This tall tower in western Calgary is a shared transmitter for sister TV stations CKAL-DT Channel 5 and CJCO-DT Channel 38. The tower is easily spotted from the Trans-Canada Highway.
From Wikipedia: (
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"CKAL-DT, virtual channel 5 (UHF digital channel 20), is a Citytv owned-and-operated television station licensed to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications, it is part of a twinstick with Omni Television station CJCO-DT (channel 38). Both stations share studios at 7 Avenue and 5 Street Southwest in Downtown Calgary. CKAL-DT's transmitter is located near Old Banff Coach Road/Highway 563."
As an A-Channel O&O
The station launched on VHF channel 5 on September 20, 1997, under the ownership of Craig Media, two days after its A-Channel sister station CKEM-TV in Edmonton went on the air for the first time. It billed itself as a station with a very deep connection to Calgary, and whose schedule was not determined by interests in Toronto. Its slogan was "Very independent, very Calgary!" CKAL's opening was marked with a street party and its main studio was easily visible from passersby on 7th Avenue; during the station's first year it even operated a small cafe near its main entrance.
. . .
As a City O&O
In 2004, Craig Media announced a deal to sell its conventional television assets, including the A-Channel stations, to CHUM Limited. The sale was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on November 19, 2004, and was finalized on December 1. On February 3, 2005, CHUM announced that the A-Channel stations would be relaunched as part of the Citytv television system. The changes took effect August 2.
On July 12, 2006, it was announced that CTVglobemedia would acquire CHUM Limited and its assets, including the Citytv system. . . The following year, the CRTC announced its approval of CTVglobemedia's purchase of CHUM, but added a condition that CTVglobemedia must sell off CHUM's Citytv stations (including CKAL) to another buyer . . .
On June 12, Rogers Media announced that it would acquire the five Citytv stations (including CKAL) from CTVglobemedia. . . The Rogers transaction was approved by the CRTC on September 28 and was officially completed October 31.
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Analogue-to-digital conversion
CKAL began testing its digital signal on August 31, 2010, on UHF channel 49. On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasts.
CKAL-DT
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Channels
Digital: 20 (UHF)
Virtual: 5
Branding: Citytv Calgary (general)
Programming
Affiliations: Citytv (2005–present)
Ownership
Owner: Rogers Sports & Media
Sister stations TV:
CJCO-DT
Sportsnet West
Sister stations Radio:
CFAC-AM
CFFR-AM
CHFM-FM
CJAQ-FM
History
First air date: September 20, 1997 (24 years ago)
Former call signs: CKAL-TV (1997–2011)
Former channel number(s):
Analogue: 5 (VHF, 1997–2011)
Digital: 49 (UHF, until 2020)
Former affiliations: A-Channel (1997–2005)
Call sign meaning: K(C)algary
Technical information
Licensing authority CRTC
ERP 112 kW
HAAT 369.5 m (1,212 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 51°4'21"N 114°15'38"W"
And also from Wikipedia, this article on CKAL-DT's sister station CJCO-DT: (
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"CJCO-DT, virtual channel 38.1 (UHF digital channel 34), is an Omni Television owned-and-operated station licensed to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications, it is part of a twinstick with Citytv owned-and-operated station CKAL-DT (channel 5). Both 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.
The station was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on June 8, 2007, 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.
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
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.
Technical Information
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 PSIP number remains as 38.1.
Analogue-to-digital conversion
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. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display CJCO-TV's virtual channel as 38.1.
CJCO-DT
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Channels:
Digital: 34 (UHF)
Virtual: 38
Branding: Omni Calgary
Programming
Affiliations: Omni Television
Ownership
Owner Rogers Sports & Media
(Rogers Media Inc.)
Sister stations TV:
CKAL-DT
Sportsnet West
Sister Stations Radio:
CFAC-AM
CFFR-AM
CHFM-FM
CJAQ-FM
History
First air date: September 15, 2008 (13 years ago)
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
ERP 23.1 kW
HAAT 369.5 m (1,212 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 51°4'21"N 114°15'38"W"