CBFT-DT
CBFT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the French-language service of Ici Radio-Canada Télé. It is owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada) alongside CBC Television outlet CBMT-DT (channel 6). Both stations share studios at Maison Radio-Canada on René Lévesque Boulevard East in Downtown Montreal, while CBFT-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Royal.
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| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | ICI Grand Montréal |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | Ici Radio-Canada Télé |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Société Radio-Canada |
| CBMT-DT, CBME-FM, CBM-FM, CBF-FM, CBFX-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | September 6, 1952 |
Former channel number(s) | Analogue: 2 (VHF) (1952–2011) |
| Secondary: CBC (1952–1954) | |
Call sign meaning | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Français Télévision |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| ERP | 25 kW |
| HAAT | 300 m (984 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 45°30′19″N 73°35′29″W |
| Links | |
| Website | ICI Grand Montréal |
History
CBFT was the first permanent television station in Canada (an experimental station, VE9EC, had been on the air in Montreal from 1931 to 1935). It launched on September 6, 1952, at 4 p.m., beating CBLT in Toronto by two days. The station went on the air with the movie Aladdin and His Lamp, followed by a cartoon, and then a French film, a news segment and a bilingual variety show.[1] The station aired programming in both French (60 percent) and English (40 percent), a practice common for many stations in Quebec at the time.
This continued until January 10, 1954, when CBMT was launched on VHF channel 6. At that time, all English programming moved to CBMT, while CBFT became a purely French-language station as the flagship of the Télévision de Radio-Canada network for francophone viewers. CBMT's sign-on was hastened by the planned launch of television stations across the border in Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York.
Prior to the digital transition, CBFT operated a translator network that stretched across most of Quebec, parts of Ontario, and most of northern Canada (Northwest Territories and Nunavut). Due to a lack of sources for alternative programming, most Radio-Canada stations are effectively semi-satellites of CBFT. For the most part, their schedules are largely identical to those of CBFT, other than commercials and regional news. This was the case for privately owned Radio-Canada affiliates before the last such station closed in 2021.
Technical information
Subchannel
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 720p | 16:9 | CBFT-DT | Main CBFT-DT programming / Ici Radio-Canada Télé |
Analogue-to-digital conversion
CBFT began broadcasting its digital signal on March 22, 2005.[3] On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts,[4] the station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 19. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CBFT-DT's virtual channel as 2.1.
Former rebroadcasters
CBFT had over 30 analogue television rebroadcasters throughout rural Quebec and Labrador. Due to federal funding reductions to the CBC, in April 2012, the CBC responded with substantial budget cuts, which included shutting down CBC's and Radio-Canada's remaining analogue transmitters on July 31, 2012.[5] None of CBC or Radio-Canada's rebroadcasters were converted to digital.
Quebec
| City of licence | Call sign[6] | Channel | ERP (W)[7] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguanish | CBST-7 | 8 (VHF) | 326 | |
| Baie-Comeau | CBST-19 | 7 (VHF) | 1,590 | |
| Baie-Johan-Beetz | CBST-8 | 7 (VHF) | 1 | |
| Bearn/Fabre | CKRN-TV-3 | 3 (VHF) | ||
| Beauceville | CBVT-6 | 6 (VHF) | 4 | |
| Blanc-Sablon | CBST-17 | 3 (VHF) | 150 | |
| Cap-Chat | CBGAT-6 | 2 (VHF) | 39 | |
| Carleton | CBGAT-14 | 2 (VHF) | 3,200 | |
| Causapscal | CBGAT-5 | 9 (VHF) | 11 | |
| Chandler | CBGAT-15 | 8 (VHF) | 184 | |
| Chapais | CBFAT-1 | 12 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Chibougamau | CBFAT | 5 (VHF) | 665 | |
| Chisasibi | CBFGT | 9 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Clermont | CBSAT | 21 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Cloridorme | CBGAT-16 | 8 (VHF) | 85 | |
| Fermont | CBFT-13 | 7 (VHF) | 20 | Formerly CBST-5 |
| Gaspe | CBGAT-17 | 9 (VHF) | 1,800 | |
| Gethsémani/La Romaine | CBST-9 | 9 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Grande-Vallee, Quebec | CBGAT-3 | 6 (VHF) | 587 | |
