CKEM-DT

CKEM-DT

Edmonton, Alberta
Branding	City Edmonton
Slogan	Everywhere!
Channels	Digital: 17 (UHF) Virtual: 17.1 (PSIP)
Translators	4 CKEM-TV-1 Red Deer
Affiliations	City
Owner	Rogers Media (Rogers Broadcasting, Ltd.)
First air date	September 18, 1997
Call letters' meaning	EdMonton
Sister station(s)	CJEO-DT, CHBN-FM
Former callsigns	CKEM-TV (1997-2011)
Former channel number(s)	51 (Analog, UHF, 1997-2011)
Former affiliations	A-Channel (1997-2005)
Transmitter power	CKEM-DT: 107 kW CKEM-TV-1: 7 kW
Height	CKEM-DT: 294 m CKEM-TV-1: 229.7 m
Transmitter coordinates	CKEM-DT: 53°31′54.7″N 113°46′52.2″W CKEM-TV-1: 52°14′10″N 113°38′56″W
Website	Citytv Edmonton

CKEM-DT (branded on-air as City Edmonton) is the City owned-and-operated television station based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It broadcasts a high-definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 (or virtual channel 17.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter near Yellowhead Highway/Highway 16A and operates a rebroadcast transmitter in Red Deer on VHF channel 4.

Owned by Rogers Media, it is sister to Omni Television outlet CJEO-DT and both share studios located at Enterprise Square on Jasper Avenue Northwest in Downtown Edmonton. This station can also be seen on Shaw Cable channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 213.

Prior to joining City, CKEM formerly served as the flagship station of Craig Media's A-Channel system from its launch in 1997 until 2005.

History

Logo used as A-Channel, used from 1997-2005.

The station was established by Craig Media Inc., and went on the air for the first time on September 18, 1997 as A-Channel. It promoted itself as a very locally-oriented station, with the slogan "Very independent, very Edmonton!"

In 1999, a letter bomb exploded in the A-Channel Newsroom, injuring the assignment editor and one of the general assignment reporters. A-Channel Edmonton simulcasted the Calgary editions of Live@Five and News@Six while police investigated the bombing. Local Edmonton newscasts resumed later on in the evening. Raymond Neal Best was charged with attempted murder and possession of explosive substances, in connection with the A-Channel letter bomb, and the attempted letter bombings aimed at both Calgary and Edmonton police chiefs.

On September 17, 2003, several employees who were members of the Canadian Energy and Paperworkers Local 1900 went on strike over worry of jobs being lost, wages, and jobs being moved to Calgary (including Master Control operations). The strike lasted 166 days. CKEM's master control moved in late 2003 to CKAL in Calgary.

In 2004, Craig Media announced a deal to sell the A-Channel stations to CHUM Limited. The sale was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on November 19, 2004, and became official on December 1. On February 3, 2005, CHUM announced that the A-Channel stations would be relaunched as Citytv by that fall; the changes took effect on August 2.

CTVglobemedia takes over CHUM Limited

On July 12, 2006, Bell Globemedia (now known as CTVglobemedia) announced plans to take over CHUM Limited, previous parent company of Citytv Edmonton. On June 8, 2007, the CRTC announced its approval of CTVglobemedia's purchase of CHUM Limited, but added a condition that CTVglobemedia must sell off CHUM's Citytv stations (including CKEM) to another buyer while keeping the A-Channel stations since they already have CFRN-TV in the same market. The following Monday, it was announced that Rogers Communications would buy the stations of the Citytv system. The sale was approved by the CRTC on September 28, 2007. The sale was finalized on October 31, 2007.

News operation

On July 12, 2006, the station's local newscasts (with the exception of CityNews at Noon) were immediately cancelled after years of ratings struggle in the Edmonton market. The local newscasts were replaced by a half-hour news magazine program called Your City at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., along with a national and international newscast called CityNews International (produced in the Citytv's CityNews studios in Toronto, Ontario).

On January 19, 2010, CityNews at Noon, Your City along with a national and international newscast called CityNews International were cancelled as part of the Citytv layoffs.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• A-Channel News Now (1997–2000)
• A-Channel News (2000–2005)
• CityNews (2005–2006)
• Breakfast Television (morning newscast; 2005–present)

Station slogans

• "Connected to You" (2000–2005)
• "Everywhere!" (2005–present)

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On-air staff

Breakfast Television

Hosts

• Ryan Jespersen - co-host
• Bridget Ryan - co-host
• Courtney Theriault - news anchor
• Michele McDougall - co-host/weather specialist
• Carla Turner - co-host/traffic reporter

Reporters

• Kathy Mueller - videojournalist
• Nisha Patel - general assignment reporter
• Alice Wu - videojournalist

Digital television and high definition

As of May 26, 2010, CKEM-DT began testing and only broadcasted a test loop. On June 29, the station began broadcasting regular programming. The HD channel is broadcasting on 17.1.

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which takes place on August 31, 2011, CKEM-TV is required to begin digital broadcasts on its current assigned channel number, 51, however should the station sign-on before the analog shut off date, the station will broadcast on channel 17. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display CKEM-TV's virtual channel as 51.1.

External links

• City Edmonton
• Canadian Communications Foundation - CKEM-TV History
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CKEM-TV
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for CKEM