CBFT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the French-language service of Ici Radio-Canada Télé. It is owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as ) alongside CBC Television outlet CBMT-DT (channel 6). The two stations share studios at Maison Radio-Canada on René Lévesque Boulevard East in Downtown Montreal; CBFT-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Royal.

History CBFT was the first permanent television station in Canada (an experimental station, VE9EC, had been on the air in Montreal from 1931 to 1935). It launched on September 6, 1952, at 4 p.m., beating CBLT in Toronto by two days. The station went on the air with the movie Aladdin and His Lamp, followed by a cartoon, and then a French film, a news segment and a bilingual variety show. The station aired programming in both French (60 percent) and English (40 percent), a practice common for many stations in Quebec at the time.

This continued until January 10, 1954, when CBMT was launched on VHF channel 6. At that time, all English programming moved to CBMT, while CBFT became a purely French-language station as the flagship of the network for francophone viewers. CBMT's sign-on was hastened by the planned launch of television stations across the border in Burlington, Vermont, and Plattsburgh, New York.

Prior to the digital transition, CBFT operated a translator network that stretched across most of Quebec, parts of Ontario, and most of northern Canada (Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

In recent years, Radio-Canada's network feed has largely become a retransmission of CBFT. Due to a lack of sources for alternative programming, most Radio-Canada stations' schedules are largely identical to those of CBFT, other than commercials and regional news. This was the case for privately owned Radio-Canada affiliates before the last such station closed in 2021.

Technical information Subchannel +Subchannel of CBFT-DT Channel Res. Short name Programming 2.1 720p CBFT-DT Ici Radio-Canada Télé

Analog-to-digital conversion CBFT began broadcasting its digital signal on March 22, 2005. On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts, the station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 19, using virtual channel 2.

Former rebroadcasters CBFT had over 30 analog television rebroadcasters throughout rural Quebec and Labrador. Due to federal funding reductions to the CBC, in April 2012, the CBC responded with substantial budget cuts, which included shutting down CBC's and Radio-Canada's remaining analog transmitters on July 31, 2012. None of CBC or Radio-Canada's rebroadcasters were converted to digital.

Quebec City of licence Call sign“Microsoft Word - Analogue transmitters - emetteurs analogiques.docx” . CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2019. Channel ERP(W) Notes Aguanish CBST-7 8 (VHF) 326 Baie-Comeau CBST-19 7 (VHF) 1,590 Baie-Johan-Beetz CBST-8 7 (VHF) 1 Bearn/Fabre CKRN-TV-3 3 (VHF) Beauceville CBVT-6 6 (VHF) 4 Blanc-Sablon CBST-17 3 (VHF) 150 Cap-Chat CBGAT-6 2 (VHF) 39 Carleton CBGAT-14 2 (VHF) 3,200 Causapscal CBGAT-5 9 (VHF) 11 Chandler CBGAT-15 8 (VHF) 184 Chapais CBFAT-1 12 (VHF) 5 Chibougamau CBFAT 5 (VHF) 665 Chisasibi CBFGT 9 (VHF) 10 Clermont CBSAT 21 (VHF) 10 Cloridorme CBGAT-16 8 (VHF) 85 Fermont CBFT-13 7 (VHF) 20 Formerly CBST-5 Gaspe CBGAT-17 9 (VHF) 1,800 Gethsémani/La Romaine CBST-9 9 (VHF) 10 Grande-Vallee, Quebec CBGAT-3 6 (VHF) 587 Cros-Morne CBGAT-9 4 (VHF) 5 Harrington-Harbour CBST-11 8 (VHF) 129 Havre-Saint-Pierre CBST-1 12 (VHF) 16 Ile du Havre Aubert CBIMT-1 16 (UHF) 55 Îles-de-la-Madeleine CBIMT 12 (VHF) 2,800 Inukjuak CBFI-TV 9 (VHF) Kuujjuaq CBFQ-TV 9 (VHF) Kuujjuarapik CBFK-TV 9 (VHF) La Tabatière CBST-13 4 (VHF) 78 La Tuque CBFT-14 3 (VHF) 15,400 Formerly CBVT-3 Lac-Etchemin CBVT-4 55 (UHF) 400 Lac-Humqui CBGAT-19 24 (UHF) 100 Lac-Megantic CBVT-3 12 (VHF) 10 L'Anse-a-Valleau CBGAT-18 10 (VHF) 10 Les Mechins CBGAT-23 10 (VHF) Longue-Pointe-De-Min CBST-18 6 (VHF) 98 Manouane CBFT-5 5 (VHF) 10 Marsoui CBGAT-8 12 (VHF) 10 Matane CBGAT 6 (VHF) 3,700 Mistassini CBFMT 9 (VHF) 10 Mont-Climont CBGAT-1 13 (VHF) 709 Mont-Laurier CBFT-2 3 (VHF) 13,700 Mont-Louis CBGAT-4 2 (VHF) 62 Mont-Louis-en-Haut CBGAT-10 19 (UHF) 5,100 Mont-St-Michel CBFT-9 16 (UHF) 3,000 Mont-Tremblant CBFT-1 11 (VHF) 1,600 Murdochville CBGAT-2 10 (VHF) 1,530 Notre-Dame-Des-Monts CBSNT 40 (UHF) 100 Obedjiwan CBFT-6 10 (VHF) 1 Old Fort Bay CBST-15 7 (VHF) 5 Parent CBFT-4 12 (VHF) 10 Percé CBGAT-28 11 (VHF) 20 Port Daniel CBGAT-21 7 (VHF) 170 Povungnituk CBFP-TV 9 (VHF) 10 Radisson CBFRT 8 (VHF) 180 Riviere-A-Claude CBGAT-13 4 (VHF) 10 Riviere-Au-Renard CBGAT-22 2 (VHF) 2,900 Riviere-au-Tonnerre CBST-6 7 (VHF) 1,600 Riviere-St-Paul CBST-16 21 (UHF) 89 Salluit CBFS-TV 9 (VHF) 10 Schefferville CBFT-8 9 (VHF) 89 Sept-Îles CBST 13 (VHF) 8,400 St-Augustin CBST-14 2 (VHF) Ste-Anne-des-Monts CBGAT-11 8 (VHF) 45,000 St-Fabien-de-Panet CBVT-5 13 (VHF) St-Marc De Latour CJBR-TV-1 9 (VHF) St-Michel-des-Saints CBFT-3 7 (VHF) Stoneham CBVT-8 44 (UHF) 5 St-Pamphile CBSPT 3 (VHF) St-Rene-de-Matane CBGAT-7 30 (UHF) Témiscaming CBFST-2 12 (VHF) 7,000 Tête-à-la-Baleine CBST-12 6 (VHF) 5 Tewkesbury CBVT-7 7 (VHF) 5 Thetford Mines CBVT-9 21 (UHF) 5 Ville-Marie CKRN-TV-2 6 (VHF) 5 Waskaganish CBFHT 9 (VHF) Waswanipi CBFV-TV 10 (VHF) 5 Wemindji CBFWT 9 (VHF) Weymont CBFT-7 6 (VHF)

Newfoundland and Labrador City of licence Call sign Channel ERP(W) Notes Churchill Falls CBFT-11 13 (VHF) 5 Formerly CBST-4 Labrador City CBFT-12 11 (VHF) Formerly CBST-3 Port Au Port CBFNT 13 (VHF) 14,000 CBFNT-1 4 (VHF) 291

See also List of Ici Radio-Canada Télé stations

References

External links ICI Grand Montréal CBFT-DT at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation CBFT at TV Hat