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CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language
broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
television network owned by 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 governmen ...
, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-language counterpart is
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pu ...
. With main studios at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, CBC Television is available throughout Canada on over-the-air television stations in urban centres, and as a must-carry station on cable and satellite television providers. CBC Television can also be live streamed on its CBC Gem video platform. Almost all of the CBC's programming is produced in Canada. Although CBC Television is supported by public funding, commercial advertising revenue supplements the network, in contrast to
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined belo ...
and public broadcasters from several other countries, which are commercial-free.


Overview

CBC Television provides a complete 24-hour network schedule of news, sports, entertainment and children's programming; in most cases, feeding the same programming at the same local times nationwide, except to the Newfoundland Time Zone, where programs air 30 minutes "late". On October 9, 2006, at 6:00 a.m., the network switched to a 24-hour schedule, becoming one of the last major English-language broadcasters to transition to such a schedule. Most CBC-owned stations previously signed off the air during the early morning hours (typically from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.). Instead of the
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
s aired by most private stations, or a simulcast of
CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
in the style of
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's nightly simulcast of BBC News Channel, the CBC uses the time to air repeats, including local news, primetime series, films and other programming from the CBC library. Its French counterpart,
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pu ...
, which continued to sign off every night for several years thereafter, now broadcasts a simulcast of its sister news network Ici RDI after regular programming ends for the night until the next programming day begins. While historically there has been room for regional differences in the schedule, as there is today (see "Stations", below), for CBC-owned stations, funding has decreased to the point that most of these stations no longer broadcast any significant local programming beyond local newscasts and an edition of the summer regional documentary series ''
Absolutely Canadian ''Absolutely Canadian'' is a Canadian documentary television series. Formerly a weekday news series on CBC Newsworld, it currently airs as a weekly series on CBC Television. Newsworld In its CBC Newsworld era, the program aired news reports on l ...
''. Until 1998, the network carried a variety of American programs in addition to its core Canadian programming, directly competing with private Canadian broadcasters such as
CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
and Global. Since then, it has restricted itself to Canadian programs, a handful of British programs, and a few American films and off-network repeats. Since this change, the CBC has sometimes struggled to maintain ratings comparable to those it achieved before 1995, although it has seen somewhat of a ratings resurgence in recent years. In the 2007–08 season, popular series such as '' Little Mosque on the Prairie'' and '' The Border'' helped the network achieve its strongest ratings performance in over half a decade. In 2002, CBC Television and
CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
became the first broadcasters in Canada that are required to provide
closed captioning Closed captioning (CC) and subtitling are both processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a transcription of the audio po ...
for all of their programming. On those networks, only outside commercials need not be captioned, though a bare majority of them are aired with captions. All shows, bumpers, billboards, promos and other internal programming must be captioned. The requirement stems from a human rights complaint filed by deaf lawyer Henry Vlug, which was settled in 2002.


Programming


News and current affairs

The CBC's flagship newscast, '' The National'', airs Sunday through Fridays at 10:00 p.m. local time (except in
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, where it airs at 10:30 p.m.) and Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. EST. Until October 2006, CBC owned-and-operated stations aired a second broadcast of the program at 11:00 p.m.; this later broadcast included only the main news portion of the program, and excluded the analysis and documentary segment. This second airing was later replaced with other programming, and as of the 2012-13 television season, was replaced on CBC's major market stations by a half-hour late newscast. There is also a short news update, at most, on late Saturday evenings. During hockey season, this update is usually found during the first intermission of the second game of the doubleheader on ''
Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
''. The show is also simultaneously broadcasts rolling coverage from CBC News Network from noon to 1 p.m. local time in most time zones (also from 6 to 7 a.m. in regions where a local CBC Radio One morning show is not simulcast instead). In addition to the mentioned late local newscasts, CBC stations in most markets fill early evenings with local news programs, generally from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., while most stations also air a single local newscast on weekend evenings (comprising a supper hour broadcast on Saturdays and a late evening newscast on Sundays). Weekly newsmagazine '' the fifth estate'' is also a CBC mainstay, as are documentary series such as '' Doc Zone''.


