CKSA-DT is a television station in the city of Lloydminster, located on the border of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Since February 2016, it has been the only privately owned affiliate of the publicCBC Television network. It broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 2 from a transmitter located near Highway 17 and Township Road 512, near the Saskatchewan provincial line.
Owned by Newcap Radio, it is sister to CTV affiliate CITL-DT and both stations share studios located on 50 Street and 51 Avenue on the Alberta side of Lloydminster. On Shaw Direct, the channel is available in high definition on channel 019 (Classic) or 519 (Advanced). This station can also be seen on Shaw Cable channel 5.
CKSA clears the vast majority of the CBC network schedule, the only usual exceptions being some overnight programming, as the station signs off each night after 2 a.m., then returns to the air with paid programming between 4:30 and 6 a.m.
On May 24, 2016, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) published an application by Newcap to disaffiliate the station from CBC Television effective August 31 of that year, claiming that the public broadcaster had elected not to renew any of its affiliations with private stations beyond that date. Newcap indicated that it will seek programming from another supplier, without saying whether such alternate programming had been found.[1] Following the February 2016 disaffiliations of British Columbia outlets CJDC-TVDawson Creek and CFTK-TVTerrace, CKSA-DT is the only privately-owned CBC Television affilate remaining in the system.
CKSA's newscasts air from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. and from 11:00 to 11:30 p.m. on weekdays, corresponding to the standard local news timeslots used by the CBC's O&Os from 2012 to 2015. There are no weekend newscasts.[citation needed]
CKSA-TV was also broadcast on CKSA-TV-3 channel 8 in Wainwright and CKSA-TV-4 channel 12 in Provost, until they ceased operations on August 31, 2011. It was also rebroadcast on CBCS-TV-1 channel 8, an analog rebroadcaster of CKSA-DT in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan owned by the CBC; this repeater closed on July 31, 2012, as part of the CBC's austerity measures to keep the corporation solvent and in operation.[2]
