CIVT-DT (channel 32) is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Victoria-based CTV 2 station CIVI-DT, channel 53 (although the two stations maintain separate operations). CIVT-DT's studios are located at 969 Robson Street (alternatively known as 750 Burrard Street; the former site of the Vancouver Public Library's central branch) at the intersection of Robson Street and Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver, which also houses the British Columbia operations of the CTV network itself, including the CTV National News Vancouver bureau. The station's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver. CIVT went on the air in 1997 as the first new Vancouver TV station in 21 years after the application of Baton Broadcasting for a television licence was granted from a field of five bids. Originally known as Vancouver Television (VTV), the station was a young-skewing outlet intended to reflect an increasingly multicultural Vancouver and stimulate television production in British Columbia. In addition to local news and arts programming, CIVT produced programs seen nationally, including a talk show hosted by Vicki Gabereau and Cold Squad. Concurrently with the launch of CIVT, Baton Broadcasting acquired the CTV network. This purchase, plus an ownership change at longtime CTV affiliate CHAN-TV that saw it become owned by the Global Television Network, led to a major television realignment in 2001 under which CIVT became the new CTV station for the province and the only CTV affiliate on Canada's west coast. In switching to CTV, the station moved toward attracting an older audience. It also improved its news ratings, generally becoming the second-rated station for local news after CHAN. History Licensing By the mid-1990s, nearly two decades had passed since Vancouver had last received a new television station—CKVU-TV in 1976. A 1977 CRTC study found that, under its projections, Vancouver would need seven additional TV stations by 2001, including three new English-language commercial outlets as well as a multilingual station focused on ethnic communities in the region. While population growth had largely followed the CRTC's projections from that time, the growth in the television station industry had not. The three existing major stations in Vancouver—CBC station CBUT-TV, CHAN-TV (known as BCTV), and CKVU-TV—were coming under increasing scrutiny as being not adequately reflective of an increasingly diverse community.