Sports

One of the most popular shows on CBC Television is the weekly Saturday night broadcast of NHL hockey games, ''
Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
''. It has been televised by the network since 1952. During the NHL lock-out and subsequent cancellation of the 2004–05 hockey season, CBC instead aired various recent and classic films, branded as ''Movie Night in Canada'', on Saturday nights. Many cultural groups criticized this and suggested the CBC air games from minor hockey leagues; the CBC responded that most such broadcast rights were already held by other groups, but it did base each ''Movie Night'' broadcast from a different Canadian hockey venue. Other than hockey, CBC Sports properties included Toronto Raptors basketball,
Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...
soccer, and various other amateur and professional events. The telecast of the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
including Summer and Winter Olympic Games at Canadian television on CBC's broadcast started in 1956. It has the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games until 2024. It was also the exclusive carrier of Canadian Curling Association events during the 2004–05 season. Due to disappointing results and fan outrage over many draws being carried on CBC Country Canada (now called
Cottage Life ''Cottage Life'' is a Canadian magazine focusing on cottage lifestyle content. First published in the summer of 1988, the publication features how-to articles, buying guides, and tips on aspects of cottage living and lifestyle. Formally published ...
), the association tried to cancel its multiyear deal with the CBC signed in 2004. After the CBC threatened legal action, both sides eventually came to an agreement under which early-round rights reverted to TSN. On June 15, 2006, the CCA announced that TSN would obtain exclusive rights to curling broadcasts in Canada as of the 2008–09 season, shutting the CBC out of the championship weekend for the first time in 40-plus years. CBC Sports suffered another major blow when it was announced that after the 2007 season, the
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 ...
regular season games and the Grey Cup would be moving to TSN, ending the CBC's tenure with the CFL. It has been stated that the CFL was not happy with the CBC's lacklustre production during the CBC's 2005 union lock-out, which forced the network to use CBC management to work the behind the scenes telecast and use stadium public address announcers in place of their regular announcer crew. On June 23, 2007, the network aired the first game in a two-year deal to broadcast
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
games; the contract ended at the end of the 2008 season, and was not renewed. In August 2007, it was also announced that the CBC would broadcast
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
games involving the Toronto Raptors, starting with the 2007–08 NBA season, through at least 2009–10; the CBC would carry 10 games for the 2007–08 and 20 games for the 2008-09 and 2009–10 seasons. In November 2013, CBC lost its rights to the NHL to Rogers Communications, under a 12-year deal beginning in the
2014–15 NHL season The 2014–15 NHL season was the 98th season of operation (97th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Los Angeles Kings became the first team to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season since the ...
. The CBC concurrently announced a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers, under which it would supply Sportsnet-produced ''Hockey Night in Canada'' broadcasts to CBC Television at no charge; all advertising during the broadcasts would be sold by Rogers, but the CBC would be provided with advertising time for its own programs. Officially, the broadcasts are carried by a CRTC-licensed part-time network operated by Rogers and affiliated with all CBC Television stations. This was required to formally assign responsibility for the broadcasts to Rogers; on-air, the telecasts otherwise use CBC branding and continuity. As a result of funding reductions from the federal government and decreased revenues, in April 2014, CBC announced it would no longer bid for professional sport broadcasting rights.


