In September 1974, the CRTC awarded the Winnipeg channel 9 licence to Canwest, which formally took possession and assumed day-to-day management of KCND-TV on March 31, 1975 (due to foreign ownership restrictions, the McLendon Corporation remained the official licensee of KCND until it surrendered the station's broadcasting licence to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission later that year). The same month, Canwest confirmed that the new station would operate from a former supermarket at 603 St. Mary's Road in Winnipeg and use an antenna mounted on the CBWT tower in Starbuck, Manitoba, to avoid having to dismantle KCND's tower during the transition. KCND-TV general manager G. O. Johnson was appointed executive vice-president and general manager of CanWest Broadcasting. In May 1975, Canwest announced that KCND's 17 Winnipeg-based employees had all accepted offers of employment at the new station, but that there was little interest among the station's 22 Pembina-based employees.