| CFTM-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Montreal, Quebec | |
| Branding | TVA |
| Slogan | C'est vrai |
| Channels | Analog: 10 (VHF) Digital: allocated 59 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | TVA |
| Owner | Quebecor Media, Inc. (Groupe TVA, Inc.) |
| First air date | February 19, 1961 |
| Call letters’ meaning | CF Télé-Métropole |
| Former affiliations | independent (1961-1963) |
| Transmitter Power | 325 kW |
| Height | 296.3 m |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 45°30′19″N 73°35′29″W / 45.50528°N 73.59139°W |
| Website | TVA Montreal |
CFTM-TV channel 10, is the flagship of the TVA television network, located in Montreal, Quebec.
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History
It opened on February 19, 1961, a few weeks after CFCF-TV went on the air for the first time. It was owned by Joseph Alexandre DeSève and his company, Télé-Métropole. At first it relied primarily on kinescopes from RTL, and also from Télé Monte Carlo, but it wasn't long before it settled into a more peculiar and local form. In 1963, it began sharing programs with CJPM-TV in Chicoutimi. They were joined by CFCM-TV in Quebec City in 1964. This was the beginning of TVA, though the network wasn't formally established until 1971. When DeSève died in 1968, the city government renamed the street in front of CFTM's studios rue Alexandre DeSève in his honour.
CFTM has always been by far the largest station in the TVA network. As such, it dominated the network long before Télé-Métropole bought majority control of TVA in 1990. At one point, CFTM produced as much as 90 percent of TVA's programming. Even today, TVA's network feed is little more than a retransmission of CFTM. Whenever CFTM has to interrupt its programming for breaking news or weather alerts in Montreal, the entire network usually gets interrupted as well.
CFTM-TV was essentially available on satellite beginning 1 November 1981 as TCTV, carried via Cancom by cable television operators across Canada, though not in most major cities. TCTV carried mainly the same programs as CFTM, but with some local news and programming from other TVA affiliates. The TCTV service ended when the CRTC approved TVA for a national network license in 1998, in which at that time, the actual CFTM signal was distributed with no variations.[citation needed]
Since May 1, 1999, all Canadian cable companies have been required to carry a TVA station. CFTM is the affiliate carried in most markets outside of Quebec — excepting some markets in Northern Ontario, Eastern Ontario and New Brunswick, which have long carried the stations in adjacent markets. The station also provides a time-shifted feed for cable companies in western Canada, delayed three hours after the original broadcast, matching up with Pacific Time.
Digital television and high definition
As of October 2008, CFTM-DT has not yet begun broadcasting, despite having received CRTC approval in March 2006 for its request to broadcast digitally on UHF channel 59.[1] The station has been granted a requested extension of this construction permit, currently slated to expire August 2009.[2]
Following the analog television shutdown and digital conversion date, tentatively scheduled as August 31, 2011, [3] CFTM-DT is required to begin broadcasting on its current assigned and analog channel number, 10.
References
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-78, 15 March 2006, re: TVA Group Inc, Montréal, Québec
- ^ Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-0050-0 17 March 2008, approval of extension to 31 August 2009 to commence operation of transitional digital television at CFTM-TV Montréal
- ^ http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/oca-bc.nsf/en/ca02336e.html
External links
- TVA Montreal (French)
- Canadian Communications Foundation - CFTM-TV History
- CFTM at TV Hat
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CFTM-TV
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