CityNews Channel broadcast an all-news format, consisting of local, national and international news.

ET weekends, it aired an audio simulcast of 680 News and live traffic camera feeds from the Toronto area.

[1] Under the ownership of CHUM Limited, Citytv had operated CablePulse 24 (CP24), another Toronto-based local news channel, from 1998 to 2007.

However, this was delayed due to economic conditions as well as the reconstruction of Citytv's new headquarters at 33 Dundas Street East.

On May 30, 2011, the same day that Citytv's 2011-2012 television broadcast schedule was unveiled, Rogers announced plans to launch the new channel in the fall of the same year.

Due to financial difficulties, Rogers Media ceased live broadcasts of the CityNews Channel on May 30, 2013, in order to redirect its news resources in Toronto to Citytv and CFTR.