 Current logo, since November 11, 2020[1] | |
| Type | Terrestrial televisionnetwork |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Broadcast area | Quebec (province-wide) Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Montreal,Quebec |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | French |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Quebecor Media |
| Parent | Groupe TVA |
| History | |
| Founded | April 14, 1963; 61 years ago (1963-04-14) |
| Launched | September 12, 1971; 53 years ago (1971-09-12) |
| Links | |
| Website | tvaplus |
TVA is aCanadianFrench-languageterrestrial televisionnetwork, owned byGroupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary ofQuebecor Media.
Headquartered inMontreal, the network only has terrestrial stations inQuebec. However, parts ofNew Brunswick andOntario are within the broadcast ranges of TVA stations, and two TVA stations operate rebroadcasters in New Brunswick. Since becoming a national network in 1998, it has been available oncable television across Canada.
TVA is short forTéléviseurs associés (roughly translated to "Associated Telecasters").[2] This reflects the network's roots as a cooperative.
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TVA traces its roots to 1963, whenCJPM-TV inChicoutimi, a station only a few months old and in need of revenue, began sharing programs with the largest privately owned francophone station in Canada,CFTM-TV inMontreal. They were joined byCFCM-TV inQuebec City in 1964 after CFCM lost itsRadio-Canada affiliation to newly-launchedCBVT. While the three stations shared programs for many years, it was not until September 12, 1971, that the informal link became a proper network, TVA, with CFTM as the flagship station.[2] The network began the first private French-language network news service in Canada in 1972. Between 1973 and 1983, seven more stations joined the network.
When the network was formally organized in 1971, its affiliates ran it as a cooperative, much likeCTV operated for many years. In 1982, the cooperative became a corporation with the station owners as shareholders.
For many years, TVA's schedule was very similar to that of what CTV offered beforeBaton Broadcasting took over the network in that it did not have what could be called a main schedule aside from news. For instance,Pathonic Communications, which owned the TVA affiliates in Quebec City,Sherbrooke,Trois-Rivières andRimouski and provided programming to the affiliates inRivière-du-Loup andCarleton, offered programming that was different from that offered on CFTM. The differences were enough that Sherbrooke'sCHLT-TV, whose over-the-air signal reached Montreal, was carried on Montrealcable systems well into the 1980s. However, CFTM dominated the network to an even greater extent thatToronto'sCFTO-TV dominated CTV, contributing as much of 90% of the network's programming.
In 1989, Télé-Metropole, which owned CFTM and CJPM, bought out Pathonic.[4] The other station owners sold the outstanding shares of the network in 1992. Nine years later, Quebecor became owner of TVA.[5]
TVA also ownsLe Canal Nouvelles (LCN), Canada's only private French-language headline-news channel. When TVA completes its broadcast day, the TVA stations simulcast LCN until TVA's next broadcast day begins. As well, the company owns a magazine publishing division unit, a film production and distribution house, and a number of other Internet and cable properties, many of which are often used to cross-promote TVA series and events.
For many years, TVA's reach outside Quebec was only a fraction of that of Radio-Canada. The only stations with significant viewership outside Quebec wereCHOT-TV ofHull (now part ofGatineau),CIMT-TV of Rivière-du-Loup andCHAU-TV ofCarleton-sur-Mer. CHOT also servesOttawa and has been available on most cable systems inNortheastern Ontario since the early 1980s, owing to that region's largeFranco-Ontarian population. CIMT and CHAU both operate rebroadcasters in New Brunswick, and CHAU's main transmitter covers portions of the province as well. Between them, CIMT and CHAU provide nearly all of New Brunswick with TVA service. However, TVA did provide a cable feed known asTCTV starting in 1981, consisting of most of CFTM's programming and local news from other TVA stations.
