For Torontonians of a certain age CityTV on channel 7 used to be the ‘breakthrough station’ at the corner of Queen & John. It was an edgy, independent TV station with dirty movies after midnight and local programming that made Toronto look cool. It was home to MuchMusic, the ‘nation’s music station‘ and of course, the 6 o’clock evening news with Gord Martineau.
In the early 80’s the local news broadcast called City Pulse used a GMC Suburban for their roving reporters, and dubbed the truck the Live Eye. By 1993, with a lot of miles on the clock, the truck was retired from active duty. Rather than scrapping it, the Live Eye was embedded into the side of the building, three stories up, like a still-frame of the moment it broke through a wall.
While channel 7 is still on the air, the original CityTV and it’s building was sold to Bell Media back in 2009 and it’s been all downhill since then. The station lost its edginess, became ‘corporate’ and even MuchMusic disappeared.. The 24-hour TV news station CP24 moved into the building and repainted the Live Eye truck with their logo. That was total bullshit!
CP24 is moving out of the building at 299 Queen Street West and heading to the suburbs of Scarborough and the iconic building will become yet another over-priced condominium. One can only assume the Live Eye will finally be sent to that scrap heap in the sky after 30 years hanging on the outside of a downtown building.
A spokesperson for Bell Media stated that “There are no plans to remove the truck at this time.” which absolutely confirms it; the Live Eye is coming down. They just don’t want a public backlash.