CIHF-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = CIHF
station_| station_branding = Global Maritimes
analog = 8 (VHF) in Halifax
12 (VHF) in Saint John
digital = not yet on air
other_chs = See below
affiliations = Global
founded = 1988
location = Halifax, Nova Scotia/Saint John, New Brunswick
callsign_meaning = C I Halifax
former_affiliations = Independent (1988-1997)
owner = Canwest
licensee = Canwest Media Inc.
homepage = [http://www.canada.com/globaltv/maritimes/index.html Global Maritimes]

CIHF is a Canadian television station, serving the Maritime provinces. It is owned by Canwest, and is affiliated to their Global Television Network. It is branded as "Global Maritimes", and was formerly known as MITV (Maritimes Independent Television) until 1997.

It transmits in Halifax, Nova Scotia on channel 8 and in Saint John, New Brunswick on channel 12. Global Maritimes is carried on cable 6 on most systems throughout the region. It is also carried on Bell TV on channel 204. CIHF-TV-2, the Global New Brunswick signal, was previously on Star Choice on channel 330, but was removed on May 8, 2008 to make room for other channels on the satellite system. CIHF-TV-2 is a semi-satellite of CIHF-TV: the only differences are commercials, a 5-minute news opt-out for New Brunswick, and the Empty Stocking Fund telethon from Saint John on the last Saturday of November or first Saturday of December.

Transmitters

Below is a list of the station's rebroadcast translators. Semi-satellites are in bold.

History

CIHF-TV was launched on September 5 1988, and was initially owned by New Brunswick Broadcasting Co. Ltd. (itself owned by the Irving family), who also owned CHSJ-TV (a private CBC affiliate at the time ) in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The station launched with four transmitters:
*Channel 8 - serving Halifax
*Channel 12 - serving Saint John, New Brunswick
*Channel 11 - serving Fredericton, New Brunswick
*Channel 27 - serving Moncton, New Brunswick

At the time, CIHF was the only over-the-air independent television station in the area, with studios and main operation centre in Halifax, and all other functions in Saint John, the station offered separate newscasts to each province and opportunities for advertisers to buy ad space in one or both provinces. At the time, the station was known as MITV - Maritimes Independent Television. As MITV shared owners with CHSJ-TV, a popular joke in the Maritimes was that MITV stood for "More Irving Television".

When MITV launched, the station took all primetime American shows from CBC stations CBHT and CHSJ, which is believed to have caused the CBC to launch an all-Canadian primetime schedule on their English language network.

In 1989, more transmitters were added:
*Channel 8 - serving Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
*Channel 18 - serving Truro, Nova Scotia
*Channel 20 - serving Wolfville, Nova Scotia

The transmitter network was expanded further in 1993:
*Channel 10 - serving Shelburne, Nova Scotia
*Channel 11 - serving Sydney, Nova Scotia
*Channel 31 - serving New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
*Channel 45 - serving Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

A year later, after losing $5 million dollars each year since sign-on, CIHF was sold to Canwest on August 29, 1994. This was part of a three-way deal, which saw the CBC taking control of CHSJ-TV, moving it to Fredericton, and renaming it CBAT, making it a full CBC affiliate. Later in the year, CIHF moved its operational and business headquarters to Halifax.

In 1995, CIHF's Saint John offices were moved out of the old CHSJ building and into a new facility in Brunswick Square. Within a year of new ownership and its resulting reorganization and marketing focus, the station became profitable for the first time in its short history. In 1997, as a part of Canwest's rebranding programme, MITV became Global Maritimes.

The transmitter network expanded again in 1998, growing CIHF's coverage to 90% of the Maritime population.

*Channel 6 - serving Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
*Channel 21 - serving Antigonish, Nova Scotia
*Channel 21 - serving St. Stephen, New Brunswick
*Channel 28 - serving Mulgrave, Nova Scotia
*Channel 38 - serving Woodstock, New Brunswick
*Channel 40 - serving Miramichi, New Brunswick

In October 2007 approximately forty employees at CIHF were laid off as part of a wider restructuring of the Global Television network and introduction of centralised news broadcast facilities. [http://www.thestar.com/article/263749]

News Operation

Global Maritimes airs two newscasts a day - "The Evening News" at 6:00 and "News Final" at 11:00. The "Evening News" is Global Maritimes' flagship newscast. "Global National" airs at 6:30, following the "Evening News". CIHF is the only station to air Global National at 6:30. Global Maritimes also has a late-night newscast, "News Final", the only full hour local late-night newscast starts at 11pm. Anchors Allan Rowe and Jacqueline Foster rotate every week as anchors for "Evening News" and "News Final".

Along with a growing number of other Global stations, CIHF has used a "virtual" studio since 2007. The anchor sits behind a desk in front of a green screen, onto which a virtual reality studio is digitally projected. Cameras and tapes are cued and controlled from a centralised control centre - which was originally in Vancouver, which was later moved in August 2008 to Edmonton. A number of the redundancies made in October 2007 were directly attributable to the introduction of this new technology.

In terms of ratings, Global Martimes has edged out CBC for the second place title at 6:00 behind CTV News.

Global Maritimes also had a 5:30 newscast called the "Early News", but was cancelled as of early 2007 to make way for a full hour late-night newscast. The "Early News" was the first attempt by Global Maritimes to compete against CTV Atlantic's flagship news magazine program Live at 5. Global also had a noon lifestyle show called "The Noon Show", but was cancelled due to low ratings.

On the weekends Global Maritimes airs, the "Evening News" at 6:00 with Rebecca Lau on Saturday and Sunday and "News Final" on Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 with Rebecca Lau.

Current personalities

* Allan Rowe (Evening News anchor/Global Maritimes News Director)
* Tarack Hagamad (News Final anchor)
* Rebecca Lau (Weekend Evening News and News Final anchor)

Notable ex-personalities

* News & meterological programming
**Duane Lowe (Previous "The Noon Show" host and producer)
** Jacqueline Foster (fill-in anchor)
**Paul Palmeter (Previous senior reporter and anchor of "News Final")
**Stacey Jones (Previous senior reporter and anchor of "Early News", "News Final")
**Cindy Day (Previous meteorologist, now at CTV Atlantic)
**Trevor Adams (Previous weekend meteorologist, now at CBC Halifax)

Other Programming

CIHF's signal is different from that of flagship station CIII, because Halifax is one hour ahead of Toronto, and the station has the rights to different programming. For example:
*Children's programming is broadcast in the morning Monday to Fridays, and is all Canadian, as well as an extra news bulletin in the early afternoon. This adds the required amount of Canadian content to CIHF's schedule.
*Global's primetime schedule is shuffled around due to time zone and simulcasting issues, with some shows aired on different nights compared to other Global stations.

logans

*1989-91: "A Difference You Can See"
*1991-94: "We've Got It"
*1994-97: "MITV's Got It"
*1997-2006: "Global's Got It"

External links

* [http://www.canada.com/globaltv/maritimes/index.html Global Maritimes]
*RecnetCanada|CIHF-TV