Entertainment

Among CBC Television's best-known primetime series are comedy series '' Rick Mercer Report'' (2004–18), '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (since 1993) and '' Little Mosque on the Prairie'' (2007–12), and dramas such as ''
The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...
'' (2007–10), ''
Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization ...
'' (since 2007) and ''
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...
'' (2006–07). In recent years, British series such as '' Coronation Street'' and '' Doctor Who'' have been given greater prominence. As noted above, it now carries very little American programming apart from some syndicated daytime shows. In 2006, the CBC announced radical changes to its primetime line-up, including the following new series to premiere that fall: * '' Dragons' Den'' (reality) * ''
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...
'' (drama; 2006–07) * '' Rumours'' (comedy; 2006–07) * ''
Underdogs An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
'' (a spinoff of ''
Marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
'') * ''
Jozi-H ''Jozi-H'' is a Canadian-South African television drama series, which aired in 2006 and 2007.Brad Oswald, "Jozi-H medical drama an exotic spin on ER". ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 13 October 2006. Coproduced by Morula Pictures of South Africa and Inne ...
'' (medical drama; a Canadian-South African co-production; 2006–07) * '' The One: Making a Music Star'' (a Canadian version of the American reality show simulcast by CBC in July 2006; Canadian series was not included on the schedule) * '' 72 Hours: True Crime'' (crime documentary series; aired in "core" of primetime for first time; 2004–07) * Repeats of '' The Hour'' on the main CBC network, from 2005 to 2014. Many were surprised by these changes to the CBC schedule, which were apparently intended to attract a younger audience to the network; some suggested they might alienate the core CBC viewership. Another note of criticism was made when the network decided to move '' The National'' in some time zones to simulcast the American version of ''The One'' over the summer. This later became a moot point, as ''The One'' was taken off the air after two weeks after extremely low American and Canadian ratings, and the newscast resumed its regular schedule. In 2006, daytime programming was also revamped. While there were still repeats of CBC and foreign series, new talk shows such as '' The Gill Deacon Show'' (2006–07) and the regional franchise ''
Living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * H ...
'' (2007–09) were aired. ''The Gill Deacon Show'' was cancelled after just seven months, and replaced with another talk show, ''
Steven and Chris ''Steven and Chris'' is a Canadian television talk show that aired on CBC Television from 2008 to 2015. The show was hosted by Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman, formerly of the home renovation shows '' Designer Guys'' and '' Design Rivals'', wh ...
'' from 2008 to 2015 (''Steven and Chris'' is also shown on the Live Well Network in the United States); ''Living'' was cancelled in August 2009. On January 9, 2007, the CBC began airing a highly publicized new series called '' Little Mosque on the Prairie'' (2007–12), a comedy about a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
family living in rural
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
. The series garnered strong ratings as well as international media attention, for most of its five year run. It was also announced that Martha Stewart's daytime show would be added to the CBC daytime line-up, with the nighttime ''
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or '' Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-J ...
'' and ''
Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'' following in September 2008 (with a few edits to limit the amount of U.S. advertising). In January 2008, CBC Television launched the drama series '' The Border'' (2008–10), '' MVP'' (2008) and '' jPod'' (2008), the reality series '' The Week The Women Went'' (2008–09) and the comedy ''
Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...
'' from 2008 to 2009. Only ''The Border'' and ''Sophie'' were renewed for a second season in the fall of 2008. The new series '' Being Erica'' (2009–10) and the short-lived '' Wild Roses'' (2009) began airing in January 2009. Beginning in 2005, the CBC has contributed production funds for the BBC Wales revival of '' Doctor Who'', for which it received a special credit at the end of each episode. This arrangement continued until the end of fourth season, broadcast in 2008. The CBC similarly contributed to the first season of the spin-off series, '' Torchwood''. More recently, the network has also begun picking up Canadian rights to some Australian series, including the drama series '' Janet King'' and '' Love Child'',"CBC-TV stacks fall and winter lineups with British, Aussie fare"
680 News, May 28, 2015.
and the comedy-drama series ''
Please Like Me ''Please Like Me'' is an Australian television comedy-drama series created by and starring Josh Thomas. Thomas also serves as a writer for most episodes. The series premiered on 28 February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and is now available on Ne ...
''.


CBC Gem

CBC Gem is CBC Television's video-on-demand platform; it includes streaming of live and on-demand programming from CBC Television, a number of short-form comedy, drama, and non-fiction web series; Canadian feature-length, short, and documentary films, and selected international programming from other public broadcasters around the world. The service is available via the web and as a
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
(formerly the CBC TV app). Gem also offers a premium subscription including ad-free video on-demand, as well as
CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
. New and upcoming shows like TopLine can be watched on CBC Gem.


Children's programming

Children's programming, often marketed as " CBC Kids" and "The Outlet", occupies most of the morning hours on weekdays and much of weekend mornings.


