CJNT-DT
kW | |
HAAT | 213.9 m (702 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 45°30′19.4″N 73°35′29.3″W / 45.505389°N 73.591472°W |
Links | |
Website | www |
CJNT-DT (channel 62) is a
History
The station signed on the air on September 8, 1997, but had its roots in the 1980s as La Télévision Ethnique du Québec (TEQ), a public access ethnic cable channel. It had plans on moving over-the-air as early as the early 1990s, but was dogged by financial problems. Even after it signed on, its finances were in such a state that it never signed on earlier than noon. Part of the problem was that its effective radiated power was only 11 kilowatts, easily the weakest full-power station in Montreal and one of the weakest in North America—roughly on the same level as low-power UHF stations in the United States. This effectively limited its over-the-air footprint to the Island of Montreal, Jésus Island and a few areas on the mainland; even in those areas, its signal was marginal at best. Most viewers could only get a clear picture on cable.
Many shows that had aired on TEQ for many years did not make the cut for CJNT because they did not meet the standards for commercial broadcasting. However, many of the shows that did make it were of somewhat marginal quality. Its commitment to ethnic groups was questioned, especially late at night when it would frequently show English-language infomercials for a psychic hotline.
WIC and Canwest
Canwest had CJNT file for
As a CH and later E! station, CJNT had many English-language American imports due to E!'s emphasis on American shows that could not fit onto Global's schedule. Some of E!'s programming, including documentary-based shows such as
During that period, CJNT aired WWE SmackDown! on Thursdays and Fridays until 2009.[citation needed]
For much of 2003 and 2004, CJNT fought a "commercial war" with Burlington, Vermont's Fox affiliate, WFFF-TV. Due to Canada's "simultaneous substitution" rules, WFFF frequently moved syndicated reruns of That '70s Show around its schedule to keep its signal from being replaced with CJNT's on Montreal cable providers during the show's broadcast. However, whenever possible, CJNT, which was airing the same show, duplicated the move in order to maintain the signal substitutions. This resulted in a cat-and-mouse game in which the Montreal and Champlain Valley editions of TV Guide were often out of date before they were published.[5] WFFF depends on advertising in Montreal for its survival, since Montreal is 10 times more populous than that station's entire American viewing area.
Channel Zero
On February 5, 2009, Canwest announced it would explore "strategic options", including possible sale or closure, for CJNT and its other stations in the E! system, saying "a second conventional TV network is no longer key to the long-term success" of the company.[6] While Rogers Communications, owners of Canada's other over-the-air multicultural television stations through the Omni Television system, seemed to be a logical buyer for CJNT, that company reportedly had no interest in expanding its conventional television holdings at the time.[7]
On June 30, 2009, it was announced that
Channel Zero took control of the station's programming at midnight
On June 14, 2010, Channel Zero announced it would be rebranding CJNT as "Metro 14" in the fall, to appeal to a wider urban audience; the "14" represents its cable slot on Vidéotron in the Greater Montreal area.[14] In September 2010, CJNT began airing American network television series for the first time since Channel Zero took ownership, including Everybody Hates Chris, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Nightline. In addition to the American network series, CJNT began airing the CHCH produced talk show, Sportsline with Mark Hebscher. On February 2, 2011, at 6 a.m. ET, the station officially rebranded as "Metro 14", months behind the original announced date of fall 2010.[15]
Citytv Montreal
Seeking to expand its television holdings,
Since CJNT was licensed as a multicultural station, its programming lineup under its Citytv affiliation also included, for the time being, programming from Rogers' Omni Television system, including daily
In its purchase application to the CRTC, heard at a public hearing on November 7, 2012, Rogers requested to convert CJNT to a full English-language commercial licence with programming and conditions of licence similar to the company's other Citytv stations. Alternatively, if the conversion were not to be approved, Rogers requested that certain of the station's current conditions of licence regarding ethnic programming be relaxed. A separate application was heard as part of the same public hearing for a new Montreal multicultural station, CFHD-DT, filed by a group led by Montreal's Nowrouzzahrai family; Rogers indicated that if CJNT's sale/conversion and the CFHD licence were both approved, it would provide funding for, and make Omni programming available to, the new station.[19] The CRTC approved both the sale and conversion of CJNT[20] and the application for CFHD on December 20, 2012.[21] With the conversion, CJNT is the first over-the-air station in Canadian television history to have its licensed format changed.
Rogers announced it would officially rebrand the station as "City Montreal" on February 4, 2013.
