View source for CHLT-DT

{{Short description|Television station in Sherbrooke}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = CHLT-DT
| city                   =
| logo                   = File:TVA logo 2020.svg
| logo_size              = 200px
| branding               = {{ubl|TVA (general)|{{lang|fr|[[TVA Nouvelles]]}} (newscasts)}}
| digital                = 8 ([[VHF]])
| virtual                = 7
| translators            = 
| affiliations           = [[TVA (Canadian TV network)|TVA]]
| airdate                = August 12, 1956
| location               = [[Sherbrooke]], Quebec
| country                = Canada
| callsign_meaning       = ''[[La Tribune (Sherbrooke)|La Tribune]]'', the original owner of the station
| former_callsigns       = CHLT-TV (1956–2011)
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analogue:''' 7 ([[VHF]], 1956-2011)
| owner                  = [[Groupe TVA]]
| licensee               = 
| sister_stations        = 
| former_affiliations    = {{ubl|[[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]] (1956–1974)|[[CBC Television|CBC]] (secondary, 1956–1974)|[[Réseau Pathonic]] (1986–1990)}}
| erp                    = 4 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|588.1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| coordinates            = {{coord|45|18|43|N|72|14|30|W|type:landmark}}
| licensing_authority    = [[CRTC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/regional/tva-sherbrooke}} 
}}

'''CHLT-DT''' (channel 7) is a [[television station]] in [[Sherbrooke]], Quebec, Canada, broadcasting the [[Canadian French|French-language]] network [[TVA (Canadian TV network)|TVA]]. [[Owned and operated]] by [[Groupe TVA]], the station maintains studios on Rue King Ouest (near [[Quebec Route 112|Route 112]]) in Sherbrooke and a transmitter in [[Orford, Quebec]].

==History==
The station went on the air for the first time on August 12, [[1956 in television|1956]]. It was owned by {{lang|fr|[[La Tribune (Sherbrooke)|La Tribune]]}}, the city's major newspaper, along with [[CKOY-FM|CHLT radio]]. Like most television stations in Quebec, it was a dual affiliate of both [[CBC Television|CBC]] and [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]]. It usually went on the air sooner than other Quebec stations, forcing it to fill the schedule with local shows. {{lang|fr|La Tribune}} was eventually acquired by [[Power Corporation of Canada]], which sold CHLT to [[Telemedia]] in 1968.

When [[CKSH-TV]] went on the air on September 19, 1974, it took all Radio-Canada programming away from CHLT. Sherbrooke's anglophone population was too small for CHLT to be viable as a privately owned CBC Television affiliate. As a result, it joined TVA that same day after [[CBMT]] in [[Montreal]] opened a translator in Sherbrooke. Five years later, [[Pathonic Communications]] acquired CHLT and four other stations from Telemedia, forming a network which from 1986–1990 was branded as [[Réseau Pathonic]].

Pathonic's stations often aired a schedule different from that offered on TVA flagship station [[CFTM-TV]] in Montreal. As a result, since CHLT's over-the-air signal reaches Montreal, it was also carried on [[CF Cable]] and [[Vidéotron]]'s Montreal-area systems. For most of the late 1980s, CHLT claimed Montreal as part of its primary coverage area, even though Télé-Metropole, owner of CFTM, held a minority stake in Réseau Pathonic. However, Télé-Metropole bought Pathonic in 1989 and subsequently took full control of TVA in 1990. Since then, CHLT has basically functioned as a semi-satellite of CFTM save for newscasts and commercials. CF Cable stopped carrying CHLT in the early 1990s, and Vidéotron followed suit in 1995.

For most of the time from the 1980s through the early 2000s, it was known on-air as "{{lang|fr|italic=no|Télé-7}}" (TV-7 or channel 7), sharing a similar branding with sister station [[CFCM-TV]] in [[Quebec City]].

During the analogue era, CHLT was one of TVA's most powerful stations; its terrestrial footprint extended as far as northwestern [[Maine]]. Also, as with CKSH-DT, CHLT enjoys cable coverage throughout selected areas of Northern New England, as far east as [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]] and [[Rockland, Maine]].<ref>Per [https://web.archive.org/web/20000302171729/http://zap2it.com/ Zap2it], zip code 04841 (Rockland).</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website}}
*[https://broadcasting-history.ca/television/television-stations/quebec/quebec-montreal-et-ouest-du-quebec/CHLT-DT CHLT-DT] at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]
*{{RecnetCanada|CHLT-DT}}

{{Quebec TV}}
{{TVA stations}}
{{Quebecor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chlt-Dt}}
[[Category:1956 establishments in Quebec]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1956]]
[[Category:Television stations in Sherbrooke|HLT]]
[[Category:TVA (Canadian TV network) stations|HLT]]