CFCF-DT (channel 12, cable channel 11) is an English-language television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media. It shares studios with Noovo flagship CFJP-DT (channel 35) at the Bell Media building (formerly the Montréal Téléport), at the intersection of Avenue Papineau and Boulevard René-Lévesque Est in downtown Montreal, with transmitter atop Mount Royal.
History
Canadian Marconi Company (1961–1972)
CFCF-TV was founded by the Canadian Marconi Company, owner of CFCF radio (600 AM, later CINW on 940 AM before its closure in 2010; and 106.5 FM, now CKBE-FM at 92.5), after several failed attempts to gain a licence, beginning in 1938, and then each year after World War II. In 1960, it finally gained a licence, and began broadcasting on January 20, 1961 at 5:45 p.m. It was the second privately owned English language station in Quebec; CKMI-TV in Quebec City had signed on four years earlier in March 1957.
left|120px|thumb|CFCF's classic logo, used from the late 1970s until 2001.
The station was originally located above the Avon Theatre. The first night on-air was fraught with problems. A power failure interrupted the opening ceremony, and later on, police raided the downstairs ballroom, with sirens blazing and a number of arrests made. The station's newscast, Pulse News, faced a few problems because of the noise from the ballroom. CFCF-AM-FM-TV moved into their own facilities at 405 Ogilvy Avenue in Montreal's Park Extension neighbourhood on May 19.
Channel 12 joined CTV as a charter affiliate on October 1, 1961. However, despite its status as CTV's second-largest affiliate, its relationship with CTV was somewhat acrimonious over the years. Canadian Marconi, as would channel 12's numerous owners over the years, felt CTV's flagship station, CFTO-TV in Toronto, had too much influence over the network.
Multiple Access (1972–1979)
In 1968, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) required that all broadcasting outlets be 80% Canadian owned. Canadian Marconi was a subsidiary of the UK-based General Electric Company, and was forced to put its entire broadcasting division—CFCF-TV, CFCF (AM), CFQR-FM and CFCX—on the market. A deal to sell the stations to Ernie Bushnell, owner of CJOH-TV in Ottawa, collapsed in the spring of 1971 when Bushnell was unable to secure the necessary financing. Later in 1971, Canadian Marconi agreed to sell the stations to computer and telecommunications company Multiple Access Ltd., owned by the Bronfman family. In so doing, Canadian Marconi earned a handsome return on its original investment in CFCF, which long claimed to be the oldest radio station in Canada.
Multiple Access bought the stations after the CRTC refused to approve purchase offers by Baton Broadcasting, owner of CFTO (other CTV partners opposed the sale, and Baton was not interested in buying the radio stations without channel 12 being included in the purchase), and by CHUM Limited (because of indecision over which radio stations would be sold to meet radio ownership limits in Montreal). Multiple Access also was co-owner of CITY-TV in Toronto (with CHUM) during this time (both Baton and CHUM-CITY, minus CHUM's television stations, became CTVglobemedia, which was later in turn became Bell Media, the current owner of CTV and CFCF).
CFCF Inc. (1979–1992)
In 1979, Multiple Access sold the stations and its production company, Champlain Productions, to CFCF Inc., headed by Jean Pouliot. This came after a deal by Baton (this time a willing partner) to purchase Multiple Access' Montreal broadcasting operations fell through. CHUM successfully purchased Multiple Access' Toronto operations (its share of CITY-TV). Later on, the station began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule full of classic television shows and movies during the late night hours, because of the popularity of VHS and Betamax VCRs by that time. As of the present day, the station now airs mostly infomercials in late night.
CFCF Inc., expanded to include the assets of CF Cable TV, which was acquired by Pouliot in 1982, and went public in 1985. It was dropped entirely shortly thereafter.
On August 5, 2009, CTV camera operator, 44-year-old Hugh Haugland was killed after a helicopter crash near Mont-Laurier about from Montreal, Haugland was shooting footage of the destruction left behind by a tornado that touched down in the area on August 4, 2009. Haugland was the son of Canadian journalist and retired former television news anchor for CFCF-TV in Montreal, Bill Haugland. The other person killed in the crash was Roger Belanger, a veteran pilot and local businessman who was in his 60s.
On August 16, 2024, a water main break on René Lévesque Boulevard caused the flooding and evacuation of CFCF's main studio and newsroom, as well as the closure of those facilities for eventual restoration. The flood destroyed several pieces of equipment stored in the station's basement, including satellite trucks and field equipment. Newscast production was temporarily moved to the offices of corporate parent BCE Inc. on nearby Nuns' Island. In September 2025, just over a year after the flooding, CFCF introduced a new virtual studio, combining chroma key walls and a physical desk and screens.
Programming
CFCF airs the standard CTV schedule in pattern with CFTO; its only major difference had previously been the scheduling of certain syndicated programs in CTV's afternoon lineup to allow for simsubs with Burlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New York stations on cable (particularly Dr. Phil, which aired at 5 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. to simsub WVNY), but this was rendered moot when the shows were replaced by library sitcom reruns on the national schedule upon their conclusions.
In the past, some children's programming was preempted due to provincial regulations on advertising; the station now carries CTV's few remaining children's programs with public service announcements during ad breaks. As well, CFCF did not carry either Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy! when these were part of the standard CTV schedule; both were picked up by the CBC nationally in the fall of 2008, only for them to be discarded in the fall of 2011.
CFCF has always been the highest-rated television station for Anglophone Quebecers, dwarfing the viewership commanded by CBMT (CBC Television and CKMI. As well, a significant number of bilingual Francophones also watch CFCF—for both programming and news—although CFTM, CFJP and CBFT-DT (Radio-Canada) are the market leaders for Quebec's French community.
