CFCL-TV
Encyclopedia
CFCL-TV was a television station in Timmins
, Ontario
. In operation from 1956 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television
, it now operates only as a rebroadcaster of Toronto
's CBLT with the call sign CBLT-7.
. It was originally established as a bilingual
private affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
's English and French television networks. It aired on channel 6.
The station added a rebroadcast transmitter in Kapuskasing in 1957. Lavigne subsequently added rebroadcasters in several communities in Northern Ontario
and Western Quebec
; by 1965, CFCL had the largest privately owned microwave transmission
network in the world. CFCL remained a dual affiliate until the mid-1960s, when CBOFT added a transmitter in Timmins, CBFOT (now CBLFT-3).
In 1971, Lavigne opened new CBC stations in Sudbury (CKNC
) and North Bay
(CHNB
). The existing CBC stations in those cities became CTV
affiliates; their owner also extended its Sudbury signal to Timmins via transmitter CKSO-TV-2, later standalone station CITO
.
Until 1980, CFCL and CKSO-2 aggressively competed with each other for advertising dollars, leaving both in a precarious financial position due to the Timmins market's relatively small size. In 1980, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the merger of the two stations, along with their co-owned stations in North Bay and Sudbury, into the MCTV
twinstick
.
In 1990, the MCTV stations were acquired by Baton Broadcasting, which became the sole corporate owner of CTV
in 1997.
in North Bay, CJIC
in Sault Ste. Marie and CKNC
in Sudbury — directly to the CBC in 2002. All four ceased to exist as separate stations on October 27, 2002, and now exist only as rebroadcasters of Toronto
's CBLT.
The former CFCL's call sign is now CBLT-7.
Timmins
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. In operation from 1956 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
, it now operates only as a rebroadcaster of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's CBLT with the call sign CBLT-7.
History
The station was established on June 21, 1956 by J. Conrad LavigneJ. Conrad Lavigne
J. Conrad Lavigne, CM, O.Ont was a pioneering Canadian media proprietor.Born in Chénéville, Quebec, Lavigne was raised in Cochrane, Ontario. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1942 and fought in World War II...
. It was originally established as a bilingual
Bilingualism in Canada
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada" according to Canada's constitution...
private affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's English and French television networks. It aired on channel 6.
The station added a rebroadcast transmitter in Kapuskasing in 1957. Lavigne subsequently added rebroadcasters in several communities in Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
and Western Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
; by 1965, CFCL had the largest privately owned microwave transmission
Microwave transmission
Microwave transmission refers to the technology of transmitting information or power by the use of radio waves whose wavelengths are conveniently measured in small numbers of centimeters; these are called microwaves. This part of the radio spectrum ranges across frequencies of roughly...
network in the world. CFCL remained a dual affiliate until the mid-1960s, when CBOFT added a transmitter in Timmins, CBFOT (now CBLFT-3).
In 1971, Lavigne opened new CBC stations in Sudbury (CKNC
CKNC-TV
CKNC-TV was a television station in Sudbury, Ontario. In operation from 1971 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television, it is now a repeater of the network's station in Toronto, CBLT.-History:...
) and North Bay
North Bay, Ontario
North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
(CHNB
CHNB-TV
CHNB-TV was a television station in North Bay, Ontario. In operation from 1971 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television, it is now a repeater of the network's station in Toronto, CBLT.-History:...
). The existing CBC stations in those cities became CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
affiliates; their owner also extended its Sudbury signal to Timmins via transmitter CKSO-TV-2, later standalone station CITO
CITO-TV
CITO is a Canadian television station, broadcasting in Timmins, Ontario. It is an O&O of CTV. CITO also broadcasts on channel 10 in Kapuskasing, channel 11 in Kirkland Lake, channel 4 in Hearst and channel 9 in Chapleau.-History:CITO was established in 1971 as CKSO-TV-2, originally rebroadcasting...
.
Until 1980, CFCL and CKSO-2 aggressively competed with each other for advertising dollars, leaving both in a precarious financial position due to the Timmins market's relatively small size. In 1980, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the merger of the two stations, along with their co-owned stations in North Bay and Sudbury, into the MCTV
Mid-Canada Communications
Mid-Canada Communications was a Canadian media company, which operated from 1980 to 1990. The company, a division of Northern Cable, had television and radio holdings in Northeastern Ontario.-MCTV:...
twinstick
Twinstick
A twinstick, in Canadian broadcasting, is a term for two television stations, broadcasting in the same market, which are owned by the same company...
.
In 1990, the MCTV stations were acquired by Baton Broadcasting, which became the sole corporate owner of CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
in 1997.
End of operations
CTV subsequently sold its four CBC affiliates in Northern Ontario — CFCL, CHNBCHNB-TV
CHNB-TV was a television station in North Bay, Ontario. In operation from 1971 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television, it is now a repeater of the network's station in Toronto, CBLT.-History:...
in North Bay, CJIC
CJIC-TV
CJIC-TV was a television station in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In operation from 1955 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television, it now operates only a repeater of the network's flagship station in Toronto, CBLT.-History:...
in Sault Ste. Marie and CKNC
CKNC-TV
CKNC-TV was a television station in Sudbury, Ontario. In operation from 1971 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television, it is now a repeater of the network's station in Toronto, CBLT.-History:...
in Sudbury — directly to the CBC in 2002. All four ceased to exist as separate stations on October 27, 2002, and now exist only as rebroadcasters of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's CBLT.
The former CFCL's call sign is now CBLT-7.
Transmitters
| Station | City of licence City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... |
Channel Channel (broadcasting) In broadcasting, a channel is a range of frequencies assigned by a government for the operation of a particular radio station, television station or television channel. In common usage, the term also may be used to refer to the station operating on a particular frequency.-See also:*Broadcast... |
ERP Effective radiated power In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains... |
HAAT Height above average terrain Height above average terrain is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is actually much more important than effective radiated power in determining the range of broadcasts... |
Transmitter Coordinates | Notes |
| CFCL-TV-2 | Kearns | 2 (VHF Very high frequency Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency... ) |
70 kW | 212.4 m | 48°8′7"N 79°33′18"W | now CBLT-8 |
| CFCL-TV-3 | Kapuskasing | 2 (VHF Very high frequency Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency... ) |
4.6 kW | 121.1 m | 49°23′28"N 82°21′27"W | now CBLT-9 |
| CBCC-TV | Hearst Hearst, Ontario Hearst is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in Northern Ontario, approximately west of Kapuskasing, approximately north of Toronto and east of Thunder Bay on Highway 11... |
5 (VHF Very high frequency Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency... ) |
8.11 kW | 146.6 m | 49°38′50"N 83°30′50"W | |
| CBCO-TV-1 | Moosonee Moosonee, Ontario Moosonee is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered as "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port... |
9 (VHF Very high frequency Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency... ) |
0.009 kW | NA | 51°17′2"N 80°38′4"W | |
| CBCU-TV | Chapleau Chapleau, Ontario Chapleau is a township in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada. It is home to one of the world's largest wildlife preserves. Chapleau has a population of 2,354 according to the Canada 2006 Census.... |
7 (VHF Very high frequency Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency... ) |
3.996 kW | 128 m | 47°51′15"N 83°25′8"W | |
External links
- CRTC Decision 2001-457-6, license renewal for all MCTV stations.
- Canadian Communications Foundation - CFCL-TV History