CICT is an Canadian television station, licensed to, serving Calgary, Alberta. It is owned by CanWest Global Communications, and is affilated to their Global Television Network. It is branded as "Global Calgary". It transmits on channel 2 and cable 7 in Calgary, and on the Bell ExpressVu (channel 236) and Star Choice (channel 338) services.
The ICT in CICT stands for "Independent Calgary Television". The station first went on air in 1954, which makes it the oldest station in the Network.
Transmitters
- Calgary (CICT-TV, channel 2 with 100kw ERP)
- Drumheller (CICT-TV-1, channel 8 with 0.009kw ERP)
- Banff (CICT-TV-2, channel 13 with 0.009kw ERP)
- Exshaw (CHGR-TV-2, channel 12 with 0.001kw ERP)
- Bassano (CIBT-TV, channel 8 with 0.01kw ERP)
- East Coulee (CIEA-TV, channel 5 with 0.001kw ERP)
- Burmis (CISA-TV-1, channel 3 with 0.409kw ERP)
- Coleman (CISA-TV-3, channel 12 with 0.01kw ERP)
- Pincher Creek (CISA-TV-5, channel 9 with 0.001kw ERP)
Programming
CICT airs the same schedule as Global Edmonton, with the main difference being the morning show, newscasts and Calgary Flames hockey games, all of which CICT produces itself. CICT is also the master control for all of CanWest Global’s Alberta stations, and is set to become the master control for the remaining Global stations in the Prairies.
Newscasts
Global Calgary airs a full schedule of newscasts each week.
- Morning Show
- Gord Gillies
- Angela Kokott
- 5.30pm bulletin
- 5.00pm and 6.00pm bulletins
- Nirmala Naidoo
- Tony Tighe
- 12noon bulletin
- 11pm bulletin
- Weekend bulletins
History
CHCT-TV signed on October 8 1954 as an affiliate of the CBC, and the first television station in Alberta. The studios, offices and antenna were located on a hill seven miles west of the city. The station’s owners, Calgary Television Ltd., were a consortium of the three Calgary radio stations CFCN , CFAC , and CKXL . The CT in CHCT stood for Calgary Television.
During the construction of the transmitter, the 70 foot, 5 ton antenna was being hoisted on the top of the 600 foot tower when the cable snapped and the antenna fell all the way down the tower to imbed itself 15 feet in the ground. Fortunately no one was injured, and the antenna was able to be repaired, but the station’s launch was delayed by 10 days.
A year later, CHCT moved its studios and offices from the transmitter site on the old Banff Coach Road, to a renovated badminton club/sea cadet drill hall on 955 Rideau Road S.W. Calgary.
Notable productions at the original studio include:
- Klara’s Korner : a cooking show that was in national syndication for many years
- Yan Can Cook: another cooking show, this time hosted by Martin Yan, over 600 shows were produced, it too was successful in syndication throughout North America.
- Stampede Wrestling : produced for over 20 years, finding loyal audiences worldwide
- It Figures : the show originated at the station and it was produced for nearly 20 years
In 1957, CKXL Ltd. sold its share in Calgary Television Ltd., to Fredrick Shaw , who had recently sold his share in CKXL-AM to Tel-Ray Ltd . Just over a decade later, CHCT was purchased by Selkirk Broadcasting , and the station’s name was changed to CFAC-TV, linking it to co-owned CFAC-AM.
On September 1, 1975, CFAC-TV disaffiliated from the network, becoming independent. This led to the CBC launching its own station, CBRT. In 1979, the station branded itself as Channel 2&7.
1981 saw the station move to its new home, the Calgary Television Center, a move reflecting its growth since its disaffiliation from the CBC. After obtaining the television rights to the Calgary Flames NHL franchise the year before, the station purchased a seven camera mobile soon after. The station has been the Flames’ television partner since 1980.
In 1989, Maclean Hunter Ltd . purchased Selkirk Communications, but due to ownership regulations at the time (Maclean-Hunter already owned CFCN-TV ), CFAC-TV was sold to Western International Communications (WIC).
In March 1990, CFAC-TV was again given a new call sign, this time CKKX-TV. In 1992, CKKX’s news operations were expanded with the acquisitions of a satellite uplink truck and a fleet electronic news gathering microwave trucks.
On September 7, 1993, CKKX became CICT-TV, and also took on the brand of Calgary 7, referring to the station’s cable channel.
The Griffiths family holdings in WIC were sold to Shaw Communications Inc. and CanWest Global Communications Corp in 1998. This move required CRTC approval, the plans for which were filed in 1999 and approved in 2000. The assets were split between CanWest Global, Shaw and its radio offshoot Corus.
On September 4, 2000, CICT joined the Global Television Network, along with fellow Alberta stations CITV and CISA. By 2001, CICT-TV began relays in Drumheller (CICT-TV-1) and Banff (CICT-TV-2).
External links