television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
Lethbridge, Alberta
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to ...
, Canada, part of the
Global Television Network
The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...
.
Owned and operated
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
by network parent
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...
, the station maintains studios inside the Royal Bank building at the corner of 7 Street South and 4 Avenue South in
Downtown Lethbridge
Downtown Lethbridge is the central business district of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, hosting most of the city's banks and several accounting and law practices, including national firms.
Boundaries
Strictly speaking, the downtown is defined by th ...
, and its transmitter is located near Highway 25 and Range Road 221, just outside the city.
The station carries the full Global network schedule, and its programming is similar to
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
CICT-DT
CICT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and has studios at the Calgary Television Centre on 23 Stre ...
in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
. It is the smallest station in the Global network (formerly second to the defunct Shaw-owned affiliate
CJBN-TV
CJBN-TV, VHF analogue channel 13, was a Global- affiliated television station licensed to Kenora, Ontario, Canada. The station was owned by Shaw Communications under its cable systems unit, and was not part of the Shaw Media unit which was ...
in
Kenora, Ontario
Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District.
The hist ...
) and is the only standalone commercial station in
Southern Alberta
Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.CJOC (the "CJ" in the call sign) and the ''
Lethbridge Herald
The ''Lethbridge Herald'' is the leading daily newspaper in greater Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Alta Newspaper Group and also publishes and distributes a weekly newspaper, the ''Lethbridge Sun Times''.
Early history
On November ...
'' (the "LH"). It was managed by CJOC's owners, Taylor Pearson & Carson, and began life as an affiliate of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
's (CBC)
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
. Network programs on
kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...
arrived within a few days to a week after they went to air live in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, or the U.S. networks. Three months after CJLH went to air, measurement services showed that the station had a potential audience of 9,400 homes, but within a year, that grew to 19,200, and of those, 16,000 had bought television sets. At the time, CJLH was the only station in the Lethbridge area.
Local programming at the time included local newscasts; ''Channel 7 Spotlight'', showcasing area talent; ''Remember When'', a series of programs hosted by Harry Baalim using slides, pictures and relics to tell the history of
Southern Alberta
Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
hockey and
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
football telecasts. In 1961, CJLH expanded into the
Crowsnest Pass
Crowsnest Pass (sometimes referred to as Crow's Nest Pass, french: link=no, col du Nid-de-Corbeau) is a low mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border.
Geography
The pass i ...
area, by opening a repeater station at Burmis on channel 3. An application from
CFCN-TV
CFCN-DT (channel 4) is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside cable-exclusive CTV 2 Alberta (based in Edmonton with sister station CFR ...
in Calgary to open a repeater station in Lethbridge was unsuccessful in getting
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
approval that year.
However, a year later in 1968, an agreement was reached between CFCN and CJLH to share space on the CJLH tower and building for technical equipment. On September 3, CFCN went on the air with a repeater station on channel 13. That same year, the station's first 2-inch black and white videotape recorder was installed, and a repeater in
Brooks
Brooks may refer to:
Places
;Antarctica
*Cape Brooks
;Canada
*Brooks, Alberta
;United States
* Brooks, Alabama
* Brooks, Arkansas
*Brooks, California
*Brooks, Georgia
* Brooks, Iowa
* Brooks, Kentucky
* Brooks, Maine
* Brooks Township, Michigan ...
began operations, transmitting at low power on VHF channel 3.
As CJOC-TV
In 1970, program production was increased significantly when CJLH became a two-camera operation. Two years later, the ''Herald'' sold its stake in the station to
Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver founded in 1934, the company grew to own 14 radio statio ...
(as Taylor Pearson & Carson had been renamed in 1959), who changed its call sign to CJOC-TV to match the radio station. It became a semi-satellite of co-owned CFAC-TV in Calgary (now
CICT-DT
CICT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and has studios at the Calgary Television Centre on 23 Stre ...
