CHFD-DT
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| Northwestern Ontario | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Thunder Bay, Ontario |
| Branding | Global Thunder Bay |
| Channels | Digital: 4 (VHF) Virtual: 4.1 (PSIP) |
| Translators | CKAR-TV 8 Armstrong (0.01 kW) |
| Affiliations | Global |
| Owner | Dougall Media (Thunder Bay Electronics Ltd.) |
| First air date | October 14, 1972 |
| Call letters' meaning | C Hector Fraser Dougall |
| Sister station(s) | CKPR-DT |
| Former callsigns | CHFD-TV (1972-2011) |
| Former channel number(s) | 4 (Analog, VHF, 1972-2011) |
| Former affiliations | CTV (1972-2010) |
| Transmitter power | 1.2 kW |
| Height | 366.2 m |
| Transmitter coordinates | 48°31′25″N 89°6′55″W / 48.52361°N 89.11528°W |
| Website | Global Thunder Bay |
CHFD-DT, channel 4 (Shaw cable 6), is a television station in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada owned by Dougall Media. It also has a repeater in Armstrong (CKAR-TV, channel 8) and is available on the Bell TV (channel 222) and Shaw Direct (channel 314) satellite services. As of February 12, 2010, CHFD carries the vast majority of the Global Television Network lineup and is branded as Global Thunder Bay.[1]
CHFD went on the air for the first time on October 14, 1972, as a CTV affiliate. The station is part of the Thunder Bay Television twinstick with the CBC affiliate CKPR. It was, from 2002 to 2009, among three CTV-affiliated stations in Canada not owned and operated directly by CTV.
As a CTV affiliate, CHFD also aired selected programming purchased from Global, such as Saturday Night Live and Brothers & Sisters, as well as religious programming commonly aired on Global stations, including 100 Huntley Street and the Hour of Power. It has also aired programmes which do not air on other broadcast channels in Canada, such as Channel 4's A Place in the Sun. Currently the station clears the majority of Global programming, with some preemptions in the daytime schedule for infomercials and the weekend edition of Global National since fall 2011.
Locally-produced programmes include Officially Rugged, TB Classifieds, and the nightly Headline News (no relation to the CNN-owned channel). CHFD also airs a Saturday evening newscast (as CKPR is committed to CBC Sports programming on Saturdays), and repeats CKPR's 11:00pm TB News Late Edition at 11:30 on weeknights.[2]
In January 2010, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) published an application filed by CHFD to disaffiliate from CTV as of February 28, after not being able to negotiate an acceptable new programming agreement with the network, indicating it had instead reached an expanded program supply agreement with Global.[3] However, on February 12, just before CTV's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics began, and before the CRTC was able to rule on the application, CHFD began carrying Global programming full-time. It had attempted to get broadcast rights for the Olympics – which the station said was a separate matter from the network affiliation – but was again unable to reach an acceptable agreement.[1] After affiliating with Global, CHFD rebranded from Thunder Bay Television to Global Thunder Bay, and adopted a new logo and website similar to Global's owned and operated stations.
Local cable company Shaw Communications has advised customers who wish to continue to watch CTV programming to subscribe to their digital cable timeshifting package;[4] the company did, however, add CTV Toronto to its basic lineup on channel 23 for the duration of the Olympics.[5]
[edit] Digital television and high definition
CHFD-DT flash cut to digital in early August 2011 alongside sister station CKPR.
Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display CHFD-DT's virtual channel as 4.1.[6]
In January 2011, Dougall Media applied with the CRTC to broadcast its digital signal instead on channel 4.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b A message to the viewers of Thunder Bay Television
- ^ CHFD TV's schedule at Zap2It.com
- ^ http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-5.htm#1
- ^ Carl Clutchey, City's TV horizon could change, The Chronicle-Journal, 2010-01-13
- ^ Shaw - Channels In My Area (using Thunder Bay postal code), accessed 2010-02-09
- ^ Industry Canada: "DTV Post-Transition Allotment Plan", December 2008
- ^ Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011-23
[edit] External links
- Global Thunder Bay
- Canadian Communications Foundation - CHFD-TV History
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHFD-TV
- Query TV Fool's coverage map for CHFD
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