CHNM-DT, channel 20 (virtual 42.1), (known on air as OMNI British Columbia or simply OMNI) is a television station based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Media, the station is part of the Omni Television system, and it is aimed at promoting the province's multicultural diversity.

History[link]

Rogers had made several attempts to launch a multicultural station in Vancouver similar to its successful CFMT (later Omni) operations in Toronto. Unsuccessful applications to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) were made in 1996^[1] and again in 1999.^[2]

Logo used as channel m, used from 2003-2008.

Asked by the federal cabinet to pursue the matter further, in 2002 the commission asked for new applications for a Vancouver multicultural station and received two – from Rogers and Multivan Broadcast, a newly formed consortium of local investors. The licence went to Multivan, with the CRTC citing its local ownership as one of the reasons for the decision.^[3] The station went on-air June 27, 2003 from studios at the intersection of Pender and Columbia Streets in Vancouver's Chinatown under the name "channel m".

Following a failed 2007 bid for the multicultural licences in Calgary and Edmonton, which were won by Rogers, Multivan announced an agreement to sell channel m to Rogers in July of that year. The sale was approved by the CRTC on March 31, 2008,^{[4] [5]} and was finalized on April 30, 2008. With Rogers' recent acquisition of Citytv Vancouver and the resulting sale of religious station CHNU-TV (formerly branded as "OMNI.10") to S-VOX, the Omni Television brand moved to CHNM on September 1, 2008.

CHNM moved into sister station Citytv Vancouver's studio building at 180 West 2nd Avenue (near the Vancouver Olympic Village) on September 7, 2010.

News operations[link]

The station airs daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Korean, and weekly newscasts in Tagalog. The station also produced Korean and Tagalog newscasts. This has since been discontinued.

CHNM's newscasts were known as Channel M News from 2003 to 2008. During those years, the station also had a reciprocal agreement Vancouver's CTV station CIVT-TV, which allowed the two stations to share news resources.^[6] The station's newscasts were rebranded Omni News in September 2008 following the approval of its sale to Rogers, and its news sharing agreement with CIVT also ended.

The station also produced weekly phone-in programs in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi under Multivan ownership; these programs were cancelled after the station was rebranded as Omni.

• Omni News: Cantonese Edition: Weekdays, 5:00 pm and 11:00pm with Karen So (蘇加欣) and Fiona Law (羅穎心)
  • Reporters: Endora Fan, Catherine Chan, Otto Tang
• Omni News: Mandarin Edition: Weekdays, 8:00 pm with Bowen Zhang (張博)
  • Reporters: Quan Gu, Lisa Wu, Tina Song
• Omni News: Punjabi Edition: Weekdays, 9:00 pm with Jasdip Wahla (ਜਸ੍ਡਿਪ੍ ਓਹ੍ਲ)
  • Reporters: Baldeep Singh Jhand, Prabhjot Kahlon, Dilbar Kang, Tarannum Thind

Other programming[link]

Along with newscasts, several independently produced magazine and entertainment programs are created in-house as well. Currently these programs include German Today, Chai Time (Live Punjabi), Mandarin Magazine, and World Beats (an English language world music video program). The station also airs popular English-language shows such as The Price Is Right, The Simpsons and Two and a Half Men alongside its multicultural programming.

Promotions[link]

To capitalize on the station's former slogan "Diversity Lives Here", CHNM previously produced several station IDs and program promos using a diversity theme, including these spots:

• Chinese lion dancers who emerge from their lion costume with their faces painted in orange and white, the colours of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League, along with slogans supporting the team
• A South Asian dancer who performs her routine to the Channel M jingle, then breaks into a Country and Western dance
• A leather-clad Sikh motorcyclist who boards his bike to the Channel M jingle, arranged and performed in a style mixing ZZ Top-style blues rock with East Indian music

Technical information[link]

Omni BC moved into sister station Citytv's studio building at 180 West 2nd Avenue on September 7, 2010.

In addition to being available over-the-air in Vancouver and Victoria, the station is currently available on cable 8 on the Lower Mainland, and cable 10 on Vancouver Island.

Digital television and high definition[link]

CHNM-DT began broadcasting on reduced power on December 17, 2009. On February 12, 2010, CHNM-DT was by approved the CRTC boost its maximum effective power to 8.3 kilowatts. The station initially broadcast its signal in 4:3 format (480p upconverted to 1080i), and on April 26, 2011, it began broadcasting in 16:9 1080i format.

CHNM-DT Vancouver broadcasts on channel number is 20 and continued to do so after the analogue shutdown and digital conversion on August 31, 2011. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display CHNM-DT's virtual channel as 42.1.

The station flash cut its Victoria transmitter from analog to digital signal prior to August 31, 2011.

See also[link]

• List of Canadian television channels
• 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Omni British Columbia
• Canadian Communications Foundation - CHNM-TV History
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHNM-DT
• Query TV Fool's coverage map for CHNM-DT