CKRT-DT

CKRT-DT is a French language television station affiliated with Ici Radio-Canada Télé in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada. It broadcasts a high-definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter near Chemin du Mont Bleu in Picard.

Owned by the Simard family and their company, Télé Inter-Rives, it is sister to V affiliate CFTF-DT and TVA affiliate CIMT-DT. This arrangement makes the station part of a so-called “triple-stick”—three stations owned by a single company. All three stations share studios located on Rue de la Chute and Rue Frontenac in Rivière-du-Loup. This station can also be seen on Vidéotron channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 602.

Overview

The station first aired on January 14, 1962 and has been owned by the Simard family for its entire existence. Station founder Luc Simard had gotten word that CJBR-TV in Rimouski wanted to set up a rebroadcaster in Rivière-du-Loup, but felt the city was big enough for a station in its own right. It operated mostly as a repeater of CFCM-TV in Quebec City for its first two weeks on the air. Its original studio, near the transmitter in Picard, opened on February 9. The station was knocked off the air by a fire in 1963, but was only off the air for nine days.