CJFB-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = CBKT-4
CJFB-TV
"(defunct)"
city =
station_
station_slogan = Canada Lives Here
station_branding = CBC Television
analog = 5 (VHF)
digital = "allocated 41 (UHF)"
other_chs = CBCP-TV-1 7 Shaunavon
CBCP-TV-2 2 Cypress Hills/Eastend/Val Marie
CBCP-TV-3 3 Ponteix
CBKT-5 10 Riverhurst
affiliations = CBC
network =
airdate = December 23, 1957
location = Swift Current, Saskatchewan
callsign_meaning = C
Julie
Forst
Broadcasting
former_callsigns = CJFB-TV (1957-2002)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Global (secondary, 1989?-2002)
effective_radiated_power = 13.3 kW
HAAT = 155.8 m
coordinates = coord|50|20|18|N|107|47|26|W|type:landmark
homepage = [http://www.cbc.ca/sask/ CBC Regina]

CJFB was a former Canadian television station, based in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. It broadcast on channel 5, cable 9 in Swift Current, channel 10 in Riverhurst, channel 2 in Cypress Hills, channel 3 in Ponteix, channel 2 in Eastend, channel 7 in Shaunavon, and channel 2 in Val Marie.

The station began broadcasting on December 23 1957, beginning its schedule at 6pm, as a Christmas present to the community of Swift Current. From start to finish, Bill and Juile Forst and their family (via Swift Current Telecasting Co. Ltd.) owned and operated the station, and was a private affiliate of CBC Television.

Many baby boomers fondly remember "Uncle Gord's Cartoon Party" which was broadcast in the 1960s and early 1970s. Hosted by long time CJFB on-air personality Gordon Foth, the program was broadcast at noon on weekdays and featured cartoons such as "Popeye" which were elderly even then. However, in the one-channel environment of Southwestern Saskatchewan, the program was enjoyed by many school-aged children at home for lunch.

In 1958 a weekly live television program reporting developments in agriculture, called "Farming Today, was sponsored jointly by the Swift Current Research Station, the Swift Current Agricultural and Exhibition Association, and CJFB. The program was hosted by research station personnel and/or the local provincial agricultural representative. Research Station Staff involved in the program included: Baden Campbell, Peder Myhr and Mark Kilcher. Farming Today lasted for 25 years.

In 1976, after fighting an application by Regina's CKCK to extend CTV service to Swift Current, CJFB agreed to a protective arrangement which allowed it to delete local advertising from the CKCK signal.

Towards the end of its life, the station also carried programming from Global, similar to CKRD, and had produced one season of an agriculture series called "Agribiz" before the series relocated to Regina.

In 2002, the station and its transmitters were sold to the CBC, and on May 31, CJFB signed off for the final time with a look back at the station's history. The next day, the station became a translator for Regina's CBKT (as CBKT-4), providing a full CBC schedule to the area. CJFB-TV-1 (Channel 2) in Eastend and CJFB-TV-2 (also Channel 2) in Val Marie were deleted, as they were in range of CBCP-TV-1 (channel 7) in Shaunavon,, and CBCP-TV-3 (channel 3) in Ponteix, respectively. CITV provides Global programming via local cable systems.

Sources:

Swift Current Research Station 1920-1985 : Serving Semiarid Agriculture by Mark R. Kilcher. (1986) Historical Series No. 25. Minister of Supply and Services Canada.

[Canada's Broadcasting History] http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/television/histories.php?id=98&historyID=76

External links

* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/television/histories.php?id=98&historyID=76 Canadian Communications Foundation - CJFB-TV History]