the station. CHEK would have closed down following the late newscast that night, after a retrospective on the station's history. However, on August 31, 2009, during its 5:00 p.m. newscast, the station announced that its shutdown would be put on hold, and that it would continue broadcasting while negotiations between Canwest and the prospective new owners continued. Facing a new deadline of September 4, Canwest announced on that date that it had reached a deal to sell the station to CHEK's employees and several local investors, through a consortium known as CHEK Media Group, for $2. Canwest would continue to provide transitional support for CHEK, including providing certain programming, allowing the use of its Vancouver studios, and leasing, at "favourable rates," the 780 Kings Road studios to the new owners with the assumption of various station liabilities. The sale was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on November 9. After the sale's announcement, station manager John Pollard revealed to CBC News that CHEK would operate as an independent station (one of two such stations in Canada that began as a CBC Television affiliate, and then later a CTV affiliate, alongside CJON-DT in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador), with no plans to simulcast any American programs. CHEK Media Group took control of the station's programming on that date the station also disaffiliated from E! (which shut down a few days prior), and adopted a new schedule that included a mix of movies and older programming (both Canadian and American in origin), syndicated programming and a greater emphasis on local newscasts (including a new 10:00 p.m. newscast that debuted on September 1), and reverted to branding itself as simply "CHEK". With no plans to simulcast American programming at some point, CHEK would add, in sparse amounts, additional programming during the 2009–10 season, including Let's Get It On, a mixed martial arts program; Ed the Sock's This Movie Sucks!, a movie show featuring the former MuchMusic character alongside co-host Liana Kerzner and comedian Ron Sparks; and infomercials. The station later reversed its stance on running recent American programs; in September 2010, CHEK, for the first time since it came under the employee/investor control, began airing American network television series. Many of the programs that were added to the schedule (including Smallville, Supernatural, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Chuck and 60 Minutes) were previously carried in the Vancouver–Victoria market on CHNU-DT (channel 66)