CBXFT-DT

CBXFT-DT (channel 11) is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, serving the province's Franco-Albertan population. It is part of a twinstick with CBC Television station CBXT-DT (channel 5). Both stations share studios at the Edmonton City Centre (across from Churchill Square) in Downtown Edmonton, while CBXFT-DT's transmitter is located in Sherwood Park.

History

The station first signed on the air on March 1, 1970. For its first three years, 1970 to 1973, CBXFT also aired weekday English-language educational programming from the Metropolitan Edmonton Educational Television Association (MEETA). This ended when Access (CJAL-TV) began in 1973.

A former semi-satellite in Calgary (using the callsign CBRFT) aired separate commercials, but otherwise aired identical programming prior to its shutdown in 2012.

Newscasts

The local newscast at 6:00 p.m. is called Le Téléjournal/Alberta and is anchored by Jean-Emmanuel Fortier.

Technical information

Subchannel

Analogue-to-digital conversion

On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts,^[2] the station flash cut its digital signal on UHF channel 44. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display CBXFT's virtual channel as 11.1. As part of the UHF spectrum repack, CBXFT-DT moved its signal from channel 47 to 27 in March 2021.

Former transmitters

CBXFT operated ten analog over-the-air television rebroadcasters broadcasting throughout the province of Alberta including transmitters in Bonnyville, Falher, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Hinton, Red Deer, Jean Côté, Lac La Biche, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Peace River.

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.^[3] None of CBC or Radio-Canada's rebroadcasters were converted to digital.

CBC had originally decided that none of its rebroadcasters will transition to digital. Also, the CBC had originally planned to not convert any non-originating stations in mandatory markets to digital, which would have forced CBRFT in Calgary and CBXFT-3 in Lethbridge to sign off on the transition date. (Lloydminster, another mandatory market, had no local Radio-Canada transmitter.) 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 CBRFT and CBXFT-3, in analog until August 31, 2012, by which time the transmitters had to convert to digital or shut down. The remaining transmitters were shut down in 2012.

See also

• CBXT-DT
• CBRT-DT
• Franco-Albertans

References

External links

• ICI Alberta (in French)
• CBXFT-DT at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
• CBXFT in the REC Canadian station database