CHEK-TV, the most watched local news station on Vancouver Island, may be up for sale, its parent company, Canwest Global Communications Corp., announced yesterday.

Canwest, which also owns the Times Colonist and the Global TV network, said it was exploring "strategic options" for its five-station secondary conventional network, which includes CHBC-TV in Kelowna, CJNT-RV in Montreal, CHCH-TV in Hamilton and CHCA-TV in Red Deer in addition to CHEK.

Leonard Asper, Canwest's chief executive officer, said CHEK and the four other stations "have proud histories of serving their communities with strong independent voices. However, as they are currently configured, those stations are not core to our television operations going forward."

The stations may be sold, rebranded, reprogrammed or closed, depending on the outcome of a review that RBC Capital Markets is undertaking for Canwest, Canwest spokesman John Douglas said.

Canwest has been considering options for the stations since last summer. Peter Viner, interim president of Canadian television, told analysts last month that the secondary network is losing money.

Were Canwest to close the stations, it could simply hand the broadcast licences back to the CRTC. However, a sale of the stations would require regulatory approval.

CHEK broadcasts all over Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, as well as across Canada by satellite.

It was the first private television station in British Columbia and attracts the largest television news audience on the Island.

Asper said Canwest would increase its focus on specialty channels and digital media.

"This allows us to invest in the areas that provide the greatest return," Asper said.

At its peak, CHEK employed about 120 people. Today, it has about 40 staffers, about 30 of whom work in news.