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Media in London, Ontario

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This article gives an overview of the media in London, Ontario , Canada .

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119-502: London pioneered in the establishment of cable television in Canada, being either the first or second city in Canada with cable service, when Ed Jarmain and others wired the first 15 homes, and had to purchase TV sets for 14 of them. London's first cable system, established in 1952, broadcast American signals that crossed the border, including WICU from Erie, Pennsylvania . Shortly afterward, another cable operator, named Community Television

238-420: A television antenna , or satellite television , in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves from a communications satellite and received by a satellite dish on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet , telephone services , and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since

357-543: A "Big Six" professional team. Various additional professional teams currently and have formerly existed in lower-tier professional leagues in the region, with the only current active professional teams being basketball teams in the Basketball Super League , and semi-professional baseball and soccer teams in the Intercounty Baseball League and League1 Ontario , respectively. Major junior hockey

476-405: A dedicated analog circuit-switched service. Other advantages include better voice quality and integration to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network providing cheap or unlimited nationwide and international calling. In many cases, digital cable telephone service is separate from cable modem service being offered by many cable companies and does not rely on Internet Protocol (IP) traffic or

595-573: A domestic source of out-of-season crops throughout Canada in the winter. The region is also a centre for wine production . While the majority of wine production in Ontario is currently located in the Niagara Region and Prince Edward County , a wine appellation designated by the Vinters Quality Alliance (VQA) , the regulatory system for wine in Ontario and British Columbia , is located on

714-436: A given location, cable distribution lines must be available on the local utility poles or underground utility lines. Coaxial cable brings the signal to the customer's building through a service drop , an overhead or underground cable. If the subscriber's building does not have a cable service drop, the cable company will install one. The standard cable used in the U.S. is RG-6 , which has a 75 ohm impedance , and connects with

833-543: A high elevation. At the outset, cable systems only served smaller communities without television stations of their own, and which could not easily receive signals from stations in cities because of distance or hilly terrain. In Canada, however, communities with their own signals were fertile cable markets, as viewers wanted to receive American signals. Rarely, as in the college town of Alfred, New York , U.S. cable systems retransmitted Canadian channels. Although early ( VHF ) television receivers could receive 12 channels (2–13),

952-466: A higher rate. At the local headend, the feed signals from the individual television channels are received by dish antennas from communication satellites . Additional local channels, such as local broadcast television stations, educational channels from local colleges, and community access channels devoted to local governments ( PEG channels) are usually included on the cable service. Commercial advertisements for local business are also inserted in

1071-405: A local VHF television station broadcast. Local broadcast channels were not usable for signals deemed to be a priority, but technology allowed low-priority signals to be placed on such channels by synchronizing their blanking intervals . TVs were unable to reconcile these blanking intervals and the slight changes due to travel through a medium, causing ghosting . The bandwidth of the amplifiers also

1190-632: A long history in the region. Oil was initially discovered in Canada in 1858, when the first oil well was advanced in Oil Springs , located in Lambton County. However, oil and petrochemicals did not play a significant role in the regional economy until the large-scale development of oil deposits in Alberta in the 1930s and after World War II , when the first large-scale oil refineries were built in Sarnia. Oil

1309-463: A microwave-based system, may be used instead. Coaxial cables are capable of bi-directional carriage of signals as well as the transmission of large amounts of data . Cable television signals use only a portion of the bandwidth available over coaxial lines. This leaves plenty of space available for other digital services such as cable internet , cable telephony and wireless services, using both unlicensed and licensed spectra. Broadband internet access

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1428-612: A modest presence in the region. A strong commercial greenhouse sector has also emerged in the region, centred predominantly on the towns of Leamington and Kingsville in Essex County, which boast the largest concentration of commercial greenhouses in North America , made viable due to the presence of sandy soils, low energy costs, and mild winters. Crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers , bell peppers , berries, flowers , and cannabis are grown year-round in these greenhouses, providing

1547-498: A rarity, found in an ever-dwindling number of markets. Analog television sets are accommodated, their tuners mostly obsolete and dependent entirely on the set-top box. Cable television is mostly available in North America , Europe , Australia , Asia and South America . Cable television has had little success in Africa , as it is not cost-effective to lay cables in sparsely populated areas. Multichannel multipoint distribution service ,

1666-538: A readily-available supply of brine and chlorine , which has aided the ease of production of chemicals locally. Southwestern Ontario's economy and political identity is heavily rooted in the manufacturing industry. Proximity to heavy industry in the United States Rust Belt , predominantly Detroit , and the nearby location of hydroelectric power sources in Niagara Falls provided a foundation for allowing

1785-452: A receiver box. The cable company will provide set-top boxes based on the level of service a customer purchases, from basic set-top boxes with a standard-definition picture connected through the standard coaxial connection on the TV, to high-definition wireless digital video recorder (DVR) receivers connected via HDMI or component . Older analog television sets are cable ready and can receive

1904-639: A regional afternoon show, Afternoon Drive , that covers Southwestern Ontario from London to Windsor in addition to the network's standard national and province-wide programming. Before 1978, CBC programming was carried on CFPL-AM, as well as on CFPL-FM prior to 1972. The CBC continues to operate rebroadcast transmitter CBBL for CBC Music , relaying the signal of Toronto's CBL-FM. The following stations broadcast in London: Radio stations from other nearby cities can also be heard in London. Those stations are: There

