Editing CFQC-DT

{{short description|TV station in Saskatoon}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = CFQC-DT
| city                   =
| logo                   = CTV_logo_2018.svg
| logo_size              = 200px
| branding               = {{ubl|CTV Saskatoon (general)|''[[CTV News]] Saskatoon'' (newscasts)}}
| digital                = 8 ([[VHF]])
| virtual                = 8
| translators            = 
| subchannels            = 
| affiliations           = [[CTV Television Network|CTV]]
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1954|12|5|p=y}}
| location               = [[Saskatoon]], Saskatchewan
| country                = Canada
| callsign_meaning       = "Canada's Finest Quality Channel" (unofficial)
| former_callsigns       = CFQC-TV (1954–2011)
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analogue:''' 8 (VHF, 1954–2011)
| owner                  = [[Bell Media Inc.]]
| licensee               = 
| sister_stations        = 
| former_affiliations    = {{ubl|[[CBC Television|CBC]] (1954–1971)|CTV (secondary, 1969–1971)}}
| erp                    = 13 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{Convert|267.9|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| coordinates            = {{coord|52|11|28|N|106|23|16|W|type:landmark}}
| licensing_authority    = [[CRTC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca|CTV Saskatoon}} 
}}

'''CFQC-DT''' (channel 8) is a [[television station]] in [[Saskatoon]], Saskatchewan, Canada, part of the [[CTV Television Network]]. [[Owned and operated]] by network parent [[Bell Media]], the station has studios on 1st Avenue North and 23rd Street East in the [[Central Business District, Saskatoon|Central Business District]] neighbourhood of Saskatoon, and its transmitter is located near [[Saskatchewan Highway 41|Highway 41]] and Burgheim Road, northeast of the city.

[[Master control]] facilities are located at the studios of [[CFCN-DT]] in [[Calgary]], shared with eight other CTV owned-and-operated stations in [[British Columbia]], [[Alberta]] and Saskatchewan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.fagstein.com/2020/10/05/ctv-power-failure/|title = Power failure knocks CTV channels off the air for two hours|website=Fagstein|date=October 5, 2020|accessdate=September 24, 2023}}</ref>

==History==
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | align = left
 | width     = 130
 | image1    = CFQC-TV logo Spring 1973.jpg
 | caption1  = Station logo, circa 1970s.
 | image2    = CFQC-TV ad Fall 1973.jpg
 | caption2  = CFQC-TV used this logo and promotional format as of Fall 1973.
}}
CFQC-TV first signed on the air on December 5, 1954; it was originally owned by the Murphy family along with CFQC radio (AM 600, now [[CKBL-FM]] at 92.9). The first program broadcast (other than [[test pattern]]s) was a film of the [[42nd Grey Cup]] game, followed by assorted entertainment programs and the station's first newscast.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 4, 1954|title=TV Program for Sunday|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OVRjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EG8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4923%2C649413|newspaper=[[The StarPhoenix]]|access-date=July 5, 2014}}</ref> CFQC reported the next day that 40,000 viewers had tuned in, with the station's signal reported to have been received as far away as {{convert|40|mi|km|0}} south of [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]].<ref>{{cite news|date=December 6, 1954|title=Wide Area Covered in TV Debut Here|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OlRjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EG8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4111%2C885829|newspaper=[[The StarPhoenix]]|access-date=July 5, 2014}}</ref>

Initially a [[CBC Television|CBC]] affiliate, as early as 1967, the Murphys wanted to switch to CTV. However, these plans were put on hold in November 1967 when the federal government denied an application for a new CBC station, citing budget cuts, among other reasons.<ref>{{cite news |last=King|first=Stirling|date=November 2, 1967|title=Pearson sidetracks CBC for city|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xy9gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=km8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2112%2C240511|newspaper=[[The StarPhoenix]]|access-date=July 4, 2014}}</ref> Eventually, however, Regina's CBKRT (now [[CBKT]]) won permission to set up a rebroadcaster in Saskatoon. CFQC-TV, meanwhile, started airing CTV programs on tape delay in 1969, becoming a full-time CTV affiliate on October 17, 1971, when [[CBKST]] signed on as a rebroadcaster of CBKRT.

[[Image:CFQC-TV.jpg|thumb|right|175px|CFQC-TV's former logo (1998–2001).]]
The Murphy family bowed out of broadcasting in 1972 and sold CFQC-AM-TV to Baton Broadcasting, owners of CTV's [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] station, [[CFTO-TV]] in [[Toronto]]. There were some concerns that the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] (CRTC) would not approve of one person owning two CTV stations, especially if that person was Baton, by far the largest and richest station owner. At the time, CTV was a cooperative based on the concept of "one owner, one vote." However, a provision in the cooperative's bylaws provided that if one owner ever bought a second station, the acquired station's shares would be redistributed among the other seven owners so that each owner would still have only one vote out of eight. The CRTC approved the deal in late 1972, and the Murphy family earned a handsome return on patriarch Pappy Murphy's original investment when he founded CFQC radio in 1923.

