CBRT-DT

CBRT-DT, virtual channel 9.1 (UHF digital channel 21), is a CBC Television owned-and-operated station licensed to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The station is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBRT's studios are located in the Cambrian Wellness Centre, northwest of Downtown Calgary, and its transmitter is located near Old Banff Coach Road/Highway 563 and 85 Street on the city's southwest side. On cable, the station is available on Shaw Cable channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 209. On satellite, it is carried on Bell Satellite TV channel 245 and in high definition on channel 1130. Telus TV subscribers can access CBRT on channel 101 (within Calgary) and 204 (outside of Calgary, via the "time shift" channel package). CBRT is also available as a free linear live stream channel on the CBC Gem app and website.

CBRT-DT
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
ChannelsDigital: 21 (UHF)
Virtual: 9.1 (PSIP)
BrandingCBC Calgary (general)
CBC Calgary News (newscasts)
SloganCanada's Public Broadcaster
Programming
AffiliationsCBC Television (O&O)
Ownership
OwnerCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
Sister stationsCBR (AM), CBR-FM, CBXFT-DT
History
First air dateSeptember 1, 1975 (1975-09-01)
Former call signsCBRT (1975–2011)
Former channel number(s)Analogue:
9 (VHF, 1975–2011)
Call sign meaningCanadian
Broadcasting Corporation
CalgaRy
Television
Technical information
Licensing authorityCRTC
ERP23.5 kW
HAAT276.3 m (906 ft)
Transmitter coordinates51°3′53″N 114°12′51″W
Links
WebsiteCBC Calgary

History

CBRT first signed on the air at 6 p.m. on September 1, 1975. Before then, CBC programming had aired on private affiliate CFAC-TV (channel 2, now CICT), making Calgary the largest market in Canada without a CBC owned-and-operated station of its own. The station initially branded as "CBC 9" or "CBC Calgary", later branding as "CBRT", then returning to "CBC 9" by 1982. CBRT was one of the first, if not the first, to use the network/channel number branding in North America that has become commonplace in the United States since the mid-1990s.

Up until 2008, CBRT's Calgary studios were used by the 24-hour news channel CBC Newsworld as a production centre for programs including Newsworld Today, Your Call, and a Newsworld edition of Canada Now.[1]

In January 2016, the CBC announced that its Calgary operations would move from their long-time home on Westmount Boulevard to a new, smaller facility at the Cambrian Wellness Centre near Foothills Hospital. The CBC cited the age of the facility, and its opinion that it was too large for its current operation, as justification for the re-location. The move was completed in October 2017.[2][3][4]

News programming

As of October 5, 2015, CBRT airs over 11 hours a week of local news programming. On weekdays, CBC Calgary News broadcasts six 1-minute news updates at :59 past the hour from 2 to 10 p.m. A thirty-minute evening news magazine airs at 6 p.m., and a late evening newscast is shown at 11 p.m., following The National. On weekends, CBC Alberta News, originating from CBC Edmonton (CBXT), is broadcast on Saturday evenings after Hockey Night in Canada, and at 11 p.m. on Sunday evenings. However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, "CBC Alberta News" has been put on hiatus and replaced with entertainment programming on Saturday evenings, and a rebroadcast of The National on Sunday nights.

CBRT also simulcasts CBC Radio One's local morning news and current affairs program, The Calgary Eyeopener, from 6 to 7 a.m. weekdays.

The station also produces Our Calgary, a thirty-minute weekly local current affairs program on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and repeated on Sundays at 1 p.m..

CBC Calgary's first supper-hour newscast on CBRT was named Evening Eye-Opener and later, The CBC Evening News. The original late-night news was called Night Final. In 1991, the CBC cancelled the local newscast on CBRT due to corporate budget cuts and began producing a provincial newscast, CBC Alberta News, co-produced and presented from Calgary and CBXT-DT in Edmonton. Following a sharp drop in ratings, localised newscasts from Calgary were restored in 1997.

The local supper-hour programs were cut to 30 minutes in length in 2000 with the launch of a national and international news program, Canada Now from Vancouver. Seven years later, the sole Calgary newscast returned to its hour-long format under the umbrella title of CBC News at Six.

Transmitters

CBRT operated 16 analog television rebroadcasters in certain Southern Alberta communities such as Lethbridge. 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 analog transmitters on July 31, 2012.[5]

CBRT-6 in Lethbridge, a mandatory market, was required to go digital or be taken off the air by the transition deadline of August 31, 2011. CBC had originally decided that none of its rebroadcasters will transition to digital. On August 16, 2011, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) granted the CBC permission to continue operating 22 repeaters in mandatory markets, including CBRT-6, in analog until August 31, 2012, at which point the transmitter had to be converted to digital or shut down.

Former transmitters
City of license Callsign Channel ERP[6]
Banff CBRT-1 5 9 watts
Bassano CBRT-5 11 10 watts
Bellvue CBRT-10 57 10 watts
Burmis CBRT-8 47 589 watts
Cardston CBRT-12 2 9 watts
Coleman CBRT-11 17 10 watts
Cowley CBRT-15 27 10 watts
Drumheller CBRT-2 3 10 watts
CBRT-14 5
Etzikom CBCA-TV-1 12 27 watts
Exshaw CBRT-3 34 1 watt
Harrie Heights CBRT-13 22 100 watts
Lake Louise CBRT-4 12 10 watts
Lethbridge CBRT-6 10 123 watts
Milk River CBRT-16 16 420 watts
Pincher Creek CBRT-9 15 10 watts
Waterton Park CBRT-7 4 9 watts

Notable current on-air staff
  • Rob Brown – anchor

Digital television

Digital channel
Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[7]
9.1720p16:9CBRT-DTMain CBRT-DT programming / CBC Television

Analogue-to-digital conversion

On April 1, 2011, CBRT began broadcasting its digital signal on channel 21. On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts,[8] the station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 21. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CBRT-DT's virtual channel as 9.1.

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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2009-03-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "CBC Calgary moves to new location after 6 decades on Westmount Blvd. N.W." CBC News. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  3. "Speculation begins on what will replace CBC Calgary once it moves". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  4. "CBC to sell longtime Calgary home and move west". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-10-28.
  5. Speaking notes for Hubert T. Lacroix regarding measures announced in the context of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan
  6. TV & Cable Factbook (65th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Warren Communications News. 1997. p. B-308 and B-309.
  7. RabbitEars TV Query for CBRT
  8. "Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)". Archived from the original on 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
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