CHNM-DT

CHNM-DT

Southwest British Columbia
City of license	Vancouver, British Columbia
Branding	OMNI British Columbia
Channels	Digital: 20 (UHF) Virtual: 42.1 (PSIP)
Translators	29 CHNM-DT-1 Victoria Virtual: 29.1
Affiliations	Omni Television
Owner	Rogers Media (Rogers Broadcasting Ltd)
First air date	June 27, 2003
Call letters' meaning	CHaNnel Multicultural
Sister station(s)	CKVU-DT, CKWX (AM), CKLG-FM, CFUN-FM
Former callsigns	CHNM-TV (2003-2011)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 42 (UHF, 2003-2011)
Former affiliations	Independent (2003-2008)
Transmitter power	CHNM-DT: 8.3 kilowatts CHNM-DT-1: 2.75 kilowatts
Height	CHNM-DT: 670 metres CHNM-DT-1: 99.6 metres
Transmitter coordinates	CHNM-DT: 49°21′13″N 122°57′24″W / 49.35361°N 122.95667°W / 49.35361; -122.95667 CHNM-DT-1: 49°21′13″N 122°57′24″W / 49.35361°N 122.95667°W / 49.35361; -122.95667
Website	OMNI British Columbia

CHNM-DT, channel 20 (virtual 42.1), (known on air as OMNI British Columbia or simply OMNI) is a television station based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Media, the station is part of the Omni Television system, and it is aimed at promoting the province's multicultural diversity.

History

Rogers had made several attempts to launch a multicultural station in Vancouver similar to its successful CFMT (later Omni) operations in Toronto. Unsuccessful applications to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) were made in 1996^[1] and again in 1999.^[2]

Logo used as channel m, used from 2003-2008.

Asked by the federal cabinet to pursue the matter further, in 2002 the commission asked for new applications for a Vancouver multicultural station and received two – from Rogers and Multivan Broadcast, a newly formed consortium of local investors. The licence went to Multivan, with the CRTC citing its local ownership as one of the reasons for the decision.^[3] The station went on-air June 27, 2003 from studios at the intersection of Pender and Columbia Streets in Vancouver's Chinatown under the name "channel m".

Following a failed 2007 bid for the multicultural licences in Calgary and Edmonton, which were won by Rogers, Multivan announced an agreement to sell channel m to Rogers in July of that year. The sale was approved by the CRTC on March 31, 2008,^{[4] [5]} and was finalized on April 30, 2008. With Rogers' recent acquisition of Citytv Vancouver and the resulting sale of religious station CHNU-TV (formerly branded as "OMNI.10") to S-VOX, the Omni Television brand moved to CHNM on September 1, 2008.

CHNM moved into sister station Citytv Vancouver's studio building at 180 West 2nd Avenue (near the Vancouver Olympic Village) on September 7, 2010.

News operations

The station airs daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Korean, and weekly newscasts in Tagalog. The station also produced Korean and Tagalog newscasts. This has since been discontinued.

CHNM's newscasts were known as Channel M News from 2003 to 2008. During those years, the station also had a reciprocal agreement Vancouver's CTV station CIVT-TV, which allowed the two stations to share news resources.^[6] The station's newscasts were rebranded Omni News in September 2008 following the approval of its sale to Rogers, and its news sharing agreement with CIVT also ended.

The station also produced weekly phone-in programs in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi under Multivan ownership; these programs were cancelled after the station was rebranded as Omni.

• Omni News: Cantonese Edition: Weekdays, 5:00 pm and 11:00pm with Endora Fan (樊美芬) and Fiona Law (羅穎心)
  • Reporters: Catherine Chan, Fiona Law, Johann Chang, Otto Tang
• Omni News: Mandarin Edition: Weekdays, 8:00 pm with Bowen Zhang (張博)
  • Reporters: Quan Gu, Carol Wang, Lisa Wu
• Omni News: Punjabi Edition: Weekdays, 9:00 pm with Jasdip Wahla (ਜਸ੍ਡਿਪ੍ ਓਹ੍ਲ)
  • Reporters: Baldeep Singh Jhand, Prabhjot Kahlon, Dilbar Kang, Tarannum Thind

Other programming

Along with newscasts, several independently produced magazine and entertainment programs are created in-house as well. Currently these programs include German Today, Chai Time (Live Punjabi), Mandarin Magazine, and World Beats (an English language world music video program). The station also airs popular English-language shows such as The Price Is Right, The Simpsons and Two and a Half Men alongside its multicultural programming.

Promotions

To capitalize on the station's former slogan "Diversity Lives Here", CHNM previously produced several station IDs and program promos using a diversity theme, including these spots:

• Chinese lion dancers who emerge from their lion costume with their faces painted in orange and white, the colours of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League, along with slogans supporting the team
• A South Asian dancer who performs her routine to the Channel M jingle, then breaks into a Country and Western dance
• A leather-clad Sikh motorcyclist who boards his bike to the Channel M jingle, arranged and performed in a style mixing ZZ Top-style blues rock with East Indian music

Technical information

Omni BC's former studio building at the corner of Pender and Columbia Streets.

Omni BC moved into sister station Citytv's studio building at 180 West 2nd Avenue on September 7, 2010.

The station broadcasts on UHF channel 42 from the CBC Tower on Mount Seymour. It is currently seen on cable 8 on the Lower Mainland, and cable 10 on Vancouver Island. The station's transmitter in Victoria, CHNM-TV-1 (UHF 29), signed on the air on March 26, 2006 with a peak ERP of 8800 watts at 265 meters HAAT.

Due to a strong over-the-air signal on VHF channel 8 from Global BC, some cable viewers in the Greater Vancouver area may receive poor cable reception of CHNM.

Digital television and high definition

Broadcasting in Digital	Yes
Programs in HD	Yes
News in HD	No (Widescreen SD)
PSIP Functioning Properly	No

CHNM-DT began broadcasting on reduced power on December 17, 2009. On February 12, 2010, CHNM-DT was by approved the CRTC boost its maximum effective power to 8.3 kilowatts. The station initially broadcast its signal in 4:3 format (480p upconverted to 1080i), and on April 26, 2011, it began broadcasting in 16:9 1080i format.

CHNM-DT Vancouver broadcasts on channel number is 20 and continued to do so after the analogue shutdown and digital conversion on August 31, 2011. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CHNM-DT's virtual channel as 42.1.

The station flash cut its Victoria transmitter from analog to digital signal prior to August 31, 2011.

See also

• List of Canadian television channels
• 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment

Footnotes

1. ^ Decision CRTC 97-39, 31 January 1997 - VTV (now CTV) was licensed instead.
2. ^ Decision CRTC 2000-219, 6 July 2000 - The New VI (now A) and NOWTV (now Joytv 10) were licensed.
3. ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-39, 14 February 2002
4. ^ CRTC Decision 2008-72
5. ^ CRTC Approves Rogers Acquisition of channel m
6. ^ "Multi-TV". Vancouver Courier. http://archive.vancourier.com/issues07/013107/news/013107nn1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 

External links

• Omni British Columbia
• Canadian Communications Foundation - CHNM-TV History
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHNM-TV
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for CHNM