CFLA-TV
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CFLA-TV was the local CBC Television station in Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was an analogue rebroadcaster of CBNT-DT, the CBC station in St. John's.
History
1950s to 1970s
The station was founded by the US Air Force in 1957 via a Canada-United States agreement. The station's licence was held by the CBC (making it a CBC owned and operated television station), but it was maintained and operated by the USAF. The station was broadcast on VHF Channel 8 with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 348 watts (video) and 174 watts (audio).
Programming
During the USAF's operation under CBC licensing, the programming became more varied. At that point in time, material was shipped to the CFLA studios from both the CBC and American Forces Network suppliers. Content was aired 50/50. In order to provide more American content, CFLA created a one-hour teen dance show, similar to American Bandstand. The Jeffrey Wayne Show was broadcast three times a week with both American and Canadian teenagers participating from Happy Valley and Northwest River. Under the CBC rules, this locally produced show counted as Canadian content, allowing the addition of three hours of American content.
During the early 1960s, CFLA's programming schedule usually ran from 2:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Two local newscasts were presented Monday - Saturday, and one on Sunday. The news copy was ripped and read off the wire, and visuals consisted of still pictures. The weatherman stood behind a large transparent glass map. By reversing the camera scanning it appeared that he had the special talent of writing and drawing the symbols backwards. It created much viewer interest, so much so that it was a top priority of many visitors to the station to see how it was done.
The management in 1969 was M.A. "Tony" Grace as the CBC Management Representative, SSgt. Tom Stevenson as USAF NCOIC (General Manager), and Sgt. Jon "Dunbar" Wakayama as Program Director. During their tenure, CFLA created four different block programming formats, recruited local talent to sing jingles for the station, integrated the "CBC is for Lovers" TV campaign, and even had a parade rerouted to a road near the studio in order to broadcast the event. The CFLA-TV crew also produced a weekly news radio feature called Pulsebeat for CFGB-AM in Happy Valley.
Since there was no network feed or videotape in 1969 to show the moon landing, the CFLA-TV crew rebroadcast the live CBC radio feed over an artistically selected series of slides to capture the feeling of that historical moment. A similar situation seven years earlier in 1962 during John F. Kennedy's historic Bay of Pigs speech; the audio portion was picked up from CFGB radio while various file pictures of the president aired.
The CBC also helped the station by sending cyclorama backdrops, set dressing, props and slides for the regularly scheduled news and entertainment programs such as Panorama and Speaking of Sports with Gordie Rendell. They also provided an environmentally conscious news teletype, allowing viewers to follow the events of mercury poisoning of the fish in Placentia Bay.
Because the CBC's time-sensitive programs had to be delayed by several weeks, viewers were treated to situations such as the Perry Como Thanksgiving Special airing close to Christmas. Since the majority of Christmas specials were pre-produced they aired on time.
To keep the Canadian content balance, 55-45 at that time, CFLA produced a live show Monday - Saturday at 11:40 p.m. called Midnight. Hosted by Marty Culpepper, it basically was a radio show on TV, consisting of music recordings over still pictures, a filmed short subject, cartoon, news headlines and tidbits off the wire. Saturday afternoons, during the winter months, a one-hour teen dance show hosted by Mike Keene was produced locally. Occasionally, courtesy of the NCO Club, their entertainment provided several half-hour shows. It was a challenge to produce a show with a live band and singers in such a small studio with limited equipment.
Operations
The studio was located in the basement of building S565. The transmitter, two studio cameras and switcher were Dage products. Telecine consisted of two 16mm RCA projectors and a 35mm slide projector. No videotape.
Leo Harvey was the CBC Mgt. Rep. and Capt. William James, base information officer, was the military supervisor.
The equipment for CFLA-TV originally was located at Loring AFB, Maine during 1954-56 due to the lack of commercial service in that area. The station was relocated to Goose Air Base once Presque Isle's WAGM-TV began broadcasting on channel 8 in 1956.
1970s to present
In 1973, the USAF formally transferred operations to the CBC.
On March 1, 1988, the station's licence was renewed. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) also noted that CFLA was basically a rebroadcast transmitter of CBNT St. John's, aside from 3 hours and 20 minutes of locally produced programming each week. Most of this programming was a ten-minute insert of the daily news and public affairs program Here and Now (from CBNT), and a 30-minute news and general interest program Coffee Break, which aired on weekday mornings.
Starting October 8, 1991, CFLA-TV was given approval to decrease its ERP from 6800 to 1930 watts. With this change, a new antenna system was installed, and the station became a full-time rebroadcaster of CBNT.
Due to budget cuts handed down on the CBC in April 2012, the CBC has announced several austerity measures to keep the corporation solvent and in operation; this included the closure of the CBC and Radio-Canada's remaining analogue transmitters, including CFLA-TV, on July 31, 2012.[1]