CBC HD

On March 5, 2005, CBC Television launched a high definition simulcast of its Toronto ( CBLT-DT) and Montreal ( CBMT-DT) stations. Since that time, the network has also launched HD simulcasts in Vancouver (
CBUT-DT CBUT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBUFT-DT (channel 26). Both stations shar ...
), Ottawa ( CBOT-DT), Edmonton ( CBXT-DT), Calgary ( CBRT-DT), Halifax (
CBHT-DT CBHT-DT (channel 3) is a CBC Television station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The station's studios are located on Chebucto Road in Halifax, and its transmitter is located on Washmill Lake Drive (near Bently Drive) on the city's west side. C ...
), Windsor, ( CBET-DT), Winnipeg ( CBWT-DT), and St. John's ( CBNT-DT). CBC HD is available nationally via satellite and on digital cable as well as for free over-the-air using a regular TV antenna and a digital tuner (included in most new television sets) on the following channels: All HD channels map to their analogue positions via the North American PSIP
virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
ing standard. In fall 2007, the CBC upgraded its Toronto facilities, becoming the second fully HD news broadcaster in Canada. ''The National'' and all its news programs originating from the same news studio in Toronto (including ''CBC News: Sunday Night'') are now available in HD. On September 1, 2011, as part of the analogue television shutoff and digital conversion, all CBC over-the-air HD broadcasts switched from the
1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scree ...
to
720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...
resolution format. In August 2012, after the CBC shut down all of their remaining analogue transmitters, CBC television (as well as
CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
) began broadcasting all programming solely in the 16:9 aspect ratio and began letterboxing its widescreen feed for standard definition viewers just as
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pu ...
has done since September 2007.


Stations

All CBC television stations, including those in major cities, are owned and operated by the CBC itself. CBC owned-and-operated (O&O) stations operate as a mostly seamless national service with few deviations from the main network schedule, although there are some regional differences from time to time. For on-air identification, most CBC stations use the CBC brand rather than their call letters, not identifying themselves specifically until sign-on or sign-off (though some, like Toronto's CBLT, do not ID themselves at all except through PSIP). All CBC O&O stations have a standard call letter naming convention, in that the first two letters are "CB" (an ITU prefix in the CA-CE block allocated not to Canada (whose block is CF-CK), but to Chile) and the last letter is "T". Only the third letter varies from market to market; however, that letter is typically the same as the third letter of the CBC Radio One and
CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...
stations in the same market. An exception to this rule are the CBC North stations in Yellowknife,
Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's Downtown Whitehorse, downtown ...
and Iqaluit, whose call signs begin with "CF" due to their historic association with the CBC's Frontier Coverage Package prior to the advent of microwave and satellite broadcasting. Some stations that broadcast from smaller cities were private affiliates of the CBC, that is, stations which are owned by commercial broadcasters but predominantly incorporated CBC programming within their schedules. Such stations ''generally'' followed the CBC schedule, airing a minimum 40 hours per week of network programming. However, they often chose to opt out of some CBC programming in order to air locally produced programs, syndicated series or programs purchased from other broadcasters, such as CTV Two, which do not have a broadcast outlet in the same market. In these cases, the CBC programming being displaced may have been broadcast at a different time than the network, or were not broadcast on the station at all. Most private affiliates generally opted out of CBC's afternoon schedule and Thursday night arts programming. Private affiliates carried the 10 p.m. broadcast of '' The National'' as a core part of the CBC schedule, but generally omitted the 11 p.m. repeat (which is no longer broadcast). Most private affiliates produce their own local newscasts for a duration of at least 35 minutes. Some of the private affiliates later began adding CBC's overnight programming to their schedules since the network began broadcasting 24 hours a day in October 2006. Following the disaffiliation of the last privately owned CBC affiliate
CKSA-DT CKSA-DT (channel 2) is a Citytv-affiliated television station in Lloydminster, a city located on the border of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is owned by Stingray Radio alongside CTV affiliate CITL-DT (channel 4). Both st ...
in Lloydminster on August 31, 2016, no more private stations operate as CBC affiliates, as many such stations have been purchased either by the CBC itself or by Canwest Global or CHUM Limited, respectively becoming E! (a small system owned by Canwest, but separate from its fully national Global Television Network) or A-Channel (later A, now CTV Two) stations. One private CBC affiliate, CHBC-TV in Kelowna, joined E! (then known as CH) on February 27, 2006. When a private CBC affiliate reaffiliated with another network, the CBC normally added a retransmitter of its nearest O&O station to ensure that CBC service is continued. However, due to an agreement between CHBC and CFJC-TV in Kamloops, CFJC also disaffiliated from the CBC on February 27, 2006, but no retransmitters were installed in the licence area. Former private CBC affiliates
CKPG-TV CKPG-TV ( analogue channel 2) is a television station in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, affiliated with Citytv. The station is owned by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on 3rd Avenue (near Winnipeg Street) in Pri ...
Prince George and CHAT-TV
Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are wit ...
disaffiliated on August 31, 2008, and joined E!, but the CBC announced it would not add new retransmitters to these areas. Incidentally, CFJC, CKPG and CHAT are all owned by an independent media company,
Jim Pattison Group The Jim Pattison Group is a Canadian conglomerate based in Vancouver. In a recent survey by the Financial Post, the firm was ranked as Canada's 62nd largest company. Jim Pattison, a Vancouver-based entrepreneur, is the chairman, CEO, and sole ...
. With the closure of E! and other changes in the media landscape, several former CBC affiliates subsequently joined CTV, Citytv or Global, or closed altogether. According to filings to the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 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 broadcast ...
(CRTC) by Thunder Bay Electronics (owner of CBC's
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populati ...
affiliate CKPR-DT) and Bell Media (owner of CBC affiliates
CFTK-TV CFTK-TV ( analogue channel 3) is a television station in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada, airing CTV 2 programming. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the Great West Television system. CFTK-TV's studios are located on Lazelle Aven ...
in Terrace and
CJDC-TV CJDC-TV ( analogue channel 5) is a television station in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, airing CTV 2 programming. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the Great West Television system. CJDC-TV's studios are located on 102 A ...
in Dawson Creek), the CBC informed them that it would not extend its association with any of its private affiliates beyond August 31, 2011. Incidentally, that was also the date for analogue to digital transition in Canada. Given recent practice and the CBC's decision not to convert any retransmitters to digital, even in markets with populations in the hundreds in thousands, it was not expected that the CBC would open new transmitters to replace its affiliates, and indeed pared back its existing transmitter network to just its digital transmitters in July 2012. However, in March 2011, CKPR announced that it had come to a programming agreement with the CBC, in which the station would continue to provide CBC programming in Thunder Bay for a period of five years. On March 16, 2012, Astral Media announced the sale of its assets to Bell Media, owners of
CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
and CTV Two, for $3.38 billion with CFTK and CJDC included in the acquisition. Both stations subsequently became CTV Two stations. CBC television stations in
Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...
, the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
and
Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, branded as CBC North, tailor their programming mostly to the local native population, and broadcast in many native languages such as Inuktitut, Gwichʼin and Dene.