| Cros-Morne | CBGAT-9 | 4 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Harrington-Harbour | CBST-11 | 8 (VHF) | 129 | |
| Havre-Saint-Pierre | CBST-1 | 12 (VHF) | 16 | |
| Ile du Havre Aubert | CBIMT-1 | 16 (UHF) | 55 | |
| Îles-de-la-Madeleine | CBIMT | 12 (VHF) | 2,800 | |
| Inukjuak | CBFI-TV | 9 (VHF) | ||
| Kuujjuaq | CBFQ-TV | 9 (VHF) | ||
| Kuujjuarapik | CBFK-TV | 9 (VHF) | ||
| La Tabatière | CBST-13 | 4 (VHF) | 78 | |
| La Tuque | CBFT-14 | 3 (VHF) | 15,400 | Formerly CBVT-3 |
| Lac-Etchemin | CBVT-4 | 55 (UHF) | 400 | |
| Lac-Humqui | CBGAT-19 | 24 (UHF) | 100 | |
| Lac-Megantic | CBVT-3 | 12 (VHF) | 10 | |
| L'Anse-a-Valleau | CBGAT-18 | 10 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Les Mechins | CBGAT-23 | 10 (VHF) | ||
| Longue-Pointe-De-Min | CBST-18 | 6 (VHF) | 98 | |
| Manouane | CBFT-5 | 5 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Marsoui | CBGAT-8 | 12 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Matane | CBGAT | 6 (VHF) | 3,700 | |
| Mistassini | CBFMT | 9 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Mont-Climont | CBGAT-1 | 13 (VHF) | 709 | |
| Mont-Laurier | CBFT-2 | 3 (VHF) | 13,700 | |
| Mont-Louis | CBGAT-4 | 2 (VHF) | 62 | |
| Mont-Louis-en-Haut | CBGAT-10 | 19 (UHF) | 5,100 | |
| Mont-St-Michel | CBFT-9 | 16 (UHF) | 3,000 | |
| Mont-Tremblant | CBFT-1 | 11 (VHF) | 1,600 | |
| Murdochville | CBGAT-2 | 10 (VHF) | 1,530 | |
| Notre-Dame-Des-Monts | CBSNT | 40 (UHF) | 100 | |
| Obedjiwan | CBFT-6 | 10 (VHF) | 1 | |
| Old Fort Bay | CBST-15 | 7 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Parent | CBFT-4 | 12 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Percé | CBGAT-28 | 11 (VHF) | 20 | |
| Port Daniel | CBGAT-21 | 7 (VHF) | 170 | |
| Povungnituk | CBFP-TV | 9 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Radisson | CBFRT | 8 (VHF) | 180 | |
| Riviere-A-Claude | CBGAT-13 | 4 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Riviere-Au-Renard | CBGAT-22 | 2 (VHF) | 2,900 | |
| Riviere-au-Tonnerre | CBST-6 | 7 (VHF) | 1,600 | |
| Riviere-St-Paul | CBST-16 | 21 (UHF) | 89 | |
| Salluit | CBFS-TV | 9 (VHF) | 10 | |
| Schefferville | CBFT-8 | 9 (VHF) | 89 | |
| Sept-Îles | CBST | 13 (VHF) | 8,400 | |
| St-Augustin | CBST-14 | 2 (VHF) | ||
| Ste-Anne-des-Monts | CBGAT-11 | 8 (VHF) | 45,000 | |
| St-Fabien-de-Panet | CBVT-5 | 13 (VHF) | ||
| St-Marc De Latour | CJBR-TV-1 | 9 (VHF) | ||
| St-Michel-des-Saints | CBFT-3 | 7 (VHF) | ||
| Stoneham | CBVT-8 | 44 (UHF) | 5 | |
| St-Pamphile | CBSPT | 3 (VHF) | ||
| St-Rene-de-Matane | CBGAT-7 | 30 (UHF) | ||
| Témiscaming | CBFST-2 | 12 (VHF) | 7,000 | |
| Tête-à-la-Baleine | CBST-12 | 6 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Tewkesbury | CBVT-7 | 7 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Thetford Mines | CBVT-9 | 21 (UHF) | 5 | |
| Ville-Marie | CKRN-TV-2 | 6 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Waskaganish | CBFHT | 9 (VHF) | ||
| Waswanipi | CBFV-TV | 10 (VHF) | 5 | |
| Wemindji | CBFWT | 9 (VHF) | ||
| Weymont | CBFT-7 | 6 (VHF) | ||
Labrador
| City of licence | Call sign | Channel | ERP (W) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill Falls | CBFT-11 | 13 (VHF) | 5 | Formerly CBST-4[8] |
| Labrador City | CBFT-12 | 11 (VHF) | Formerly CBST-3[8] | |
| Port Au Port | CBFNT | 13 (VHF) | 14,000[9] | |
| CBFNT-1 | 4 (VHF) | 291[9] | ||
References
- "CBC Television debuts". CBC.ca. January 19, 2011.
- RabbitEars TV Query for CBFT-DT
- "Télévision de Radio-Canada Montreal (CBFT-TV)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- "Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)". Archived from the original on 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- Speaking notes for Hubert T. Lacroix regarding measures announced in the context of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan
- “Microsoft Word - Analogue transmitters - emetteurs analogiques.docx”. CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- TV & Cable Factbook (65th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Warren Communications News. 1997. p. B-349, B-350, and B-351.
- TV & Cable Factbook (65th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Warren Communications News. 1997. p. B-323.
- TV & Cable Factbook (65th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Warren Communications News. 1997. p. B-324.
External links
- ICI Grand Montréal (in French)
- CBFT-DT history – Canadian Communications Foundation
- CBFT at TV Hat
- CBFT in the REC Canadian station database