View source for CHFD-DT

{{Short description|Television station in Thunder Bay}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = CHFD-DT
| city                   =
| logo                   = Globalthunderbay.svg
| logo_size              = 210px
| branding               = {{ubl|Global Thunder Bay|''Global News at Noon'' (newscast simulcast with [[CIII-DT]])}}
| digital                = 4 ([[VHF]])
| virtual                = 4
| translators            = 
| affiliations           = [[Global Television Network|Global]]
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1972|10|14|p=y}}
| location               = [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario
| country                = Canada
| callsign_meaning       = Hector Fraser Dougall
| former_callsigns       = CHFD-TV (1972–2011)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 4 (VHF, 1972–2011)|'''Translator:''' CKAR-TV 8 [[Armstrong, Thunder Bay District, Ontario|Armstrong]] (0.01&nbsp;kW)}}
| owner                  = [[Dougall Media]]
| licensee               = Thunder Bay Electronics Ltd.
| sister_stations        = [[CKPR-DT]], [[CKPR-FM]], [[CFNO-FM]], [[CJSD-FM]]
| former_affiliations    = [[CTV Television Network|CTV]] (1972–2010)
| erp                    = 1.2 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|366.2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| coordinates            = {{coord|48|31|25|N|89|6|55|W|type:landmark}}
| licensing_authority    = [[CRTC]]
| website                = {{url|http://globalthunderbay.tbtv.com/|globalthunderbay.tbtv.com}}
}}

'''CHFD-DT''' (channel 4) is a [[television station]] in [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the [[Global Television Network]]. It is owned by locally based [[Dougall Media]] alongside [[CTV Television Network|CTV]] affiliate [[CKPR-DT]] (channel 2). Both stations share studios on Hill and Van Norman Streets in central Thunder Bay, while CHFD-DT's transmitter is located in [[Shuniah, Ontario]].

Since February 12, 2010, CHFD carries the vast majority of Global's programming schedule and brands itself on-air as '''Global Thunder Bay''' in the manner of the network's [[owned-and-operated stations]].<ref name="tbtvmessage">[http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/81817/A-message-to-the-viewers-of-Thunder-Bay-Television A message to the viewers of Thunder Bay Television]</ref>

==History==

===As a CTV affiliate===
CHFD went on the air for the first time on October 14, 1972, as a CTV affiliate. The station is part of the Thunder Bay Television twinstick with the then-[[CBC Television|CBC]] affiliate CKPR. From 2002 to 2009, it was among three CTV-affiliated stations in Canada not owned and operated directly by CTV.

As a CTV affiliate, CHFD also aired selected programming purchased from Global, such as ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' and ''[[Brothers & Sisters (2006 TV series)|Brothers & Sisters]]'', as well as religious programming commonly aired on Global stations, including ''[[100 Huntley Street]]'' and the ''[[Hour of Power]]''. It has also aired programs which do not air on other broadcast channels in Canada, such as [[Channel 4]]'s ''[[A Place in the Sun (British TV series)|A Place in the Sun]]''.

===Affiliation with the Global Television Network===
[[File:Tbtelevision.svg|thumb|left|130px|Former logo used when CHFD was a CTV affiliate. It continued to be used on sister station [[CKPR-DT|CKPR]] until 2012.]]
In January 2010, the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] (CRTC) published an application filed by CHFD to disaffiliate from CTV as of February 28, after not being able to negotiate an acceptable new programming agreement with the network, indicating it had instead reached an expanded program supply agreement with Global.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-5.htm#1 | title=ARCHIVED - Notice of applications received - Thunder Bay Electronics Limited - Wightman Telecom LTD. - CTV Limited - CTV Television Inc. - Various locations -Deadline for submission of interventions/Comments: 16 February 2010 | date=January 11, 2010 }}</ref> However, on February 12, just before CTV's coverage of the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] began, and before the CRTC was able to rule on the application, CHFD began carrying Global programming full-time. It had attempted to get broadcast rights for the Olympics—which the station said was a separate matter from the network affiliation—but was again unable to reach an acceptable agreement.<ref name="tbtvmessage" /> After affiliating with Global, CHFD rebranded from [[Thunder Bay Television]] to Global Thunder Bay, and adopted a new logo and website similar to Global's owned and operated stations (this differs from most Canadian television stations that are not under common ownership with a television system or national television network; such stations typically use their callsigns as their on-air branding).

