This is a list of media outlets in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Contents
Defunct stations
CFNS was a francophone community radio station which aired from 1952 to 1973. It was purchased by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1973, and continues to broadcast as CBKF-2 860.
CJUS-FM, which ceased broadcasting in 1985, was the campus radio station of the University of Saskatchewan. The university has never launched another terrestrial radio station, although an Internet radio operation was launched in 2005 under the CJUS name.
Television
As of 2015, CFQC and CFSK are the only full-fledged stations in Saskatoon.
Saskatoon was previously served by CBKST channel 11, a semi-satellite of Regina's CBC Television outlet CBKT-DT; and CBKFT-1 channel 13, a repeater of Radio-Canada outlet CBKFT-DT. However, CBKST and its network of 20 associated rebroadcasters were officially licensed as CBKT rebroadcasters. As a result, both stations, which were never upgraded to digital, ceased operations on July 31, 2012, along with all of the CBC's analogue rebroadcasters. As a result, both CBC and Radio-Canada are available only on cable and satellite in Saskatoon (though both continue to be available on their longstanding Shaw Cable stations, 12 and 2, respectively). However, as most households in Saskatoon have cable or satellite, few residents lost access to CBC or Radio-Canada programming.
The main cable television provider in Saskatoon is Shaw Cable (formerly known as Telecable), which began servicing the city in 1978. Network programming from the United States is currently received on cable via satellite from affiliates in Detroit, Michigan and Rochester, New York (and, briefly, WTOL in Toledo, Ohio, after WJBK switched networks in 1994).
When cable transmissions began in the late 1970s in Saskatoon, American network programming was initially piped in via microwave transmission from broadcasters in North Dakota, beginning with KUMV-TV & KXMD-TV in Williston, North Dakota. They were later joined by KTHI (now KVLY) from Fargo and KGFE (Prairie Public Television) from Grand Forks. In the early 1980s, KTHI was briefly replaced by WDAZ-TV from Devil's Lake. In October 1984, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved an application by Telecable and other Saskatchewan cable providers to replace these signals with that of stations from Seattle, Washington and Detroit, though ultimately Saskatoon consumers only received the Detroit stations. The switch occurred almost immediately after the decision was handed down. An additional broadcaster from Rochester, New York, was added after the 1986 launch of the Fox network, and as noted above a broadcaster from Toledo was briefly carried after one of the Detroit stations changed affiliation.
In addition to US broadcasters, the advent of cable in the Saskatoon market saw the launch of a community access channel initially branded as Telecable Ten, and from the early 1980s until its closure the Prince Albert station CKBI was also carried in the Saskatoon market via cable.
US superstations, as well as (sustainable) Canadian and US-based cable network programming began to emerge in the 1990s and continues to be available via Shaw or satellite providers. Digital cable service is also available.
As well, Sasktel provides cable television service through their service. On this cable system, American network programming is received from affiliates in Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington.
In the 1978-1979, Saskatoon was serviced by CPN, a Saskatchewan-based cable system and competitor to Telecable that provided several first-generation specialty channels (including HBO) for about two years before folding. A Saskatchewan-based movie channel, Teletheatre, served Saskatoon during the early 1980s until it was replaced by what would eventually become Movie Central. Like other Canadian centres, Saskatoon viewers also received C Channel and other premium cable networks that survived for a short time in 1983.