CBFT-DT

CBFT-DT

Montreal, Quebec Canada
Channels	Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 2.1
Branding	ICI Grand Montréal
Programming
Affiliations	Ici Radio-Canada Télé (O&O)
Ownership
Owner	Société Radio-Canada
Sister stations	CBMT-DT, CBME-FM, CBM-FM, CBF-FM, CBFX-FM
History
First air date	September 6, 1952 (69 years ago) (1952-09-06)
Former channel number(s)	Analogue: 2 (VHF) (1952–2011)
Former affiliations	Secondary: CBC (1952–1954)
Call sign meaning	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Français Télévision
Technical information
Licensing authority	CRTC
ERP	25 kW
HAAT	300 m (984 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	45°30′19″N 73°35′29″W / 45.50528°N 73.59139°W / 45.50528; -73.59139
Links
Website	ICI Grand Montréal

CBFT-DT, virtual channel 2 (UHF digital channel 19), is the flagship station of the French-language service of Ici Radio-Canada Télé, licensed to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The station is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), as part of a twinstick with CBC Television station CBMT-DT (channel 6). The two stations share studios at Maison Radio-Canada on René Lévesque Boulevard East in Downtown Montreal; CBFT-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Royal.

On cable, the station is available on Vidéotron Illico digital cable channel 2 in standard definition and channel 602 in high definition in the Montreal area, Charter Spectrum channel 5 in Plattsburgh, New York and Comcast Xfinity channel 22 in Burlington, Vermont. CBFT-DT is also seen on direct broadcast satellite throughout Canada.

History[]

CBFT was the first permanent television station in Canada (an experimental station, VE9EC, had been on the air in Montreal from 1931 to 1935). It launched on September 6, 1952 at 4 p.m., beating CBLT in Toronto by two days. The station went on the air with the movie Aladdin and His Lamp, followed by a cartoon, and then a French film, a news segment and a bilingual variety show.^[1] The station aired programming in both French (60 percent) and English (40 percent), a practice common for many stations in Quebec at the time.

This continued until January 10, 1954, when CBMT was launched on VHF channel 6. At that time, all English programming moved to CBMT, while CBFT became a purely French-language station as the flagship of the Télévision de Radio-Canada network for francophone viewers. CBMT's sign-on was hastened by the planned launch of television stations across the border in Burlington and Plattsburgh, Vermont.

Through its translator network that existed prior to the digital transition, CBFT's over-the-air footprint extended across most of Quebec, parts of Ontario, and most of northern Canada (Northwest Territories and Nunavut). Due to a lack of sources for alternative programming, most Radio-Canada stations—both O&Os and affiliates—are effectively semi-satellites of CBFT. For the most part, their schedules are largely identical to those of CBFT, other than commercials and regional news.

Digital television[]

Digital channel[]

Analogue-to-digital conversion[]

CBFT began broadcasting its digital signal on March 22, 2005.^[3] On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts,^[4] the station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 19. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CBFT-DT's virtual channel as 2.1.

Former rebroadcasters[]

CBFT had over 30 analogue television rebroadcasters throughout rural Quebec and Labrador. Due to federal funding reductions to the CBC, in April 2012, the CBC responded with substantial budget cuts, which included shutting down CBC's and Radio-Canada's remaining analogue transmitters on July 31, 2012.^[5] None of CBC or Radio-Canada's rebroadcasters were converted to digital.

Quebec[]

Labrador[]

See also[]

• List of Ici Radio-Canada Télé television stations

References[]

External links[]

• ICI Grand Montréal (in French)
• CBFT-DT history – Canadian Communications Foundation
• CBFT at TV Hat
• CBFT in the REC Canadian station database