 | |
| City | Hamilton, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | CHCH |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | June 7, 1954 (1954-06-07) |
Former call signs | CHCH-TV (1954–2011) |
Former channel numbers |
|
Call sign meaning | Canada, Hamilton[1] |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| ERP | 456.5kW |
| HAAT | 337 m (1,106 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°18′12″N79°57′43″W / 43.30333°N 79.96194°W /43.30333; -79.96194 |
| Translator(s) | see§ Transmitters |
| Links | |
| Website | CHCH |
CHCH-DT (channel 11) is anindependent television station inHamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned byChannel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located near the corner of Jackson and Caroline streets in downtown Hamilton for nearly 65 years. The station has additional offices at theMarriott on the Falls inNiagara Falls, Ontario. Its oldtransmitter was located on First Road West in the former city ofStoney Creek; it was demolished in March 2024[2] and replaced with a new transmitter located on Highway 5 near Millgrove Side Road inDundas, Ontario, which started transmitting in November 2023.
CHCH signed on the air on June 7, 1954, as aCBC affiliate which was founded byKen Soble. Beginning in 1961, it became an independent station which transformed into a nationalsuperstation on January 1, 1982. In 1990, the station was acquired byWestern International Communications.[3]
After several years as an independent station, CHCH was acquired byCanwest in 2000 and became theflagship station for theCH programming service as sister to the flagshipCIII-TV of theGlobal Television Network. In 2007, the CH stations were rebranded to E! after anAmerican cable network of the same name. When Canwest had financial problems, CHCH as well asMontreal'sCJNT-TV was acquired by independent broadcaster Channel Zero in 2009. It changed its format to an all-news and all-movies station. In 2010, the station again began to air U.S. prime time programming.[4]
The station signed on the air on June 7, 1954, operating as anaffiliate ofCBC Television. Its studios at 163 Jackson Street West were previously used by CJSH-FM (102.9, nowCKLH-FM).[5] After CJSH's shutdown, its studios were converted for CHCH.[6] It is the oldest privately owned television station in the Hamilton–Toronto area. At the time all privately owned television stations in Canada were required to be CBC affiliates. CHCH-TV was founded byKen Soble, a leader of Hamilton's urban renewal movement and the owner of radio stationCHML (900 AM).[7]
In1961, CHCH left the CBC and became anindependent station. There were three reasons for removing its affiliation from CBC. Hamilton is part of the Toronto market, and Toronto-basedCBLT already provided full network service to some of CHCH's viewing area. CBLT planned to increase its transmitter power and change frequencies (fromVHF channel 9 to channel 6, and eventually channel 5), resulting in a near-100 percent overlap with CHCH. The station's managers wanted to produce more local programming, instead of having to carry CBC programming.
CHCH became the first and for over a decade the only television station in Canada not to be affiliated with any network; the other private stations (which signed on the air in1960 or early 1961) that were not affiliated with the CBC had formed theCTV network in October 1961.
In the mid-1960s, CHCH was the lead station in United Program Purchase, a consortium of Canadian television stations which began purchasing some programming rights separately from the CTV and CBC networks.[8]
By 1966, UPP was attracting media coverage as the potential framework for a third Canadian television network.[8] In the fall of the same year, Soble's Niagara Television which was the licensee of CHCH, put forward a proposal for a network to be branded as NTV.[9] In the original plan, CHCH would have been the network's flagship station for theGreater Toronto Area. However the application faced numerous regulatory hurdles and delays, and its main financial backer which wasPower Corporation of Canada, backed out in 1969. By 1970 however, the network application was revived by former CHCH executiveAl Bruner's new Global Communications corporation, with Niagara Television and CHCH no longer involved in the bid. TheGlobal Television Network launched in 1974 on the newCKGN-TV.
Despite the station's lack of success in developing a full-fledged network, it became one of Canada's most prominentsyndicators of non-network programming in the 1970s and 1980s, with many of its locally produced entertainment programs airing on television stations across Canada and occasionally internationally.
