CBLFT-DT

CBLFT-DT (channel 25) is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcasts programming to the province's Franco-Ontarian population. It is part of a twinstick with CBC Television flagship CBLT-DT (channel 5). Both stations share studios at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre on Front Street West in downtown Toronto, while CBLFT-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.

CBLFT-DT
Channels
BrandingICI Ontario
Programming
Affiliations25.1: Ici Radio-Canada Télé
Ownership
OwnerSociété Radio-Canada
CBLT-DT, CBL-FM, CBLA-FM, CJBC, CJBC-FM
History
First air date
March 23, 1973 (1973-03-23)[1]
Former call signs
CBLFT (1973–2011)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analogue: 25 (UHF, 1973–2011)
  • Digital: 24 (UHF, 2005–2011)
Call sign meaning
"CBC Great Lakes Français Télévision"
Technical information
Licensing authority
CRTC
ERP106.2 kW
HAAT491.0 m (1,611 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°38′33″N 79°23′14″W
Links
WebsiteICI Ontario

The station provides French-language programming to the Greater Toronto Area and most of Ontario, including the Southwestern, Central and Northeastern regions of the province.

History

CBLFT was originally licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1972 as a standalone station; the station first signed on the air on March 23, 1973. Until CBLFT signed on, CBC O&O CBLT aired French-language programming from Radio-Canada on Sunday mornings. The station originally transmitted from the CBC's Jarvis Street transmitter site, but as with almost all other radio and television stations in Toronto, approval was given by the CRTC to move the transmitter site to the CN Tower on December 14, 1973. Several transmitters in Northern Ontario which were already in operation as rebroadcasters of CBOFT in Ottawa were reassigned to CBLFT's license, and various additional rebroadcasters were added throughout Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the early 1990s due to budget cutbacks at the CBC, all Radio-Canada transmitters in Ontario (except those in the northwest part of the province, which was served by CBWFT in Winnipeg) were reassigned to the license of CBOFT as rebroadcasters. All of the transmitters that were formerly part of CBLFT's license continued to broadcast a separate local early evening newscast, which was produced in Ottawa, but was only seen in that city via a late night rebroadcast, similar to the split broadcast used at CBC Radio One station CBLA-FM (99.1 FM) for its morning programs.

On April 28, 2010, the CRTC granted a license request by the CBC to relaunch CBLFT as a separate station which would once again produce a distinct local newscast from CBOFT.[2] Most of the network's transmitters in Ontario, except for those in the Ottawa area, were again reassigned to CBLFT's license, and newscast production later returned to Toronto.

Technical information

Subchannel
Subchannel of CBLFT-DT
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming[3]
25.1 720p16:9CBLFT-DTMain CBLFT-DT programming / Ici Radio-Canada Télé

Analogue-to-digital conversion

CBLFT shut down its analogue signal, over UHF channel 25, on August 31, 2011, the official date on which Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 24 to post-transition (and former analogue) channel 25.[4]

Transmitters in mandatory markets were required to switch to digital or shut down by the transition deadline of August 31, 2011. Radio-Canada requested to temporarily broadcast in analogue in these markets beyond 2011, as programming for Radio-Canada is not produced in these markets.[5] The following CBLFT rebroadcasters are in mandatory markets:

However, on August 16, 2011, the CRTC granted the CBC permission to continue operating 22 repeaters in mandatory markets, including the above, in analogue until August 31, 2012, in which by then they must either convert to digital or close down. This was pending the corporation's licence renewal process, which will include an evaluation of its transition plans.[6]

At some point before June 20, 2012, CBLFT had begun airing a Mobile DTV simulcast of CBLT-DT on PSIP channel 5–2, encoded in the H.264 and HE-AAC formats.[7]

Transmitters

CBLFT operated almost 30 analog television rebroadcasters throughout the province of Ontario and included communities such as London, Kitchener and Sudbury. Additionally, several Radio-Canada transmitters in eastern Ontario, such as Kingston and Belleville, were part of the CBLFT license even though they served cities that were closer to Ottawa than Toronto.

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 analog transmitters on July 31, 2012.[8] (A transmitter serving Barrie, CBLFT-11, closed down the previous year, in August 2011.)[9] None of CBC or Radio-Canada's television rebroadcasters were converted to digital, leaving rural Canadians and U.S. border regions with no free over-the-air CBC/Radio-Canada coverage. Some affected viewers could get the signal back for a price by subscribing to cable or satellite.[10]

CBLFT is not carried on cable or satellite in the United States.

