Thunder Bay, ON (September 29, 1984)

[Bluenoser]

from Thunder Bay Guide via Broadcasting Logo Memorabilia Facebook page

3 (12) CBLFT-SRC Toronto
5 (2) CKPR-CBC Thunder Bay
6 (4) CHFD-CTV Thunder Bay
7 Community Channel
8 (9) CICA-TVO Toronto
9 BN
10 WDIO-ABC Duluth
11 KDLH-CBS Duluth
12 WDSE-PBS Duluth
13 KBJR-NBC Duluth
16 House of Commons
17 First Choice
19 TSN
20 MuchMusic
21 A&E
22 TNN

 

[Bluenoser]

Thunder Bay still gets Minnesota stations on cable today, but now out of Minneapolis...

 

[Mr Tony]

in between there they carried Detroit. I know they switched to Detroit (I want to say 85 or 86) due to the Duluth stations being picked up on 3rd hop. The stations were picked up in Grand Portage (right on the border) via translators. Those stations were picked up via translators in Grand Marias, which were translated from the Duluth stations. So I'm sure the picture looked "real pretty"

edit: found the CRTC doc
At the hearing, Maclean-Hunter advised the Commission that a study conducted by the Department of Communications in 1983 had concluded that it was certainly not the equipment that was causing the problem, but rather the method of delivery, "whereby the first receiving site for the Duluth stations was established at Grand Marais, Minnesota. The signals received at this ... site were retransmitted by low-power UHF translators to Grand Portage, Minnesota and then again retransmitted on different UHF channels". As a result, these American signals are relayed over a total distance of some 190 miles.

edit: It was 1985 that was asked for and approved in early 86

ARCHIVED - Decision CRTC 86-219 | CRTC

crtc.gc.ca

At a Public Hearing held in Toronto on 16 December 1985, the Commission considered an application by Maclean-Hunter Limited (Maclean-Hunter) to change the authorized distribution of the broadcasting receiving undertaking serving Thunder Bay by substituting the carriage of the 3+1 U.S. television network signals, received via satellite from the Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) network, for those received over-the-air.

Maclean-Hunter indicated that the signals of WDIO-TV (ABC), KDLH-TV (CBS), KBJR-TV (NBC) and WDSE-TV (PBS), which are received over-theair from Duluth, are of poor quality and subject to co-channel interference and fading, particularly during the summer months, and that several complaints had been received from subscribers in this regard.

In 2011 is when Minneapolis got approved to be carried

ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-749 | CRTC

crtc.gc.ca

The licensee is authorized to distribute, at its option, WXYZ (ABC), WWJ-TV (CBS), WDIV (NBC) and WTVS (PBS) Detroit, Michigan, and WUHF (FOX) Rochester, New York, as part of the basic service.

is replaced with:

The licensee is authorized to distribute WCCO-TV (CBS), KARE (NBC), KSTP-TV (ABC), KMSP-TV (FOX) and KTCI-TV (PBS) Minneapolis, Minnesota as part of the basic service, or alternatively for each signal, the signal of a different affiliate of the same network located in the same time zone and included in the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution, as amended from time to time.

 

[Bluenoser]

The situation in Thunder Bay with the Duluth stations sounds similar that what happened in the Maritimes with Bangor channels, WVII in particular (WLBZ and WABI had translators in Calais, just over the border from Chamcook, NB where Bangor stations were microwaved to Atlantic Canadian cablecos, but WVII didn't, though their tx was closer to Calais--Newfoundland cablecos had WLBZ and WVII microwaved via Cape Breton...you can bet those signals were like Swiss cheese when they got to the Rock!).