CHCH became a nationalsuperstation on January 1, 1982, when Cancom (nowShaw Broadcast Services) began carrying the station and three others (CHAN-TV in Vancouver,CITV-TV in Edmonton, and TCTV, which was essentially a rebroadcaster ofCFTM-TV in Montreal) to cable television providers in remote regions of the country that otherwise only had access to the CBC.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the station began a branding effort centred around the slogan "Together, we're the ones!" Different promotional slogans referring to either Hamilton or Ontario as a whole, reflecting the station's cable coverage across the province, and a blue-coloured, 3D variation of the longtime "circles" logo were used. Promos had a vocal song fromFrank Gari which was part of thePride Inside music package also used by the station's newscasts and movie presentations (originally commissioned by another channel 11 which isWBAL-TV inBaltimore).
In 1990,Western International Communications (WIC) purchased CHCH. Although the station had been available on cable television in many Ontario markets for years, its broadcast signal coverage was expanded throughout Ontario in 1997. The launch of several rebroadcasters happened in 1997 in an effort to compete with the reach of Global's Ontario station CIII (channel 6), and with theBaton Broadcast System, a group of mostly CTV-affiliated stations that served most of the province.[11]
In turn WIC rebranded the station as "ONtv" ("Ontario Television"), in line with the branding conventions of many of the company's other stations including CHAN-TV in Vancouver (which was branded as "BCTV"), CITV-TV in Edmonton (which was branded as "ITV"), andCHCA-TV inRed Deer, Alberta (which was branded as "RDTV").
Local news programming shifted their focus from the station's core market, the Hamilton area, toward Ontario as a whole in an attempt to challenge what was then a regional news service provided by Global. However, with Hamilton now being largely an afterthought and other local stations (in Toronto and elsewhere) already having strong ratings, the shift was unsuccessful and CHCH's ratings decreased. During the ONtv years, the station also aired WIC's nightlyCanada Tonight newscast.
In 2000,Canwest Global Communications purchased WIC's television assets. Since Global already served the Hamilton area through flagship station CIII-TV's transmitter inParis, Ontario, Canwest rebranded the station "CH" (or "CH Hamilton") on February 12, 2001, and launched theCHtelevision system in September of that year. The move launched a secondary television system for Canwest's stations in medium-sized cities located near larger markets. Local news coverage was revamped and refocused on the Hamilton/Halton/Niagara region.
Despite theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s television station ownership restrictions (one station per owner and per language in each market), Canwest was permitted to maintain CHCH's coverage of other markets throughout most of Ontario. However it could not broadcast toThunder Bay,Peterborough, orKingston because of opposition from local television stations. Some cable providers outside of Ontario also continue to carry CHCH as a form of "superstation". Its over-the-air signal also easily coversBuffalo, New York, andErie, Pennsylvania, across theCanada–United States border.
On June 7, 2004, at 8 p.m. CHCH-TV celebrated its 50th anniversary. The station aired a documentary profiling the station's history, entitledThe First 50 Years: A Half Century of CH, which was hosted by Matt Hayes. It was announced that the CH brand would change starting in 2007; however, it remained in use until September 7, 2007. Canwest then rebranded CHCH's local programming from CH Hamilton toCHCH News following the relaunch of the national CH service as E! under abrand licensing agreement with theE! cable channel in the United States. CHCH's non-news schedule was rebranded on the same day as "E! Ontario".
On February 5, 2009, Canwest announced it would explore "strategic options". These included the possible sale or closure of CHCH and the company's other stations in the E! system, saying a second conventional TV network was no longer key to the long-term success of the company.[12] A grassroots group which was fronted byLive @ 5:30 co-hostDonna Skelly announced an intent to purchase CHCH from Canwest and return the station to its former local focus.[13][14]
In March 2009, paperwork filed with the CRTC for a one-year renewal of CHCH's licence revealed that the station was projected to lose nearly $30 million during the station's 2010 fiscal year which began on September 1, 2009—with projected revenues of just $41 million against costs of $69 million. John Douglas, a spokesperson for Canwest, said that CHCH and its other stations in the E! group were money losers during the last decade, coupled with the Canadian broadcasters' dependency on American programming for profits.[15]
On June 30, 2009,Channel Zero announced that it would purchase CHCH andCJNT-TV inMontreal from Canwest in exchange for $12 in cash and the assumption of various station liabilities.[16][17] The CRTC approved the sale on August 28, 2009.[18][19] Channel Zero took control of the station's programming at midnightEastern Time on the morning of August 31, beginning its tenure with a film from the 1980s. CHCH removed its affiliation from E! (which shut down at the end of the day) and adopted a new programming format. This consisted of local newscasts throughout the day on weekdays and movies at night (as well as all day on weekends, outside of limited newscasts, infomercials, and other select programs during the morning and evening hours). The channel reverted to branding itself as "CHCH".
