Global News ends TV helicopter traffic reports in Calgary and Edmonton
Global News and the Canadian Traffic Network (CTN) are ending their TV partnership, but reports on Corus Edmonton and Calgary radio stations will continue.
According to a statement Daily Hive obtained from CTN, Global News will no longer be running airborne traffic reports.
CTN says that it and Corus Entertainment came to a “mutual business decision.”
In a statement to Daily Hive from Corus, a spokesperson said that CTN advised that it could no longer support helicopter traffic services across TV markets that are currently being served by CTN.
“As a national broadcaster, it made little sense to have inconsistent coverage across our markets. As a result of this change, we mutually agreed to end their TV traffic services while continuing our radio partnership,” a Corus spokesperson told Daily Hive.
Corus was also asked if the company would be using items like drones to replace the helicopter; however, an answer was not given.
The change, effective Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, doesn’t just apply to TV stations in Edmonton and Calgary, but to Global News outlets across the country. Corus Entertainment stations like CHED Edmonton will continue to receive CTN traffic reports.
Over the weekend, longtime Global News Edmonton helicopter reporter Shane Blakely called it “a complete honour and a privilege to come into your homes and share with you from what we see from the sky. I hope I have informed and entertained you while taking you on a helicopter ride, and making you feel as though you’re up here with me.”
It’s been a bumpy past couple of years for Corus, with the media giant pulling the plug on 880 Edmonton last summer, a longtime Calgary radio host was let go after nearly three decades last fall, and a round of Corus layoffs hit Global News in September,Ā with a total of 45 people losing their jobs across B.C. and Alberta.
With files from Amir AliĀ