In many communities, TVOntario transmitted from Radio-Canada sites and therefore permanently left the air the same day. Former rebroadcast transmitters, all now defunct, included:

Former rebroadcasters of CBLFT
Station City of licence Channel ERP HAAT Transmitter coordinates
CBLFT-1[upper-alpha 1] Sturgeon Falls717.5 kW188.1 m46°25′10″N 79°56′3″W
CBLFT-2[upper-alpha 2] Sudbury1317.1 kW143.6 m46°30′14″N 80°58′3″W
CBLFT-3[upper-alpha 3] Timmins930 kW220 m48°28′12″N 81°17′49″W
CBLFT-4[upper-alpha 4] Kapuskasing1230 kW133.5 m49°17′47″N 82°11′9″W
CBLFT-5[upper-alpha 5] Hearst716.8 kW186.2 m49°38′50″N 83°30′50″W
CBLFT-6[upper-alpha 6] Elliot Lake1237 kW162.2 m46°23′21″N 82°37′6″W
CBLFT-7[upper-alpha 7] Espanola4[lower-alpha 1]0.01 kW—46°14′15″N 81°44′28″W
CBLFT-8[upper-alpha 8] Kitchener61[lower-alpha 2]0.635 kW198.1 m43°27′0″N 80°36′7″W
CBLFT-9[upper-alpha 9] London53[lower-alpha 3]0.34 kW306.5 m42°57′16″N 81°21′17″W
CBLFT-10[upper-alpha 10] Chatham4840.6 kW193.2 m42°27′0″N 82°4′59″W
CBLFT-11 Barrie55[lower-alpha 4]14.7 kW189 m44°21′0″N 79°41′50″W
CBLFT-12[upper-alpha 11] Peterborough44111 kW267.6 m44°7′11″N 78°8′11″W
CBLFT-13[upper-alpha 12] Belleville15410 kW170.1 m44°18′45″N 77°12′24″W
CBLFT-14[upper-alpha 13] Kingston32109 kW169.8 m44°17′25″N 76°28′42″W
CBLFT-15 Penetanguishene3417.4 kW181.7 m44°46′10″N 79°59′24″W
CBLFT-17 Sarnia-Oil Springs17[lower-alpha 5]12.12 kW98 m42°54′31″N 82°20′19″W
CBLFT-18 Thunder Bay1222.7 kW237.7 m48°33′2″N 89°13′25″W
CBLFT-19 Nipigon264.3 kW263.9 m48°58′18″N 88°18′24″W
CBLFT-20 Sault Ste. Marie263.6 kW135 m46°35′50″N 84°16′53″W
CBLFT-21 Gogama12[lower-alpha 6]2.36 kW197.8 m47°48′46″N 81°35′39″W
CBLFT-22 Chapleau132.45 kW36.6 m47°47′18″N 83°22′48″W
CBLFT-23 Wawa1614.8 kW154.5 m48°1′13″N 84°45′0″W
CBLFT-24 Dubreuilville110.01 kW—48°20′52″N 84°32′48″W
CBLFT-25 Manitouwadge1555.4 kW200.6 m49°8′21″N 85°49′23″W
CBLFT-26 Geraldton73.4 kW204.2 m49°43′40″N 86°44′10″W
CBLFT-27 Mattawa2616.7 kW93 m46°17′13″N 78°40′35″W
CBEFT Windsor35[lower-alpha 7]36 kW206.8 m42°9′12″N 82°57′11″W
CBFST-2 Témiscaming, Quebec1214.2 kW262.3 m46°38′28″N 79°4′23″W

Notes
  1. Formerly CBFST; began operations in 1961.
  2. Formerly CBFST-1; began operations in 1962.
  3. Formerly CBFOT.
  4. Formerly CBFOT-1.
  5. Formerly CBFOT-2.
  6. Formerly CBFST-3.
  7. Formerly CBFST-4.
  8. Formerly CBLFT-1.
  9. Formerly CBLFT-2.
  10. Formerly CBLFT-3.
  11. Formerly CBLFT-4.
  12. Formerly CBLFT-5.
  13. Formerly CBLFT-6.
  1. Formerly broadcast on channel 11.
  2. Broadcast on channel 76 prior to 1983.
  3. Broadcast on channel 40 (later used for CBLN-TV) prior to 1988.
  4. Closed down in August 2011.[9]
  5. Formerly on channel 68, had plans to convert to digital on UHF 17 before shutdown was announced.
  6. Formerly broadcast on channel 23.
  7. Previously broadcast on channel 78 until October 29, 1982, and on channel 54 until August 31, 2011.

References
  1. Chouinard, Yvon (2004). "History of the Societe-Radio-Canada (SRC) Networks". Canadian Communications Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  2. CRTC Decision 2010-239
  3. RabbitEars TV Query for CBLFT-DT
  4. Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) Archived 2013-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
  5. CBC/Radio-Canada: "2011–2012 Digital Transition Plan", August 6, 2010. Archived April 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. CRTC: "CRTC allows CBC to continue broadcasting analog television signals in 22 markets until August 2012", August 16, 2011. Archived May 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  7. CBC MDTV testing in Toronto | Dude, Where's My TV?
  8. Speaking notes for Hubert T. Lacroix regarding measures announced in the context of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan
  9. "ARCHIVED - Licence amendments". 16 August 2011.
  10. CBC-TV, TVO end analog transmission
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