The first film which was broadcast in prime time that night wasRocky as a signal to the new ownership's come-from-behind spirit. CHCH added a modicum of additional programming during the 2009–10 season, includingLet's Get It On, amixed martial arts program;Ed the Sock'sThis Movie Sucks!, a movie show featuring the formerMuchMusic character alongside co-hostLiana Kerzner and comedianRon Sparks; andinfomercials.
In September 2010, CHCH, for the first time since its purchase by Channel Zero, began airing American network television series. Many of the programs which were added, includingSmallville,Supernatural,Jimmy Kimmel Live!,48 Hours Mystery,20/20,Chuck, and60 Minutes had been broadcast in the Toronto-Hamilton market onCKXT-TV (channel 52; the station's owner,Quebecor, was in the process of replacing it with the all-news cable channelSun News Network).[20] CHCH also debuted additional original local programsSportsline (hosted by Mark Hebscher and Clint "Bubba" O'Neil), and launched a second series with Ed the Sock, the entertainment newsmagazine spoofI Hate Hollywood.[21] Coinciding with the schedule changes was the introduction of an updated version of CHCH's classic multi-coloured logo used from the 1960s to the 1980s.[22][23]
On April 10, 2011Green Party leaderElizabeth May participated in a panel interview on CHCH. She was invited to attend the show as were the leaders of theBloc Québécois,Liberals,New Democratic Party, andConservatives, by Channel Zero, whose president was disappointed by May's exclusion from the2011 election leaders' debates.[24]
On April 18, 2011, CKXT-TV converted from an independent station to a simulcast of the Sun News Network, leaving CHCH as the only independent station in the Toronto/Hamilton area (the station ceased operations approximately seven months later on November 1, 2011). On June 8, 2011, at Channel Zero's upfront presentation for advertisers for the 2011–12 television season, the company announced a programming distribution deal with20th Century Fox, giving CHCH and CJNT access to show first-run exclusive broadcast movie premieres, most notablyAvatar, which first aired in May 2012 on both stations, featuring thedirector's cut version of the film not shown in theatres. Other debut titles includedCrazy Heart,Taken, andX-Men Origins: Wolverine.[25]
During a broadcast ofNews Now AM on April 20, 2012,Cogeco's andShaw Cable's transmissions of CHCH's signal were interrupted for approximately three minutes by the broadcast of a scene from ahardcoregay pornography film from an unidentified adult-oriented specialty channel.[26] The substitution appeared to have been made by a cable operator during repairs of severed cable lines, and not at CHCH, leaving the station's over-the-air viewers and subscribers of other cable and satellite providers unaffected. Channel Zero denied that the program in question came from any of its adult-orientedCategory B specialty channels (Maleflixxx Television,XXX TV andAOV TV).[27] The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission later announced it would be investigating the incident as a cable transmission issue.[28]
In September 2012, CHCH acquired the rights toWheel of Fortune andJeopardy! from CBC Television, after the network's exclusive contract to carry both game shows expired.[29] The shows were dropped for the fall 2014 season andThe Simpsons began airing on Friday nights.[30]
On December 11, 2015, CHCH cancelled that evening's 6 p.m. newscast amid fears the station was facing a shutdown.[31] Though the station remained on the air, CHCH's daytime rolling news format was discontinued at 4 p.m.; Channel Zero CEO Romen Podzyhun appeared on the air to announce that the station's local newscasts would remain off the air through the weekend, and would return on December 14. In addition, Channel Zero announced that Channel 11, L.P., the subsidiary that had produced CHCH's newscasts since 2009, had filed forbankruptcy. Podzyhun blamed it on a loss of federal subsidy and an inability to draw national advertising revenue to a locally oriented station, but stated that the station itself was not shutting down.