News operation
CFCF-DT presently dedicates 13 hours of air-time for locally produced newscasts each week (with 2 hours each weekday and hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station's studios in Downtown Montreal also house the CTV News network division's Montreal news bureau.
Since 1986, one of CFCF's lead evening anchors has been Mutsumi Takahashi. Matt Grillo temporarily fills the spot of lead anchor of the weekend edition and Maya Johnson anchors the 5 and 11:30 p.m. bulletins. One of its most famous anchors, Bill Haugland, is now retired; his last newscast aired on November 30, 2006. Haugland worked at CFCF for more than 40 years. He covered major stories in the 1960s and 1970s before becoming the lead anchor at CFCF in the late-1970s. Haugland was an institution and in a special "Farewell to Bill" show broadcast on his final day, he was heralded by colleagues, viewers and former prime ministers alike. In December 2006, Haugland was replaced on an interim basis by Brian Britt, another CFCF veteran newscaster, until he too retired on July 24, 2008. Todd van der Heyden took over from Britt as co-anchor up until the end of 2011. Currently, Mutsumi Takahashi is the station's sole anchor for 6 p.m. evening broadcasts, as Bell Media eliminated the co-anchor position due to cost-cutting measures.
Until March 10, 2009, CFCF aired a weekday morning newscast at 6 a.m. called First News, which pre-empted the first half hour of Canada AM; anchored by Herb Luft, it was cancelled in favor of an early start time for Canada AM, which was then seen in its entirety starting at 6 a.m. Morning news briefs seen during Canada AM were also cancelled. Luft would continue his role as reporter for the station, until retiring in June 2010. These cancellations were part of continuing cutbacks made by CTV due to the economic crisis.
On May 11, 2011, it was announced that longtime 11:30 p.m. news anchor Debra Arbec had left the station to become the main anchor at CBC O&O CBMT-DT. Various other anchors filled in the void for the remainder of May and then June 2011. CTV reporter/former CJAD and CJFM news announcer Catherine Sherriffs became Arbec's permanent replacement on July 4, 2011.
On December 2, 2011, Todd van der Heyden announced he would step down at the end of the month to become an anchor at CTV News Channel in Toronto. Beginning in 2012, weekend anchor Paul Karwatsky was appointed as interim anchor to replace Van der Heyden while a permanent anchor was found. During the evening, on January 18, 2012, it was made official that Karwatsky would occupy the permanent co-anchor position.
On July 29, 2014, several layoffs were announced by CTV Montreal's general manager. Among them was Catherine Sherriffs, who at the time was on maternity leave, and was told her job anchoring the 11:30 p.m. newscast was no more. Instead, Paul Karwatsky, already co-anchoring the 6 p.m. and occasionally the 11:30 p.m. news, took over as anchor for the 11:30 p.m. spot permanently.
On June 20, 2017, local sportscast programming was cancelled, resulting in the immediate layoff of the entire sports department, which included long-time anchor Randy Tieman, reporter Brian Wilde and weekend anchor Sean Coleman (a dedicated sports department had been part of CFCF-12 since its inception, and once even included noted and retired hockey broadcaster Dick Irvin; for 30 years, between 1961 and 1991, Irvin had been a longtime veteran sports director and anchor at the station).
On November 14, 2017, long-time executive producer Barry Wilson, best known for his Postscript editorial, was laid off as part of Bell Media's ongoing cost-cutting measures.
In December 2018, long-time weekend anchor Tarah Schwartz left CTV.
In January 2020, news reporter and weekend anchor Annie DeMelt left CTV to join the MUHC Communications team.
On September 4, 2020, news anchor Paul Karwatsky left CTV, with Caroline Van Vlaardingen filling the spot on an interim basis. It was announced on November 9 that Maya Johnson would take over as anchor for the 5 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. news.
On February 1, 2021, as part of Bell Media's ongoing cost-cutting, it announced the elimination of its Quebec City reporter position.
On June 2, 2022, long-time news director Jed Kahane was laid off as part of Bell Media's ongoing cost-cutting measures.
On September 29, 2023, long-time news reporter Cindy Sherwin left CTV.
On November 13, 2023, Bell Media cut local 5 p.m. news broadcasts down to just 30 minutes, replacing the latter half with a CTV National News feed from 5:30 to 5:59 p.m.
On November 26, 2023, weekend news anchor Amanda Kline left CTV, with initially Caroline Van Vlaardingen, then Matt Grillo, filling the spot on an interim basis.
On February 8, 2024, as part of Bell Media's largest cost-cutting in nearly 30 years, the station cancelled its local noon and holiday newscasts. Additionally, reporter Vanessa Lee, long time production assistant and movie reviewer Mosé Persico (of nearly 40 years), weather presenter Lise McAuley (of nearly 25 years) and assignment editor Derek Conlon (of nearly 20 years) were laid off.
On May 30, 2024, long-time weather specialist Lori Graham (of over 25 years) left CTV.
Notable personalities
thumb|upright|Leslie Roberts|alt=Middle-aged man with grey hair wearing dark blue suit jacket, light blue necktie, and white dress shirt
- Mike Duffy
- Bill Haugland
- Dick Irvin Jr.
- Mutsumi Takahashi
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Analog-to-digital conversion
The station began providing a high definition feed to Videotron and Bell Fibe on December 1, 2009, and in September 2010 respectively. Its digital signal signed on over-the-air on temporary pre-transition UHF channel 51 on January 28, 2011.
On August 31, 2011, when Canadian television stations in CRTC-designated mandatory markets transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts, the station relocated its digital signal from channel 51 to VHF channel 12. The shutdown of its analog signal and temporary digital transmitter occurred just after its 11:30 p.m. newscast that evening.
References
External links
- Official website
- CFCF-DT at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
- CFCF at TV Hat