CJBN-TV
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| City of license | Kenora, Ontario |
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| Branding | CJBN |
| Channels | Analog: 13 (VHF) Digital: allocated 16 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Global |
| Owner | Shaw Communications (Shaw Cablesystems Ltd.) |
| First air date | 1980 |
| Former affiliations | CTV (1980-2011) |
| Transmitter power | 0.178 kW |
| Height | 86.6 m |
| Transmitter coordinates | 49°46′16″N 94°31′19″W / 49.77111°N 94.52194°W |
| Website | CJBN-TV |
CJBN-TV, channel 13, is a television station based in Kenora, Ontario, Canada and part of the Global network. It can also be seen on cable TV channel 12 (previously cable 4) in the Kenora area,[1] as well as on the Bell TV (channel 224) and Shaw Direct (channel 320) satellite services. The station adopted the CJTV brand in the early 2000s, but switched back to "CJBN" in January 2007. CJBN went on the air for the first time in 1980.
The station is owned by Shaw Communications, which acquired the station in 2006 as part of its purchase of local cable company Norcom Telecommunications. It has been a Global station since 2011, after Shaw bought the network as part of its acquisition of Canwest in 2010.[2]
The station is Canada's lowest powered television station affiliated with a major network, with just 178 watts of power. It was tied with KJWY in Jackson, Wyoming until the digital conversion in the US increased its power to 270 watts. As a result it is now the lowest-powered television station on a regular licence in North America.[3] Its main method of distribution is via Shaw's (and others') cable and satellite services.
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[edit] History
CJBN-TV was started by local businessmen Carl Johnson and Bertil Nilson, and started in 1980, with a power output of 17.5 watts. It was co-owned with Norcom Telecommunications, whose cable systems served Kenora and surrounding areas. With a potential audience of only 5,800 households, it was Canada's smallest television market. It remains the smallest DMA in Canada, and the second smallest in North America (behind Glendive, Montana).
The station came about after Norcom applied to operate a Central Time Zone Satellite Relay Distribution System (SRDU), and as such, needed a CTV signal. Winnipeg's CKY, which was the closest CTV affiliate to Kenora, was unavailable, so Norcom applied for, and was successful in gaining their own CTV station. The company also planned to set up a series of rebroadcasting stations to expand into nearby areas, but when Cancom secured the main licence for the Northern Service uplink, Norcom was left with just CJBN. With the local economy dependent on the pulp and paper industry, the station's future remained precarious, especially with the increase of competing satellite services available in the area.
In 1983, the station proposed setting up rebroadcast transmitters in nearby communities:
- CJBN-TV-1 Dryden
- CJBN-TV-2 Fort Frances
- CJBN-TV-3 Sioux Lookout
- CJBN-TV-4 Ignace
- CJBN-TV-5 Red Lake
- CJBN-TV-6 Ear Falls
In 1988, the station told the CRTC that they could not afford to construct the rebroadcast transmitters, and would remain with just one transmitter in Kenora. In place of the rebroadcast transmitters, the station is carried on cable in Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Ear Falls.
In 1985, CJBN-TV increased its power to 177.5 watts. In 1999, the station was brought before the CRTC to explain the lack of Canadian content, but two years later, its licence was renewed, once evidence of renewed effort toward Canadian content was proven. In 2000, CJBN started to brand itself as CJTV but would revert back to the CJBN-TV designation after their purchase by Shaw Communications. And in 2004, cable systems in nearby areas and national satellite services began to carry CJBN.
