CFCN-DT (PatrZDZ's vision)

**CFCN-DT** (channel 4) is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CJCO-DT (channel 38) and radio stations CFAC-AM, CFFR-AM, CHFM and CFLT-FM. Both stations share studios located on Patina Rise Southwest, near Calgary's Coach Hill neighbourhood, while CJCO-DT transmitter is located near Old Banff Coach Road/Highway 563.

## History

CFCN first signed on the air on September 9, 1960; owned by the Love family, along with CFCN-AM (1060 kHz, now CKMX). It was the first independent television station in Canada. It became a charter member of the Canadian Television Network, now CTV, on October 8, 1961. Canadian General Electric built a 173-foot (53 m) antenna for CFCN-TV, the largest of its type built at the time by the company. The antenna was shipped to Calgary in four sections and was erected in stages atop the station's 344-foot (105 m) tower, for a total height of 517 feet (158 m) making it the tallest structure in the city of Calgary until 1968 when the Calgary Tower was completed. The antenna was high gain, ultra power, slot type. Power output would be 100,000 watts video. A 5 kW General Electric modular transmitter would be used. Complete studio facilities were also from Canadian General Electric, including an EMI 4/12" orthicon camera.

In 1967, Maclean-Hunter bought the CFCN stations. In 1968, CFCN's semi-satellite in Lethbridge began operation, leasing tower space for its transmitter from CJLH-TV (channel 7, now CISA-DT).

One of CFCN's locally produced shows, The Buck Shot Show, began in 1967. For the next 30 years, host Ron Barge was a comforting and familiar figure to Calgary children. Every noon hour, he appeared on television wearing a battered cowboy hat and shirt alongside his sidekicks, Benny the Bear and Clyde the Owl. Three generations of kids grew up with Buck Shot, Benny the Bear and Clyde the Owl. Local police officers, firefighters and paramedics visited the show and taught kids how to be safe. A humorous song that was popular on the show was "16 Chickens and Tambourine" by Roy Acuff. His birthday wishes to local children with their name on the screen was the highlight of many children in the 1970s and 1980s.

When cable companies opened in Calgary, the station was carried on channel 5; from 1991 to 1994, the station's logo and branding referenced this. In late 1994, anticipating that a new Calgary television station might be assigned to broadcast on channel 5 (which would be CKAL-DT in 1997), CFCN switched to cable channel 3, and the logo was changed accordingly. Maclean-Hunter merged with Rogers Communications in 1994. CFCN abandoned its "Channel 3" logo in September 1998 and was replaced by its bold yellow-number 3 logo.

On October 18, 2016, a semi-truck collided at the transmitter facility of Baton-owned CFRN in Edmonton. The building was partially evacuated, including the news control room, after fears the broadcast tower may collapse due to a damaged guy-wire cable. Programming on CFCN, including the evening newscasts, were simulcasted on CFRN.

## Programming

CFCN airs the full CTV program lineup on a Mountain Time schedule. However, some programs are broadcast three hours after CTV's Toronto flagship CFTO-DT (effectively, one hour later in Mountain Time than CFTO in Eastern Time). This matches the Pacific Time Zone scheduling of U.S. network affiliates from Spokane, Washington available on many Alberta cable systems and thus allows simultaneous substitution of CFCN over the American broadcasts.

### News operation

CFCN presently broadcasts 38 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday and 1½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it has the third highest local newscast output out of any English-language television station in the Calgary market. It also broadcasts a separate 30-minute newscast at 5 p.m. on weekdays for viewers in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta, available only on the over-the-air transmitters or through cable companies that distribute CFCN-DT-5 Lethbridge.

During the 1970s, former (then future) Alberta premier Ralph Klein was a reporter for CFCN before going into politics and heading north to Edmonton. The station debuted a locally produced morning show, Channel 3 News Morning Live, on October 24, 2011; the newscast replaced the CTV network's national morning show, Canada AM (which is now seen only on CTV's Eastern Canada stations).

On July 22, 2010, anchor Barb Higgins announced that she would be leaving CFCN after 21 years anchoring the 6 p.m. newscast, to concentrate on the election for mayor of Calgary. On October 12, 2010, it was announced that BCTV's Tara Nelson will be her replacement. Higgins' co-anchor, Darrel Janz, will leave the anchor desk on weekdays, after 37 years at that position and become a reporter for CFCN, making Nelson the sole-anchor for the 6 p.m. newscast; Janz will continue to anchor the Weekend 6 p.m. newscasts. That same week, weekend 6 p.m. anchor Tara Robinson left the station.

### Newscast times

Weekdays:

* 5:30am - 9am: Channel 3 News Morning Live with Jefferson Humphreys and Joelle Tomlinson
* 12pm - 1pm: Channel 3 News at Noon with Jocelyn Laidlaw and Ian White
* 5pm - 5:30pm: Channel 3 News at 5 with Jocelyn Laidlaw
* 5:30pm - 6pm: Channel 3 News at 5:30 with Ian White
* 6pm - 7pm: Channel 3 News at 6 with Tara Nelson
* 11:30pm - 12:05am: Channel 3 News Final with Camilla Di Giuseppe

Saturdays and Sundays:

* 6pm - 7pm: Channel 3 News at 6 with Amanda Singroy
* 11:30pm - 12:05am: Channel 3 News Final with Amanda Singroy

## Technical information

### Analogue-to-digital conversion

CFCN signed on its digital signal on January 8, 2009. CFCN shut down its analogue signal, over VHF channel 4, on August 31, 2011, the official date in which Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts. The station's digital signal moved from pre-transition UHF channel 36 to UHF channel 29 for post-transition operations. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CFCN-DT's virtual channel as 4.1.

CFCN-DT-5 Lethbridge flash cut its digital signal on the air on August 31, 2011 at 12:04 a.m. immediately after the station's newscasts; digital television receivers there display CFCN-DT-5's virtual channel as 13.1.