) and continued local production with shows such as ''Time Out'', ''Ski Reports'', ''Our Town'', ''Sunday Hour'', ''Thought for the Day'', ''Focus on University'', ''College Campus'' and numerous specials. In 1974, CJOC went full
colour
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
with two colour cameras and three colour 1" VTRs. CFCN moved out of the CJOC building and into its own during that same year.
As CFAC-TV-7
On September 1, 1975, CFAC-TV disaffiliated from the CBC and became an
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
when CBC Television put its own station, CBRT (channel 9), on the air. On the same day, CJOC also disaffiliated from the CBC as CBRT had set up a rebroadcaster in Lethbridge. In 1976, it changed its callsign to CFAC-TV-7. Despite its rebroadcaster-like callsign, it was still licensed as a full-fledged station. The station took on the same branding as CFAC-TV in Calgary, adopting the moniker "2&7 Lethbridge Television". In 1979, the station increased its transmitter power to 167,000 watts. In 1988, it added a satellite dish to get video news feeds from Global Television, and also began carrying some of Global's entertainment programming along with its Calgary sister.
Local programming continued to play an important role at the station, with successful shows such as ''Ski West'', which was syndicated to
CHCH-TV
CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located near the corner of Jack ...
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
CFCF-TV
CFCF-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Noovo flagship CFJP-DT (channel 35). Both stations share studios at th ...
Montreal, and was also judged best syndicated show in the country at the time; ''We Won't Let Him Die'', which won the CanPro Founders award in 1983; and ''Kids Belong Together'' (1990) and ''Key to Literacy'' (1992), both shows won the
Canadian Association of Broadcasters
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa.
It was first e ...
Gold Ribbon Award for community involvement.
As CISA-TV
In 1989, Selkirk Communications merged with CFCN's then-owner,
Maclean Hunter Maclean-Hunter (M-H) was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution.
History
The company began in 1887, when brothers John Bayne Maclean and Hugh ...
, who immediately sold most of Selkirk's television holdings, including CFAC-TV-7, to
Western International Communications
WIC Western International Communications Ltd. (or WIC) was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via a majority interest in Can ...
. One year later, WIC changed the station's calls to the current CISA-TV. Through the years, CISA's commitment to local programming has continued to reap both industry awards, making it one of the country's most awarded stations, and audience numbers in its local area.
In 1998, the Griffiths family sold WIC's assets to
Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...
and
Canwest
Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...
. In 1999, agreements were lodged with the CRTC to split WIC assets between Canwest,
Corus Radio
This is a list of assets owned by Corus Entertainment.
Approximately 80% of the voting control in Corus is held by the family of JR Shaw. The same family also owns about 80% of the voting rights in Shaw Communications, for a list of Shaw assets ...
and Shaw. The CRTC approved the purchase in 2001; Western International Communications was sold to Canwest, and CISA-TV became a full-time Global Television Network station under the brand "Global Lethbridge" on September 4 that year. CISA was the last Global station to have its website integrated into the canada.com network.
Programming
Since 1970, CISA's non-news schedule has been identical to that of CICT. Both stations air Global programming on the same schedule as
CITV
CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...
in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
.
News operation
CISA-DT presently broadcasts 7½ hours of locally produced newscasts during the week; in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the lowest local newscast output out of Global's news-producing owned-and-operated stations. On September 10, 2008, news production for CISA shifted from Lethbridge to Calgary, with the addition of a new virtual set. In 2015, a new local news production model was launched at CISA, eliminating locally produced weekend newscasts.
Notable former on-air staff
* Jackson Proskow (now as a Washington Bureau Chief reporter for
Global News
Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
)
Technical information
Subchannel
Analogue-to-digital conversion
On July 27, 2011, one month before Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory
markets
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
flash cut
A flash cut, also called a flash cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.
In the United States, some telephone area codes were split or overlaid immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dia ...
to digital, becoming the first television station in Southern Alberta to convert to digital. The station's digital signal remained on VHF channel 7.
Transmitters
The following translators will continue to offer the analog signal after CISA's main Lethbridge transmitter is converted to digital.
Alberta translators
Montana translator
CISA-DT has one translator in
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...