| Callsign: | CIPA-TV |
| Analog: | 9 (VHF) |
| Digital: | allocated 52 (UHF) |
| Affiliations: | CTV |
| Location: | Prince Albert, Saskatchewan |
| Country: | Canada |
| Callsign Meaning: | CI Prince Albert |
| Owner: | Bell Media Inc. |
| Erp: | 325 kW |
| Haat: | 216.70NaN0 |
| Coordinates: | 53.0572°N -105.8417°W |
| Licensing Authority: | CRTC |
CIPA-TV (analogue channel 9) is a television station in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, it is a semi-satellite of CFQC-DT in Saskatoon. CIPA-TV's studios are located on 10 Street West (near the North Saskatchewan River) in Downtown Prince Albert, and its transmitter is located between Louis Reil Trail/Highway 11 and Highway 2, south-southwest of the city.
CIPA began transmission on January 12, 1987. In 2002, CTV parent company Bell Globemedia (now Bell Media) sold CIPA's former CBC-affiliated twinstick sister station, CKBI-TV, to the CBC, which then made CKBI a rebroadcaster of CBKST in Saskatoon. CBC shut down the transmitter in 2012, leaving CIPA as the only over-the-air broadcast in Prince Albert.
In November 2023, the station launched its digital signal.[1]
CIPA has made several attempts at local newscasts over the years. However, due to recent cutbacks, as of February 12, 2024, its only local newscast is CTV News at Five. The newscast is presented by Chantel Saunders from the CTV Saskatoon studios, with reporters filing stories from Prince Albert. It otherwise simulcasts CTV Saskatoon's 6 p.m. newscast, as well as the provincial newscasts in the morning and at 11:30 p.m. that originate from CTV Regina.
On February 11, 2016, Bell Media applied for its regular license renewals, which included applications to delete a long list of transmitters, including CIPA-TV-1, CIPA-TV-2, CKBQ-TV and CKBQ-TV-1. Bell Media's rationale for deleting these analog repeaters is below:
"We are electing to delete these analog transmitters from the main licence with which they are associated. These analog transmitters generate no incremental revenue, attract little to no viewership given the growth of BDU or DTH subscriptions and are costly to maintain, repair or replace. In addition, none of the highlighted transmitters offer any programming that differs from the main channels. The Commission has determined that broadcasters may elect to shut down transmitters but will lose certain regulatory privileges (distribution on the basic service, the ability to request simultaneous substitution) as noted in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-24, Over-the-air transmission of television signals and local programming. We are fully aware of the loss of these regulatory privileges as a result of any transmitter shutdown."
At the same time, Bell Media applied to convert the licenses of CTV 2 Atlantic (formerly ASN) and CTV 2 Alberta (formerly ACCESS) from satellite-to-cable undertakings into television stations without transmitters (similar to cable-only network affiliates in the United States), and to reduce the level of educational content on CTV2 Alberta.[2] [3]