CJIC-TV (channel 5) was a

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. The station was in operation from 1954 to 2002 as a private affiliate of

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

, and then continued until 2012 as a network-owned rebroadcaster of CBLT in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

History

CJIC began broadcasting on channel 2 on November 28, 1954, owned by Hyland Broadcasting along with CJIC radio (1490 AM, later

CFYN CFYN was a Canadian AM broadcasting, AM radio station, which broadcast at 1050 kHz in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, from 1977 to 1992. From 1934 to 1977, the station broadcast with the call sign CJIC. CJIC The first radio station in Sault Ste. ...

at 1500 AM, 1050 AM and now defunct). Hyland introduced television to the Sault, first with kinescopes and live programming. Later, the microwave brought the live CBC network feed, then colour on the network, and finally to the studio, along with video tape that greatly enhanced production. CJIC also introduced television to the eastern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the United States; the American television networks did not arrive there until

WPBN-TV WPBN-TV (channel 7) and WTOM-TV (channel 4) are television stations licensed respectively to Traverse City and Cheboygan, Michigan, United States, serving as the NBC affiliates for the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan ...

, the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

affiliate in Traverse City, signed on a satellite station in 1959 (WTOM) to bring its programming to the Upper Peninsula. In 1976, Hyland merged with Algonquin Broadcasting, owner of the other radio stations on the Canadian side of the locks, to form Huron Broadcasting. Soon after taking control, Huron established a twinstick station, CKCY, affiliated with the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

. CKCY adopted the new callsign CHBX-TV in 1988. CJIC moved to channel 5 when CKCY signed on, taking over channel 2. The move of CJIC to channel 5 caused much interference for viewers trying to tune in WNEM-TV from

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city in Bay County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 32,661 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located just upriver from the Saginaw Bay on the Saginaw River. It is the princip ...

, which was seen on area cable systems on cable channel 5.

Merger into MCTV

In 1990,

Baton Broadcasting Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include national television ...

acquired both Huron Broadcasting and the MCTV twinstick in Sudbury, North Bay and

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

. Following the purchases, CJIC and CHBX were merged into the MCTV system.Decision CRTC 90-1074
/ref> Baton Broadcasting became the sole corporate owner of CTV in 1997.

End of operations

CTV subsequently sold its four CBC affiliates in Northern Ontario—CJIC, CHNB-TV in North Bay, CKNC-TV in Sudbury and CFCL-TV in Timmins—directly to the CBC in 2002. All four ceased to exist as separate stations on October 27, 2002, becoming rebroadcasters of

's CBLT, with CJIC's call sign changing to CBLT-5. These transmitters would close on July 31, 2012, due to budget cuts affecting the CBC.

References

External links

CRTC Decision 2001-457-6
license renewal for all MCTV stations.
CJIC-TV
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cjic-Tv JIC JIC Television channels and stations established in 1955 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2002 1955 establishments in Ontario 2002 disestablishments in Ontario JIC-TV