Local cable company [[Shaw Cable]] advised customers who wish to continue to watch CTV programming to subscribe to their [[digital cable]] [[timeshifting]] package;<ref>Carl Clutchey, [http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories_local.php?id=236231 City's TV horizon could change]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''[[The Chronicle-Journal]]'', January 13, 2010</ref> the company did, however, add [[CTV Toronto]] to its basic lineup on channel 23 for the duration of the Olympics.<ref>[http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsServices/Television/ChannelsInMyArea/ Shaw – Channels In My Area] (using Thunder Bay postal code), accessed February 9, 2010</ref>

In June 2014, Dougall Media announced that sister station CKPR would switch its affiliation from CBC to CTV in September.<ref>[http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/345418/CTV-set-to-return-to-CKPR-TV "CTV set to return to CKPR-TV"]. [[Dougall Media|tbnewswatch.com]], June 18, 2014.</ref> The affiliation switch took effect on September 1, 2014.

On January 27, 2016, Dougall Media officials revealed that CKPR and CHFD are both being sustained by the payouts from life insurance policies on former owner Fraser Dougall and a former general manager who both died in 2015, and said that the stations were likely to shut down by September 1, barring a favourable change in CRTC policies on local television funding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalnews.ca/news/2481036/thunder-bay-tv-stations-surviving-on-life-insurance-cash-shutdowns-looming/|title=Thunder Bay TV stations surviving on life insurance cash, shutdowns looming|first=Tania|last=Kohut|work=[[Global News|GlobalNews.ca]]|date=January 27, 2016|accessdate=January 27, 2016}}</ref> Both stations, however, are still in operation.

==Programming==
Currently the station clears the majority of Global programming, with some preemptions in the daytime schedule for a local morning newscast at 9 a.m. and [[infomercial]]s as well as the weekend edition of ''[[Global National]]'' since fall 2011.

Locally produced programs include ''Officially Rugged'', ''TB [[Classifieds]]'', and the nightly ''Headline News'' (no relation to the [[HLN (TV channel)|CNN-owned channel]]). CHFD also airs a Saturday evening newscast and repeats CKPR's 11 p.m. ''TB News Late Edition'' at 11:30 on weeknights, along with a simulcast of [[Global Toronto]]'s ''[[Global News Morning]]'' on weekday mornings from 6–9&nbsp;a.m., and also ''News at Noon'' on weekday noon at 12–12:30&nbsp;p.m.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=15462&lineupId=0005993%3aX&zipcode=p7c3&channel=222&channelCnt=125 |title=CHFD TV's schedule at Zap2It.com |access-date=December 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416072021/http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=15462&lineupId=0005993%3aX&zipcode=p7c3&channel=222&channelCnt=125 |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannel of CHFD-DT<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=CHFD#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for CHFD|website=[[RabbitEars]]|accessdate=August 23, 2025}}</ref> 
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#Canada|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 4.4 
| [[1080i]] || [[16:9]] || CHFD-DT || [[Global Television Network|Global]] 
|}
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
CHFD-DT [[flash cut]] to digital in early August 2011 alongside sister station CKPR.

Through the use of [[PSIP]], digital television receivers display CHFD-DT's [[virtual channel]] as 4.1.<ref>[http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/vwapj/DTV_PLAN_Dec08-e.pdf/$file/DTV_PLAN_Dec08-e.pdf Industry Canada: "DTV Post-Transition Allotment Plan", December 2008]</ref>

In January 2011, Dougall Media applied with the CRTC to broadcast its digital signal instead on channel 4.<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-23.htm Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011–23]</ref>

=== Rebroadcasters ===
CHFD-TV had operated an [[analog television|analog]] rebroadcaster in [[Armstrong, Thunder Bay District, Ontario|Armstrong]] ('''CKAR-TV''', channel 8). It is believed that the Armstrong transmitter had been shut down as there are little or no sources and references from the CRTC, historical information and technical databases regarding this rebroadcast transmitter. On February 18, 1993, Armstrong Resources Development Corporation submitted an application to the CRTC to operate a television rebroadcast transmitter at Armstrong on channel 7 with a power of 10 watts, to retransmit the signal of CHFD-TV in Thunder Bay.<ref>[https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1993/n93-1.htm ARCHIVED -  Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 1993-1], ''CRTC'', February 18, 1993</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{official|http://globalthunderbay.tbtv.com/}}
* [https://broadcasting-history.ca/television/television-stations/ontario/ontario-northern/CHFD-DT CHFD-DT] at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]
*{{RecnetCanada|CHFD-DT}}

{{Ontario TV}}
{{Global TV}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chfd-dt}}
[[Category:Mass media in Thunder Bay]]
[[Category:Television stations in Northwestern Ontario|HFD-DT]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1972]]
[[Category:Global Television Network stations|HFD-DT]]
[[Category:1972 establishments in Ontario]]