2023-752: A relatively flat geography with rolling hills, with the exception of areas near the Niagara Escarpment in Bruce and Grey Counties, where exposed limestone cliff faces can be seen along the shores of Georgian Bay . Sandier soils are generally located near Lake Erie, resulting in the creation of a sandy escarpment along the entire north shore, in addition to many sandspit peninsulas, including Point Pelee in Essex County, Pointe aux Pins ( Rondeau ) in Chatham-Kent, and Long Point in Norfolk County. Pelee Island ,

2142-683: A series of signal amplifiers and line extenders. These devices carry the signal to customers via passive RF devices called taps. The very first cable networks were operated locally, notably in 1936 by Rediffusion in London in the United Kingdom and the same year in Berlin in Germany, notably for the Olympic Games , and from 1948 onwards in the United States and Switzerland. This type of local cable network

2261-497: A sharp contrast, Essex County and Chatham-Kent receive less snow than average due to their location further south. Summers are typically hot and humid, with Windsor experiencing the warmest weather in Ontario. Summers are often cooler and less humid on the peninsulas in Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Southwestern Ontario also experiences the highest annual frequency of thunderstorms in Canada, with Windsor, Chatham-Kent, and London experiencing

2380-417: A special telephone interface at the customer's premises that converts the analog signals from the customer's in-home wiring into a digital signal, which is then sent on the local loop (replacing the analog last mile , or plain old telephone service (POTS) to the company's switching center, where it is connected to the public switched telephone network ( PSTN ). The biggest obstacle to cable telephone service

2499-545: A third station, CJOE, was founded by Joe McManus in 1967, changing to CJBK in 1973. In addition to one station each with Fanshawe College ( CIXX ) and the University of Western Ontario (UWO) ( CHRW-FM ), other stations are associated with existing stations. CBC Radio One operates a CBC production centre, CBCL-FM , at the London Public Library 's Central Branch that produces a local morning show, London Morning , and

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2618-605: A type F connector . The cable company's portion of the wiring usually ends at a distribution box on the building exterior, and built-in cable wiring in the walls usually distributes the signal to jacks in different rooms to which televisions are connected. Multiple cables to different rooms are split off the incoming cable with a small device called a splitter . There are two standards for cable television; older analog cable, and newer digital cable which can carry data signals used by digital television receivers such as high-definition television (HDTV) equipment. All cable companies in

2737-456: A warm-summer Dfb climate , with the exception of Windsor and Chatham-Kent, which experiences a hot-summer Dfa climate. Additionally, a very small area near Long Point experiences a temperate oceanic Cfb climate, due to its location in Lake Erie creating slightly cooler summers and slightly warmer winters than the remainder of the province. Southwestern Ontario has historically been a strong centre for Canadian agricultural production, given

2856-506: Is Canada's smallest forest zone, but it is home to a very high biodiversity of species due to it being one of the warmest regions in the country. Over 500 rare and/or endangered species are located in this region and is estimated to contain around 25% of Canada's species at risk , including the American badger , Midland painted turtle , Jefferson salamander , monarch butterfly , and southern flying squirrel . Southwestern Ontario's climate

2975-599: Is a free community newspaper launched in May 2015 that is delivered every Thursday to all London homes. It is published by Metroland Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation . Our London was formerly the London Community News which ran from June 2011 to May 2015. It was sold to Postmedia in November 2017 and will eventually cease publication. Our London ceased publication in 2017. Founded in 2003, L'Action

3094-566: Is a major fixture of the sporting landscape in the region, with all major cities hosting OHL teams. Southwestern Ontario teams regularly experience high attendance, with the London Knights and Kitchener Rangers regularly boasting the highest attendance in the league. In the late 2000s, former BlackBerry co- CEO Jim Balsillie made three unsuccessful attempts to purchase and move an NHL franchise to Southern Ontario , with planned destinations being either Kitchener or Hamilton ; in 2006 with

3213-647: Is a road that runs from St. Thomas to London, with a small section of freeway running north from Highway 401, formerly known as Highway 126. Southwestern Ontario also has multiple road connections with the United States. These include the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia, and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel that runs from downtown Detroit to downtown Windsor. A new bridge crossing,

3332-649: Is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario . It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron , including Georgian Bay , to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River , Lake St. Clair , and Detroit River , to the west; and Lake Erie to the south. To the east, on land, Southwestern Ontario is bounded by Central Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe . Southwestern Ontario

3451-689: Is a weekly French language newspaper serving London, Sarnia, Woodstock and Owen Sound. The independent London Telephone Company (established 1879) was bought by the Bell Telephone Company of Canada in 1881; the Byron Telephone Company, serving areas annexed by London in 1961 and 1993, was purchased in August 1960. The Ilderton Telephone Company served areas now within London city limits, but ceded those areas to Bell Canada when customers demanded improved phone service; further cession would make

3570-422: Is achieved over coaxial cable by using cable modems to convert the network data into a type of digital signal that can be transferred over coaxial cable. One problem with some cable systems is the older amplifiers placed along the cable routes are unidirectional thus in order to allow for uploading of data the customer would need to use an analog telephone modem to provide for the upstream connection. This limited