In 1986, Baton purchased [[CKCK-TV]] in Regina and CBC/CTV twinsticks in [[Yorkton]] and [[Prince Albert, Saskatchewan]]. Eventually, CFQC-TV became the centre of Baton's Saskatchewan operations. In 1987, Baton's six Saskatchewan stations began branding as the Saskatchewan Television Network, which joined with Baton's Ontario stations in 1994 as the [[Baton Broadcast System]]. Baton bought controlling interest in CTV in 1997, making CFQC-TV a CTV owned-and-operated station.

In the past, it identified itself as "CFQC", "TV8" and (during much of the 1970s and '80s) "QC8, Saskatoon Television." Although now known as "CTV Saskatoon", per the current branding standards for CTV affiliates, many longtime viewers in central and northern Saskatchewan still refer to the station as "QC" or "QC8". The QC8 branding continued to be used even after the station began to air on channel 9 for those who subscribed to cable television.

A number of local programs were produced at CFQC's Saskatoon studios over the years. Children's television host Helen Lumby hosted a [[kindergarten]]-focused show at CFQC in her early career, before moving on to create ''[[Size Small]]''. In the 1970s and 1980s, the station aired a number of public affairs programs, often with titles playing on the "Q" element of the station identity, such as ''Big Q Country'' (political discussion) and ''Q-Line'' (a phone-in program where viewers could ask questions of civic leaders, among others). CFQC also produced a companion program to the national ''[[Canada AM]]'' morning show titled ''Saskatchewan AM'', which combined local news with children's programming such as reruns of ''[[Rocket Robin Hood]]''.

From 1954 until 1991, CFQC-TV shared some on-air personnel such as newsreaders with CFQC-AM, as well as studio facilities. This ended when CFQC-AM was sold. The radio station continued to share the CFQC call letters after it moved to the FM dial in 1995 (though for promotional purposes it was rebranded Hot93). In 2007, CFQC-FM officially changed call letters to CKBL-FM, leaving the TV station the only user of the original call letters dating back to 1923.

As with its Regina sister station, CFQC's programming is aired in pattern with that of [[Winnipeg]] sister station [[CKY-DT]], with prime time programming running from 7&nbsp;p.m. to 10&nbsp;p.m. simultaneously with east coast stations, and CTV's 7&nbsp;p.m. ET programming bumped to 10&nbsp;p.m. However, as Saskatchewan [[Time in Saskatchewan|does not observe]] [[daylight saving time]] and remains on [[Central Standard Time]] year-round, programming is delayed by an hour in comparison to CKY when DST is in effect.<ref name=History>{{Cite web|url=http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/television/histories.php?id=93&historyID=72#|title=Canadian Communications Foundation – CKCK-TV History|access-date=October 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820071014/http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/television/histories.php?id=93&historyID=72#|archive-date=August 20, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> As with all other CTV stations in Saskatchewan, it broadcasts the annual ''[[Telemiracle]]'' telethon (which alternates between Saskatoon and Regina on a yearly cycle) in March, supporting the [[Kin Canada|Kinsmen and Kinettes]] of Saskatchewan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/positive-motivating-invigorating-kinsmen-telemiracle-gears-up-for-saturday-showtime|title=43rd Kinsmen Telemiracle gearing up for Saturday showtime|work=[[The StarPhoenix]]|first=Matt|last=Olson|date=March 1, 2019|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/telemiracle-brings-top-of-the-line-entertainment-to-sask-for-another-year|title=Telemiracle brings top of the line entertainment to Sask.|last=Robinson|first=Ashley|work=Regina Leader-Post|date=January 19, 2017|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref>

==News operation==
As of September 15, 2023, CFQC-DT broadcasts 10 hours of news programming presented from CFQC's Saskatoon studios each week (two hours each weekday). An additional 24 hours of provincial news programming per week from CTV Regina is simulcast on CFQC.

Alumni of CFQC's news department include [[Keith Morrison]], who went on to become the weekend anchor of the ''[[CTV National News]]'' before joining [[NBC]], and [[Don Wittman]], who became a sports commentator for the CBC. [[Dawna Friesen]], after a stint at CFQC, furthered her career in U.S. broadcast journalism before becoming anchor of the [[Global Television Network|Global]] network's national newscast ''[[Global National]]'' in 2010. [[Natasha Staniszewski]] had a stint with CFQC from 2007 to 2009, became a co-anchor for the late-night edition of [[SportsCentre]] on [[The Sports Network|TSN]], and is now a media host for the [[CFL]]'s [[Calgary Stampeders]] and the [[NHL]]'s [[Calgary Flames]]. Jim McCrory worked for CFQC in various capacities from 1963 to his retirement in 2001; McCrory died in January 2012. One of the longest-serving alumni of the station was Greg Barnsley, who joined CFQC when it first went on the air in the 1950s and remained as a general-duties host and weather forecaster until his retirement in the mid-1990s.

