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CBET-DT

City of license	Windsor, Ontario
Branding	CBC Television
Slogan	Canada Lives Here
Channels	Digital: 9 (VHF) Virtual: 9.1 (PSIP)
Affiliations	CBC
Owner	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
First air date	September 16, 1954
Call letters' meaning	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Essex County Television
Sister station(s)	CBEW-FM, CBE-FM, CBEF, CBEFT
Former callsigns	CKLW-TV (1954-1975)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 9 (1954-2011)
Former affiliations	DuMont (secondary, 1954-1956) CTV (secondary, 1970-early 1980s)
Transmitter power	26 kW
Height	190.6 m
Transmitter coordinates	42°9′12″N 82°57′11″W / 42.15333°N 82.95306°W / 42.15333; -82.95306
Website	CBC Windsor

CBET, channel 9, is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's owned-and-operated television station in Windsor, Ontario. The station's signal also covers the Detroit, Michigan area across the international border in the United States, and is counted as a Detroit station for the purposes of territorial programming rights. It is carried on American cable television systems as far south as Sandusky, Ohio and in many parts of Michigan. CBET's studios are located in Windsor, with its transmitter located in McGregor.

History [link]

As CKLW-TV [link]

Windsor's first television station originally signed on the air September 16, 1954 at 2:50 p.m. as CKLW-TV, owned by the Western Ontario Broadcasting Company, Ltd., along with CKLW radio (AM 800 and FM 93.9, now CIDR-FM). Channel 9 was an affiliate of the CBC, though it also maintained a secondary affiliation with DuMont (shared with Detroit's WJBK-TV) until that network's demise in 1956. CKLW-TV transmitted its signal in black and white until 1968 when it upgraded its transmitter and began broadcasting in color.

In that same year, American industrial and communications firm General Tire and Rubber purchased a controlling interest in Western Ontario Broadcasting. This move, done through General Tire's broadcasting subsidiary General Teleradio, made the CKLW stations perhaps the only stations in Canada to be owned by an American company. In 1959, General Teleradio was renamed RKO General. In 1963, RKO bought out Western Ontario Broadcasting's other shareholders and gained full ownership of the CKLW stations. CKLW-AM-FM-TV was now fully integrated with RKO General's American broadcast interests, located in New York City, Memphis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Hartford, Connecticut, among other cities.

Programming [link]

Under RKO's ownership, CKLW-TV aired only the minimum block of CBC programming. During this period, the CBC carried a number of U.S.-originated shows that were also broadcast on the Detroit stations; these programs, however, were blacked out on CKLW-TV because Windsor was, then as now, considered part of the Detroit market. The blackout of American network shows allowed RKO General an opportunity to reach the more lucrative American audience across the border. Outside of network programming, most of channel 9's schedule consisted of the standard fare of independent stations in the United States. Much like its radio counterparts (especially CKLW-AM, which became a Top 40 powerhouse in the Detroit market in the mid-1960s), the station looked more American than Canadian.

There was some local programming and personalities during this era, including Toby David as Captain Jolly, Art Cervi as Bozo the Clown (who would later move to WJBK-TV), and Bill Kennedy hosting Bill Kennedy's Showtime (which would soon relocate to WKBD-TV as Bill Kennedy and the Movies, with CKLW retaining the Showtime title). Another popular show on CKLW-TV during the 1960s was Swingin' Time, a local teenage dance-party show similar to American Bandstand, hosted by local WKNR personality Robin Seymour (and also, for a time, CKLW radio's Tom Shannon). The show featured recording acts, both nationally and locally popular, lip-synching to their latest releases while teenagers showcased the latest dances on the show's huge dance floor. Due to the show's connection to Detroit's popular rock-and-roll AM radio stations, Swingin' Time was used by many artists, especially local acts such as The Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the MC5, and Mitch Ryder, to reach a substantially larger teen audience than they could have achieved through solely working the record hop circuit.

Transition [link]

Through the 1968 Broadcasting Act, the Canadian Radio-television Commission (the forerunner to today's Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)) decreed that broadcast stations licensed within Canada must be at least 80 percent owned by Canadians. With this ordinance in effect, RKO General's stewardship of the CKLW stations was coming to a close. Western Ontario Broadcasting's licence to operate the stations was renewed for only one year, and in 1969 General Tire looked to sell them rather than accept a 20 percent ownership share. However, the CRTC was more lenient with private affiliates that were owned partially or fully by British interests, such as the CTV affiliates (and partial stake in CTV itself, since CTV was a cooperative owned by its stations at the time) in Montreal, Ottawa, and the Maritimes -- or had much lower shares of American ownership (such as CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario and CKMI-TV in Quebec City) though those stations went to all-Canadian ownership.