CHCH's news output would be scaled back to what it determined to be its "core news programs", only producing17+1⁄2 hours of newscasts a week (a morning show and 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, with no weekend news), after having produced 80 weekly hours of news before the cutbacks; the local news is mainly being maintained to meet the station's licence requirements.[32][33][34] A few programs fromBloomberg Television such asStudio 1.0, Good Fortunes andThe Daily Brief were added to the station's schedule the following week.[35] Coincidentally CHCH's former programThe Morning Market used resources fromBloomberg twenty years before CHCH shared common ownership with Bloomberg TV Canada. The news graphics that had been used for morning and daytime news programming were kept intact for Morning Live and daytime programming produced by Channel Zero and Bloomberg TV Canada such asThe Pinkertons andThe Daily Brief.
In 2015, CHCH-DT teamed up with fellow independentCJON-DT and the threeYes TV stations (including nearby stationCITS-DT) to share and syndicate YesTV's secular programming in arrangement referred to in advertising sales information as the Net5 alliance (referring to the three O&Os and two affiliates).[36] Since Fall 2016, CHCH has replaced many airings of these programs with newly acquired daytime shows on weekdays, and movies on the weekends. Net5 was rebranded asindieNET following the addition of two other independent stations.[37]
In the spring of 2016, Channel Zero put the studios of CHCH-DT (from which the station has continuously operated, starting in 1954) on the market. The studios include the historic stone mansion "Pinehurst" (built in 1850 by local politician Tristram Bickle and owned byWilliam Southam from 1892 until his death in 1932), as well as the large silver addition dubbed "Spaceship 11" for its futuristic appearance (built in 1983), forCA$7 million. The sale was to a private investor group named Television City, who would rent out half of "Spaceship 11" to CHCH-DT for two and a half years, while looking for other tenants (Pinehurst is protected by theOntario Heritage Act and will not be altered). It was expected for the sale to close by the middle of November 2016.[38]
In October 2018, CHCH announced a new location for its studios, leaving its long-time location on Jackson Street West in downtown Hamilton, and moving to 4 Innovation Drive in Dundas. The property was renovated for a news operation, which the station had originally intended to have up and running by the spring of 2021.[39] While the station left the Jackson Street studio in June 2021, delays in renovations to 4 Innovation Drive forced it to move to a temporary studio across the street. On April 11, 2022, CHCH had begun broadcasting from its studios at 4 Innovation Drive.
As an independent station, CHCH produced local programs such as the children's talent showTiny Talent Time (which was revived in September 2014 in honour of the station's 60th anniversary),[40]Jane Gray'sHobby Time and a daily talk show hosted byElaine Callei.
The station also produced a number of important Canadiansyndicated series in the 1970s and 1980s, includingThe Pierre Berton Show,The Hilarious House of Frightenstein,Me & Max,Party Game,The Baxters, the Canadian version ofSupermarket Sweep, andSmith & Smith, and was the original television home ofThe Red Green Show. Hamilton nativeMartin Short also made his television debut on the station. The 1986–87 syndicated revival ofSplit Second hosted byMonty Hall was also taped at CHCH's studios; their involvement was noted in the credits of the show in Canadian broadcasts, whereas the American copies only noted distributorViacom Enterprises.
As of summer 2025, CHCH's daytime programming consists of locally produced newscasts geared primarily to theGolden Horseshoe region ofSouthern Ontario, and a block ofclassic television series airing weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and featuring sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s through the 1990s. The station runs only a handful of first-run domestic and American entertainment programs during prime time and the late evening hours as well as movies, some of which are in thepublic domain. A syndication deal with20th Television provided the station with programming from both theNational Geographic Channel andMTM Enterprises libraries, but by September 2018, most of the National Geographic programming was dropped as the station had reformatted to emphasize its retro programming.
Some of CHCH's imported programs air onCHEK-DT inVictoria, British Columbia, a separately-owned independent station which had been CHCH's sister station during the WIC, CH and E! eras. Upon the initial dissolution of the E! system, the two stations jointly purchased a virtually identical lineup of prime time programming at first, although their prime time schedules later began to diverge. CHEK currently airs entertainment programs from Yes TV, which already serves the Toronto–Hamilton market with CITS-DT.