CBC Television worldwide


Carriage of CBC News

From 1994 through July 2005, CBC Television's news programming was aired in the United States on Newsworld International. On September 11, 2001, several American broadcasters without their own news operations, including
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
and
Home Shopping Network HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Flo ...
, carried the CBC's coverage of the terror attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. In the days after September 11, C-SPAN carried CBC's nightly newscast, '' The National'', anchored by Peter Mansbridge. C-SPAN has also carried CBC's coverage of major events affecting Canadians. Among them: * Canadian federal elections. * Six days in September 2000 that marked the death and state funeral of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. * The war in Iraq. ''The National'' aired on C-SPAN each night for about three weeks following the attacks on Iraq. ** Peter Mansbridge signed off his broadcasts during that time, saying "I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks for watching, those of you here in Canada, and viewers across the United States watching us on C-SPAN." * The power outage crisis in summer 2003. * Key proceedings in
Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, ...
, such as state openings. *
U.S. presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not di ...
s. ** In 2004, C-SPAN picked up ''The National'' the day after the election for the view from Canadians. * State and official visits of
American presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and ...
to Canada. ** During
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
's coverage of President George W. Bush's visit to Canada, CBC's senior parliamentary editor, Don Newman, appeared on MSNBC. Several PBS stations also air some CBC programs, especially '' The Red Green Show'', although no CBC programming currently airs on the full network schedule. For a number of years CBC co-produced a news programme, '' Hemispheres'', with Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC; the program was hosted from Sydney and
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
and included reports from both networks' foreign correspondents. It was broadcast in both Canada and Australia and across Asia and the Pacific on the
Australia Network ABC Australia, formerly Australia Television International (or just Australia Television), ABC Asia Pacific, Australia Network and Australia Plus, is an Australian pay television channel, launched in 1993 and operated by the Australian Broadc ...
.


