CKRT-DT

CKRT-DT, virtual and VHF digital channel 7, is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé-affiliated station licensed to Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada. Owned by the Simard family and their company, Télé Inter-Rives, it is sister to V affiliate CFTF-DT and TVA affiliate CIMT-DT. This arrangement makes the station part of a so-called "triple-stick"—three stations owned by a single company. The three stations share studios on Rue de la Chute and Rue Frontenac in Rivière-du-Loup; CKRT-DT's transmitter is located near Chemin du Mont Bleu in Picard. On cable, the station is available on Vidéotron channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 602.

CKRT-DT
Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec
Canada
ChannelsDigital: 7 (VHF)
Virtual: 7.1 (PSIP)
TranslatorsSee below
AffiliationsIci Radio-Canada Télé
OwnerTélé Inter-Rives
LicenseeCKRT-TV Ltée
First air dateJanuary 14, 1962 (1962-01-14)
Sister station(s)CFTF-DT, CIMT-DT
Former channel number(s)Analogue:
7 (VHF, 1962–2011)
Transmitter power7 kW
Height345.1 m (1,132 ft)
Transmitter coordinates47°35′3″N 69°22′8″W
Licensing authorityCRTC
WebsiteCKRT

Overview

The station first aired on January 14, 1962 and has been owned by the Simard family for its entire existence. Station founder Luc Simard had gotten word that CJBR-TV in Rimouski wanted to set up a rebroadcaster in Rivière-du-Loup, but felt the city was big enough for a station in its own right. It operated mostly as a repeater of CFCM-TV in Quebec City for its first two weeks on the air. Its original studio, near the transmitter in Picard, opened on February 9. The station went dark due to a fire in 1963, but was only off the air for nine days.

Not long after bringing the station on-air, the Simards soon discovered that the area's rugged topography made it all but unviewable in the lower, western parts of the city. To solve this problem, CKRT applied for and received permission to sign on a "nested" rebroadcaster in Rivière-du-Loup, CKRT-TV-3, on channel 13. The repeater signed on in 1964 and mainly serves the western portion of the city. All other stations in the region eventually followed CKRT's lead. Earlier that year, it moved to its current studio in Rivière-du-Loup.

CKRT does not have access to alternative non-network program sources (as privately owned English language CBC affiliates did when they existed). For this reason, it operates mostly as a semi-satellite of CBFT in Montreal. It also carries Radio-Canada's regional news program for eastern Quebec, Le Téléjournal/Est-du-Québec, from CJBR in Rimouski.

CKRT-TV converted its entire transmitter network to digital by the August 31, 2011 digital transition deadline, including its transmitters that are not required to convert by this deadline. Only its main transmitter and its "nested" rebroadcaster in Rivière-du-Loup were obligated to convert, as Rivière-du-Loup is a mandatory market for digital television conversion.

Following the closure of affiliate CKRN-DT in Rouyn-Noranda on March 25, 2018,[1] CKRT-DT became the only privately-owned Radio-Canada affiliate remaining in the network, as well as the only privately-owned station to still carry programming from either Radio-Canada or the CBC.

Transmitters
Station City of licence Channel ERP HAAT Transmitter Coordinates
CKRT-DT-1 Baie-Saint-Paul 36 (UHF)
(to move to 35 (UHF))		 -28.1 m 47°25′26″N 70°31′29″W
CKRT-DT-2 Dégelis 25 (UHF) 133.1 m 47°34′37″N 68°36′28″W
CKRT-DT-3 Rivière-du-Loup (city) 13 (VHF) NA 47°51′28″N 69°33′11″W
CKRT-DT-4 Cabano 21 (UHF) 91.2 m 47°37′31″N 68°50′52″W
CKRT-DT-5 Saint-Urbain 35 (UHF) 23.9 m 47°33′7″N 70°33′38″W
CKRT-DT-6 Trois-Pistoles 19 (UHF) NA 48°6′19″N 69°10′11″W

CKRT-DT was previously repeated on CBC-owned rebroadcasters in Clermont, Notre-Dame-des-Monts and Saint-Pamphile. Due to budget cuts, the CBC closed all of its corporate-owned transmitters, including those rebroadcasting private affiliates, on July 31, 2012.[2]

References
  1. de Noncourt, Thierry (March 1, 2018). "Fin de diffusion pour CKRN". Le Citoyen Rouyn-Noranda (in French). Médias Transcontinental S.E.N.C. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  2. CBC/Radio-Canada Speech Transcript: "Speaking notes for Hubert T. Lacroix, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, regarding measures announced in the context of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP)", April 4, 2012.Archived April 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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