3689-637: Is also a First Nations / community radio station in Oneida Nation of the Thames which operates at 89.5 FM. This unlicensed station is branded as Oneida Radio 89.5 FM The Eagle or Eagle Radio 89.5 and has no call sign . Until 1937, London had two daily newspapers: the London Free Press (established 1849) and the London Advertiser . The Advertiser folded in 1937. The Free Press, formerly owned by

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3808-483: Is central to the regional economy, with major active automotive plants being located in Windsor, London, Ingersoll , Woodstock , and Cambridge. The effects of the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis on Canada included a large number of plants shutting down across the region in the following years. The 2020s saw a widespread resurgence in industrial development, predominantly due to the comparative lack of available land for development and fast-rising property prices in

3927-518: Is currently being planned. Freight rail in the region is dominated by CN Rail and CPKC , the two major cross-national Canadian rail companies. Smaller railway companies operating in the region include Essex Terminal Railway , Goderich-Exeter Railway , Ontario Southland Railway , Southern Ontario Railway , and Waterloo Central Railway . Southwestern Ontario has two major ports, located in Goderich and Windsor, that service cargo ships as part of

4046-481: Is heavily influenced by the proximity of the Great Lakes . Winters in the region are typically milder than the rest of Ontario due to the gradual release of stored heat in the lakes. Despite this, however, portions of the region experience significantly more snow than others due to lake-effect snow caused by eastward winds. A portion of the regional Snowbelt is located in Bruce, Grey, Huron, and Middlesex Counties. In

4165-438: Is home to three major airports; Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) , London International Airport (YXU) , and Windsor International Airport (YQG) , in addition to multiple minor airports in various smaller communities, such as Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport (YZR) and St. Thomas Municipal Airport (YQS) . The three major airports predominantly offer limited international flights (mainly to vacation destinations such as

4284-545: Is often not consistently defined. The Government of Ontario, in certain documents, classifies municipalities along the eastern side of Southwestern Ontario near the Grand River , including Wellington County , Waterloo Region , and Brant County , as part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe region that surrounds western Lake Ontario , mainly due to the presence of modern transportation connections that link these areas to

4403-482: Is the need for nearly 100% reliable service for emergency calls. One of the standards available for digital cable telephony, PacketCable , seems to be the most promising and able to work with the quality of service (QOS) demands of traditional analog plain old telephone service (POTS) service. The biggest advantage to digital cable telephone service is similar to the advantage of digital cable, namely that data can be compressed, resulting in much less bandwidth used than

4522-603: Is used in the US for cable television and originally stood for community antenna television , from cable television's origins in 1948; in areas where over-the-air TV reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large community antennas were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes. In 1968, 6.4% of Americans had cable television. The number increased to 7.5% in 1978. By 1988, 52.8% of all households were using cable. The number further increased to 62.4% in 1994. To receive cable television at

4641-496: The Bluewater Highway due to its route along the shore of Lake Huron). Southwestern Ontario's political sentiments have largely been influenced by its historical position as Canada's manufacturing heartland. The cities of Windsor , London , and Waterloo Region have historically been political strongholds for both the provincial and federal New Democratic Party , owing to all three having historically been major centres for

4760-541: The Cleveland, Ohio , Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York markets. From late 1970 to the mid-1980s, Erie dominated as its four network affiliates were the only American stations available on the basic cable dial of two-thirds of Londoners, and Londoners came to know Erie fairly well, familiar with Mayor Louis Tullio , Millcreek Mall , the Miracle Mile and other Erie landmarks. Londoners were contributors to WQLN-TV ,

4879-488: The DVB-C , DVB-C2 stream to IP for distribution of TV over IP network in the home. Many cable companies offer internet access through DOCSIS . In the most common system, multiple television channels (as many as 500, although this varies depending on the provider's available channel capacity) are distributed to subscriber residences through a coaxial cable , which comes from a trunkline supported on utility poles originating at

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4998-543: The Golden Horseshoe . Multiple large investments in electric vehicle production were also made in the region in the 2020s, and resulted in the establishment of multiple plants for battery production in Windsor and St. Thomas . (2021) (2016) (2011) (2006) (2001) (km ) (km ) Density (/km ) Southwestern Ontario is located within the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone (as classified by Environment and Climate Change Canada, further subclassified into

5117-706: The Great Lakes . Sections of Southwestern Ontario are occasionally referred to as Bluewater Country . This is predominantly used to refer to the areas surrounding Lake Huron , but is also used in areas around Lake Erie , to a lesser extent. Multiple locations and roads carry this moniker, including the Municipality of Bluewater (located in Huron County ), the Blue Water Bridge and Bluewater Trail System in Sarnia , and Ontario Highway 21 (informally being referred to as

5236-1052: The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system. The Port of Goderich is predominantly used for the export of salt from the Goderich Salt Mine, but also moves grain and calcium chloride. The Port of Windsor is significantly more developed and is the third-busiest Great Lakes port, behind the ports in Hamilton and Thunder Bay . The port of Windsor moves a wider variety of cargo including aggregates, salt, grain, fertilizer, lumber, steel, petroleum, vehicles and machinery. Minor ports are also located in Sarnia, Kingsville , Owen Sound , and Nanticoke . The Owen Sound Transportation Company currently operates passenger ferry services connecting Leamington to Pelee Island , and Tobermory to Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario . Southwestern Ontario

