The station was originally founded on September 3, 1979 by a consortium led by Dan Iannuzzi, Jerry Grafstein, Raymond Moriyama, Steve Stavro, Garth Drabinsky and Nat Taylor as CFMT-TV, branded on air as MTV (Multilingual Television) as Canada's first multicultural independent station and in 1980, CFMT became Canada's first television station to air 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The station has been owned by Rogers Communications since 1986, but later used CFMT as the basis and flagship station to expand its multicultural stations under the Omni brand beginning with the launch of CJMT-TV (Omni.2) in 2002 along with the rebranding of CFMT as Omni.1 and the rest of Canada in subsequent years. The two stations are distinguished by their service of different cultural groups; CFMT caters primarily on European (particularly Western and Eastern) and Latin American cultures while CJMT focuses on Asian cultures (including programming in South Asian and Chinese languages).[2]
CFMT-TV's logo until September 15, 2002.Omni Television Logo used from 2002 to 2018.
In December 1978, Dan Iannuzzi, founder of the Italian-languagedaily newspaperCorriere Canadese and future recipient of the Order of Canada, received a licence to operate a multilingual television station, defeating rival applicants Johnny Lombardi and Leon Kossar. His company, Multilingual Television (Toronto) Ltd., had been producing multilingual television programs since 1972.[3] Iannuzzi initially owned 30% of the station, and other investors included Jerry Grafstein (who was also one of the major investors that helped launch CITY-TV in September 1972), Raymond Moriyama, Steve Stavro, Garth Drabinsky and Nat Taylor.[3] The call letters CFMT were derived from "Canada's First Multilingual Television", as it was the first multicultural television station in Canada. English-language programming was limited to one-third of the station's broadcast hours, with French-language programming accounting for 7% and programming in about two dozen other languages providing the remaining 60%.[3] The station was originally going to broadcast on UHF channel 45, but instead moved to channel 47 for technical reasons. The station first signed on the air on September 3, 1979, broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as a multicultural independent station under the brand name MTV (for "Multilingual Television"); that branding was dropped in 1981 to avoid confusion with the upstart American MTV cable network. (The channel even broadcast a program called Video Singles, as of 1983.)
In August 1980, the channel became the first in Canada to adopt a 24-hour, 7-day a week schedule, introducing The All-Night Show three weeks later.
In the past, CFMT-TV identified itself on air as "Channel 47/Cable 4" (reflecting both its over-the-air channel number and its cable channel in the Greater Toronto Area through Rogers Cable) and later as "CFMT International". On September 16, 2002, Rogers launched CJMT-TV (channel 40; which was branded as "OMNI.2") to provide additional multicultural programming, and rebranded CFMT as "OMNI.1". Programs airing on CFMT that were aimed at Asian and African communities were moved to CJMT, while CFMT kept programs aimed at European and Latin American groups.
On October 8, 2007, Rogers announced that the operations of the two Omni stations would relocate from 545 Lake Shore Boulevard West to 33 Dundas Street East.[4] CFMT and CJMT integrated their operations into the building – sharing with Citytv flagship CITY-DT, which had moved into the facility the previous month – on October 19, 2009.
ProgrammingEdit
The station broadcasts multicultural programming targeting European and Latin American communities throughout Southern Ontario. Historically, among English-speaking television viewers in the region, CFMT was best known as home to various English-languagesyndicatedtalk shows and sitcom repeats, including The Simpsons, Friends and Family Guy, airing nightly as counterprogramming to local newscasts and first-run prime time series on owned-and-operated stations of the major networks.
Until around 1990, CFMT was the original Toronto home of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. At that time, both game shows moved to CTV flagship station CFTO-TV (channel 9) and remained on that station until 2004, when Wheel of Fortune moved to CJMT, then moved back to CFMT the following year; Barrie station CKVR-TV carried the show in 2006. Jeopardy! remained on CFTO-TV for a few years until 2008, when CBC Television acquired the Canadian television rights to the game shows, moving once again to CBC flagship station CBLT (channel 5) until 2012, when both programs moved to independent station CHCH-DT (channel 11) in Hamilton.[5]
NewscastsEdit
CFMT-DT presently broadcasts five hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with one hour each weekday). The station currently carries a local newscast aimed at Southern Ontario's Italian demographic. CFMT previously produced a Cantonese newscast; that program was moved to CJMT after that station launched on September 16, 2002. The station previously carried newsbreaks produced by sister radio station CFTR in the early 1990s.
