CFCM-DT

CFCM-DT, virtual channel 4.1 (UHF digital channel 17), is a TVA owned-and-operated television station licensed to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The station is owned by the Groupe TVA subsidiary of Quebecor Media. CFCM-DT's studios are located on de l'Exposition Street near the Videotron Centre in the Quebec City borough of La Cité-Limoilou, and its transmitter is located at its former studios on Myrand Street in the former suburb of Sainte-Foy. On cable, the station is available on Vidéotron channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 604.

CFCM-DT
Quebec City, Quebec
Canada
ChannelsDigital: 17 (UHF)
Virtual: 4.1 (PSIP)
BrandingTVA (general)
TVA Nouvelles (newscasts)
SloganDiffuseur d'émotions
Programming
AffiliationsTVA (O&O)
Ownership
OwnerGroupe TVA
History
First air date
July 17, 1954
Former channel number(s)
Analogue:
4 (1954–2011)
CBC (1954–1957)
Radio-Canada (1954–1964)
Independent (1964–1971)
Réseau Pathonic (1986–1990)
Technical information
Licensing authority
CRTC
ERP210 kW
HAAT117.1 m (384 ft)
Transmitter coordinates46°47′5″N 71°15′53″W
Links
WebsiteTVA Québec

Until 2011, the station's transmitter facilities previously also hosted the transmitter for CBVE-TV (channel 5), the now-defunct local rebroadcaster of CBMT-DT/Montreal, when that station relocated to CBVT-DT's former analogue channel (VHF channel 11), which broadcasts from Mount Bélair.

History

CFCM was Quebec's first private television station, going on the air for the first time on July 17, 1954. The transmitter building and studios was located on St. Jean Boscoe Street, near Cite Universitaire. The tower contract had been let to Cobra Industries Inc. and the total estimated cost of TV station and building was $500,000. A 440 foot tall lattice tower was built for the stations transmitter which gave the station a 50 mile coverage radius.[1] CFCM started out as a private bilingual CBC/Radio-Canada affiliate. The station's original owner was Télévision de Québec, a consortium of theatre chain Famous Players and Quebec City's two private AM radio stations, CHRC and CKCV.

At its launch, CFCM immediately linked up with both the CBC and Radio-Canada microwave networks. The station started broadcasting an all-French service on March 17, 1957, when Télévision de Québec launched CKMI-TV. When Radio-Canada opened CBVT on September 7, 1964, CFCM joined the loose association of independent stations formed by Montreal's CFTM-TV and Chicoutimi's CJPM-TV a year earlier. This was the forerunner of TVA, which was formally organized on September 12, 1971.

Télévision de Québec was nearly forced to sell its stations in 1969 because of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's new rules requiring television stations to be 80 percent Canadian-owned.[2] The largest shareholder, Famous Players, was a subsidiary of American film studio Paramount Pictures[3] (Paramount and parent company Viacom eventually sold Famous Players to rival Cineplex Entertainment in 2005). Eventually, Famous Players reduced its shares to 20% by 1971, allowing Télévision de Québec to keep CKMI and CFCM[4] The company renamed itself Télé-Capitale in 1974.

For a time in the 1980s, the station's logo was a "4" resembling the logo of independent Spanish language station WAPA-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

CFCM, along with five other stations, CKMI-TV, CHLT-TV, CHEM-TV and CFER-TV, were all purchased by Pathonic Communications in 1979. CFCM became the flagship station of Pathonic's new TVA-affiliated system.

Pathonic merged with Télé-Metropole, owner of CFTM, in 1990. Since then, CFCM has been a semi-satellite of CFTM, except for newscasts.

Currently, CFCM produces its own edition of the 6 p.m. bulletin, TVA Nouvelles, anchored by Pierre Jobin. It is the only TVA station to entirely produce its own evening newscast.

Digital television

In August 2011, CFCM-DT signed on the air.

With the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will list CFCM-DT's virtual channel as 4.1.

References
  1. https://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/television/cfcm-dt
  2. Frank Foster. Broadcasting Policy Development. Franfost Communications; 1982. p. 295.
  3. Film History. Taylor & Francis; 1988. p. 100.
  4. "Canadian Communications Foundation - Fondation Des Communications Canadiennes". Archived from the original on 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
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