5355-650: The Grey Cup prior to the formation of the CFL in 1958, including the Brantford Redskins , Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen , London Lords , Sarnia Imperials (2-time Grey Cup champions in 1934 and 1936 ), and Windsor Royals of the Ontario Rugby Football Union . The combined London-Kitchener TV market, as of 2023, is the fourth largest media market in Canada, and the largest in Canada without representation from

5474-584: The U15 Group , the association of Canada's dominant research universities. The accent/dialect in the region, Southwestern Ontario English , is distinct from the rest of Ontario. The region also has a small Francophone population, predominantly located around the Windsor area, owing to the region's historical roots in French colonization . Local identity is heavily rooted in historical industries like agriculture and automotive manufacturing , as well as proximity to

5593-609: The United States border with Michigan in Sarnia to London, where it connects with Highway 401 in southern London. Highway 403 connects with Highway 401 in Woodstock and runs east toward Brantford, where it continues toward Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area . Additional major provincial highways in the region include Highway 3 , Highway 4 , Highway 6 , Highway 7 , Highway 8 , Highway 10 , and Highway 85 . Additionally,

5712-463: The Western Mustangs . London had the second private local television station in Canada, CFPL (on-air November 28, 1953), and CFPL was the first Canadian local channel to broadcast in colour (1966). As part of CHUM Limited 's NewNet system was branded as The New PL . In August 2005, CFPL was re-branded as A-Channel . In August 2008, A-Channel was re-branded to A , effectively re-branding

5831-442: The automotive industry . The decline and subsequent economic stagnation over the following decade resulted in the emergence of populist and protectionist political attitudes in cities like Windsor and London, holding the strongest such attitudes in Canada, ranking amongst Prairie cities like Regina , Saskatoon , Edmonton , and Calgary . Southwestern Ontario has never been the home of any professional sports franchises from

5950-680: The contemporary "Big Six" leagues ( MLB , NBA , NFL , NHL , MLS , and CFL ), with the exception of the NHL's Detroit Cougars (now the Detroit Red Wings ) in 1926-1927 , when they played at the Border Cities Arena (now Windsor Arena ) in Windsor for a singular season while the Detroit Olympia was under construction. Multiple cities historically hosted professional hockey teams from the OPHL in

6069-611: The high band 7–13 of North American television frequencies . Some operators as in Cornwall, Ontario , used a dual distribution network with Channels 2–13 on each of the two cables. During the 1980s, United States regulations not unlike public, educational, and government access (PEG) created the beginning of cable-originated live television programming. As cable penetration increased, numerous cable-only TV stations were launched, many with their own news bureaus that could provide more immediate and more localized content than that provided by

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6188-601: The 1830s. Indigenous peoples had occupied Southwestern Ontario for thousands of years prior to European settlement. Archaeological sites such as the Princess Point Complex and the Parkhill Complex indicate the presence of Paleo-Indians in the area dating back approximately 11,000 years. First Nations peoples located in the region included Anishinaabe , Algonquin , Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) , and Wendat peoples. Initial European settlement and colonization of

6307-415: The 1920s until the early 2000s, when Ontario bought out the tobacco quotas of most farms in the region in 2008 for $ 300,000,000 CAD. While some tobacco farms still remain, most have switched to alternative crops, including specialty crops like ginseng , hazelnut , and mushrooms . Fruits such as blueberries , strawberries , raspberries , blackberries , gourds , apples , and tomatoes are also grown in

6426-411: The 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation. A cable channel (sometimes known as a cable network ) is a television network available via cable television. Many of the same channels are distributed through satellite television . Alternative terms include non-broadcast channel or programming service , the latter being mainly used in legal contexts. The abbreviation CATV

6545-549: The American automotive companies such as Chrysler , Ford , General Motors , and Studebaker . Production increases during World War I and World War II allowed the industry to grow significantly, at one point making Canada the second largest automotive manufacturer globally, exporting predominantly to other countries within the British Empire . The Canadian and United States automotive industries were eventually integrated with

6664-484: The Blackburn family, is now owned by Sun Media , a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc. Sun Media's subsidiary Bowes Publishing also owns and publishes The Londoner, a community-focused weekly started by Controller Gord Hume and former Free Press editor-in-chief Philip R. McLeod in 2002. Founded in 1989 by Bret Downe, Scene was published every two weeks, on a Thursday. It ceased publication in 2018. Our London

6783-789: The CFPL station once more and on August 31, 2011, A was re-branded as CTV Two until September 2018 now CTV 2 . Several other stations from neighbouring cities have established retransmitters or are otherwise available in London, as follows: Both the English- and French-language television services of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ( CBC Television and Ici Radio-Canada Télé , respectively) and French-language provincial broadcaster TFO are only available via pay television in London. On cable, television stations from Detroit , Michigan are available, along with several stations from

6902-683: The Gordie Howe International Bridge, is currently under construction and slated to open in 2025, and is meant to serve as a direct freeway-to-freeway connection between Highway 401 and E.C. Row in Windsor and Interstate 75 in Detroit . Via Rail operates inter-regional passenger train service on the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor , in Windsor-London-Toronto and Sarnia-London-Toronto configurations, running both on

7021-524: The Internet. Traditional cable television providers and traditional telecommunication companies increasingly compete in providing voice, video and data services to residences. The combination of television, telephone and Internet access is commonly called triple play , regardless of whether CATV or telcos offer it. More than 400,000 television service subscribers. Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario (census population 2,796,367 in 2021)

