Your Guide to Digital TV in Winnipeg and Southern Manitoba

(Updated Sept. 1 with reception results. It looks like the UHF stations have a huge advantage over VHF stations. Please post what you’re receiving and how well it’s coming in in the comments section.)

As Winnipeg’s TV stations prepare to shut off their analog transmitters for good on Aug. 31 and switch over to digital, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of visitors landing on this blog lately in search of information about digital TV. Thus, I’ve decided to put together this guide meant to help those who are getting ready for the digital switchover.

You’ll notice that the maps below are colour-coded.

If you live in the red zone, you should have little trouble at all receiving the station in question as long as you have an indoor antenna. (Note, however, that you’ll need a VHF antenna to receive CTV, KNRR or CityTV, and a UHF antenna to receive CBC, SRC, Global or Joy TV.)

Cautionary note: VHF is far more vulnerable to interference than UHF. This interference has been known to come from fridges, microwave ovens, passing vehicles, computers, fluorescent lights and air conditioners, just to name a few hard-to-avoid sources. If there is a lot of interference — as there will be in an apartment building or high-density neighbourhood — it might be difficult for your TV to lock on to even the strongest signal.

If you live in the magenta zone, you’ll probably be okay with an indoor antenna if you live in a low-density suburban or rural area, or perhaps if you live in a high-rise with minimal ground clutter between you and the transmitter. If you live in an urban setting, however, your reception with an indoor antenna will range from passable (i.e., a few irritating glitches here and there) to downright poor. Consider an attic or rooftop antenna.

If you live in the blue zone, you’ll need a rooftop aerial in order to get a good signal.

And, finally, if you live in the grey zone, you’ve got your work cut out for you. You might get a watchable signal when conditions are just right, but if anything comes between you and the transmitter — a tree, a tall building, a thunderstorm, a blizzard — you won’t be able to count on anything. You might need a techie’s expertise here.

CBWT (CBC) Winnipeg, Channel 27.1 (Virtual 6.1)

CBC Winnipeg (official call letters: CBWT) will be abandoning its long-time home on a tower located near Starbuck, Man. and relocating to a transmitter located at Portage and Main in downtown Winnipeg. Since the lower channels are vulnerable to interference — which causes mild static or squigly lines to appear on analog signals, but which can seriously mess up digital signals — CBC is vacating Channel 6 and moving up to Channel 27 on the UHF band. Reception will remain good in Winnipeg, but residents of Portage, Morden, Winkler and Altona will struggle to get a signal after Aug. 31.

(Sept. 1 update: CBC and SRC will not be transitioning to digital until the end of the month.)

CBWFT (SRC) Winnipeg, Channel 51.1 (Virtual Channel 3.1)

SRC, the French language equivalent of the CBC, has also spent its life on the low end of the VHF dial since going on the air in 1960 as CBWFT on Channel 6. Like its English-language sister station, Manitoba’s only French-language TV station will be operating from high above Portage and Main, abandoning its longtime Channel 3 home in favour of Channel 51. Reception should remain good in and around Winnipeg and acceptable in St-Pierre-Jolys, but you’ll need a rooftop UHF aerial for best results in Saint Malo and a lot of luck in Notre Dame de Lourdes and Saint Claude.

CKY (CTV) Winnipeg, Channel 7.1

CTV Winnipeg (a.k.a., CKY-TV) is not joining the move to the UHF band, opting to stay on its longtime Channel 7 VHF frequency. This could have both advantages and risks for the station. The advantages lie in the fact that over-the-air viewers will not have to invest in new UHF antennas in order to continue receiving the station. The risks are in the fact that many U.S. broadcasters who originally opted to stay on the Channel 7-13 part of the VHF band are now regretting the decision, given that viewers are reporting better reception of UHF station than of VHF stations.

Some VHF digital stations also fear being at a disadvantage as new handheld and mobile Digital TV devices come on the market in the near future. CTV Winnipeg still has the option of using Channel 46 if it ever wants to migrate on to UHF, however. Based on signal strength, CTV’s digital signal should have reasonably good coverage across southern Manitoba.

(Update Sept. 1: Using an AverMedia DTV stick on my computer and three types of antenna — the small antenna provided with the stick, an old scanner radio antenna and a traditional rabbit-ears antenna — I still haven’t been able to get a lock on CTV’s signal. Boo.)

CKND (Global) Winnipeg, Channel 40.1 (Virtual Channel 9.1)

Global Winnipeg (a.k.a., CKND) was the first Winnipeg TV station to make the transition to digital in 2010. Like the CBC, Global’s digital signal originates from Portage and Main on Channel 40 (Virtual Channel 9.1). If you live in Morden, Winkler, Altona or Portage and are still reliant on Global’s Channel 9 analog signal, make sure you have a cable or satellite subscription by Aug. 31, or it’s goodbye Global.

