CKAL-DT

CKAL-DT
Channels
Branding
  • Citytv Calgary (general)
  • CityNews Calgary (newscasts)
Programming
AffiliationsCitytv (2005–present)
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
September 20, 1997 (27 years ago) (1997-09-20)
Former call signs
CKAL-TV (1997–2011)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analogue: 5 (VHF, 1997–2011)
  • Digital: 49 (UHF, until 2020)
A-Channel (1997–2005)
Technical information
Licensing authority
CRTC
ERP112 kW
HAAT369.5 m (1,212 ft)
Transmitter coordinates51°4′21″N 114°15′38″W / 51.07250°N 114.26056°W / 51.07250; -114.26056
Repeater(s)CKAL-DT-1 Lethbridge (See below)
Links
WebsiteCitytv Calgary

CKAL-DT (channel 5) is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CJCO-DT (channel 38). The two stations share studios at 7 Avenue and 5 Street Southwest in Downtown Calgary; CKAL-DT's transmitter is located near Old Banff Coach Road/Highway 563.

CKAL was built as part of A-Channel, the regional television service constructed by Craig Broadcast Systems in 1997. Broadcasting from studios downtown, it was the first new commercial TV station in Calgary since 1975; its style of news and programming was young and aggressive. Ratings settled into third place, above the CBC but behind the established stations in town, CFCN and CICT.

Craig, overextended by its launch of Toronto 1 in 2003, sold itself to CHUM Limited, then-owner of Citytv, in 2004. In 2005, the A-Channel stations took on the Citytv brand. Due to poor ratings and as part of a wave of layoffs, CHUM reduced the size of its local operation in Calgary in 2006, cancelling the station's evening newscast. CHUM sold most of its assets to Bell Globemedia that same year; as Bell owned the CTV Television Network, the Citytv stations were spun off to Rogers. The station reinstated evening local news programs in 2018 but cancelled its version of Breakfast Television in 2020.

  1. ^ "Ownership Chart 27B – ROGERS – Radio, TV & Satellite-to-Cable" (PDF). Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2020.