CTV Cancels Fashion Television After 27 Years

Apr 12, 2012

Author: Mike P.

We all know the television show "Fashion TV". It's been a part of Canadian TV since the 80's. Hosted by Jenne Beker, the show has been our inside look at the present and future of high fashion.

Created by Jay Levine in 1985, Fashion Television began as a local production of Citytv in Toronto but was picked up by sister stations across the country as its popularity rose. It jumped to CTV in 2008 after CTVglobemedia bought out its parent company, CHUM.

CTV says production on Fashion Television, which was also broadcast in the United States and Europe, was suspended Wednesday but gave no reason for halting the series. It said 10 positions would be lost.

“The iconic Jeanne Beker remains with Bell Media and the company looks forward to an exciting future with her, including the development of new projects,” CTV said Wednesday in a statement.

“Bell Media remains committed to the fashion genre and will continue to grow FashionTelevisionChannel to deliver a broader appeal for viewers, advertisers, and distributors.”

Morra suggested that growing competition from other outlets had eroded the show’s impact. She noted that Beker and her team was the only TV crew covering fashion on the ground when she started 20 years ago.

“Now, though, you can’t count the number of TV crews that are there trying to cover things. Fashion Television really was a pioneer and really that came from Jeanne and Jay Levine,” Morra said of the show, which also delved into the worlds of photography, architecture and design.

“For somebody who’s into fashion, there are different people that you can follow on the web or through Twitter. There’s just different ways of satisfying that hunger for a little bit of fashion eye-candy.”

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