Veteran news anchors Ben Chin and Sarika Sehgal have joined Craig Media’s TORONTO 1, it was announced today by Drew Craig, CEO and President, Craig Media Inc.

The highly respected anchors will host TORONTO 1’s smart new flagship current affairs TV magazine Toronto Tonight. The hour-long program will air daily at 7:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. (ET).

Toronto Tonight will take its cue from Toronto itself, exploring the issues the city cares about and striving to bring viewers closer to the stories of the day with an original take on the events in the City. Aggressive, entertaining and a purveyor of Toronto trends and Toronto trendsetters, Toronto Tonight promises to be a unique and one-of-a-kind addition to the city’s current affairs landscape.

“Ben and Sarika represent a new standard of journalistic excellence,” says Barbara Williams. “They are superior writers, creators, reporters, news producers and anchors. We are proud they are the new faces of our signature current affairs program, Toronto Tonight. We believe they will be instrumental in making TORONTO 1 one of the city’s leading sources of world-class current affairs programming.”

Chin comes to TORONTO 1 from CBC News, where he most recently anchored Canada Now in Toronto. Over the past five years, he has hosted or guest-hosted numerous programs on CBC Television and CBC Newsworld, including The National, Saturday Report and Sunday Report. He has also anchored live coverage of breaking news events on both networks, including the aftermath of 9/11, the first hours of the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, the tainted water outbreak in Walkerton, the conflict in Kosovo and the deaths of the Queen Mother and Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Chin has also served as Bureau Chief and Reporter for CTV News’ Atlantic Bureau, where he covered the crash of Air Canada flight 646.

He began his career at Toronto’s CityTv in 1989, working as a general reporter and anchor for eight years. In his post, he broke numerous stories, including the child-abuse scandal at Maple Leaf Gardens. He also covered the trials of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

Chin was born in Geneva, Switzerland to a South Korean diplomat’s family and lived in Europe, Asia and the Americas before settling in Toronto.

Considered a rising star in Canadian broadcast journalism, Sarika Sehgal joins TORONTO 1 from Hamilton’s CH News, where she served as executive producer and co-anchor of the station’s 6 p.m. and late night newscasts. In her role, she reported live on breaking news from the war in Iraq, giving viewers a unique Canadian perspective on unfolding events a world away. She also worked at CTV Calgary affiliate CFCN, where she anchored and co-produced the top-rated Noon News, reported as an expert health journalist and subbed as an anchor of the evening news.

A graduate of Humber College’s TV and Radio Communications Program and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, Sehgal began her broadcast news career as a producer at CTV’s Canada AM. Moving quickly through the ranks, she soon became a reporter, producer and anchor on live newscasts at the network’s Sudbury affiliate MCTV.

The Toronto-born Sehgal has also served as the daily health reporter at Craig Media’s A Channel Edmonton, taking on anchoring duties for the station’s noon hour newscasts. She covered breaking news and was part of the channel’s award-winning special report coverage of 9/11.

Sehgal has lived and worked in diverse communities and cultures across the country, giving her a keen understanding of the political and social backdrop of Canadian life.

According to Zev Shalev, TORONTO 1’s Executive Producer of Current Affairs: “Ben and Sarika together represent the true spirit of this station in current affairs. They have covered the big story and the small story and they know what’s important to viewers.”

Craig Media’s TORONTO 1 will launch on Friday, September 19 at 7 p.m. ET, it was announced today by Barbara Williams, Vice-President and General Manager of the new local TV station.