Rebroadcaster

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A rebroadcaster, in Canadian broadcasting, is a television or radio transmitter which airs the programming associated with a radio or television station in a different market. A rebroadcaster is essentially the same as an American broadcast translator, although the terminology and policy regulation are different.

[edit] Television

A television rebroadcaster may, in some cases, operate as a "semi-satellite", which airs the same programming as the originating station but is permitted to sell local or regional advertising for broadcast only on the local transmitter. On rarer occasions, a semi-satellite may also air a very limited amount of distinct programming from its parent station. Some satellite stations broadcast their own local newscasts. (Note, however, that the term "semi-satellite" has never been used by the CRTC or any other Canadian licensing body, which generally license these as distinct television stations.)

There is no strict rule for the call sign of a television rebroadcaster. Some transmitters have distinct call signs from the parent station (for example, CFGC in Greater Sudbury is a rebroadcaster of CIII), while others use the call sign of the originating station followed by a number (e.g. CBLFT-17 in Sarnia). Officially, the latter type includes the television station's TV suffix between the call sign and the number, although in media directories this is often left out for convenience.

In the latter case, the numbers are usually applied sequentially, starting from one and denoting the chronological order in which the station's rebroadcast transmitters began operation. However, some broadcasters may, at their discretion, use a system in which the number denotes the actual broadcast channel of the transmitter (e.g. CJOH-47 in Pembroke.)

On the rare occasion that the sequential numbering reaches 99 (e.g. TVOntario's broadcast transmitters), rather than being numbered as 100 the next transmitter is assigned a new call sign and numbered as one.

Low-power rebroadcasters may also have a call sign which consists of the letters CH followed by four numbers. For example, CH2649 in Valemount is a rebroadcaster of Vancouver's CHAN. Rebroadcasters of this type are numbered strictly sequentially to the order in which they were licensed by the CRTC, and their call signs have no inherent relationship to those of the parent stations or of other rebroadcasters. Although the next number in the sequence, CH2650 in Anzac, is also a rebroadcaster of CHAN, this is simply because CH2649 and CH2650 happened to be licensed simultaneously — the following number, CH2651, is a rebroadcaster (also in Anzac) of Edmonton's CITV.

As well, a single station's rebroadcasters are not necessarily all named in the same manner. CBLT, for example, has some retransmitters which have their own call signs, some which use CBLT followed by a number and some transmitters with CH numbers.

[edit] Radio

As in television, a radio rebroadcaster may have either a distinct call sign or the call sign of the originating station followed by a numeric suffix. In the case of radio, however, the numeric suffix is always sequential.

For a rebroadcaster of an FM station, the numeric suffix is appended to the FM suffix. For example, rebroadcasters of CJBC-FM in Toronto are numbered CJBC-FM-1, CJBC-FM-2, etc. Where an AM station has a rebroadcaster operating on the FM band, the numeric suffix instead falls between the CXXX call sign and the FM suffix — for example, CKSB-1-FM is an FM rebroadcaster of the AM station CKSB.

Low-power radio rebroadcasters may also have a call sign which consists of the letters VF followed by four numbers.