7140-563: The Lake Erie Lowland and Manitoulin-Lake Simcoe regions), which largely consists of glacial till and glaciolacustrine sand / silt / clay plains underlain by sedimentary limestone , dolostone , siltstone , sandstone , and shale bedrock, with pockets of evaporite gypsum and salt beds. Bedrock is rarely exposed in the region, with the exception being the Bruce Peninsula . The vast majority of Southwestern Ontario maintains

7259-425: The Lake Erie north shore and Pelee Island in Essex County. Additionally, the VQA recognizes additional emerging wine regions located in Norfolk County, Georgian Bay, and Lake Huron east shore. The energy sector is a major industry in Southwestern Ontario. Energy production in the region is sourced from a mixture of nuclear , hydroelectric , wind , solar , and natural gas sources. The bulk of energy production in

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7378-470: The Lake Erie north shore and under the Lake Erie lake bed. The chemical industry also has a strong presence in Sarnia, to the point that the area including Sarnia and St. Clair Township is colloquially known as Chemical Valley . The chemical industry has its origins around the same time as the oil industry, during World War II, when tropical sources of natural latex for rubber production were being threatened. The federal government designated Sarnia as

7497-595: The Ontario government announced plans to expand the plant's generating capacity by an additional 4,800 MW to meet growing energy demands in the province. Additional energy production is supplemented by wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. Large-scale wind turbine fields are located predominantly in Essex County, Chatham-Kent, and Lambton County. Belwood Lake , Conestogo Lake , Fanshawe Lake , Guelph Lake , Pittock Reservoir , and Wildwood Lake are all artificial reservoirs created for local hydroelectric production. The petrochemical and oil/natural gas industry also has

7616-403: The Province of Quebec from 1763 to 1791, and eventually the Province of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1841. One of the earliest British settlements, Port Talbot , was settled by Thomas Talbot in 1803, and was amongst the first successful settlements due to the construction of Talbot Trail , one of the earliest major roads in the region. Kitchener, originally known as Ebytown and later Berlin ,

7735-485: The United States have switched to or are in the course of switching to digital cable television since it was first introduced in the late 1990s. Most cable companies require a set-top box ( cable converter box ) or a slot on one's TV set for conditional access module cards to view their cable channels, even on newer televisions with digital cable QAM tuners, because most digital cable channels are now encrypted, or scrambled , to reduce cable service theft . A cable from

7854-485: The United States, Mexico , and the Caribbean ) on a seasonal basis, in addition to some select all-season routes to other Canadian cities. All airports also offer frequent connecting flights to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) , usually via Air Canada . Southwestern Ontario has multiple tertiary education institutions in the form of both universities and colleges . Two universities, University of Waterloo and University of Western Ontario , are part of

7973-444: The abundance of arable land and warmer climate that provides for a longer growing season than the rest of the country. Most of the land area in the region is used for agriculture. Common crops grown in the region include sweet corn , soybean , winter wheat , and canola . Tobacco was also historically grown in the tobacco belt , centred on the towns of Delhi , Aylmer , and Tillsonburg in Elgin, Oxford, and Norfolk Counties from

8092-430: The area where synthetic petroleum-based rubbers would be developed for use in the allied war effort. Over time, various chemical companies, including Bayer and NOVA Chemicals , have built many facilities in the region for the production of various chemicals, including plastics , paints , lubricants , food additives , cosmetics , rubbers, and other chemicals. The presence of local underground salt beds resulted in

8211-401: The automotive sector in Southwestern Ontario. The modern regional automotive industry has multiple large-scale plants in the region, in addition to numerous smaller automotive parts manufacturers/suppliers. The following large automotive plants are currently active or under construction in the region (as of 2024): Food and beverage processing also has a significant regional presence, owing to

8330-404: The basic selection. By subscribing to additional tiers, customers could get specialty channels, movie channels, and foreign channels. Large cable companies used addressable descramblers to limit access to premium channels for customers not subscribing to higher tiers, however the above magazines often published workarounds for that technology as well. During the 1990s, the pressure to accommodate

8449-563: The cable box itself, these midband channels were used for early incarnations of pay TV , e.g. The Z Channel (Los Angeles) and HBO but transmitted in the clear i.e. not scrambled as standard TV sets of the period could not pick up the signal nor could the average consumer de-tune the normal stations to be able to receive it. Once tuners that could receive select mid-band and super-band channels began to be incorporated into standard television sets, broadcasters were forced to either install scrambling circuitry or move these signals further out of

8568-429: The cable company's local distribution facility, called the headend . Many channels can be transmitted through one coaxial cable by a technique called frequency division multiplexing . At the headend, each television channel is translated to a different frequency . By giving each channel a different frequency slot on the cable, the separate television signals do not interfere with each other. At an outdoor cable box on

8687-515: The cable to send data from the customer box to the cable headend, for advanced features such as requesting pay-per-view shows or movies, cable internet access , and cable telephone service . The downstream channels occupy a band of frequencies from approximately 50 MHz to 1 GHz, while the upstream channels occupy frequencies of 5 to 42 MHz. Subscribers pay with a monthly fee. Subscribers can choose from several levels of service, with premium packages including more channels but costing