The station broadcast home games from theHamilton Red Wings (aminor league hockey team in theOHA Junior "A" league that was an affiliate of theNHL'sDetroit Red Wings) from theHamilton Forum (which were both owned by Ken Soble) on Thursday nights in the 1960s, withNorm Marshall doing the play-by-play.[citation needed] From 1954 to 1970, Norm Marshall andIvor Wynne hosted broadcasts ofHamilton Tiger-Cats and collegiate football games on CHCH.[41][42]
For a time, CHCH broadcast local mid-week telecasts of NHL games from theToronto Maple Leafs, and co-producedBuffalo Sabres games withAdelphia Cable and the Sabres' owners. It also produced a wrestling show calledRingside Wrestling, which was filmed in theTelecentre, before later moving to the Hamilton Forum. The station later reproducedWorld Wrestling Federation programs for Canadian audiences before the company's focus shifted entirely to cable television. For a number of years, CHCH also broadcast Sunday afternoon coverage of regular season games from theNFL'sBuffalo Bills because CTV (and later, the Global Television Network) had to choose theDetroit Lions for its Ontario stations as part of that network's NFL coverage (the Bills are now seen primarily onSportsnet Ontario; the Lions have returned to CTV).McMaster Maraudersuniversity football was broadcast on the station during the late 1990s and early 2000s; beginning in 2015, CHCH resumed carryingOntario University Athletics football, carrying the conference's playoff tournaments and, beginning in 2017 afterCity passed on the package, some regular season games as well.[43][44]
In August 2020, theCanadian Premier League announced a deal with CHCH to broadcast one game per week, every Sunday, in addition to the two games per week onCBC Sports.[45]
In 2022, CHCH began airing final round coverage ofLIV Golf events; it is the tour's only traditional Canadian broadcaster (entire events are streamed on LIV Golf'sFacebook andYouTube pages).[46]
CHCH airs30+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with5+1⁄2 hours each weekday and1+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).[47]
In late 2008, Canwest placed CHCH's longest serving news anchors, Connie Smith (whose last day on the air occurred on November 28, 2008) and Dan McLean (who left on December 12) on forced retirement, blaming financial troubles and budget cuts. After their departures, Annette Hamm began handling anchoring duties on a shortened noon newscast, and co-hostingMorning Live with Bob Cowan, while Nick Dixon took over anchoring duties on the 6 p.m. newscast. Since being taken over by Channel Zero on August 31, 2009, Hamm and Cowan have co-hosted a restored hour-long newscast at noon. A few local non-news programming were also cancelled at this time includingAt Home,Sportscope,Niagara Express, andStraight Talk.
In January 2009, CHCH'sMorning Live program began to be simulcast on former Toronto sister station CIII-TV owing to the cancellation of its own morning newscastGlobal News Morning. The simulcast on CIII was dropped at the end of August after Channel Zero took control of CHCH, with CIII replacing it with lifestyle programming reruns and rebroadcasts of its 11 p.m. newscast from the previous night. While the station continued to share helicopter traffic services provided by the Canadian Traffic Network, the arrangement between Canwest and CHCH ended on December 31, 2009, as Canwest held the exclusive rights to CTN services in the Greater Toronto Area. Upon becoming an independent station on August 31, 2009, the station adopted a news-intensive format, replacing network programming in the 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. periods on weekdays with expanded newscasts.
On September 12, 2011, CHCH increased its local news programming by launching a 90-minute extension ofMorning Live, titledMorning Live First Edition and hosted byTim Bolen and Jaclyn Colville, airing weekdays from 4 to 5:30 a.m.; this made CHCH the first Canadian television station (and the first in the Buffalo–Niagara region;WGRZ would follow with a 4:30 a.m. newscast in 2012) to air a morning newscast that starts before 5:30 a.m. The program expanded to two hours, extending it from 4 to 6 a.m. on September 10, 2012. As a result, the station moved the originalMorning Live broadcast's start time by a half-hour and its end time by one hour, running it from 6 to 10 a.m.[48]
Its heavy weekday newscast total was largely due to a prominent daytimerolling news block on weekdays (airing from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with an hour-long newscast at 6 p.m., and 11 p.m.). In addition, the station also produced a half-hour sports discussion program calledSportsline, which aired each weeknight at 5 p.m.; and a half-hour political discussion programSquare Off, which immediately followedSportsline at 5:30 p.m. The rolling news block was removed for an hour at 1 p.m. to airJustice with Judge Mablean.