Two Canadian broadcasting firms, Maclean Hunter Ltd. (which owned CTV station CFCN-TV in Calgary), and Baton Broadcasting (owners of Toronto's CTV affiliate CFTO-TV), made a joint offer to purchase the stations, but were turned down by the CRTC, as Maclean-Hunter owned CFCO in Chatham, Ontario (also in the Windsor-Detroit market), and neither company could agree which radio stations to sell (CFCO or CKLW-AM-FM). Also Maclean-Hunter and Baton wanted to have CKLW-TV as a CTV affiliate. Baton was undeterred in its quest and reapplied again, and with a new partner—the CBC, which had wanted an owned-and-operated station in southwestern Ontario for some time. Baton and CBC formed a holding company, known as St. Clair River Broadcasting Ltd., which was 75 percent owned by Baton; the CBC held the remaining 25 percent. This time, the CRTC approved the application, and in 1970 the CBC/Baton alliance took control of CKLW-TV. St. Clair River was granted a five-year licence by the CRTC to operate the station, after which the CBC would gain full ownership of CKLW-TV. Meanwhile, Baton took sole control of CKLW-AM-FM, operating them until they were sold to CUC Broadcasting in 1984 and to CHUM Limited in 1993;^[1] they are now owned by CTVglobemedia.

When CBC/Baton took over, more Canadian content was added to channel 9's schedule, including programs from CTV, such as People in Conflict, Here Comes the '70s, The Pig and Whistle and The Starlost. The CTV programming was mainly seen in place of CBC's American programming as a result of border protection rules prohibiting the broadcast of American programs carried on the CBC network. Channel 9 also carried CTV's midweek hockey telecasts of NHL hockey, as well as its playoffs and finals, when CTV held the rights. Before the sale, and especially before Detroit's WKBD-TV went on the air in 1965, CKLW-TV was often likely to preempt games involving the Toronto Maple Leafs if the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Detroit Red Wings on Hockey Night in Canada.

After its sale, CKLW-TV also produced a significant amount of local programming that ranged from music and variety to daytime talk, sports, agriculture, current affairs and documentaries. CKLW-TV was the first CBC station (and maybe the only station) to produce a 90 minute local, national and international newscast over the supper hour.

As CBET [link]

The Baton/CBC partnership in CKLW-TV ended in May 1975 when, per the original 1970 arrangement, the CBC purchased Baton's 75 percent ownership stake in St. Clair River Broadcasting. On September 1, 1975, CKLW-TV became a CBC owned-and-operated station with a new set of call letters, CBET. The station's schedule did not change much early on; it still featured the same formula of CBC and CTV programs, plus British and American television shows (mostly reruns and movies) with Detroit rights. CBET also carried some special programming aimed towards American viewers, such as the annual Weekend With the Stars telethon for United Cerebral Palsy in the early-1980s.^[2] CTV content on CBET would remain at some capacity through the 1980s, despite the fact that after the CBC took full control of channel 9 in 1975, Kitchener-based CTV affiliate CKCO-TV signed on a repeater transmitter in Sarnia on channel 42, with a signal that reached Windsor at least marginally.

The station also sometimes purchased rights to sports programming, such as Maple Leafs games from CHCH-TV in Hamilton in the early 1980s, who picked up the midweek rights from CFTO-TV after Baton sold the team. CBET was known as CBET 9 when it first adopted the new call letters, and later TV 9 Windsor.

Budget cuts [link]

The good times of CBET were sadly about to fade to black, in 1985 a large budget cut decimated all locally produced programs by the CBC except for news, even though CBET was one of the few profitable CBC stations in Canada.

The 90 minute supper hour news program Newsday remained as well as late and weekend news programs, but the music, variety, daytime talk and the popular Reach for the Top were all gone. In 1990, CBC closed down the entire Windsor news operation. The Windsor community was up in arms. A large rally of about 5,000 plus citizens marched down Riverside Drive West to the station in protest.

