ZBM-TV (channel 9) is a

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 ...

Hamilton, Bermuda The City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, is the territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination. Its population of 854 (2016) is one of the sm ...

, serving the British territory as an affiliate of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

. It is owned by the

Bermuda Broadcasting Company The Bermuda Broadcasting Company is the largest broadcasting company in Bermuda. Sometimes abbreviated locally as "BBC", it is not related to the BBC, the UK's public broadcasting company. A commercial, for-profit broadcasting company since its b ...

alongside

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate ZFB-TV (channel 7). The two stations share studios on Fort Hill Road in

Devonshire Parish Devonshire Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. Originally named ''Cavendish Tribe'' and later Devonshire Tribe, for William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire (1552–1626). ''Devonshire Redoubt'', on Castle Island, one of the Castle Har ...

History

ZBM-TV was founded in 1958 by Bermuda Broadcasting Company as the first local television station in Bermuda. Before then, residents living near

Kindley Field Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as ''Kindley Field''. History World War II Prior to American entry into th ...

at the East End of Bermuda could watch television via unauthorized reception of the TV signal on base. An affiliation with CBS was added in 1960. The station transitioned to

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 ...

in 1968, possibly the first colour television service on the island of Bermuda. Originally, ZBM-TV broadcast on channel 10, but in 1982, Capital Broadcasting Company merged with Bermuda Broadcasting Company, and ZBM-TV was moved to channel 9.

Technical information

Subchannel

Analog-to-digital conversion

On the week of March 9, 2016, Bermuda Broadcasting ended analog broadcasts and converted ZFB-TV and ZBM-TV to digital, with both services sharing a

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: * Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make * Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain * Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company * Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measu ...

on channel 20. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

was knocked out of service some time later when lightning struck the transmitter. In 2017, in time for the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, Bermuda Broadcasting completed an upgrade that added a second transmitter for ZFB, using virtual channel 19.7, allowing both ZFB and ZBM to broadcast in HD; it also replaced its radio transmitters. With the upgrade, ZBM began using virtual channel 20.9.

References

External links

*
Bermuda News media
(inactive) Television stations in Bermuda CBS network affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Bermuda Transnational network affiliates {{Bermuda-stub