Canada–United States border audiences

CBC Television stations can be received over-the-air or through cable in many American communities along the Canada–United States border, and have a significant audience in those areas. CBC's sports coverage has also attained high viewership in border markets, including its coverage of the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs, which was generally considered to be more complete and consistent than coverage by other networks such as NBC. Its coverage of the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
also found a significant audience in border regions, primarily due to the fact that CBC aired more events live than NBC's coverage, which had been criticized in recent years for tape delaying events to air in primetime, even if the event is being held in a market in the Pacific Time Zone during primetime hours on the East (where it would still be delayed for West Coast primetime).


Over-the-air digital television transition

The CRTC ordered that in 28 "mandatory markets," full power over-the-air analogue television transmitters had to cease transmitting by August 31, 2011. Broadcasters could either continue serving those markets by transitioning analogue transmitters to digital or cease broadcasting over-the-air. Cable, IPTV, and satellite services are not involved or affected by this digital transition deadline. While its fellow Canadian broadcasters converted most of their transmitters to digital by the Canadian digital television transition deadline of August 31, 2011, CBC converted only about half of the analogue transmitters in mandatory areas to digital (15 of 28 markets with CBC Television stations, and 14 of 28 markets with Télévision de Radio-Canada stations). Due to financial difficulties reported by the corporation, the corporation published digital transition plans for none of its analogue retransmitters in mandatory markets to be converted to digital by the deadline. Under this plan, communities that receive analogue signals by rebroadcast transmitters in mandatory markets would lose their over-the-air signals as of the deadline. Rebroadcast transmitters account for 23 of the 48 CBC and Radio-Canada transmitters in mandatory markets. Mandatory markets losing both CBC and Radio-Canada over-the-air signals include
London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...
(metropolitan area population 457,000) and
Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
, Saskatchewan (metro area population 257,000). In both of those markets, the corporation's television transmitters are the only ones that were not planned to be converted to digital by the deadline. Because rebroadcast transmitters were not planned to be converted to digital, many markets stood to lose over-the-air coverage from CBC or Radio-Canada, or both. As a result, only seven of the markets subject to the August 31, 2011, transition deadline were planned to have both CBC and Radio-Canada in digital, and 13 other markets were planned to have either CBC or Radio-Canada in digital. In mid-August 2011, the CRTC granted the CBC an extension, until August 31, 2012, to continue operating its analogue transmitters in markets subject to the August 31, 2011, transition deadline. This CRTC decision prevented many markets subject to the transition deadline from losing signals for CBC or Radio-Canada, or both at the transition deadline. At the transition deadline,
Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politicall ...
, Ontario lost both CBC and Radio-Canada signals as the CBC did not request that the CRTC allow these transmitters to continue operating. In markets where a digital transmitter was installed, existing coverage areas were not necessarily maintained. For instance, the CBC implemented a digital transmitter covering
Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...
, New Brunswick in the place of the existing transmitter covering
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of ...
and Fredericton, and decided to maintain analogue service to Saint John. According to CBC's application for this transmitter to the CRTC, the population served by the digital transmitter would be 113,930 people versus 303,465 served by the existing analogue transmitter. In Victoria, the replacement of the Vancouver analogue transmitters with digital ones only allowed only some northeastern parts of the metropolitan area (total population 330,000) to receive either CBC or Radio-Canada. CBC announced on April 4, 2012, that it will shut down all of its approximately 620 analogue television transmitters on July 31, 2012 with no plans to install digital transmitters in their place, thus reducing the total number of the corporation's television transmitters across the country down to 27. According to the CBC, this would reduce the corporation's yearly costs by $10 million. No plans have been announced to use subchannels to maintain over-the-air signals for both CBC and Radio-Canada in markets where the corporation has one digital transmitter. In fact, in its CRTC application to shut down all of its analogue television transmitters, the CBC communicated its opposition to use of subchannels, citing costs, amongst other reasons. The CBC had stated that the "useful life of CBC/Radio-Canada's satellite distribution backbone for analogue transmission ends in 2013" and that it "will not reinvest in that infrastructure given the inevitability of analogue obsolescence." Despite the shutdown of the rebroadcasters, few viewers actually lost access to CBC programming due to the very high penetration of cable and satellite, which is all but essential for acceptable television in much of Canada (particularly rural areas).