A "Save Our Station" committee was begun and politicians on every level lobbied both CBC and the Canadian government to preserve the Windsor operation. Only three reporters were left and they produced stories for CBLT Toronto's Newscast which was broadcast at the supper hour. First came 5:30 Live, which was followed by CBC Evening News with Bill Cameron (which earlier was known as CBC at 6 on CBLT).

The Windsor experiment [link]

With an editorial and tech staff of about 32, CBC reinstated local news in pilot project form. New operating methods and new technologies were introduced. This meant videojournalists (cross-skilling) multi-skilling, and the use of non-linear editing technology (AVID newscutters and air-play for news item playback.)

The Windsor Council was also formed. This group made up of managers and union reps oversaw the progress of the "experiment" and dealt with issues that arose on an almost weekly basis. The new methods of the operation paved way for some of the new language in the collective agreements reached in 1996-97.

Windsor was not only in the spotlight in the CBC, but was also of interest to many other broadcasters and union leaders across the country. Two local half hour news programs were produced when CBET presented the Windsor Evening News, anchored by Carole MacNeil, at 5:30 p.m. and the Windsor Late News at 11 p.m. (CBET would continue to show the Toronto-based CBC Evening News at 6 p.m.)

In the mid-1990s, CBC stepped up its Canadian content. However, the few American shows left on CBC had disappeared from CBET some years before. They were replaced with older CBC programs or shows from other Commonwealth countries, such as the popular British TV drama Coronation Street (a national CBC program) and the Australian drama, Neighbours (exclusive to CBET at first, later national).

The station had also moved its transmitter tower from Downtown Windsor to near McGregor, Ontario in 2002, by dismantling the top 600 feet (180 m) and erecting it up as a new structure. The bottom 400 feet (120 m) still remain for the analog signal on channel 9, while the new tower houses the future digital signals for CBET (post-transition digital channel 9), CICO-TV-32 (TVOntario) and CBEFT (post-transition digital channel 35 / 54.1).

Sports [link]

The CBC's sports programming, including Hockey Night in Canada and coverage of the Olympic Games, has historically been quite popular in the Detroit area, sometimes even more popular than American network coverage of the same events.

During the CBC's original run of Toronto Blue Jays telecasts (before Rogers Sportsnet's 2004 takeover), Jays games were often subject to blackout on CBET in order to protect Detroit Tigers home games available on broadcast stations. During 2007, CBC carried eight Jays games; CBET was able to air all CBC Jays games that season. However, blackouts returned during the 2008 season. Jays telecasts on CBC was discontinued beginning with the 2009 season, with Rogers Sportsnet and TSN having exclusive carriage within Canada.

Conversely, CBC's National Hockey League coverage is not subject to local blackout. Indeed, CBET generally airs any Detroit Red Wings game covered by CBC in preference over the default national broadcast. For example, CBET aired all of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinal games between the Edmonton Oilers and the Red Wings, although some games were only initially designated to air in the Northern and Central Alberta (CBXT/Edmonton) region.

American programming preemptions [link]

As part of the Detroit market, CBET is required to preempt American shows on the CBC network schedule of which exclusive rights are claimed by American stations in the market. As of the 2011-12 season, these programs are Wheel of Fortune (which airs on the national CBC schedule at 4:30pm) and Jeopardy! (7:30pm). These preemptions are due to Detroit rightsholder WDIV-TV, which shows both programs during the 7 p.m. hour. The CBC says it will not be renewing its rights to Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy when they expire,^[3] although it is not clear how much longer the current agreement will run.

CBET currently handles these anomalies (as well as its one-hour 6:00 p.m. local newscast, which as noted below differs from most CBC stations) by airing repeats of Rick Mercer Report or 22 Minutes at 4:30 p.m., various documentaries from the CBC library at 5:00 p.m. (different from the ones aired across the network at 1:00 p.m.), and Coronation Street from 7:00 to 8:00 (whereas Corrie airs from 6:30 to 7:30 on most stations).

News operation [link]

On October 2, 2000, local news on CBET and other CBC owned and operated stations was cut back to a half-hour a weeknight, and late news was be cancelled. With the introduction of Canada Now (which began at CBET before it went national), CBC's new hybrid hour-long dinnertime newscast at 6 p.m. began. National news originated from Vancouver and anchored by Ian Hanomansing, with the Windsor segment anchored at CBET by Blake Roberts.

