Branding Canal 44 | ||
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City Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua Slogan El Canal de las Noticias
(Spanish: The News Channel) Channels Digital: 45 (UHF)
Virtual: 44 (PSIP) Subchannels 44.1 Canal 44
44.2 44 Alternativo
44.3 Una Voz con Todos
44.4 Milenio Televisión Owner Grupo Intermedia
(Televisora Nacional, S.A. de C.V.) | ||
XHIJ-TDT, known as Canal 44, is a Spanish-language independent station serving the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso-Las Cruces metropolitan area. Canal 44 is an independent station which has had a variety of affiliations since signing on the air in 1980 and also produces programs such as local news.
Contents
History
On June 23, 1980, Arnoldo Cabada de la O received a concession to operate channel 44 in Juárez, with callsign XHIJ-TV. Cabada de la O had formerly worked at XEJ-TV as the news director. The station came on the air October 16, 1980. For the first four years of its life, XHIJ carried an entirely local program schedule, a rarity in Mexico given that most commercial stations were either affiliated to Televisa or relayed its national networks. Between 1984 and 1988, XHIJ would carry an affiliation with Televisa.
In 1988, the then-new Telemundo Spanish-language network in the US engaged in rapid expansion, signing XHIJ and XHRIO in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, as affiliates. While with Telemundo, XHIJ raised its broadcasting power from 240 kilowatts to 1,129 kilowatts.
In 1993, Imevisión was privatized and became Televisión Azteca, but it only had one operating station in Juárez. Between 1993 and 1997, XHIJ carried some Azteca 7 programming. It would not be until 1997 when Azteca would bring its second Juárez station, XHCJH-TV channel 20, to air; it would then proceed to lose its Telemundo affiliation as well. In the mid-90s, XHIJ added an affiliation with CNI, a then-new provider of national news programming, which continued through 2000. In 2005, XHIJ began to pick up programming from cadenatres in Mexico City, a relationship that continued until it folded in 2015.
In January 2016, news director and anchor Héctor Armando Cabada Alvídrez resigned from his position in order to run for municipal president of Ciudad Juárez as an independent candidate; on election day, he won with 48 percent of the vote.
Digital television
On November 1, 2011, XHIJ-TDT began broadcasting in digital on UHF channel 45. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display XHIJ-TDT's virtual channel as 44.1.
XHIJ has approval to multiplex its digital signal. Among its four digital streams are Milenio Television and Una Voz con Todos, broadcast by agreement with the SPR and which is the only Mexican public television station available over the air in the area. It replaced UACJ TV, a service of the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, on 44.3 on October 20, 2015.
Due to the conversion from analog to digital television in México (which was a phased process conducted by city), XHIJ shut off its analog signal on July 14, 2015 along with other Juárez stations.
Digital sub-channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed.
Newscasts
XHIJ-TV and KTSM-TV in El Paso share resources especially with violence in Juárez.