Newscaster Rob MacDonald was the longest-serving on-air personality, being part of CFQC from March 15, 1976, until his retirement on January 20, 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=829487&playlistId=1.2818967&binId=1.1165954&playlistPageNum=1|title = CTV Saskatoon: Rob MacDonald celebrates 40 years|date = March 15, 2016}}</ref> Sportscaster [[Kevin Waugh]] worked at the station for close to 40 years, prior to his election as a Member of Parliament for [[Saskatoon—Grasswood]] in the [[2015 Canadian federal election]]. Waugh and Barnsley "flipped the switch" that officially transferred CFQC to digital broadcasts in 2011. With the retirement of Craig Wilson in early 2019, Jeff Rogstad is currently the longest serving on-air personality active at the station.

CFQC's newscasts are also broadcast by [[CIPA-TV]] in Prince Albert, since that station does not broadcast a local 6 or 11:30&nbsp;p.m. newscast. As a result, CFQC's program regularly includes reports from Prince Albert.

From at least the late 1980's until 1994 (when it became part of BBS and branded its newscasts as "CFQC-TV News"), CFQC was one of only two television stations in Canada known to have adopted the "NewsCentre" branding (a Canadian variation on the popular American "NewsCenter" branding) for its local newscasts, the other being CBC owned and operated affiliate [[CBUT]] in [[Vancouver]], which used it briefly in the mid- to late-1980's.

Effective September 15, 2023, CFQC no longer broadcasts local morning, 5 p.m., 11:30 p.m., or weekend evening newscasts from its studios. These local shows were replaced with province-wide news programming originating from CTV Regina,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cole Davenport |url=https://regina.ctvnews.ca/mobile/more/bios/cole-davenport-1.3558100 |access-date=September 24, 2023 |website=CTV Regina |language=en}}</ref> which includes news stories and other content from the Saskatoon newsroom. The noon and 6 p.m. newscasts continued to be presented and broadcast from the CFQC studios. These changes were a result of cutbacks enacted by CTV's parent company, Bell Media, on June 14, 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bell Media cuts 1,300 positions, shutters six radio stations {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9768151/bell-media-lost-jobs-radio-station-closures/ |access-date=September 24, 2023 |website=globalnews.ca |language=en-US}}</ref> Previously, on October 21, 2017, CFQC had ended broadcast of a stand-alone weekly farm magazine program, Farmgate, in favour of incorporating the segments into its regular newscasts. Up to that point, Farmgate had been the most-watched agricultural program in Saskatchewan and ran for almost three decades.

CFQC's noon newscast was cancelled on February 8, 2024, as part of nationwide programming cuts by Bell Media.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2024 |title=Bell Media ends some CTV newscasts, sells radio stations in media shakeup amid layoffs |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/bell-media-ends-some-ctv-newscasts-sells-radio-stations-in-media-shakeup-amid-layoffs-1.6760935 |access-date=February 24, 2024 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref>

==Radio station==
The CFQC call letters were originally assigned to an AM radio station that began broadcasting in Saskatoon in 1923 under the ownership of the Murphy family. From 1953 to 1991, the television and radio stations were under common ownership (first the Murphys, then Baton), for a time sharing broadcast facilities and on-air personnel. Baton exited radio in 1991, and CFQC radio moved into its own studio facility. In 1995, the station moved to the FM dial where it became CFQC-FM or "Hot 93". In November 2007, the station changed its call letters to CKBL-FM and it adopted the branding "The Bull".

==Technical information==
===Subchannel===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannel of CFQC-DT<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=CFRE#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for CFRE|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|accessdate=January 8, 2025}}</ref> 
! [[Digital subchannel#Canada|Channel]]
! [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! Short name
! Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 8.1 
| [[1080i]] || [[16:9]] ||  || [[CTV Television Network|CTV]]
|}

===Analogue-to-digital conversion===
On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory [[media market|markets]] [[Digital television in Canada|transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts]], CFQC shut down analog signal and [[flash cut]] its digital signal into operation on [[VHF]] channel 8 at approximately 12:05&nbsp;a.m. CT.<ref name="Analog to Digital">[http://digitaltv.gc.ca/eng/1298735461349/1298735461380 Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707154737/http://digitaltv.gc.ca/eng/1298735461349/1298735461380 |date=July 7, 2013 }}</ref> The ceremonial switchover was conducted by longtime sports anchor Kevin Waugh and now-retired veteran CFQC broadcaster Greg Barnsley, who had been involved with the station when it first signed on the air.

===Former transmitters===
* '''CFQC-TV-1''' [[Stranraer, Saskatchewan|Stranraer]]
* '''CFQC-TV-2''' [[North Battleford]]

On July 30, 2019, Bell Media was granted permission to close down the analog transmitters for CFQC-TV-1 and CFQC-TV-2 as part of Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2019-268. Both transmitters were shut down by February 26, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2019/2019-268.htm|title=CRTC Decision 2019-268|date=July 30, 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca CTV Saskatoon]
*[https://broadcasting-history.ca/television/television-stations/saskatchewan/CFQC-DT CFQC-DT] at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]
*{{RecnetCanada|CFQC-TV}}

{{Saskatchewan TV}}
{{CTV Stations}}
{{Bell Media}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cfqc-Dt}}
[[Category:1954 establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:CTV Television Network stations|FQC-DT]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1954]]
[[Category:Television stations in Saskatoon|FQC-DT]]