CFMT shut down its analogue signal, over UHF channel 47, on August 31, 2011, the official date on which full-power television stations in larger Canadian television marketstransitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 64, which was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to UHF channel 47 for post-transition operations.[7] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analogue channel 47. CFMT's digital repeaters in London and Ottawa also relocated to new channels for the same reason behind the relocation of the main signal; these repeaters would use their former UHF analogue channel numbers (69 and 60) as their virtual channel numbers.
cfmt, channel, television, station, toronto, ontario, canada, flagship, stations, canadian, multilingual, network, omni, television, owned, operated, rogers, sports, media, alongside, sister, omni, outlet, cjmt, channel, citytv, flagship, city, channel, statio. CFMT DT channel 47 is a television station in Toronto Ontario Canada It is one of two flagship stations of the Canadian multilingual network Omni Television CFMT DT is owned and operated by Rogers Sports amp Media alongside sister Omni outlet CJMT DT channel 40 and Citytv flagship CITY DT channel 57 The stations share studios at 33 Dundas Street East on Yonge Dundas Square in downtown Toronto while CFMT DT s transmitter is located atop the CN Tower CFMT DTToronto OntarioCanadaChannelsDigital 30 UHF Virtual 47BrandingOmni 1ProgrammingAffiliations47 1 Omni Television 2002 present OwnershipOwnerRogers Sports amp Media Rogers Media Inc 1 Sister stationsTV CITY DT CJMT DT Sportsnet OntarioRadio CFTR CHFI FM CJCL CKIS FMHistoryFirst air dateSeptember 3 1979 44 years ago 1979 09 03 Former call signsCFMT TV 1979 2011 Former channel number s Analog 47 UHF 1979 2011 Digital 64 UHF 200 2011 47 UHF 2011 2020 Former affiliationsMulticultural independent 1979 2002 Call sign meaning Canada s First Multilingual Television Technical informationLicensing authorityCRTCERP16 kWHAAT506 m 1 660 ft Transmitter coordinates43 38 33 N 79 23 14 W 43 64250 N 79 38722 W 43 64250 79 38722Translator s see belowLinksWebsiteOmni Television OntarioThe station was originally founded on September 3 1979 by a consortium led by Dan Iannuzzi Jerry Grafstein Raymond Moriyama Steve Stavro Garth Drabinsky and Nat Taylor as CFMT TV branded on air as MTV Multilingual Television as Canada s first multicultural independent station and in 1980 CFMT became Canada s first television station to air 24 hours a day seven days a week The station has been owned by Rogers Communications since 1986 but later used CFMT as the basis and flagship station to expand its multicultural stations under the Omni brand beginning with the launch of CJMT TV Omni 2 in 2002 along with the rebranding of CFMT as Omni 1 and the rest of Canada in subsequent years The two stations are distinguished by their service of different cultural groups CFMT caters primarily on European particularly Western and Eastern and Latin American cultures while CJMT focuses on Asian cultures including programming in South Asian and Chinese languages 2 Contents 1 History 2 Programming 2 1 Newscasts 3 Technical information 3 1 Subchannel 3 2 Analog to digital conversion 3 3 Transmitters 4 References 5 External linksHistory Edit nbsp CFMT TV s logo until September 15 2002 nbsp Omni Television Logo used from 2002 to 2018 In December 1978 Dan Iannuzzi founder of the Italian language daily newspaper Corriere Canadese and future recipient of the Order of Canada received a licence to operate a multilingual television station defeating rival applicants Johnny Lombardi and Leon Kossar His company Multilingual Television Toronto Ltd had been producing multilingual television programs since 1972 3 Iannuzzi initially owned 30 of the station and other investors included Jerry Grafstein who was also one of the major investors that helped launch CITY TV in September 1972 Raymond Moriyama Steve Stavro Garth Drabinsky and Nat Taylor 3 The call letters CFMT were derived from Canada s First Multilingual Television as it was the first multicultural television station in Canada English language programming was limited to one third of the station s broadcast hours with French language programming accounting for 7 and programming in about two dozen other languages providing the remaining 60 3 The station was originally going to broadcast on UHF channel 45 but instead moved to channel 47 for technical reasons The station first signed on the air on September 3 1979 broadcasting 24 hours a day seven days a week as a multicultural independent station under the brand name MTV for Multilingual Television that branding was dropped in 1981 to avoid confusion with the upstart American MTV cable network The channel even broadcast a program called Video Singles as of 1983 In August 1980 the channel became the first in Canada to adopt a 24 