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Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (more commonly referred to as APTN) is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples. It is noted as the first of its kind in the world and is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
History Establishment  Logo while under the name Television Northern Canada (TVNC) The implications of this report led to the creation the Northern Broadcasting Policy on March 10, 1983 by the Canadian government. It was a policy which laid out the principles for the development of Northern native-produced programming. Within this policy also came the Northern Native Broadcast Access Program, a funded program used to produced radio and/or television programs in First Peoples' languages to reflect their cultural perspectives. One of the main problems identified soon after the programs creation was program distribution via satellite. Thus, in January 1987, Canadian aboriginal and Northern broadcasters met in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to form a non-profit consortium with the goal of establishing a Pan-Northern television distribution service. In 1988, the Canadian government gave the organizers $10 million to establish the network. The application for the new service, initially known as Television Northern Canada (TVNC), was approved by the CRTC in 1991, and the network officially launched on over-the-air signals to the Canadian territories and far northern provinces on January 21, 1992. National expansion and re-launch After several years broadcasting in the territories, TVNC began lobbying the CRTC to amend their licence to allow TVNC to be broadcast nationally, showcasing the "uniqueness" and "significance" of a national Aboriginal service. On February 22, 1999, the CRTC granted TVNC a licence for a national broadcast network, On September 1, 1999; the network also re-branded as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and was added to all specialty television services across Canada.[1] Budget In 2009, APTN had an annual budget of C$42 million. Distribution APTN's service consists of three different feeds: a terrestrial feed, plus separate national cable feeds for Eastern (Manitoba and east) and Western Canada (Saskatchewan and west). The terrestrial feed, the successor to the original TVNC, is available over-the-air in Canada's far northern areas. It consists of flagship station CHTY-TV[2] in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, semi-satellite CHWT-TV [3] in Whitehorse, Yukon and numerous low-powered rebroadcasters across the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. As part of Canada's digital transition, APTN will be shutting down several low-power television repeaters across the Northwest Territories and Yukon.[4] Over-the-air repeaters of APTN (Alberta) | City of licence | Channel | Callsign | Notes | | Chateh | 13 | CKCA-TV | [5] | Over-the-air repeaters of APTN (Newfoundland and Labrador) | City of licence | Channel | Callsign | Notes | | Goose Bay | 12 | CHTG-TV | Has application to convert to digital as CHTG-DT on VHF 7[6] | | Hopedale | 12 | CH4153 | | Makkovik | 12 | CH4151 | | Nain | 12 | CH4154 | | Postville | 12 | CH4152 | | Rigolet | 12 | CH4155 | The Eastern Canada cable feed operated as the national feed until the Western Canada feed began service on October 2, 2006. APTN is licensed as a national network by the CRTC, thus putting it on par with CBC Television, Radio-Canada and TVA. Since APTN's relaunch as a national network in 1999, all Canadian cable and satellite television providers have been required to include it in their basic service. However, many cable companies outside the Arctic place it above channel 60 on their systems, rendering it inaccessible to older cable-ready television sets that do not go above channel 60. The CRTC has considered requiring cable companies to move APTN to a lower dial position, but decided in 2005 that it would not do so.[7] Programming APTN offers a variety of programming related to Aboriginal peoples, including documentaries, news magazines, dramas, entertainment specials, children's series, movies, sports events, educational programs and more. APTN's network programming is approximately 56% English, 16% French, and 28% Aboriginal languages. Programs which have aired on the network include: APTN HD In March 2008, APTN launched a high definition simulcast of APTN's cable feed called APTN HD. Unlike the standard definition feed that has eastern, western and northern feeds, APTN HD is a national feed operating from the Eastern Time Zone. For satellite providers, it is exclusively carried on Bell TV. It is currently available on Bell TV, Bell Fibe TV, Cogeco, EastLink, MTS, Optik TV, Rogers Cable, SaskTel and Vid otron. See also References External links fr:Aboriginal Peoples Television Network zh:
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