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{{Short description|Television station in Windsor, Ontario (1976–2012)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = CBEFT
| above = Defunct,used to be a semi-satellite of [[CBLFT-DT]], [[Toronto]]
| logo = SRC-TV.svg
| logo_size = 180px
| branding = Radio-Canada Ontario
| analog = Formerly 35 ([[ultra high frequency|UHF]])
| affiliations = [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]]
| airdate = {{start date|1976|7|16}}
| last_airdate = {{end date|2012|8|1}}<br />({{age in years and days|1976|7|16|2012|8|1|p=y}})
| location = [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Ontario]]
| country = Canada
| callsign_meaning = '''C'''anadian<br />'''B'''roadcasting Corporation<br />'''E'''ssex County<br />'''F'''rançais<br />'''T'''élévision
| former_channel_numbers = 78 (7/16/1976–9/29/1982)<br />54 (9/29/1982–8/31/2011)
| owner = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|Société Radio-Canada]]
| licensee = 
| sister_stations = [[CBET-DT]], [[CBEW-FM]], [[CBE-FM]], [[CBEF]]
| erp = 36 kW
| haat = 206.8 m
| coordinates = {{coord|42|9|12|N|82|57|11|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| website = [http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/ontario/index.shtml Radio-Canada Ontario]
}}

'''CBEFT''' was the [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]] [[owned-and-operated station|owned-and-operated]] [[television station]] serving [[Franco-Ontarian]]s in [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Ontario]], Canada. Previously licensed as a standalone television station, it later operated as a semi-satellite of [[Toronto]] station [[CBLFT-DT]]. It broadcast an [[analog television|analogue]] signal on [[UHF]] channel 35 from a transmitter near Concession Road 12 in [[Essex, Ontario|Essex]].

Owned by the Société Radio-Canada arm of the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]], it was a sister to [[CBC Television]] outlet [[CBET-DT]] and operated [[master control]] facilities at that station's studios on Riverside Drive West and Crawford Avenue (near the [[Detroit River]]) in downtown Windsor.

On cable, CBEFT was seen on [[Cogeco]] Windsor channel 12. It was not seen on the Detroit-area systems, such as [[Comcast]] Detroit nor [[Bright House Networks|Bright House]] Livonia. The station broadcast at 144&nbsp;kW with a directional antenna, relatively low for a full-powered analogue station on the UHF band. It could be picked up to some degree in the Detroit area, as far west as [[Washtenaw County, Michigan|Washtenaw]] and [[Lenawee County, Michigan|Lenawee]] counties and as far south as [[Sandusky, Ohio|Sandusky]] and [[Port Clinton, Ohio|Port Clinton]], Ohio.

==History==

===CBEFT as originating station===
[[Image:CBEFT-U78.jpg|thumb|left|CBEFT's logo as "U78", on Channel 78.]]The station first aired on [[Channel 78]] in 1976, making it Canada's second-highest-numbered UHF station following the launch of [[CITY-TV]] in 1972 on [[Channel 79]]. Originally, it was a full-time satellite of Radio-Canada flagship [[CBFT]] in [[Montreal]].

CBEFT was the first non-English TV station to sign-on in the Detroit-Windsor market — it would be later joined by [[Spanish-language]] [[Univision|SIN]] affiliate W66BV (channel 19, now [[WUDL-LD]]) in 1983. During that period, and again from 2004 to 2009, the Detroit/Windsor market was the only market in the United States or Canada with terrestrial stations in both Spanish and French; the Spanish station during the latter period was Univision affiliate [[WUDT-LD|WUDT-CA]] on channel 23. After WUDT switched to the English-language [[Daystar Television Network]] in August 2009, CBEFT again became the sole terrestrial non-English station in the market.

CBEFT offered the full Radio-Canada line-up, except for some American series; this is because Windsor is reckoned as part of the Detroit market for the purposes of programming rights. Also, most [[Montreal Expos]] baseball games were not seen on CBEFT, as Windsor is part of [[Detroit Tigers]] territory.

CBEFT moved to channel 54 on September 29, 1982, when TV channels above 69 were removed from the TV spectrum.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50741230/|accessdate=May 11, 2020|work=Windsor Star|page=C12|first=Tom|last=McMahon|date=September 29, 1982|title=Music, nature shows on new menu from Channel 56}}</ref>

===CBEFT as rebroadcaster===
From the mid-1980s at the earliest, it was a semi-satellite of [[CBLFT-DT|CBLFT]] in [[Toronto]] as part of the Ontario-Outaouais network. In 1991, as part of cost-cutting measures at the CBC, CBEFT's licence, along with all other Radio-Canada transmitters in Ontario, was merged with that of [[CBOFT-DT|CBOFT]] in [[Ottawa]]. However, CBEFT, along with CBLFT's other former repeaters, carried the split-feed newscast for the rest of Ontario that was produced at CBOFT.