hour 7 day a week schedule introducing The All Night Show three weeks later In the past CFMT TV identified itself on air as Channel 47 Cable 4 reflecting both its over the air channel number and its cable channel in the Greater Toronto Area through Rogers Cable and later as CFMT International On September 16 2002 Rogers launched CJMT TV channel 40 which was branded as OMNI 2 to provide additional multicultural programming and rebranded CFMT as OMNI 1 Programs airing on CFMT that were aimed at Asian and African communities were moved to CJMT while CFMT kept programs aimed at European and Latin American groups On October 8 2007 Rogers announced that the operations of the two Omni stations would relocate from 545 Lake Shore Boulevard West to 33 Dundas Street East 4 CFMT and CJMT integrated their operations into the building sharing with Citytv flagship CITY DT which had moved into the facility the previous month on October 19 2009 Programming EditThe station broadcasts multicultural programming targeting European and Latin American communities throughout Southern Ontario Historically among English speaking television viewers in the region CFMT was best known as home to various English language syndicated talk shows and sitcom repeats including The Simpsons Friends and Family Guy airing nightly as counterprogramming to local newscasts and first run prime time series on owned and operated stations of the major networks Until around 1990 CFMT was the original Toronto home of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy At that time both game shows moved to CTV flagship station CFTO TV channel 9 and remained on that station until 2004 when Wheel of Fortune moved to CJMT then moved back to CFMT the following year Barrie station CKVR TV carried the show in 2006 Jeopardy remained on CFTO TV for a few years until 2008 when CBC Television acquired the Canadian television rights to the game shows moving once again to CBC flagship station CBLT channel 5 until 2012 when both programs moved to independent station CHCH DT channel 11 in Hamilton 5 Newscasts Edit CFMT DT presently broadcasts five hours of locally produced newscasts each week with one hour each weekday The station currently carries a local newscast aimed at Southern Ontario s Italian demographic CFMT previously produced a Cantonese newscast that program was moved to CJMT after that station launched on September 16 2002 The station previously carried newsbreaks produced by sister radio station CFTR in the early 1990s Technical information EditSubchannel Edit Channel Video Aspect Short name Programming 6 47 1 1080i 16 9 OMNI 1 Main CFMT DT programming Omni TelevisionAnalog to digital conversion Edit CFMT shut down its analogue signal over UHF channel 47 on August 31 2011 the official date on which full power television stations in larger Canadian television markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts under federal mandate The station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition UHF channel 64 which was among the high band UHF channels 52 69 that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition to UHF channel 47 for post transition operations 7 Through the use of PSIP digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former UHF analogue channel 47 CFMT s digital repeaters in London and Ottawa also relocated to new channels for the same reason behind the relocation of the main signal these repeaters would use their former UHF analogue channel numbers 69 and 60 as their virtual channel numbers Transmitters Edit Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMapDownload coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates Station City of licence Channel RF VC ERP HAAT Transmitter coordinatesCFMT DT 1 London 29 UHF 69 17 3 kW 201 m 659 ft 42 57 16 N 81 21 17 W 42 95444 N 81 35472 W 42 95444 81 35472 CFMT TV 1 CFMT DT 2 Ottawa 27 UHF 60 15 kW 202 3 m 664 ft 45 13 2 N 75 33 49 W 45 21722 N 75 56361 W 45 21722 75 56361 CFMT DT 2 References Edit Ownership Chart 27B ROGERS Radio TV amp Satellite to Cable Conroy Ed November 8 2018 Who Created Multicultural TV in Toronto Retrontario com Retrieved October 13 2022 a b c Ethnic TV A Tower of Babel Robert Stephens Toronto Star June 4 1979 p C9 Development Fact Sheet Downtown Yonge BIA Archived from the original on 2008 06 17 Retrieved 2008 05 31 Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune move to CHCH this fall Channelcanada com 6 June 2012 Retrieved 16 April 2018 RabbitEars Info www rabbitears info Retrieved 16 April 2018 Digital Television Office of Consumer Affairs OCA Archived 2008 09 16 at the Wayback MachineExternal links EditOfficial website CFMT DT history Canadian Communications Foundation CFMT DT in the REC Canadian station database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title CFMT DT amp oldid 1163832411, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
