CFMT-DT

CFMT-DT, virtual channel 47 (UHF digital channel 30), is a television station licensed to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of two flagship stations of the Canadian multilingual network Omni Television. CFMT-DT is owned by the Rogers Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications, as part of a triplestick (the only conventional television triplestick operated by the company) with sister Omni station CJMT-DT (channel 40) and Citytv flagship station CITY-DT (channel 57). The three stations share studios at 33 Dundas Street East on Yonge-Dundas Square in Downtown Toronto; CFMT-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower, also in Downtown Toronto.

CFMT-DT
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
ChannelsDigital: 30 (UHF)
Virtual: 47 (PSIP)
BrandingOmni.1
SloganDiversity Television
Programming
Affiliations47.1: Omni Television (O&O; 2002–present)
Ownership
OwnerRogers Media Inc.[1]
Sister stationsTV: CITY-DT, CJMT-DT
Radio: CFTR, CHFI-FM, CJCL, CKIS-FM
History
First air dateSeptember 3, 1979 (1979-09-03)
Former call signsCFMT-TV (1979–2011)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
47 (UHF, 1979–2011)
Digital: 64 (UHF, 200?–2011)
47 (UHF, 2011–2020)
Former affiliationsMulticultural independent (1979–2002)
Call sign meaningCanada's
First
Multilingual
Television
Technical information
Licensing authorityCRTC
ERP16 kW
HAAT506 m (1,660 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°38′33″N 79°23′14″W
Translator(s)see below
Links
WebsiteOmni Television Ontario

On cable, CFMT-DT is available on corporate sister Rogers Cable channel 4 in the Greater Toronto Area.[2] On satellite, the station is carried on Bell Satellite TV channel 1055[3] and Shaw Direct channel 156.[4]

History

In December 1978, Dan Iannuzzi, founder of the Italian language daily newspaper Corriere Canadese and future recipient of the Order of Canada, received a licence to operate a multilingual television station, defeating rival applicants Johnny Lombardi and Leon Kossar. His company, Multilingual Television (Toronto) Ltd., had been producing multilingual television programs since 1972.[5] Iannuzzi initially owned 30% of the station, and other investors included Jerry Grafstein (who was also one of the major investors that helped launch CITY-TV in September 1972), Raymond Moriyama, Steve Stavro, Garth Drabinsky and Nat Taylor.[5] The call letters CFMT were derived from "Canada's First Multilingual Television", as it was the first multicultural television station in Canada. English language programming was limited to one-third of the station's broadcast hours, with French language programming accounting for 7% and programming in about two dozen other languages providing the remaining 60%.[5] The station was originally going to broadcast on UHF channel 45, but instead moved to channel 47 for technical reasons. The station first signed on the air on September 3, 1979, broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as a multicultural independent station under the brand name 'MTV (for "Multilingual Television"); that branding was dropped in 1981 to avoid confusion with the upstart American MTV cable network. (The channel even broadcast a program called Video Singles, as of 1983.)

In August 1980, the channel became the first in Canada to adopt a 24-hour, 7-day a week schedule, introducing The All-Night Show three weeks later.

CFMT-TV's logo until September 15, 2002.
Omni Television Logo used from 2002 to 2018.

In the past, CFMT-TV has identified itself on air as "Channel 47/Cable 4" (reflecting both its over-the-air channel number and its channel position in the Greater Toronto Area through Rogers Cable) and as "CFMT International". On September 16, 2002, Rogers launched CJMT (channel 40; which was branded as "OMNI.2") to provide additional multicultural programming, and rebranded CFMT as "OMNI.1". Programs airing on CFMT that were aimed at Asian and African communities were moved to CJMT, while CFMT kept programs aimed at European and Latin American groups.

On October 8, 2007, Rogers announced that the operations of the OMNI stations would relocate from 545 Lake Shore Boulevard West to 33 Dundas Street East.[6] CFMT and CJMT integrated their operations into the building – which it shares with City flagship CITY-DT, which moved into the facility the previous month – on October 19, 2009.

Programming

The station broadcasts multicultural programming targeting European and Latin American communities throughout Southern Ontario. Among English-speaking television viewers in the region, CFMT is likely best known as home to various English language syndicated talk shows and sitcom repeats, including The Simpsons, Friends and Family Guy, airing nightly as counterprogramming to local newscasts and first-run prime time series on owned-and-operated stations of the major networks.

Until around 1990, CFMT was the original Toronto home of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. At that time, both game shows moved to CTV flagship station CFTO-TV (channel 9) and remained on that station until 2004, when Wheel of Fortune moved to CJMT, then moved back to CFMT the following year; Barrie station CKVR-TV carried the show in 2006. Jeopardy! remained on CFTO-TV for a few years until 2008, when CBC Television acquired the Canadian television rights to the game shows, moving once again to CBC flagship station CBLT (channel 5) until 2012, when both programs moved to independent station CHCH-DT (channel 11) in Hamilton.[7]

Newscasts

CFMT-DT presently broadcasts five hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with one hour each weekday). The station currently carries a local newscast aimed at Southern Ontario's Italian demographic. CFMT previously produced a Cantonese newscast; that program was moved to CJMT after that station launched on September 16, 2002. The station previously carried newsbreaks produced by sister radio station CFTR in the early 1990s.

Transmitters
Station City of licence Channel
(RF / VC)		 ERP HAAT Transmitter coordinates
CFMT-DT-1 London 48 (UHF)
69.1 (PSIP)		 25 kW 197.6 m (648 ft) 42°57′16″N 81°21′17″W
CFMT-DT-2 Ottawa 27 (UHF)
60.1 (PSIP)		 15 kW 202.3 m (664 ft) 45°13′2″N 75°33′49″W

Digital television

Digital channel
Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[8]
47.11080i16:9OMNI 1Main CFMT-DT programming / Omni Television

Analog-to-digital conversion

CFMT shut down its analogue signal, over UHF channel 47, on August 31, 2011, the official date in which full-power television stations in larger Canadian television markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 64, which was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to UHF channel 47 for post-transition operations.[9] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analogue channel 47. CFMT's digital repeaters in London and Ottawa also relocated to new channels for the same reason behind the relocation of the main signal; these repeaters would use their former UHF analogue channel numbers (69 and 60) as their virtual channel numbers.

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References
  1. Ownership Chart 27B – ROGERS – Radio, TV & Satellite-to-Cable
  2. "List of Rogers TV channels (Toronto)". TV Channel Lists. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  3. "List of Bell TV Channels". TV Channel Lists. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  4. "National Channel Lineup (Numerical)" (PDF). Shawdirect.ca. Shaw Satellite G.P. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  5. "Ethnic TV: A Tower of Babel?," Robert Stephens, Toronto Star, June 4, 1979, p. C9,
  6. "Development Fact Sheet". Downtown Yonge BIA. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  7. "Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune move to CHCH this fall". Channelcanada.com. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  8. "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  9. Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) Archived 2008-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
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