8806-675: The case of no local CBS or ABC station being available – rebroadcast the programming from a nearby affiliate but fill in with its own news and other community programming to suit its own locale. Many live local programs with local interests were subsequently created all over the United States in most major television markets in the early 1980s. This evolved into today's many cable-only broadcasts of diverse programming, including cable-only produced television movies and miniseries . Cable specialty channels , starting with channels oriented to show movies and large sporting or performance events, diversified further, and narrowcasting became common. By

8925-414: The chemical industry. Additionally, smaller-scale oil and natural gas development is common in rural Ontario, with small shale oil pools and natural gas deposits being found in local sedimentary bedrock. Shale oil pools are commonly found in Essex County, Chatham-Kent, and Lambton County, where small oil wells can often be seen operating on farms. Natural gas deposits are largely found and exploited along

9044-498: The chosen channel into the TV set on Channel 2, 3 or 4. Initially, UHF broadcast stations were at a disadvantage because the standard TV sets in use at the time were unable to receive their channels. With the passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1964, all new television sets were required to include a UHF tuner, nonetheless, it would still take a few years for UHF stations to become competitive. Before being added to

9163-464: The cities of Windsor and London have municipally-owned expressways. E.C. Row Expressway is a fully grade-separated freeway running east-west through Windsor, formerly known as Highway 2 . Veteran's Memorial Parkway is a limited-access highway running north-south through London, formerly known as Highway 100. Dougall Avenue is a road in Windsor with a small section of freeway running north from Highway 401, formerly known as Highway 3B. Highbury Avenue

9282-741: The company unviable so it was sold to Bell Canada. Bell Canada continues to be the incumbent local exchange carrier for London. Canada Post has a large presence in the London area. The postal region that London is located in is the Huron-Rideau Region. The London Mail Processing Plant (LMPP) is located at 951 Highbury Avenue and coordinates and processes all the mail for the N Code area from Kitchener to Windsor . Canada Post has several other administration offices, as well as six depots. Londoners also took part in London-based online publishing through

9401-560: The core sections of the Golden Horseshoe . A more traditional definition of the region boundary can be traced back to early colonial districts in the British Province of Quebec and Upper Canada . The Western District , originally known as the Hesse District from 1788 to 1792, was originally designated as everything west of a north-south line intersecting the extreme projection of Long Point into Lake Erie , which roughly follows

9520-717: The early 20th century who competed for the Stanley Cup prior to the formation of the NHL in 1917, including the Berlin Dutchmen (who challenged the Montreal Wanderers for the Cup in 1910 ), Brantford Indians , Galt Professionals (who challenged the Ottawa Senators for the Cup in 1909 and 1911 ), Guelph Royals , and Waterloo Colts . The region has also historically hosted multiple Canadian football teams that competed for

9639-430: The eastern boundaries of modern Grey, Dufferin, Wellington, Brant, and Norfolk Counties. The northern portion of Southwestern Ontario is sometimes referred to as Midwestern Ontario . This area includes Perth, Huron, Wellington, Dufferin, Bruce, and Grey Counties, corresponding roughly with the historical boundaries of Queen's Bush , an area of crown land that did not see formal subdivision or wide-scale settlement until

9758-415: The fact that the descrambling circuitry was for a time present in these tuners, depriving the cable operator of much of their revenue, such cable-ready tuners are rarely used now – requiring a return to the set-top boxes used from the 1970s onward. The digital television transition in the United States has put all signals, broadcast and cable, into digital form, rendering analog cable television service

9877-454: The growing array of offerings resulted in digital transmission that made more efficient use of the VHF signal capacity; fibre optics was common to carry signals into areas near the home, where coax could carry higher frequencies over the short remaining distance. Although for a time in the 1980s and 1990s, television receivers and VCRs were equipped to receive the mid-band and super-band channels. Due to

9996-450: The headend, the electrical signal is translated into an optical signal and sent through the fiber. The fiber trunkline goes to several distribution hubs , from which multiple fibers fan out to carry the signal to boxes called optical nodes in local communities. At the optical node, the optical signal is translated back into an electrical signal and carried by coaxial cable distribution lines on utility poles, from which cables branch out to

10115-456: The jack in the wall is attached to the input of the box, and an output cable from the box is attached to the television, usually the RF-IN or composite input on older TVs. Since the set-top box only decodes the single channel that is being watched, each television in the house requires a separate box. Some unencrypted channels, usually traditional over-the-air broadcast networks, can be displayed without

10234-437: The late 1980s, cable-only signals outnumbered broadcast signals on cable systems, some of which by this time had expanded beyond 35 channels. By the mid-1980s in Canada, cable operators were allowed by the regulators to enter into distribution contracts with cable networks on their own. By the 1990s, tiers became common, with customers able to subscribe to different tiers to obtain different selections of additional channels above

10353-520: The manufacturing industry, and subsequently having large proportions of a unionized workforce, which the NDP's policies have historically favoured. Rural segments of the region have historically voted consistently for both the provincial Progressive Conservative party and federal Conservative Party of Canada . In the Great Recession , the manufacturing industry suffered significant decline, particularly in

10472-423: The maximum number of channels that could be broadcast in one city was 7: channels 2, 4, either 5 or 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13, as receivers at the time were unable to receive strong (local) signals on adjacent channels without distortion. (There were frequency gaps between 4 and 5, and between 6 and 7, which allowed both to be used in the same city). As equipment improved, all twelve channels could be utilized, except where