On August 9, 2006, Shaw Communications announced an agreement to purchase Norcom, including CJBN.[4] As Shaw itself did not previously own any broadcast assets,[5] there was some speculation that the struggling CJBN would be resold to CTV to become a repeater of CKY-TV (Shaw had itself sold CKY to CTV following a similar acquisition in 2001). However, the company decided to keep CJBN. CRTC approval to this sale was announced in November 2006.[6]
Shaw Communications acquired Canwest's broadcasting assets, including the Global network, in 2010. In response to deficiency questions from the CRTC regarding its application to acquire those assets, made public in July 2010, Shaw stated that it had no plans to disaffiliate CJBN from CTV and make the Kenora station a full Global O&O. The cable provider said it would negotiate to extend CJBN's affiliation agreement with CTV, which was set to expire on August 31, 2010 at the time.[2] However, on December 1, 2011, CJBN dropped all CTV programming and became a full Global station, adopting a schedule similar to nearby Global station CKND in Winnipeg.[7][8]
Kenora cable subscribers, both analog and digital, continue to have access to CTV programming through CKY, which is now carried on Shaw's basic cable service in Kenora and area on CJBN's previous cable channel positions (including channel 4 in Kenora), with CJBN relocated to cable 12, the channel position previously used by CKND.[1] Although CJBN effectively became a Global owned-and-operated station as a result of the affiliation switch, the station does not identify using the "Global (region/city)" branding conventions that are standard on other Global O&O stations. Unlike the rest of the Global O&Os, the station is not operated by Shaw Media and is instead operated directly by Shaw Communications' operations in Kenora.
[edit] Programming
The station carries a similar schedule to CKND, the Global station in Winnipeg, including its local newscasts, with the exception of CJBN airing shows such as local production Points North and Urban Rush.[7][8]
The station was examined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1999 for not airing enough Canadian content. Since this occurred, the station has aired the required amount of Canadian programming.
From the station's launch until its disaffiliation from CTV in 2011, the station's programming was primarily sourced from CTV, with the remainder of the schedule rounded out by Global and syndicated programming, although the exact balance varied from season to season. As with many smaller independently-owned Canadian stations, there are also several infomercials throughout any given day's schedule.
[edit] News and local programming
Despite being the only full-fledged station in the area (the only commercial stations are repeaters of Winnipeg stations), CJBN does not produce much local content. A full-fledged news department isn't considered feasible for the station due to the market's small population. For many years, the station's only newscasts were two-minute segments, which were combined into a review program at the end of the week.
In 2008, CJBN began airing a news and issues show called Points North which airs eight times per week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6:30pm & 11:30pm and Saturday & Sunday at 6:30pm. It also airs other special programs aimed at tourists and local residents.
CJBN also airs a half hour regional news program, "Northwest Newsweek," which is produced in Thunder Bay by Thunder Bay Television.
TruTV anchor Ashleigh Banfield began her career at the station.
[edit] Digital television
As of March 2011, CJBN has not begun transmitting in digital format. As there is only a single station originating in the Kenora market, CJBN was not obligated to participate in the mandatory digital conversion that took place in most larger markets on August 31, 2011, and it is not yet clear if or when the station will convert.[9]
In the unlikely event that CJBN begins digital broadcasting while its analogue signal remains on the air, it has been allocated channel 16 for such broadcasts. Otherwise, if and when the station begins broadcasting in digital, it will do so on its current analogue allocation, channel 13.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b "Shaw Channel Listings for Kenora". http://www.shaw.ca/Television/Channel-Listings/?lregion=ON&lcity=Kenora. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ^ a b CRTC application 2010-0550-5, accessible via Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2010-498, July 22, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
- ^ This distinction also excludes repeaters of Canadian networks, especially those affiliated with CBC Television and CBC North.
- ^ Shaw Communications to Acquire Norcom Telecommunications Limited, Shaw press release, August 9, 2006
- ^ At the time, however, the Shaw family controlled three broadcast TV stations, all CBC affiliates, through Corus Entertainment.
- ^ Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-152
- ^ a b CJBN Schedule
- ^ a b CKND Schedule
- ^ "Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-406". http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-406.htm. Retrieved 2011=03-14.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- CJBN-TV
- Canadian Communications Foundation - CJBN-TV History
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CJBN-TV
- Query TV Fool's coverage map for CJBN
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