On April 28, 2010, the CRTC relicensed CBLFT as a standalone station, which would again produce a separate newscast for the province of Ontario outside of CBOFT's primary market.<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-239.htm CRTC Decision 2010-239]</ref> At the same time, CBEFT was relicensed as a rebroadcaster of CBLFT. In recent years, CBEFT relayed CBLFT off a satellite link, which would get disrupted under severe weather conditions, which would cause its equipment to display an error message.

===Demise===
CBEFT was forced to move again to UHF 35 when channels 52–69 were removed from the television spectrum on August 31, 2011; the new channel was granted when other nearby stations that broadcast on channel 35 in analog - [[WDCQ-TV]] in [[Bad Axe, Michigan]]; [[WGVU-TV]] in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]]; [[WSEE-TV]] in [[Erie, Pennsylvania]]; and [[WLIO]] in [[Lima, Ohio]] - moved to new digital frequencies. CBEFT occupied analogue UHF 35 for less than a year before going permanently [[dark (broadcasting)|dark]], as by 2011, the CBC had made clear that it had no plans to convert any non-originating stations in mandatory transition markets to digital. On August 16, 2011, the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission|CRTC]] granted a one-year temporary extension to continue operation of 22 repeaters in mandatory markets, including CBEFT, in analogue until August 31, 2012.<ref name="cbc-faq" /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?AppNo=201110999 | title=The Runtime Service cannot communicate with Entitlements Service }}</ref>

On July 31, 2012, CBC and Radio-Canada decommissioned their entire network of re-transmitters nationwide, shutting down all 620 analogue signals permanently as a cost-cutting measure.<ref>[http://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/2012/04/04/ Speaking notes for Hubert T. Lacroix regarding measures announced in the context of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan]</ref> The network abandoned its over-the-air viewers in every market in which it did not operate broadcast studios, regardless of whether the markets were required to convert to [[digital television]].

No CBC or Radio-Canada television re-transmitters were converted to digital. CBC did convert CBEFT's English language sister station [[CBET-DT|CBET]] to digital, as it is an originating station.<ref name="cbc-faq">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/dtv/FAQ20110301.shtml|title=CBC DTV Frequently asked questions|author=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|author-link=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=2011-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324135832/http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/dtv/FAQ20110301.shtml|archive-date=March 24, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/dtv/Windsor_Radio-Canada.shtml|title=Radio-Canada Television Windsor (Digital TV)|author=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|author-link=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=2011-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927164825/http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/dtv/Windsor_Radio-Canada.shtml|archive-date=September 27, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On June 8, 2012, local Windsor [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|NDP]] [[Member of Parliament|MPs]] [[Brian Masse]] and [[Joe Comartin]] asked CBC president [[Hubert Lacroix]] to reconsider shutting down CBEFT, recommending instead to install digital [[multiplexing]] equipment and carry CBEFT on a [[digital subchannel]] of sister station CBET-DT.<ref>https://windsorstar.com/life/French/6749217/story.html {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> This was also supported by [[Windsor City Council]].<ref>[https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/ListeInterventionList/Documents.aspx?ID=168888&Lang=e Interventions by Public Process | CRTC]</ref> CBC was not willing to implement digital subchannels to restore programming in Windsor or any other market in which one of the two languages was formerly provided by a re-broadcast transmitter. Current CRTC regulations permit subchannels, but require they be licensed separately.<ref>[http://blog.fagstein.com/2011/08/28/montreal-dtv-transition/ Fagstein: "Even more details about Montreal’s digital TV transition", August 28, 2011.]</ref>

On July 17, 2012, the CRTC approved the CBC's plans to close down all repeaters, including CBEFT, by August 1, 2012. Their licenses were revoked at CBC's request.<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2012/2012-384.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-384, July 17, 2012.]</ref> As CBC retained valuable [[cable television]] slots in all communities which it had abandoned over-the-air, the network claims that only a minority of viewers have completely lost the signal.

Following CBEFT's closure on August 1, 2012, the corresponding cable slot on Cogeco and other area systems was assigned to CBLFT.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/ontario/index.shtml Radio-Canada Ontario]
* [https://broadcasting-history.ca/television/television-stations/ontario/ontario-western/cbeft-tv-2/ CBEFT] at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]
*{{RecnetCanada|CBEFT}}

{{Detroit TV}}
{{Defunct Canadian TV stations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbeft}}
[[Category:Defunct television stations in Canada|BEFT]]
[[Category:Television stations in Windsor, Ontario|BEFT]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1976]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 2012]]
[[Category:Ici Radio-Canada Télé stations|BEFT]]
[[Category:French-language television stations in Ontario]]
[[Category:1976 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:2012 disestablishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Ontario|BEFT]]