10591-505: The most days on average with lightning per year. Southwestern Ontario also regularly experiences severe weather events, including tornadoes , due to its proximity to the Great Lakes and warmer-than-average weather during the summer. Under the Köppen climate classification , the vast majority of Southwestern Ontario has a humid continental climate , with a large portion of the area experiencing

10710-448: The nearest network newscast. Such stations may use similar on-air branding as that used by the nearby broadcast network affiliate, but the fact that these stations do not broadcast over the air and are not regulated by the FCC, their call signs are meaningless. These stations evolved partially into today's over-the-air digital subchannels, where a main broadcast TV station e.g. NBC 37* would – in

10829-479: The northern route through Stratford and Kitchener, and the southern route through Woodstock and Brantford. GO Transit also operates inter-regional commuter rail in the region, currently limited to as far west as Waterloo Region on the Kitchener Line . In fall 2021, the provincial government announced a pilot program extending GO commuter rail service to London through Stratford and St. Mary's , but this service

10948-433: The now defunct newspaper London Fuse . Cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables , or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables . This contrasts with broadcast television , in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves and received by

11067-408: The old analog cable without a set-top box. To receive digital cable channels on an analog television set, even unencrypted ones, requires a different type of box, a digital television adapter supplied by the cable company or purchased by the subscriber. Another new distribution method that takes advantage of the low cost high quality DVB distribution to residential areas, uses TV gateways to convert

11186-511: The primary vehicular traffic network in Southwestern Ontario is served mainly by the controlled-access 400-series highways . Highway 401 , the main highway in the network, starts in Windsor at the terminus of the under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge and runs northeast to Waterloo Region , where it continues northeast through the Golden Horseshoe and Eastern Ontario . Highway 402 , another major highway, runs east from

11305-504: The programming at the headend (the individual channels, which are distributed nationally, also have their own nationally oriented commercials). Modern cable systems are large, with a single network and headend often serving an entire metropolitan area . Most systems use hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) distribution; this means the trunklines that carry the signal from the headend to local neighborhoods are optical fiber to provide greater bandwidth and also extra capacity for future expansion. At

11424-451: The programming without cost. Later, the cable operators began to carry FM radio stations, and encouraged subscribers to connect their FM stereo sets to cable. Before stereo and bilingual TV sound became common, Pay-TV channel sound was added to the FM stereo cable line-ups. About this time, operators expanded beyond the 12-channel dial to use the midband and superband VHF channels adjacent to

11543-430: The public broadcasting station. Erie stations, other than WQLN, are now no longer carried on London cable systems. London also had radio since 1922 when CJGC was established. It joined a Windsor station in early 1933 to become CKLW , but a local station was reestablished late that year, CFPL . A sister FM station was established in 1948, and both are now owned by Corus Entertainment . Competitor CKSL started in 1956;

11662-476: The range of reception for early cable-ready TVs and VCRs. However, once consumer sets had the ability to receive all 181 FCC allocated channels, premium broadcasters were left with no choice but to scramble. The descrambling circuitry was often published in electronics hobby magazines such as Popular Science and Popular Electronics allowing anybody with anything more than a rudimentary knowledge of broadcast electronics to be able to build their own and receive

11781-488: The region due to extensive agricultural development and urbanization, but conservation efforts are underway to preserve and/or protect these forests. Three major federally protected areas, Point Pelee National Park , Bruce Peninsula National Park , and Long Point National Wildlife Area , are located in Southwestern Ontario. In 2021, the federal government announced plans to designate a new National Urban Park in Windsor's Ojibway Prairie Complex . The Carolinian forest zone

11900-571: The region is produced by the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Kincardine . The plant is the second largest nuclear generating station in the world. The plant began operation in 1971 and currently has a generating capacity of 6,550 MW spread across 8 CANDU PHWR reactors. It is anticipated to eventually reach a generating capacity of 7,000 MW through uprates achieved as a result of an ongoing reactor refurbishment program. In 2023,

12019-552: The region occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries by the French as part of the colony of Canada within New France . The oldest continually-inhabited European settlement in Southwestern Ontario is Windsor, which originated as a southerly extension of the settlement of Fort Detroit in 1701 and was established as la Petite Côte in 1749. Further development occurred under the British as part of

12138-664: The region to emerge as Canada's manufacturing heartland. Automotive manufacturing is a major component of the regional manufacturing sector. The Canadian automotive industry first emerged in Windsor and Chatham-Kent in the early 20th century, with the first large-scale automotive plant in Canada being opened in Walkerville in 1904 by the Ford Motor Company of Canada . Early domestic automotive brands in Canada were based in Windsor and Chatham-Kent, including Brooks , Gray-Dort , and Hyslop and Ronald , but were eventually dominated by

12257-680: The region, settling and owning farms in areas such as Essex County, Chatham-Kent , and Queen's Bush . The region's economy was predominantly focused on agriculture until the late 19th century, when industrialization of the region began to occur. Southwestern Ontario emerged as an ideal location for manufacturing due to the presence of cheap and abundant hydroelectric power sourced from the nearby Niagara Falls , and eventually became Canada's manufacturing heartland, which attracted multiple heavy industrial sectors, including automotive manufacturing , chemical production , petrochemical refinement and transport, and food processing . Automotive manufacturing

