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3mo ago

Medicine Hat’s CHAT-TV Shuts Down After 68 Years Under Financial Pressure

Pattison Media has laid off 16 employees to close CHAT-TV, choosing to continue its Medicine Hat radio operations.

After going on air for the first time in 1957, CHAT-TV went dark Tuesday after the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group closed the local station "due to the contraction of support for local television, intense economic pressures and continued operational losses."--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
The city's television station will close down, the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group announced on Tuesday. -- News file
Medicine Hat City Hall with the Finlay Bridge in the foreground was photographed on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022.

Overview

  • CHAT-TV ended its broadcast on June 3, 2025, after citing years of declining advertising revenue and rising operational costs.
  • The shutdown led to the layoff of 16 Unifor-represented newsroom and production staff.
  • A spring flood from a broken water main, which forced newsroom evacuation and lengthy repairs, hastened the decision to cease operations.
  • Pattison Media will keep Wild 94.5 CHAT-FM and My96 CFMY-FM on air but has not confirmed the future of its Chat News Today website.
  • The closure underscores broader struggles in Canadian local media and has prompted Unifor calls for government investment to sustain community journalism.