CBEF

CBEF is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 1550 AM in Windsor, Ontario. It airs the programming of Radio-Canada's Ici Radio-Canada Première network.

CBEF was launched in 1970. It originally broadcast at 540 AM, until taking over English sister station CBE's frequency in 2013 after that station converted to the FM band.

Programming

In the CBC's programming cuts announced on March 26, 2009, almost all of the station's local programming was slated for cancellation, meaning that the station had become effectively a rebroadcaster of Toronto's CJBC except for a skeleton staff of two anchors to present local news updates during the day and report on breaking news.^[1] A local lobby group, SOS-CBEF, organized to oppose the cutbacks,^[1] but their request for an injunction against the change was denied in July due to the presiding judge ruling that she did not have the appropriate legal jurisdiction to issue an injunction.^[2]

Matins sans frontières, a one-hour local morning program hosted by Charles Lévesque, was reinstated from 7 September 2010, and as of May 2013 it has now expanded to two hours. The station continues to rebroadcast CJBC in other local programming blocks.

At the CRTC's license renewal for the CBC's services in 2013, the commission directed the network to maintain at least 15 hours per week of local programming on CBEF during the 2013-18 license term, due to the lack of other French-language radio services in Windsor.^[3]

Transmitters

The station also has a rebroadcast transmitter (CBEF-1-FM) in Leamington, on 103.1 FM. Due to AM reception issues in downtown Windsor, CBEF was also approved by the CRTC to operate a 620-watt rebroadcaster in Windsor at 105.5 MHz, provided that does not interfere with stations at or near this frequency, such as WWWM-FM in Toledo. The callsign for the new rebroadcaster at 105.5 FM is CBEF-2-FM‏. As of April 1, 2012, 105.5 CBEF-2 is on the air.

In May 2012, the CBC filed with the CRTC seeking permission to move CBEF to CBE's previous transmitter and frequency of 1550 AM at 10,000 watts,^[4] and to establish a low-powered FM rebroadcaster at 98.3 MHz in Sarnia.^[5] The change was requested due to concerns that rust may be affecting the now-obsolete facility, and that nearby hydro (electric) lines were also affecting its signal. The move, as requested, was approved by the CRTC on October 16, 2012; the station was given until October 16, 2014 to either implement the move or request an extension beyond that date.^[6] CBEF began simulcasting on, and transitioned entirely to 1550 AM in November 2012.

Rebroadcasters

See also

• Media in Windsor, Ontario
• Media in Detroit

References

External links

• Radio-Canada
• CBEF History at Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CBEF