The station's first children's show, shown on weekday afternoons, was The Professor's Hideaway, starring Stan Francis.

[2][3][4] American television network ABC held a minority share in the partnership, which it sold to each of the partners shortly before CFTO-TV went on the air.

The station's original studio and transmitter facilities were located at 1550 McCowan Road, later renamed 9 Channel Nine Court.

BCE Inc. later reacquired 100% control of CTVglobemedia's assets for $1.3 billion in 2011, with the parent company being renamed once again to Bell Media.

Any discrepancies with other stations would generally be limited to local infomercials and religious programming on Sunday mornings.

Indeed, the amount of programming originating at CFTO was often a source of tension with the network's other major-market affiliates.

For much of its history, CFTO's Channel Nine Court studios have also served as the home for network-produced programs such as CTV National News, Canada AM and W5.

This change occurred because the long-standing association between CITY-TV (channel 57) and CP24 (which were previously both owned by CHUM Limited) abruptly came to an end after the CRTC announced the approval of their application by Rogers Media, owners of Citytv, to launch its own 24-hour local news channel which would be focusing on the Greater Toronto Area, CityNews Channel;[7][8] like CFTO, CP24 is operated by Bell Media, although the operations between the two remain otherwise separate.

On May 12, 2009, CFTO began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition; with the change, the station introduced a renovated studio.

[10] On April 29, 2019, CTV updated broadcast channels for stations in Toronto, Victoria, and Windsor.

[11] Download coordinates as: CFTO-TV-21 and a long list of CTV rebroadcasters nationwide were to shut down on or before August 31, 2009, as part of a political dispute with Canadian authorities on paid fee-for-carriage requirements for cable television operators.

[13] A subsequent change in ownership assigned full control of CTVglobemedia to Bell Media; as of 2011, these transmitters continue to be licensed and remain in operation.