On December 11, 2015, at 4 p.m., Channel Zero CEO and Chairman Romen Podzyhun announced, in a pre-recorded message, that Channel 11 L.P., the division responsible for providing news programming for CHCH and the employer of the relevant staff, was declaring bankruptcy, and news programming was suspended immediately. He added that a major restructuring and changes to news coverage would start the following Monday.
Because of the bankruptcy, the entire staff of 165 was cut in the news organization. The new company that was formed in the restructuring offered jobs to 81 people, including 58 full-time and 23 part-time positions.[49] Chris Fuoco, Channel Zero vice-president, said that by 3 p.m. on December 15, 77 people had accepted the offer of employment with the new company.[50]
The restructuring was viewed by some as aunion-busting[51] attempt in light of a December 14 note sent by a CHCH News Account manager, Kathleen Marks, to a prospective advertiser indicating that the new company would not be burdened by the union or old CanWest debt.[51] The union, Unifor, asked Channel Zero to honour its commitment. According to theToronto Star, "Under Ontario law, businesses must honour existing collective agreements when they take over a company unless they dramatically change the nature of the work being performed."[51]
AHamilton Spectator article on December 16 indicated that a meeting between Channel Zero and Unifor was scheduled for later that day and that Channel Zero insisted that the note about the union was written by an individual who was not a company spokesperson. Sarah Gardiner of Channel Zero also countered the union-busting allegation, stating that it was false and adding that "Many unionized employees were hired" [by the new company].[49] The amount offered to laid-off employees is in dispute with Channel Zero claiming a minimum of $4000 to be paid per person (for any accrued vacation, expense reimbursements and regular pay) and some employees disputing that amount.[52] A news item on the CHCH web site which was dated December 15, indicated that no severance pay had been offered to any employee, although all were union members.[53] The bankruptcy documents indicate $1.6 million owed to employees, though without specifics.
After several calls, emails, and social media posts from viewers over the two months since the restructuring, CHCH announced on February 18, 2015, thatMorning Live would return to a start time of 6 a.m. on February 22. The show would be live from 6 to 9 a.m., with the 8 a.m. hour broadcast repeated from 9 to 10 a.m.
On September 7, 2016, CHCH announced the return of local weekend news programming with two half hours of news at 6 and 11 p.m. starting October 29, 2016, citing advertiser and viewer demand.[54] The announcement came three months after the CRTC announced plans to launch a fund to subsidize local newscasts.[47]
The CHCH web site said that "Going forward,Morning Live will air between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., the 6 o'clock newcast will be anchored by Nick Dixon and Taz Boga, and Taz will return for a half hour at 11:00 p.m."[53]Metroland Media reported that Nick Dixon would also produce the 6 p.m. newscast, and that the on-air personalities or reporters who had been laid off[55] include Lori D'Angelis, Matt Hayes, Sean Cowan, Donna Skelly, Ken Welch, Scot Urquhart, Lauran Sabourin, Liz West, Mark Hebscher, Jaclyn Harper (Colville), Natalie Marconi, Miranda Anthistle, and Elise Copps. The shorterMorning Live show continued to be anchored by Bob Cowan and Annette Hamm.
Square Off became a podcast calledUnplugged, and laterNo Fun Intended by former co-hosts Mark Hebscher and Liz West; it had the same format.[56] However, it appears the podcast ended; both Hebscher and West moved on to independent projects. Hebscher hosted a sports-focused podcast until he retired in May 2023. West is a radio announcer forZoomer Radio AM740.
Morning Live co-anchorTim Bolen left the station in January 2025,[57] and was subsequently announced as the new co-host ofBreakfast Television onCitytv in March.[58] In May the station announced Rick Zamperin, formerly of the city's defunct radio stationCHML, as the program's new co-host.[59]
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | CHCH-DT | Main CHCH-DT programming |
The station launched its digital signal onUHF channel 18 on April 18, 2008.[61] CHCH shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, on August 15, 2011, two weeks prior to the August 31 date on which Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatorymarkets transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to its former analog-era VHF channel 11.[62][63] The analog signal was discontinued immediately preceding the switch. CHCH-DT is available ondigital cable andover-the-air through digital tuners and converter boxes. Since September 12, 2011, CHCH's HD feed has been carried by satellite providerBell Satellite TV on channel 1057.
