Global Sarnia-Oil Springs

[KeenerGold]

Global (digital 35, virtual 29) was always an easy catch for me with indoor or aerial. It’s been MIA for the past week or so. Off the air, reduced power, killed by network or CRTC?

[radiofann]

Global (digital 35, virtual 29) was always an easy catch for me with indoor or aerial. It’s been MIA for the past week or so. Off the air, reduced power, killed by network or CRTC?

Waaaay back in early 90’s , from a third floor apartment, one could get Global TV from Ontario and they had maple leafs NHL on Wednesdays.

[ChrisWL1980]

I remember watching the Care Bears on Saturday morning in the late '80s on channel 29 from my grandparents' house in Romeo. It came in quite well with their outdoor antenna.
If it's gone, that's the end of local OTA TV in Sarnia/Port Huron, with CKCO 42 and the CBC/SRC Toronto repeaters long gone. I'm not sure how well OTA viewers can get Detroit, Windsor or London these days.

[Marcus]

The Global signal is back on the air.

[ftballfan]

Global has by far the largest remaining translator network in Canada, all of whom are in digital. They are the only OTA TV service in several Canadian cities

[edj]

Global has by far the largest remaining translator network in Canada, all of whom are in digital. They are the only OTA TV service in several Canadian cities

I believe that was a condition of a company, maybe Shaw, being allowed to purchase the network. Global also to my knowledge has the second most cable coverage in Michigan among Canadian networks. Even into NE Macomb, the Sarnia repeater is carried. I am surprised the Detroit stations never complained about that as what happened with the old Cottam transmitter in the 1970s.

[ChrisWL1980]

Global was not carried in the Free Press TV listings in the '80s, although CKCO 42 was. IIRC, it had a similar footprint in Michigan both OTA and cable.
CHBX 2 (still in analog) has never been on cable in the Michigan Sault (although it was at one time carried in Newberry and Rogers City). CJIC 5 (CBC) was the only Canadian signal carried on cable there in the '80s and '90s. Global didn't even have coverage in the Ontario Sault until sometime in the '90s (probably added about the same time it got the OTA signal) despite having cable carriage in markets like Sudbury and Timmins as far back as the late '70s. CKPR 2 (then CBC) and CHFD 4 (then CTV) from Thunder Bay were carried in some Western U.P. communities in the '70s and '80s. I think only CBMT is carried up there now.

[edj]

I believe CFPL was carried on cable in parts of the Thumb. I don’t think it is now.
The TVO Windsor repeater was on cable in some Metro systems. It may still be in isolated spots.
I don’t believe CBEFT was on any Michigan system at any point. Same goes for CHWI and CHCH (the latter does, or did, marginally reach Port Huron and vicinity via the London repeater).

[audiophile]

It's a shame what has happened to OTA television in Canada.

[Some Guy from Toledo]

Global (digital 35, virtual 29) was always an easy catch for me with indoor or aerial. It’s been MIA for the past week or so. Off the air, reduced power, killed by network or CRTC?

Waaaay back in early 90’s , from a third floor apartment, one could get Global TV from Ontario and they had maple leafs NHL on Wednesdays.

I picked it up from my bedroom in Toledo, OH at the same time from a UHF bow-tie antenna nailed to the wall!

It's a shame what has happened to OTA television in Canada.

It is, far worse than what we have down here with our multiple subchannels we can get.

[ChrisWL1980]

I believe CFPL was carried on cable in parts of the Thumb. I don’t think it is now.
The TVO Windsor repeater was on cable in some Metro systems. It may still be in isolated spots.
I don’t believe CBEFT was on any Michigan system at any point. Same goes for CHWI and CHCH (the latter does, or did, marginally reach Port Huron and vicinity via the London repeater).

CFPL was carried in Port Huron for a time, but was dropped by the mid-'80s, according to the Broadcasting Yearbook. The Port Huron paper continued to include it in its listings for a time. I do remember seeing that CFPL was on cable in the Upper Thumb (Bad Axe/Harbor Beach) around that time though, as was CKNX 8 Wingham.
Port Huron Times-Herald listings show CBLN 34 (the CBLT repeater) on cable channel 23 on the Harron Port Huron system in the late '80s. TVO and CBLFT (French) were never carried in Port Huron, nor in the American Sault. However, I have heard of French stations from Quebec being carried in parts of New England (even on systems where no English Canadian stations were carried), likely because of all the tourists from Quebec visiting the area.
Broadcasting Yearbook also shows CKSO (CICI) Sudbury carried in Rogers City in the late '70s (via the channel 3 repeater in Elliot Lake), but that was probably dropped when CKCY (CHBX) signed on.

[ftballfan]

Global was not carried in the Free Press TV listings in the '80s, although CKCO 42 was. IIRC, it had a similar footprint in Michigan both OTA and cable.
CHBX 2 (still in analog) has never been on cable in the Michigan Sault (although it was at one time carried in Newberry and Rogers City). CJIC 5 (CBC) was the only Canadian signal carried on cable there in the '80s and '90s. Global didn't even have coverage in the Ontario Sault until sometime in the '90s (probably added about the same time it got the OTA signal) despite having cable carriage in markets like Sudbury and Timmins as far back as the late '70s. CKPR 2 (then CBC) and CHFD 4 (then CTV) from Thunder Bay were carried in some Western U.P. communities in the '70s and '80s. I think only CBMT is carried up there now.

Speaking of odd cable carriage in the UP, after WLUC dropped CBS and before FOX picked up the NFC package, WJBK and/or 9&10 were apparently carried in most of the UP outside of the far western counties (according to the Television Factbook). 9&10 was even carried in Florence, Wisconsin!

[ChrisWL1980]

9&10 had cable coverage in parts of the Thumb as well.
WNEM and WJRT were carried in the Michigan Sault in place of the northern Michigan affiliates of NBC and ABC. 29&8 didn't even have cable coverage in the Michigan Sault, which also got WJRT (both 7&4 and WNEM were carried on the Michigan side). Which I can understand since WJRT was a substantially stronger affiliate. However, WGTQ was carried in Elliot Lake. Go figure.
I've also seen mention of Milwaukee stations carried as far east as Cadillac.

[MWmetalhead]

WZZM was carried on a number of cable systems in NW lower Michigan well into the 80s if not early 90s.

I believe that all changed once the FCC adopted new rules regarding network programming exclusivity. I know in Grand Rapids, WKBD programming was subject to frequent blackout in the early 90s (given its FOX network affiliation at the time).

[edj]

9&10 had cable coverage in parts of the Thumb as well.
WNEM and WJRT were carried in the Michigan Sault in place of the northern Michigan affiliates of NBC and ABC. 29&8 didn't even have cable coverage in the Michigan Sault, which also got WJRT (both 7&4 and WNEM were carried on the Michigan side). Which I can understand since WJRT was a substantially stronger affiliate. However, WGTQ was carried in Elliot Lake. Go figure.
I've also seen mention of Milwaukee stations carried as far east as Cadillac.

It could have been WVTV Milwaukee. That was a regional superstation in the 70s and 80s.