic – pegged tightly at 18-to-34 years but with a spill to 18-to-49 – it’s also about psychographics, in this case connecting with Torontonians who work and play hard, and read magazines such as The New Yorker as often as they leaf through People.

The station is targeting smart people, it says, who are aware of all parts of the intellectual dial and can speak about the mayoral elections as eloquently as they can about Jen and Ben’s box-office bombs.

‘While most local television is known for its news programming, that’s not what we’re all about,’ says Barbara Williams, VP/GM of TORONTO 1. ‘We’re not a news channel. We’re a current affairs, information lifestyle channel that’s reflecting Torontonians.’

As TORONTO 1 is hurtling towards its launch date in a flurry of activity, Williams insists it’s controlled chaos. While the To Do list still includes hiring talent for its night-time show, the station brought its sales team together over two months ago, culled from such rivals as Global Television and CTV, as well as print and radio to repatriate dollars from those media. ‘I don’t think we are naive about the challenge of doing this,’ she says. ‘But I think we have a brilliant concept and can redefine what local broadcasting can be.’

What exactly is TORONTO 1 offering up to these metropolitan viewers? Here’s a look at the shows which debut Sept. 19.

Toronto Today

5:30 a.m.-9 a.m.

Zev Shalev, executive producer of current affairs for TORONTO 1, promises the morning show is going to be user-friendly local information with entertainment and headlines, ‘but with a ton of personality thrown in. We think that’s one lacking component of the other stations.’

The breakfast gang includes host Wei Chen, former senior correspondent with CTV’s W-Five; sports correspondent Rob Malcolm, a former Hamilton Tiger Cat most recently with Local 4 in Detroit; Natasha Ramsahai, a meteorologist from CBC’s Metro Morning; and entertainment correspondent Dina Pugliese, a former entertainment and health producer with Global Toronto.

The mix is described as personality-driven information flow, and features the Accu-Weather System, a new traffic system, and a heavy dose of entertainment gossip, from the international to the local. ‘We understand people are busy in the morning, so there will be no guests or dancing bears – just important information and fun personalities,’ says Shalev.

Toronto Tonight

7-8 p.m.

‘It’s an hour-long newsmagazine that’s going to hit on the issues affecting Torontonians,’ says Shalev. ‘It’s stuff that’s news-related, but also stuff that isn’t. There’ll be a lot of enterprise and original journalism, mini-investigations and other things that most newsrooms can’t dedicate themselves to.’

Ben Chin, former Canada Now anchor on the CBC, is the after-supper-hour newsmag host, and his co-anchor is Sarika Sehgal, an ex-pat of Hamilton’s CH, who executive produced and co-anchored that station’s 6 p.m. and late-night newscasts.

This glossy offering promises to fill in the gap between the local evening news and shows such as Dateline. Both Toronto Today’s and Toronto Tonight’s sets are described as modern and slick in design.

Last Call

11-11:30 p.m.

‘This will come live from a bar in downtown Toronto and it’s a reality Cheers meets The View,’ says Shalev. ‘It’s a conversation between four young, smart, hip people about the events of the day, what’s going on in their lives, and it’ll be the place for our celebrity drop-ins. If there are big names in town, they’ll be there.’ Shalev also adds that, like Cheers, this show will develop four distinct personalities in the bar (but definitely younger and more urban than Cliff and Norm).

The hosts will be determined by month’s end. Shalev says that rather than pigeonholing the type of host they’re looking for (actor, journalist, etc.), they’re simply looking to give a break to a cast of energetic and talented people. ‘We’re looking for people who have that royal jelly and can work the camera,’ he says.

While the folks behind TORONTO 1 insist they aren’t specifically going after other networks to carve out an audience, media buyers do point to weaknesses out there where TORONTO 1 might pull viewers.

‘The morning show will be very similar to Chum’s BreakfastTelevision and what Global Television is trying to do with its show, so they’ll have to be competitive,’ says Dennis Dinga, VP and director of broadcast buying for Toronto-based M2 Universal. ‘That said, CTV’s Canada AM is dying on the vine.’ Dinga also notes that the show’s success will come down to whether the personalities have chemistry, even though they’ve got a wealth of collective experience.

As for Toronto Tonight, Dinga thinks the placement of the show, in the 7 p.m. slot which is the start of evening prime time, is interesting and should work for Torontonians who commute and get home too late to watch the 6 o’clock news, yet might be in bed before the 11 p.m. ‘If you look at the competitive stuff on television at that time, the strip stuff (syndicated programming) is geared to an older crowd, game shows and Everybody Loves Raymond, he notes. ‘I think the time-slot will be good.’

And its late night Last Call entry? ‘When you get into this kind of show, the personalities play a big role,’ says Florence Ng, VP broadcast investment for ZenithOptimedia in Toronto. ‘It looks like they’re trying to appeal to younger people, maybe even a bit more male because they’re having it in a bar. But I think it’ll count on casting and until we see something, it’ll be difficult to see whether they’re on the right track.’

But buyers aren’t totally cynical about TORONTO 1. While they are taking a conservative, wait-and-see approach when it comes to buying airtime, they are also admitting that the type of clients they place will be largely local retailers, despite the fact that TORONTO 1 will have the plum channel 15 spot on the dial.

‘TORONTO 1 will also help reduce wastage in airtime because once you go into airing Toronto ads in the balance of Ontario, it’s just wasting dollars,’ says Ng. ‘From our standpoint, it would be used as a cost-control. If you have more players out there, it helps maintain costs somewhat.’