CBC and affiliate transmitters in mandatory markets

In addition to the above noted digital transmitters, the non-mandatory market Radio-Canada transmitter in Rimouski, Quebec,
CJBR-DT CJBR-DT, virtual channel 2.1 (UHF digital channel 45), branded on-air as ICI Est du Québec, is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé owned-and-operated station licensed to Rimouski, Quebec, Canada. The station is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporat ...
, was transitioned to digital on August 31, 2012. The non-mandatory market CBC Yellowknife transmitter,
CFYK-DT CFYK-DT (channel 8) is a CBC Television station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It is the flagship station of the CBC North television service. History The station signed on in 1967 as the first television station in northern Can ...
, was transitioned to digital on July 31, 2012. Of the non-mandatory affiliates,
CKWS-DT CKWS-DT (channel 11) is a television station in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, the station maintains studios on Queen Street in downtown Kingston, and i ...
Kingston and
CHEX-DT CHEX-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, the station maintains studios on Monaghan Road (near Rose Avenue) in t ...
Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...
converted in 2013, while
CFTK-TV CFTK-TV ( analogue channel 3) is a television station in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada, airing CTV 2 programming. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the Great West Television system. CFTK-TV's studios are located on Lazelle Aven ...
Terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...
and
CJDC-TV CJDC-TV ( analogue channel 5) is a television station in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, airing CTV 2 programming. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the Great West Television system. CJDC-TV's studios are located on 102 A ...
Dawson Creek, British Columbia has yet to convert; these stations has since changed its affiliations to other networks. 1 Lloydminster's CBC affiliate,
CKSA-DT CKSA-DT (channel 2) is a Citytv-affiliated television station in Lloydminster, a city located on the border of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is owned by Stingray Radio alongside CTV affiliate CITL-DT (channel 4). Both st ...
, disaffiliated with the network in September 2016, changing to an affiliate of Global. CBXT Edmonton and/or CBKT Regina now serves the region via cable and satellite. Radio-Canada never had a transmitter serving the Lloydminster area. 2 Thunder Bay's CBC affiliate, CKPR-DT, disaffiliated with the network in September 2014, changing to an affiliate of
CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
. CBLT now serves the city via cable and satellite. 3 The Greater Toronto Area was served by CBC Television flagship CBLT, while the
Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater T ...
was served by an affiliate,
CHEX-TV-2 CHEX-DT-2 (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the Regional Municipality of Durham as part of the Global Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and maintai ...
. CHEX-TV-2 would not be required to convert to digital until 2019. CHEX-TV-2 would drop CBC programming in exchange for CTV in 2015; it since became a Global outlet for the Durham Region in 2018. 4 The Radio-Canada affiliate serving Rivière-du-Loup,
CKRT-DT CKRT-DT, virtual and VHF digital channel 7, was an Ici Radio-Canada Télé- affiliated station licensed to Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada. Owned by the Simard family and their company, Télé Inter-Rives, it was sister to Noovo affiliate ...
, ceased operations on August 31, 2021, after Radio-Canada declined to renew CKRT's affiliation, with no sufficient alternate sources available. Radio-Canada programming has since become available in the region only by cable and satellite, with CJBR-TV Rimouski seen on many cable systems. CBC Television never had a transmitter serving the Rivière-du-Loup area. 5 The Radio-Canada affiliate serving Rouyn-Noranda/Val-d'Or, CKRN-DT, ceased operations on March 25, 2018. Radio-Canada programming has since become available in the region only by cable and satellite, with CBFT Montreal seen on many cable systems. CBC Television was provided by two different repeaters: CBVD-TV channel 5 Malartic (repeating CBMT Montreal, serving Val-d'Or) and CFCL-TV-2 / CBLT-8 channel 2 in Kearns, Ontario (repeating CFCL-TV Timmins, later CBLT Toronto, serving Rouyn-Noranda); these repeaters would close with the rest of the repeater network in 2012.


