CBET-DT
CBET-DT is a CBC Television station in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The station's studios are located on Riverside Drive West and Crawford Avenue in Downtown Windsor, and its transmitter is located near Concession Road 12 in Essex.
Residents of the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan, also receive CBET over-the-air as well as on cable.
History
As CKLW-TV
By 1953, CBC Television's distribution throughout Canada was growing. The Windsor market, however, was already being served by the Detroit stations across the border. That same year, Western Ontario Broadcasting Company, Ltd., parent company of CKLW radio, applied for a television license for Windsor. The city's Chamber of Commerce approved the deal on March 28, 1953, feeling that the market was lacking in a television station that was distinctly Canadian in nature.The station first signed on the air at 2:50 p.m. on September 16, 1954, as CKLW-TV. Channel 9, which was the first television station in Windsor and the 15th station to go on the air in Canada, originally operated as a CBC affiliate, though it also maintained a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network until that network's demise in 1956.
On March 1956, American industrial and communications firm General Tire and Rubber purchased a controlling interest in Western Ontario Broadcasting. This move, done through General Tire's broadcasting subsidiary General Teleradio, made the CKLW stations perhaps the only stations in Canada to be owned by an American company. In 1959, General Teleradio was renamed RKO General. In 1963, RKO bought out Western Ontario Broadcasting's other shareholders and gained full ownership of the CKLW stations. CKLW-AM-FM-TV was now fully integrated with RKO General's American broadcast interests, located in New York City, Memphis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Hartford, Connecticut, among other cities. CKLW-TV transmitted its programming in black and white until October 1966, when it upgraded its transmitter and began broadcasting in colour.
Programming
Under RKO's ownership, CKLW-TV aired only the minimum block of CBC programming. During this period, the CBC carried a number of American originated shows that were also broadcast on the Detroit stations; these programs, however, were blacked out on CKLW-TV because Windsor was, then as now, considered part of the Detroit market. The blackout of American network shows allowed RKO General an opportunity to reach the more lucrative American audience across the border. Outside of network programming, most of channel 9's schedule consisted of the standard fare of independent stations in the United States—old movies, cartoons, children's programs and off-network syndicated programming. Its lineup was similar to the programming on RKO's two American independent stations, WOR-TV in New York City and KHJ-TV in Los Angeles. Much like its radio counterparts, the station looked more American than Canadian.There was some local programming and personalities during this era, including Toby David as Captain Jolly, Art Cervi as Bozo the Clown, and Bill Kennedy hosting Bill Kennedy's Showtime. Another popular show on CKLW-TV during the 1960s was Swingin' Time, a local teenage dance party show similar to American Bandstand, hosted by WKNR radio personality Robin Seymour. The show featured recording artists, both nationally and locally popular, lip-synching to their latest releases while teenagers showcased the latest dances on the show's huge dance floor. Due to the show's connection to Detroit's popular rock-and-roll AM radio stations, Swingin' Time was used by many artists, especially local acts such as The Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the MC5, and Mitch Ryder, to reach a substantially larger teen audience than they could have achieved through solely working the record hop circuit.
Transition
Through the 1968 Broadcasting Act, the Canadian Radio-television Commission decreed that broadcast stations licensed within Canada must be at least 80 percent owned by Canadians. With this ordinance in effect, RKO General announced that it would put the CKLW stations up for sale on July 10, 1969. Western Ontario Broadcasting's licence to operate the stations was renewed until September 1, 1970, and in 1969, General Tire decided to get out altogether rather than accept a 20 percent share.Two Canadian broadcasting firms, Maclean Hunter, and Baton Broadcasting, made a joint offer to purchase the stations, but were turned down by the CRTC. Both Maclean Hunter and Baton wanted to convert CKLW-TV into a CTV affiliate, which was an unrealistic prospect, given the large number of American imports on CTV's schedule. Maclean Hunter also owned CFCO in Chatham, and neither company could agree whether to sell CFCO or the CKLW stations. Baton was undeterred in its quest and reapplied again, and with a new partner—the CBC, which had wanted an owned-and-operated station in southwestern Ontario for some time. Baton and CBC formed a holding company, known as St. Clair River Broadcasting Ltd., which was 75 percent owned by Baton; the CBC held the remaining 25 percent. This time, the CRTC approved the application, and in February 27, 1970, the CBC/Baton alliance took control of CKLW-TV. St. Clair River was granted a five-year licence by the CRTC to operate the station, after which Baton would sell full ownership to the CBC. Meanwhile, Baton took sole control of CKLW-AM-FM, operating them until they were sold to CUC Broadcasting in 1984 and to CHUM Limited in 1993. The radio outlets are now owned by Bell Media Radio, successor-in-interest to Baton, after Bell acquired CHUM in 2007.