Carole MacNeil would move to Toronto to anchor the Toronto segment there; she would later co-anchor with Evan Solomon the CBC network's Sunday morning news program, CBC News: Sunday, and its nighttime complement, CBC News: Sunday Night. As a result of the dinnertime news change, CBC's local news operations faced some layoffs—especially CBET, where its news staff was reduced from 29 to 19 people. Prior to the 2006 retransformation, Canada Now was last locally anchored by Susan Pedler with Tony Doucette from a state of the art news studio inside the CBET newsroom.

On January 9, 2006, under the CBC's local programming expansion initiative, CBET's newscasts were renamed CBC News at Six, with the national half hour remaining as Canada Now. Most CBC owned and operated stations are also offering expanded local newscasts under the CBC News at Six name.

On November 30, 2006, CBC announced plans to scrap Canada Now in February 2007, in favour of a full-hour local suppertime newscast on its stations. While CBC Prince Edward Island decided to name their new supper hour newscast Compass and CBC Vancouver kept Canada Now, CBET stayed with the CBC News at Six name rather than returning to its original Newsday name. Susan Pedler continues as lead anchor, with Jim Lagogians on sports and Tara Weber reporting on weather. CBET later changed the name of its newscast from CBC News at Six to CBC News: Windsor at Six, following the lead of most of its sister stations across Canada by inserting the city's name into the newscast title.

In September 2009, most CBC stations began to carry a 90 minute block of local news from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weeknights; however, CBET has opted to keep its CBC News: Windsor at Six program at 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. In addition to the main 6 p.m. newscast, CBET introduced a 10-minute late night newscast CBC News: Windsor Late Night on October 26, 2009. The update airs at 10:55 p.m. each weeknight following The National.

News/station presentation [link]

Newscast titles [link]

• Telescope (1960s)
• News 9 (1970s)
• NewsDay (1980s–1990s)
• CBC Windsor News (1990s–2000)
• Canada Now (national evening newscast based at CBET; 2000–2006)
• CBC News: Windsor (2000–present)^[4]

Station slogans [link]

• "Canada's Own" (2001–2006)
• "Canada Lives Here" (2006–present)

[edit] Past branding^[5]

• CKLW-TV Channel 9 (1954)
• CKLW Television 9 Windsor (1965)
• CBET Television 9 Windsor (1975)
• CBET 9 (1978)
• TV 9 Windsor (1985)
• CBC Television Windsor 9 (1986–1993)
• CBC Windsor 9 (1993–2000)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News team [link]

Anchors

• Susan Pedler - news anchor; CBC News: Windsor at Six (weeknights at 6 p.m.)
• Sara Elliott - weather specialist; CBC News: Windsor at Six (weeknights at 6 p.m.)

Digital television [link]

As part of Canada's transition to digital television, CBET flash-cut to digital on August 31, 2011, using its existing signal on channel 9. While the CBC originally planned on requesting that analogue operations for CBET and some of its other stations be extended by one year, taking those stations digital in 2012,^[6][7] the corporation later revised its plan, and converted all of its originating stations to digital in August 2011.^[8]

At 11:58 PM on August 31, 2011, CBET turned off its signal for the final time after 57 years on analog channel 9. Three minutes later at 12:01 AM on September 1, the station turned on the ATSC signal on digital channel 9.

Coverage [link]

Over-the-air, CBET can be seen in Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio with a really strong and reliable rooftop and/or indoor antenna. The station was also listed in some TV Guide editions in Northern Ohio.^[9]

CBET is carried on Detroit cable systems, as well as on cable systems in much of Southeast Michigan. In Northwest Ohio, Toledo-based Buckeye Cablesystem carries CBET on its system, which serves areas as far east as Sandusky. Until January 2009, CBET enjoyed cable coverage as far south as Findlay, Ohio -- this ended when Time Warner Cable dropped CBET (and Columbus' CBS affiliate WBNS-TV) from its Northwestern Ohio systems (though still remains on Time Warner Cable in Port Clinton^[10]).

CBET is the only CBC-owned station not to have any repeaters, transmitters in Sarnia and Chatham rebroadcast CBLT instead.

On August 15, 2011, CBET, along with CHWI-DT, became available to Shaw Direct subscribers.^[11] It is currently not available on American satellite services DirecTV or Dish Network.

See also [link]

• List of CBC television stations
• Media in Detroit

References [link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2009)

External links [link]

• CBC Windsor
• Canadian Communications Foundation - CBET History
• Michiguide.com's listing for CBET
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CBET
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for CBET