In 1998, theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission made it compulsory for all cable systems in Canada to carry a TVA station, in order to give Canada's francophone minority communities a second French-language programming choice.[6] The station offered is usually the network's flagship, CFTM. However, some cable companies in Eastern and Northern Ontario continue to offer Gatineau's CHOT, while most New Brunswick cable companies still carry CIMT or CHAU.
TVA also provides a time-shifted feed for cable companies inWestern Canada. However, this feed is just an electronic delay of CFTM's programming, rebroadcast three hours later inPacific Time to viewers in Western Canada through a separate feed.
Although TVA is a full-fledged network, its network feed is basically a retransmission of CFTM, withopt-outs by local affiliates for local news, commercials and locally produced programming. While this allows TVA to air more network programming than any other Canadian network, it also means that CFTM usually cannot interrupt its programming for news or weather bulletins in Montreal without interrupting the entire network.
In 2004, TVA's parent Groupe TVA and fellow Quebecor subsidiarySun Media jointly acquiredCKXT-TV inToronto, an independent station once known as Toronto One under its previous owner,Craig Media, in 2004. The company's first English-language television station, it continued to be run as an independent station, not as a TVA affiliate. It was rebranded "Sun TV", after Sun Media's local newspaper, theToronto Sun. In early 2005, TVA confirmed toThe Globe and Mail that it would continue to look for other expansion opportunities inEnglish Canada, but no further purchase announcements have been made by the company. On April 18, 2011, CKXT-TV began to simulcast the programming of a new news channel,Sun News Network, considered to be an English version of LCN. CKXT ceased operations on November 1, 2011,[7] and the Sun News Network continued only on cable and satellite television providers until being discontinued in 2015.
Groupe TVA also operates a number of specialty channels, includingaddikTV,Casa,Évasion,LCN,Moi et Cie,Prise 2, QUB, andTVA Sports. The company previously operated kids' channelYoopa from its launch in April 2010 until its demise in January 2024. Groupe TVA was also a majority owner of The Cave (nowHistory2), which it co-owned withShaw Media; it also equally owned Mystery TV (nowCrime & Investigation) with Shaw Media, with Shaw Media being managing partner. TVA sold its share in both channels to Shaw in November 2011.[8] The company launched an online radio network QUB Radio in 2018, and launched a TV simulcast in January 2024.
![TVA shapes logo, 1990-November 29, 2012.[9]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aTVA_logo.svg){kind=logo}
![TVA logo, November 29, 2012-November 11, 2020[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aTVA_2012_logo.svg){kind=logo}
On February 1, 2007, TVA launched anHD simulcast of its Montreal stationCFTM-DT. TVA HD is available via satellite, digital cable orDTT. A simulcast of Quebec stationCFCM-DT was launched in 2009, and a simulcast of Sherbrooke stationCHLT-DT was launched July 19, 2010, initially available only on Vidéotron cable in their respective areas.
Notes:
| City of license | Station | Channel TV (RF) | Year of affiliation | Owned since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | CFTM-DT | 10.1 (10) | 1971 | 1971 |
| Quebec City | CFCM-DT | 4.1 (17) | 1971 | 1990 |
| Rimouski | CFER-DT | 11.1 (11) | 1978 | 1990 |
| Saguenay | CJPM-DT | 6.1 (46) | 1971 | 1982 |
| Sherbrooke | CHLT-DT | 7.1 (7) | 1974 | 1990 |
| Trois-Rivières | CHEM-DT | 8.1 (8) | 1976 | 1990 |
| City of license | Station | Virtual channel | Physical channel | Year of affiliation | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carleton-sur-Mer | CHAU-DT | 5.1 | 5 | 1980(secondary) 1983(primary) | Télé Inter-Rives |
| Gatineau/Ottawa | CHOT-DT | 40.1 | 40 | 1978 | RNC Media |
| Rivière-du-Loup | CIMT-DT | 9.1 | 9 | 1978 | Télé Inter-Rives |
| Rouyn-Noranda | CFEM-DT | 13.1 | 13 | 1979 | RNC Media |