When CBC/Baton took over, more Canadian-produced programming was added to channel 9's schedule, including programs from CTV, such as People in Conflict, Here Come the '70s, The Pig and Whistle and The Starlost. The CTV programming was mainly seen in place of CBC's American programming as a result of border protection rules prohibiting the broadcast of American programs to which Detroit stations had superior broadcast rights. Channel 9 also carried CTV's mid-week NHL hockey telecasts, as well as games from the Stanley Cup playoffs and finals, when CTV held the rights. Before the sale, and especially before Detroit's WKBD-TV went on the air in 1965, CKLW-TV was often likely to preempt games involving the Toronto Maple Leafs if the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Detroit Red Wings on Hockey Night in Canada.
After its sale, CKLW-TV also produced a significant amount of local programming that ranged from music and variety to daytime talk, sports, agriculture, current affairs and documentaries. CKLW-TV was the first CBC station to produce a 90-minute local, national and international newscast during the supper hour. During the 1972 football season, CKLW-TV aired the weekly Alex Karras Football Show, hosted by former Detroit Lion Alex Karras.
As CBET
The Baton/CBC partnership in CKLW-TV ended in May 1975 when, per the original 1970 arrangement, the CBC purchased Baton's 75 percent ownership stake in St. Clair River Broadcasting. Channel 9 became a CBC owned-and-operated station on September 1, 1975, and changed its call letters to CBET. The station's schedule did not change much early on; it still featured the same formula of CBC and CTV programs, along with British and American television shows with Detroit rights. CBET also carried some special programming aimed at American viewers, such as the annual Weekend With the Stars telethon for United Cerebral Palsy in the early 1980s. CTV content on CBET would remain at some capacity through the 1980s, despite the fact that after the CBC took full control of channel 9 in 1975, Kitchener-based CTV affiliate CKCO-TV signed on a repeater transmitter in Sarnia on channel 42, with a signal that reached Windsor at least marginally.The station also sometimes purchased rights to sports programming, such as Maple Leafs games from CHCH-TV in Hamilton in the early 1980s, after CHCH picked up the mid-week rights from CFTO in 1977. CBET was known as "CBET 9" when it first adopted the new call letters, and later branded as "TV 9 Windsor".
Budget cuts
In 1985, a major budget reduction decimated all locally produced programs by the CBC except for news, even though CBET was one of the few profitable CBC stations in Canada. The 90-minute evening news program Newsday remained as well as late and weekend news programs, but the music, variety, daytime talk and the popular Reach for the Top were all cancelled. On December 5, 1990, CBC closed down most of CBET's newsroom, leaving with a small news bureau. It resulted in protests from Windsor area residents. A large rally of about 5,000 citizens marched down Riverside Drive West to the station in protest.A "Save Our Station" committee was formed and politicians on every level lobbied both CBC and the Canadian government to preserve the Windsor operation. Only three reporters remained at CBET, who produced stories for the early evening newscast on Toronto sister station CBLT. First came 5:30 Live, which was followed by CBC Evening News with Bill Cameron.
The Windsor experiment
With an editorial and tech staff of about 32, CBC reinstated local news in pilot project form. New operating methods and new technologies were introduced. This meant videojournalists multi-skilling, and the use of non-linear editing technology. The Windsor Council was also formed. This group made up of managers and union reps oversaw the progress of the "experiment" and dealt with issues that arose on an almost weekly basis. The new methods of the operation paved way for some of the new language in the collective agreements reached in 1996–97.Windsor was not only in the spotlight in the CBC, but was also of interest to many other broadcasters and union leaders across the country. Two local half-hour news programs were produced when CBET presented the Windsor Evening News, anchored by Carole MacNeil, at 5:30 p.m. and the Windsor Late News at 11 p.m.
In the mid-1990s, the CBC increased the amount of Canadian-produced programming on its schedule. However, the few American shows left on CBC Television had disappeared from CBET some years before. These shows were replaced with older CBC programs or shows from other Commonwealth countries, such as the popular British television drama Coronation Street and the Australian drama, Neighbours.
The station had also moved its transmitter tower from Downtown Windsor to near McGregor in 2002, by dismantling the top and erecting it up as a new structure. The bottom still remained for the analog signal on channel 9, while the new tower houses the digital signals for CBET and CICO-TV-32, and for unrealized digital facilities for CBEFT.