CBLIT

CBLI-UT

Armstrong, Ontario Canada
Channels	Analog: 12 (VHF)
Branding	CBC Armstrong
Programming
Affiliations	CBC, Radio-Canada
Ownership
History
First air date	June 21, 1956 (1956-06-21)
Technical information
ERP	100 kW
HAAT	174.6 m (573 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	48°32′49″N 80°57′9″W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.
Translator(s)	see § Translators
Links

CBLI-UT (channel 12) was a repeater television station in Armstrong, Ontario, Canada. The station was in operation since 1956 as an affiliate of CBC Television.

History

Brough was a special education teacher at an institution for the mentally challenged and an entertainer for the Toronto-based Uncle Bobby children's TV series. In 1969 Brough travelled throughout remote northern Canada as a solo performer. During these tours he noted the lack of radio and television service in many regions and developed methods to bring television to remote Canadian communities. In 1971, Brough created a prototype television program in Yellowknife using portable videotape technology and demonstrated this to the CBC's board of directors. When the CBC rejected his proposals for extending television service, Brough then developed an inexpensive television system which could be installed in remote communities. The station depended on taped programming which would be shipped to the station, rather than on microwave or satellite transmissions. A camera was available at the station for local broadcasts. Brough installed the first Northern Access Network station at Pickle Lake, Ontario in December 1976 with support by Umex, the operator of a local mine. Operating costs of recording and shipping programming tapes were covered with subscriber fees through a locally-run trust fund.

Shortly afterwards, CBLIT went on the air during February 1977, as Armstrong's own local television station, though the television channel was not originally licensed by the CRTC, and when police attempted to confiscate the station's equipment, local miners and loggers defended the station by chopping down trees to block Highway 599. From its launch until 2002, french programming was included on that station to support the predominantly francophone community, as only the CBC English network television service was previously available there. On 2 February 1978, the Longlac transmitter was seized by RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police officers accompanied by a representative from the federal Department of Communications and the CRTC.

In May 1977, the CRTC and the Department of Communications indicated that they would demonstrate some friendly tolerance to the unlicensed Northern Access Network stations, adopting what is usually around that time an unlikely approach where further attempts at station closures were unlikely, particularly where television service was otherwise unavailable. Brough applied to the CRTC to formally license his stations. A hearing for that application was conducted that October. The CRTC awarded licences for five of his northern Ontario stations in late 1979, including CBLIT within Armstrong, but rejected licences for many other existing stations. Brough's dilemma was that the smaller licensed stations would not be viable without income support from the unlicensed stations in more populous communities. Although it had been opposed to his original unlicensed methods, CTV did offer a network affiliation deal to Brough's licensed stations, though they rejected this proposal in exchange of a proposal by the CBC to primary affiliate with both them and ABC.

Transmitters

Station	City of licence	Channel	ERP	HAAT	Transmitter coordinates	Notes
CFCL-TV-2	Kearns	2 (VHF)	70 kW	212.4 m	48°8′7″N 79°33′18″W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.	later CBLT-8; also served Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
CFCL-TV-3	Kapuskasing	2 (VHF)	4.6 kW	121.1 m	49°23′28″N 82°21′27″W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.	later CBLT-9
CBCC-TV	Hearst	5 (VHF)	8.11 kW	146.6 m	49°38′50″N 83°30′50″W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.
CBCO-TV-1	Moosonee	9 (VHF)	0.009 kW	NA	51°17′2″N 80°38′4″W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.
CBCU-TV	Chapleau	7 (VHF)	3.996 kW	128 m	47°51′15″N 83°25′8″W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.

External links

• CRTC Decision 2001-457-6, license renewal for all MCTV stations.
• CFCL-TV at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation

---