CKRN-DT, SRC-TV, Rouyn-Noranda
| Station | Year | Channel | Network Affiliate | Owner/Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CKRN-DT | 2011 | 4.1 (9) | SRC | RNC Media |
| CKRN-TV | 2007 | 4 | SRC | RNC Media |
| CKRN-TV | 1957 | 4 | SRC | Radio Nord Inc. |
1957
Radio Nord Inc. (Jean J. Gourd 46.1%, David A. Gourd 33.3%, Roger Charbonneau 0.1%, Jean Monette 5.1%, Paul E. Riverin 12.7%, Richard Staines 2.6%, two other shareholders 0.1%) received a licence early in the year to operate a new television station at Rouyn-Noranda. Radio Nord also owned CKRN-AM which had been on the air since 1939. The new station with a target start date of January 1, 1958, would have an effective radiated power of 50,000 watts video and 25,000 watts audio. An ad from the spring of this year now gave a proposed launch date of September 2.
CKRN-TV channel 4 signed on the air on Christmas Day. The station offered bilingual programming and was a basic affiliate of the CBC’s French network and a CBC English supplementary station. Network programs were received on kinescope. CKRN-TV served five counties in Northwestern Quebec and Northern Ontario – covering Rouyn-Noranda, Val d’Or, La Sarre and Amos, Quebec; and all of the Kirkland Lake and Abitibi districts of Ontario. The “RN” in the call sign: Rouyn-Noranda. David A. (Bobby) Gourd was president of Radio Nord and general manager of the station. George Chartrand was CKRN-TV’s commercial manager and J. Guy Langevin was director of engineering.
Ad slogan: Servum’ 2 markets in 2 languages in northeastern Quebec and northern Ontario. (should be northwestern Quebec)
1959
CKRN joined the CBC and Radio-Canada microwave network on March 21.
1961
The CBC established its own rebroadcaster in the region to carry English and French programming. However, CKRN also continued to air some programs from the networks.
1962
The CBC’s rebroadcaster switched to full English programming. As a result, CKRN became a full Radio-Canada affiliate.
1964
CKRN-TV-2 opened at Ville Marie on December 17.
1965
CKRN-TV had an effective radiated power of 115,000 watts video and 57,500 watts audio. It operated rebroadcast transmitters at Val D’Or (channel 6), Senneterre (7), Matagami (7) and Ville-Marie (8).
1967
Approval was given for the transfer of 39,705 common shares to Assurgo Ltee.
1975
CKRN-TV was authorized to add a transmitter at Bearn/Fabre, broadcasting on channel 3 with effective radiated video power of 186 watts, non-directional. (There was also an application to use channel 9 with 187 watts, directional).
1976
CKRN-TV-3 Febre was opened on December 23.
1977
Radio Nord received approval to increase the power for CKRN-TV-3 at Bearn/Fabre from 186 watts to 1,733 watts (video).
1979
Radio-Nord Inc. opened CFEM-TV channel 13 – a TVA affiliate.
1987
CKRN-TV was authorized to decrease effective radiated power from 115,000 to 98,400 watts.
1995
On January 23, the CRTC approved the application to amend the licence for CKRN-TV by adding to the licence the following condition of licence: In addition to the 12 minutes of advertising material permitted by subsection 11(1) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the licensee may broadcast more than 12 minutes of advertising material in any clock hour in a broadcast day, in order to broadcast infomercials as defined in Public Notice CRTC 1994-139 and in accordance with the criteria contained in that public notice, as amended.
2004
By this time, CKRN-TV Rouyn-Noranda operated the following transmitters: CKRN-TV-2 Ville-Marie, CKRN-TV-3 Fabre, CJDG-TV Val d’Or (opened December 21, 1971), CJDG-TV-2 Lebel-sur-Quévillon (June 25, 1975), CJDG-TV-3 Joutel (December 21, 1976) and CJDG-TV-4 Matagami (December 17, 1964).
2007
Radio Nord became known as RNC Media.
2009
On August 27 the CRTC renewed until August 31, 2016, the licence of CKRN-TV and its transmitters (CKRN-TV-2 Ville-Marie, CKRN-TV-3 Fabre, CJDG-TV Val-d’Or, CJDG-TV-2 Lebel-sur-Quévillon, CJDG-TV-3 Joutel and CJDG-TV-4 Matagami). Conditions of licence include: The licensee shall broadcast not less than two hours and 30 minutes of local programming in each broadcast week. The licensee is exempted from the requirements related to program logs set out in subsection 10(3) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 where the station’s programming is the same as the programming broadcast by CBFT Montréal.
2010
On July 23, the CRTC approved the application by RNC Media Inc. to amend the licence for CKRN-TV Rouyn-Noranda in order to add a digital transmitter in Rouyn-Noranda (CKRN-DT) and a digital rebroadcasting transmitter in Val d’Or (CJDG-DT), to simultaneously broadcast existing analog programming. The licensee submitted that the proposed amendments would allow it to adequately serve the populations of Rouyn-Noranda and Val d’Or. The new transmitter in Rouyn-Noranda would operate on channel 9 with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 9,096 watts (maximum ERP of 19,000 watts with an effective height of antenna above average terrain [EHAAT] of 219.6 metres). The new rebroadcasting transmitter in Val d’Or would operate on channel 7 with an average ERP of 16,200 watts (maximum ERP of 21,500 watts with an EHAAT of 201.1 metres).
2011
The deadline for stations in mandatory markets to switch from analog to digital was August 31. CKRN-TV channel 4 signed off on that date and was replaced by CKRN-DT on channel 9 (virtual 4.1). Transmitter CJDG-TV Val-d’Or also made the change on that date, switching off analog channel 7 and turning on digital channel 7 (virtual 7.1) as CJDG-DT.
2018
RNC Media announced it would shut down CKRN-TV at midnight on March 25. CKRN-TV went on the air on Dec. 25, 1957. Affiliated with both the French and English CBC network, the station was known as Canal 4, offering bilingual programming. It went French only in 1962.
RNC Media Inc. requested the revocation of its broadcasting licence for the French-language conventional television programming undertaking CKRN-DT Rouyn-Noranda and its transmitters CKRN-TV-2 Ville-Marie, CKRN-TV-3 Fabre, CJDG-DT Val d’Or, CJDG-TV-2 Lebel-sur-Quévillon, CJDG-TV-3 Joutel, and CJDG-TV-4 Matagami. As requested, the CRTC revoked the licence on April 12.
The story continues elsewhere…
Effective September 1st 2019, we will only be adding new material to these station histories in exceptional circumstances. Our intent to chronicle the early days of these radio and television stations has been achieved, and many new sources and technologies, from the CRTC website to Wikipedia, and others, are now regularly providing new information in these areas.