Hide Article Text (OCR)
A-Channel begins tests of city tower4By DAVE M A BELLLelh’Drirfga HeraldAll going well, the newest Calgary TV station will begin broadcasting next week in Lethbridge.A-Channel, a Manitoba-owned station that signed on a year ago from street-level studios amidst Calgary's oil companies, lias already begun tests on its 600-foot transmitter west of ihe city.Chief engineer*Paul East says a multi-colored test pattern is now being broadcast — on Channel 2 — from the transmitter ivest of the city on Walsh Drive. Once federal officials check its broadcast pattern to ensure it's not interfering with existing stations, they'll give the go-ahead for programs to begin,“We hope to be ready by mid-week,” East says.The transmitter, rated at 10,000 watts visual, should send an A” quality signal as far east as Taber and as far south as Nev.r Dayton. The “B” quality signal should reach south into Montana and north past Little Dow Provincial Park,Off-air reception won't reach very far west, he says, because A-Channel must protect the Channel 2 signal put out by Calgary's oldest TV station.'East says A-Channel's owners, Craig Broadcast Alberta Ltd., decided to erect their own tower rather than renting space on an existing one because the Channel 2 broadcast antenna is the largest size used.In Lethbridge, cable subscribers will find A-Channel at Cable 6. Station spokesman Martin Kemp says they'll be introduced to a new selection of Alberta programming in addition to sue]) North American favorites as The Simpsons, Friends and Frasier.A “prime ticket” movie will run every weeknight at 8 p.m., and three more will be broadcast on Sundays. But Kemp hopes southern Alberia audiences will also enjoy the station's live early-morning shows as well as its three evening newscasts.Viewers visiting Calgary can drop by for a coffee during The Big Breakfast, a news and information package running from 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays. They'll also see major Lethbridge stories on Live Five, the A-Channel News at 6 p.m. and News @ Night at 10 p.m.Under terms of its initial licence, the station is not allowed to solicit advertising in the Lethbridge market, he adds. That will also be true in Bed Deer, when the Edmonton signal reaches central Alberta viewers later this fall,“We won't be settingup shop,” Kemp says. “But we'll continue to cover news stories.”Craig Broadcasting, based in Brandon, opened its Calgary and Edmonton stations last fall after winning government approval In a competition with CanWest Global of Winnipeg for a new Alberta licence. Its only other stations are in Manitoba.
Newspaper Details
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge, Alberta, CA
Wed, Sep 02, 1998
Page 22
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 22 Nov 2023
Other Publications Near Lethbridge, Alberta
Prairie Post
Lethbridge Sun Times
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge Daily Herald