(Update Sept. 1: Global is coming through loud and clear in south-central Winnipeg, with a powerful signal.)

CHMI (CityTV) Winnipeg/Portage, Channel 13.1

Like CTV, CityTV (formerly known as 13 MTN, and later the A-Channel) is taking its chances on the VHF band, remaining on the Channel 13 frequency it has called home since going on the air in October, 1986. They’re planning to run at fairly low power — just over 8,000 watts, versus 24,000 watts for CTV — so their signal won’t have as much reach. Reception should be good in most of Winnipeg, though some viewers east of the Red might experience reception problems, especially if they live in apartment buildings or in the shadows of tall buildings and trees.
If things don’t work out on Channel 13, CityTV also has the option of using Channel 32.

(Update Sept. 1: I’m lucky if I can even get a 60% signal from Citytv, despite the fact that I’m in the western half of the city, 19 metres above ground and an unobstructed view directly toward Citytv’s  Elie transmitter site. Boo.)

CIIT (Joy TV) Winnipeg, Channel 35.1

Joy TV is to Winnipeg television what CKJS is to Winnipeg radio — it’s there, but most people are only vaguely aware of its existence. It’s really just a specialty channel that can be received without a cable or satellite subscription. But, if you’re a fan of Joy TV’s religious programming and reruns of The Waltons and The Rockford Files, you’ll be happy to know that this station, which began broadcasting in 2006, will remain on Channel 35 after the digital switchover. Indoor reception should remain good in the Winnipeg area and as far out as Saint Malo and Stonewall.

(Update, Sept. 1: Good signal from CIIT 35.1. Nice work.)

KNRR (Fox) Pembina, Channel 12.1

Poor old KNRR never had much luck. It was imminently about to go on the air in 1982 when something went wrong, causing the station’s launch date to be pushed back to 1986. In the interim, Canadian broadcasting regulations had changed in such a way as to effectively block KNRR from getting a slot on Winnipeg’s cable systems.
Thus, trying to pick up the then-independent KNRR’s diet of Star Trek and movies became something of a sport for Winnipeggers in 1986, who then only had seven English-language channels to watch on cable TV unless they subscribed to pay TV — which even then brought the total number of choices to no more than a dozen channels.

After missing the U.S. digital switchover deadline and being forced off the air for four months, KNRR began offering the first digital signal to extend more than a few miles north of the Canadian border in October 2009. But KNRR has pretty much given up on Winnipeg, so this will be a tough station to catch. If you have a rooftop antenna and live in the south end of the city, you might be able to receive a watchable signal — though one local Digital TV enthusiast recommends a 40-foot mast in your backyard for best results.

Forget about receiving this station with any kind of reliability if you’re only using an indoor antenna, or even if you’re using a rooftop antenna from out in North Kildonan or The Maples. But if you live in Morden, Winkler, Morris or Altona, your luck should be considerably better.
(Update, Sept. 1: No signal from KNRR, despite the fact that I was strangely able to pick up KMDE/25 (PBS) from Devils Lake last night, and can occasionally pick up Maverick 105 and Z 106.7, both from Pembina County. KNRR should move to higher power on UHF channel 20, or donate the station to PBS, which could then move their surplus KGFE station in Grand Forks — which duplicates KCGE/16 — to Pembina under a modified licence.)

Note that to receive digital TV over the air, you will need either a newer TV set that is capable of receiving ATSC signals or a special converter box — not necessarily the same kind of box provided by your cable company — hooked up to your traditional TV set.

* – Images source: Communications Research Centre/Google Maps.

Technical assumptions, all based on F(50,90) at 9 metres above ground:

Good Indoor (red): 72 dBu VHF, 77 dBu UHF. Based on the 77 dBu signal recommended for good UHF indoor reception in this document. VHF threshold set 5 dBu lower, as per FCC practice (see below). This standard is very close to the 76 dBu minimum recommended for good indoor reception at a 2008 PBS Technology Conference.

Suburban/Rural Indoor (magenta): 55 dBu VHF, 60 dBu UHF.  Based on 60 dBu recommended for occasional indoor UHF reception recommended here, which is similar to the 55-65 dBu recommended in the PBS document above. VHF threshold 5 dBu lower.

Rooftop Antenna Required (blue): Based on the FCC’s (severely flawed) Minimum Field Strength over Community of License requirements, which are 43 dBu VHF and 48 dBu UHF.

Fringe Reception (grey): Based on the FCC’s Noise-Limited Service standards, which are 36 dBu VHF and 41 dBu UHF.

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