Rogers Media reopening City newsroom in Vancouver with two new daily newscasts

City will elbow its way back into the crowded Vancouver TV news market next year with the launch of new 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Rogers Media, which owns the City network of stations, announced the expansion of its CityNews, currently seen in Toronto, with local versions of the newscast produced and airing seven days a week in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Montreal.

CityNews plans to expand into Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary in winter 2018, while the newscasts in Edmonton and Winnipeg will debut Sept. 4, 2017.

“CityNews’s fresh and innovative approach to news reporting resonates strongly with younger viewers, with CityNews at Six — which we revitalized over the last 18 months — now ranking No. 1 in Toronto among the coveted 18 to 34 adult demo,” Dave Budge, Rogers Media’s vice-president of TV news, said in a statement. “It’s a winning format that connects with today’s viewer, and we’re excited to bring the same authentic local approach to new audiences.

City laid off 47 staff when it closed its Vancouver newsroom on July 12, 2006, the same day its parent company, CHUM media, was bought by Bell Globemedia for $1.7 billion.

Rogers purchased the City stations in 2007 for $375 million.

This is the second major Vancouver media move that Rogers Media has trumpeted this year. In April, the communications giant announced it will launch an all-sports radio station Sportsnet 650 in the fall.

Sportsnet 650 will be the home station for Vancouver Canucks game.

Rogers Media outbid TSN 1040, which had been the Canucks’ radio home for 11 season, for the regional NHL contract.