On March 9, 2012, Channel Zero-operatednumbered company 2190015 Ontario Inc. was granted permission to move the station's broadcasts from VHF channel 11 to UHF channel 15 (which had recently been vacated by CKXT-DT-1), in response to poor reception of CHCH-DT along its fringes in the Greater Toronto Area, compared to its former analog signal on VHF channel 11 and transitional digital signal on UHF channel 18. During the application process, the station also claimed thatMobile DTV services perform better in the UHF band, and this move would allow the station to plan for a potential Mobile DTV feed.Industry Canada stated that this application is technically feasible, thoughpirate broadcasterStar Ray TV, had broadcast in analog on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter inThe Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. (Star Ray would convert to digital following CHCH's reassignment to channel 15, broadcasting on UHF channel 22.)Tri-State Christian Television'sWNYB fromJamestown, New York also has a Buffalo-based translator, WBNF-CD, on UHF channel 15, which would require addressing by the CRTC due to the closer location of CHCH's transmitter to WBNF-CD.[64]
On November 12, 2013, CHCH began transmitting a test signal on UHF channel 15, displayingcolour bars and tone with text message reading "CHCH-DT RF15 Testing". On December 2, 2013, CHCH moved its digital signal to channel 15, allowing CHCH to broadcast with a considerably higher power of 132 kW compared to 6 kW on channel 11 and 60 kW from their former transitional digital frequency on channel 18. The station's virtual channel continues to be mapped as 11.1.
On August 28, 1996, CHCH received CRTC approval to add new rebroadcast transmitters across most of Ontario.[65] The launch of the transmitters in 1997 coincided with the rebranding of the station as "ONtv".
| Station | City of licence | Channel | Virtual | ERP | HAAT | Transmitter coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHCH-DT-1 | Ottawa | 22 (UHF) | 11 | 25 kW | 216 m (709 ft) | 45°13′2″N75°33′49″W / 45.21722°N 75.56361°W /45.21722; -75.56361 (CHCH-TV-1) |
| CHCH-DT-2 | London | 14 (UHF) | 51 | 68 kW | 271.3 m (890 ft) | 42°50′27″N81°51′29″W / 42.84083°N 81.85806°W /42.84083; -81.85806 (CHCH-TV-2) |
| CHCH-DT-3 | Muskoka | 28 (UHF) | 67 | 67 kW | 306.7 m (1,006 ft) | 44°58′14″N79°46′57″W / 44.97056°N 79.78250°W /44.97056; -79.78250 (CHCH-TV-3) |
| CHCH-TV-4 | Sudbury | 41 (UHF) | N/A | 35 kW | 171.9 m (564 ft) | 46°25′29″N81°0′53″W / 46.42472°N 81.01472°W /46.42472; -81.01472 (CHCH-TV-4) |
| CHCH-TV-5 | Sault Ste. Marie | 38 (UHF) | N/A | 5 kW | 112.5 m (369 ft) | 46°35′50″N84°16′53″W / 46.59722°N 84.28139°W /46.59722; -84.28139 (CHCH-TV-5) |
| CHCH-TV-6 | North Bay | 32 (UHF) | N/A | 5 kW | 116 m (381 ft) | 46°18′10″N79°24′39″W / 46.30278°N 79.41083°W /46.30278; -79.41083 (CHCH-TV-6) |
| CHCH-TV-7 | Timmins | 11 (VHF) | N/A | 3.3 kW | 142.2 m (467 ft) | 48°28′12″N81°17′49″W / 48.47000°N 81.29694°W /48.47000; -81.29694 (CHCH-TV-7) |
During theanalog television shutdown and digital conversion in August 2011, CHCH's transmitters in Ottawa,London, and Muskoka (servingBarrie which is part of the Toronto market) were converted to digital. This was because the transmitters were in or near markets that were mandated to make the switch. At the time, the transmitters broadcast the channel instandard-definition480i due to depending on Shaw Broadcast Services, which did not carry CHCH HD. As of September 2014, transmission was upgraded to 1080i.
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