History

In 2006, the CBC submitted a plan to the CRTC for transitioning the over-the-air television signals from analogue to digital. In this submission, the CBC stated that its 654 analogue transmitters reached 98% of the population, and that it planned on installing 44 digital transmitters, reaching 80% of Canadians. The CRTC decided to impose a mandatory transition date switching over-the-air television signals from analogue to digital, following consultation with CBC and the public. CBC had requested during this consultation that broadcasters be given four years to transition. Following the consultation, on May 17, 2007, the CRTC imposed a transition timeline of four years, resulting in a transition deadline of August 31, 2011, and requiring that over-the-air analogue transmitters be shut off by that date. On July 6, 2009, the CRTC limited the August 31, 2011 transition deadline to certain mandatory markets, greatly reducing the number of transmitters needing to be transitioned. In CBC's 2009–2010 Corporate Plan, the corporation stated that it planned on having 30 transmitters broadcasting in digital by the deadline, costing $30 million. On August 6, 2010, the CBC issued a press release stating that due to financial reasons, the CBC and Radio-Canada would only transition 27 transmitters total, one in each market where there was an originating station (i.e. a CBC or Radio-Canada television station located in that market). Further, the CBC stated in the release, that only 15 of the transmitters would be in place by August 31, 2011, due to lack of available funds, and that the remainder would not be on the air until as late as August 31, 2012. Additionally, the CBC stated in the release that it was asking the CRTC for permission to continue broadcasting in analogue until the identified transmitters for transition were up and running. At the time of the press release, only eight of the corporation's transmitters (four CBC and four Radio Canada) were broadcasting in digital. On November 30, 2010, CBC's senior director of regulatory affairs issued a letter to the CRTC regarding CBC's plans for transitioning to digital. The letter states, "CBC/Radio-Canada will not be converting its analogue retransmitters in mandatory markets to digital after August 31, 2011." On December 16, 2010, some months after the CRTC issued a bulletin reminding broadcasters that analogue transmitters had to be shut off by the deadline in mandatory markets, the CBC revised the documents accompanying its August 6, 2010, news release to state that it had the money for and is striving to transition all 27 transmitters by August 31, 2011. On March 23, 2011, the CRTC rejected an application by the CBC to install a digital transmitter serving Fredericton, New Brunswick in place of the analogue transmitter serving Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick, which would have served only 62.5% of the population served by the existing analogue transmitter. The CBC issued a press release stating "CBC/Radio-Canada intends to re-file its application with the CRTC to provide more detailed cost estimates that will allow the Commission to better understand the unfeasibility of replicating the Corporation's current analogue coverage." The press release further added that the CBC suggests coverage could be maintained if the CRTC were to "allow CBC Television to continue providing the analogue service it offers today – much in the same way the Commission permitted recently in the case of Yellowknife,
Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's Downtown Whitehorse, downtown ...
and Iqaluit." On March 29, 2011, the CRTC added the following condition of licence to over-the-air stations owned by CBC: "Unless otherwise authorized by the Commission, the licensee shall not transmit analogue television signals after 31 August 2011 in mandatory markets designated as such by the Commission in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2011-184 or transmit television signals on channels 52 to 69". On August 18, 2011, the CRTC issued a decision that allows CBC's mandatory market rebroadcasting transmitters in analogue to remain on-air until August 31, 2012. Before that deadline, CBC's licence renewal process would take place and CBC's digital transition plans would be examined as part of that process. The requirement remains for all of CBC's full-power transmitters occupying channels 52 to 69 to either relocate to channels 2 to 51 or become low-power transmitters. In some cases, CBC has opted to reduce the power of existing transmitters to low-power transmitters, which will result in signal loss for some viewers. On April 4, 2012, CBC released its budget plans, in which it announced that all of its approximately 620 analogue television transmitters would be shut down on July 31, 2012, which was earlier than planned, due to funding reductions from the federal government. On July 17, 2012, the CRTC approved the shut down of CBC's analogue transmitters, noting that "while the Commission has the discretion to refuse to revoke broadcasting licences, even on application from a licensee, it cannot direct the CBC or any other broadcaster to continue to operate its stations and transmitters."Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-384
/ref> On July 31, 2012, at around 11:59 p.m. in each time zone, the remaining 620 analogue transmitters were shut down, leaving the network with 27 digital television transmitters across the country, and some transmitters operated by some affiliated stations.


See also

* List of CBC Television stations * List of programs broadcast by CBC Television *
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pu ...


References


External links

*
CBC/Radio-Canada Corporate Site


- cbc.ca
Video montage of new (2006) CBC News graphic set
*

- Canadian Communications Foundation {{Authority control Companies based in Toronto Television channels and stations established in 1952 1952 establishments in Ontario Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television networks pl:CBC/Radio-Canada