On September 2, 2014, Rogers and Sportsnet announced that it had acquired English-language regional television rights to the Montreal Canadiens under a three-year deal. In addition to games that may be carried by City as part of Hockey Night in Canada, CJNT served as an overflow channel for games not carried by the Sportsnet networks.[27]
Sportsnet Central Montreal was cancelled in September 2017. A largely-identical program with the same panelists known as Montreal Sports Weekly premiered on CFHD shortly afterward.[28]
News operation
This section needs expansion with: further information on CJNT's local programming. You can help by adding to it. (February 2015) |
Since its inception, under Canwest ownership, CJNT was the only station in the CH/E! system not to air any newscasts under the CH News brand.
Local evening and late-night newscasts under the branding CityNews Montreal launched on September 3, 2018, as part of an expansion of local news programming by Citytv's owned-and-operated broadcast stations. Both newscasts air for an hour each.[29][30] Similarly to the format of its sister station in Toronto, CJNT's newscasts use an "anchorless" format, where all stories are presented by videojournalists on the field, eschewing in-studio anchors.[31][32]
From August 23, 2013, to September 5, 2019, CJNT produced a local version of Citytv's morning show Breakfast Television, which ran for three hours on weekdays. On September 5, 2019, Rogers announced that the show had been cancelled effective immediately after just over six years on-air. A company executive stated that the program was "not sustainable". As of its most-recent license renewal, the station was no longer explicitly required to produce a morning newscast, with its commitments to local news programming now being fulfilled by the two nightly newscasts.[33]
Notable on-air staff
- Chantal Desjardins – Sportsnet Montreal correspondent
- Alexandre Despatie – co-host
- Wilder Weir – Live Eye and Sportsnet Central host
Technical information
Subchannel
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
62.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
CJNT-DT | Main CJNT-DT programming / Citytv |
Analogue-to-digital conversion
On August 27, 2011, four days before Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory
References
- ^ Ownership Chart 27B – ROGERS – Radio, TV & Satellite-to-Cable
- ^ Decision CRTC 99-70
- ^ Decision CRTC 2000-744
- ^ CJNT: Multicultural American celebrity news
- ^ CJNT & WFFF, A War over Canadian commercials heats up. TVHat.
- cbc.ca, February 5, 2009.
- ^ Grant Robertson, "CanWest puts E! up for sale" Archived February 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, February 6, 2009
- ^ Channel Zero Inc. agrees to purchase CHCH-TV Hamilton and CJNT-TV Montreal from Canwest Archived July 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine CNW Group (June 30, 2009)
- ^ Channel Zero Inc. agrees to purchase CHCH-TV Hamilton and CJNT-TV Montreal from Canwest (Video News Coverage) (June 30, 2009)
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009-536
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009-537
- ^ Channel Zero Inc. agrees to purchase CHCH Hamilton and CJNT Montreal from Canwest Archived July 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine CNW Group (June 30, 2009)
- ^ "Metro 14 TV Listings, TV Shows and Schedule - Zap2it". Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ Channel Zero loads up on U.S. network series, The Hollywood Reporter, June 14, 2010
- ^ Channel Zero rebrands, repositions, CJNT Montreal Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Cartt.ca February 2, 2011
- ^ Citytv expanding into Quebec & Western Canada Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, CityNews, May 3, 2012.
- ^ Citytv and SCN Sign Affiliate Agreement Archived September 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine CNW press release December 20, 2011
- ^ New METRO14 Schedule Starting Monday[permanent dead link], Channel Canada, June 1, 2012.
- ^ Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (September 5, 2012). "Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-475". Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ a b Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-697, December 20, 2012.
- ^ Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-696, December 20, 2012.
- ^ Rogers Media TV Access (January 11, 2013). "City Release: City Montreal Debuts Feb. 4 with Full City Schedule". Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ^ "Schedule | Citytv Montreal". Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
- ^ CRTC approves CJNT purchase, new ICI station Fagstein
- ^ "Montreal Natives Alyson Lozoff and Wilder Weir to Co-Host Montreal Connected, Premiering May 30 on City Montreal". Rogers Media TV Access. May 22, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
- ^ Rogers Media TV Access (April 5, 2013). "City Greenlights Local Original Series, Only In Montreal". Retrieved May 26, 2013.
- ^ "Canadiens, Sportsnet ink new regional deal". Sportsnet. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
- ^ Faguy, Steve. "Sportsnet Central Montreal reborn as Montreal Sports Weekly?". Retrieved September 4, 2017.
- ^ "CityNews expanding to provide local news across Canada, including Montreal". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ "New English-language TV newscast to launch in Montreal this fall". Montreal Gazette. July 12, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
- ^ "Forbes: CityNews replacing Dinner TV". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
- ^ "Local news gets a facelift: developments at City, CTV, other stations". Montreal Gazette. September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
- ^ Faguy, Steve (September 5, 2019). "Citytv cancels Breakfast Television Montreal, eliminating 8 jobs". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for CJNT-DT
- ^ Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) Archived November 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Official website
- CJNT-DT at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
- CJNT at TV Hat
- CJNT-TV in the REC Canadian station database