CJCO-DT

Summary

CJCO-DT (channel 38) is a multicultural television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the Omni Television network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Citytv station CKAL-DT (channel 5). The two stations share studios at 7 Avenue and 5 Street Southwest in Downtown Calgary; CJCO-DT's transmitter is located near Old Banff Coach Road/Highway 563.

CJCO-DT
Channels
Branding
  • Omni Calgary
  • Omni Alberta
Programming
AffiliationsOmni Television
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
September 15, 2008 (15 years ago) (2008-09-15)
Former call signs
CJCO-TV (2008–2011)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analogue: 38 (UHF, 2008–2011)
  • Digital: 38 (UHF, 2011–2020)
Call sign meaning
CJ Calgary's Omni
Technical information
Licensing authority
CRTC
ERP23.1 kW
HAAT369.5 m (1,212 ft)
Transmitter coordinates51°4′21″N 114°15′38″W / 51.07250°N 114.26056°W / 51.07250; -114.26056
Links
WebsiteOmni Alberta

Overview edit

 
Omni's former studios with its sister station CKAL in Downtown Calgary.[2]

The station was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on June 8, 2007,[3] and it launched on September 15, 2008. The station was originally assigned the call sign CHXC by Industry Canada, but this was changed to CJCO in February 2008.[4]

 
CJCO-TV's pre-launch logo
 
Omni Alberta logo used from 2008 to 2018.

The station's primary focus is multicultural programming and documentaries. Like the other Omni stations across the country, the station once aired a large amount of syndicated American shows such as The Simpsons and The King of Queens, but those have since been dropped as of the start of the 2015–16 season.

Newscasts edit

 
An OMNI TV news crew interviews a protester at a pro-Gaza rally in Downtown Calgary on December 31, 2008

Omni Alberta formerly produced local newscasts aimed at the Cantonese, Mandarin, and South Asian communities across the province. While there were newsgathering teams in both Edmonton and Calgary, the production of the newscasts themselves were done out of CKEM's studios in Downtown Edmonton. The newscasts were discontinued and replaced by Omni's national newscasts in September 2011; the national newscasts still featured contributions from Calgary-based reporters.

On May 30, 2013, Rogers announced that it would immediately close down the production facilities for both Omni Alberta stations as a result of budget cuts—ending the production of local programming and news content from the stations.[5]

Technical information edit

Subchannel edit

Subchannel of CJCO-DT[6]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
38.1 1080i 16:9 OMNI Main CJCO-DT programming / Omni Television

Analogue-to-digital conversion edit

On August 11, 2011, three weeks before Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts, CJCO shut down its analog transmitter and flash cut its digital signal into operation on UHF channel 38.[7]

As of July 28, 2020, due to the DTV spectrum repack happening across North America, CJCO-DT has moved from UHF 38 to UHF 34. The virtual channel remains as 38.1.

References edit

  1. ^ Ownership Chart 27B – ROGERS – Radio, TV & Satellite-to-Cable
  2. ^ Rogers Closes OMNI TV Edmonton and Calgary Studios
  3. ^ CRTC decision 2007-166
  4. ^ CRTC.
  5. ^ "Calgary's immigrant community dealt a blow with loss of OMNI programming". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  6. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for CJCO
  7. ^ "Digital Television – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)". Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.

External links edit

  • Official website  
  • CJCO-DT history – Canadian Communication Foundation
  • CJCO-TV in the REC Canadian station database