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 eart ...
in
Hamilton, Bermuda, 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 Entertainm ...
. It is owned by the
Bermuda Broadcasting Company alongside
ABC affiliate
ZFB-TV (channel 7). The two stations share studios on Fort Hill Road in
Devonshire Parish.
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 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 assoc ...
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 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. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
was knocked out of service some time later when lightning struck the transmitter. In 2017, in time for the
America's Cup, 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
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