12376-564: The region. Cattle ranching is also another important agricultural industry in Southwestern Ontario, with dairy and beef farming, standardbred horse breeding and training, sheep , poultry , and pig farming being common. The dairy and cheesemaking industry in Southwestern Ontario has been predominantly concentrated in Oxford, Perth, and Wellington Counties, with the region accounting for approximately 56% of Ontario's milk production as of 2020. Sugar bushes for maple syrup production also have

12495-418: The signals are typically encrypted on modern digital cable systems, and the set-top box must be activated by an activation code sent by the cable company before it will function, which is only sent after the subscriber signs up. If the subscriber fails to pay their bill, the cable company can send a signal to deactivate the subscriber's box, preventing reception. There are also usually upstream channels on

12614-514: The signing of the APTA in 1965, which reduced cross-border tariffs and production inefficiencies in Canada, resulting an increase in motor vehicle exports to the United States and domestic parts production, but came at the cost of the decline of domestic automotive brands and consolidation of plants. The signing of NAFTA in 1994 with the United States and Mexico further integrated automotive production across North America , leading to further decline of

12733-497: The southernmost populated area in Canada, is located south of Point Pelee in Lake Erie. Southwestern Ontario was originally covered by vast forests prior to agricultural development in the region. Two forest regions are located in Southwestern Ontario; Carolinian forest , located predominantly along Lake Erie and the southern tip of Lake Huron, and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest , located around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. A very small percentage of forest coverage areas remain in

12852-725: The strong agricultural industry. Major food products processed in Southwestern Ontario include refined grains , tomato paste , sauces , condiments , meat products , canned foods , dairy products , parcooked foods , rendered products , and dietary supplements . Major plants include Cargill in London, Maple Leaf in Brantford , London, Guelph, and New Hamburg , Highbury Canco in Leamington , Bonduelle in Tecumseh , Ferrero in Brantford, and Jamieson in Windsor. Beer and liquor production

12971-403: The subscriber's residence, the company's service drop cable is connected to cables distributing the signal to different rooms in the building. At each television, the subscriber's television or a set-top box provided by the cable company translates the desired channel back to its original frequency ( baseband ), and it is displayed onscreen. Due to widespread cable theft in earlier analog systems,

13090-532: The upstream speed to 31.2 Kbp/s and prevented the always-on convenience broadband internet typically provides. Many large cable systems have upgraded or are upgrading their equipment to allow for bi-directional signals, thus allowing for greater upload speed and always-on convenience, though these upgrades are expensive. In North America , Australia and Europe , many cable operators have already introduced cable telephone service, which operates just like existing fixed line operators. This service involves installing

13209-498: Was a major historical industry in the region. Windsor was an important location for production during Prohibition in the United States , where alcohol was smuggled across the Detroit River . Multiple large breweries and distilleries are located in Southwestern Ontario, in addition to a large number of small craft brewers , distillers , and local wineries . The following are located in the region (as of 2024): The vast majority of

13328-758: Was acquired by Rogers in 1978, and Rogers purchased Maclean Hunter in 1993. Rogers TV Cable 13, brings around 60 of the 76 home and away games of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League . In the 2009 OHL Playoffs Rogers TV carried all home and away games in the London Knights schedule. This was the first time games from the Tulio Arena in Erie, PA and The Dow Event Centre in Saginaw, MI were broadcast on Canadian television. Rogers TV also has exclusive coverage of

13447-527: Was also established serving southwestern London and a "gentleman's agreement" set a boundary, convoluted in the old London South (Wortley Road) area; Community Television was later purchased by Maclean-Hunter , and Maclean Hunter was ultimately purchased by Rogers Cablesystems. London Cable TV later merged with Canadian Cablesystems, a cable operator owned by the Famous Players Theatre chain, with Jarmain remaining as chief executive. Canadian Cablesystems

13566-475: Was discontinued in fall of 2023 due to poor ridership and travel times along the corridor. As of 2024, the provincial government and Waterloo Region are planning for an extension of GO rail service into Cambridge. Only one municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Waterloo Region, currently has a rail-based transit system in operation. This transit system is known as the iON LRT and runs from Waterloo to Kitchener. A southern extension of this rail line into Cambridge

13685-515: Was established by German Mennonite and Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in 1807, after sections of the Haldimand Tract were purchased from the Six Nations in 1798. London, originally called Georgiana upon its selection in 1793 as the potential site of the future capital of Upper Canada, was formally founded in 1826 by John Graves Simcoe , the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada . Guelph

13804-538: Was founded in 1827 by John Galt as a headquarters for the Canada Company . Many other cities in the region did not see major settlement until the mid-19th century, when agricultural expansion was occurring. During the early-to-mid 19th century, the region was the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad for enslaved African Americans seeking escape from the United States. Thousands of slaves escaped to

13923-427: Was limited, meaning frequencies over 250 MHz were difficult to transmit to distant portions of the coaxial network, and UHF channels could not be used at all. To expand beyond 12 channels, non-standard midband channels had to be used, located between the FM band and Channel 7, or superband beyond Channel 13 up to about 300 MHz; these channels initially were only accessible using separate tuner boxes that sent

14042-559: Was mainly used to relay terrestrial channels in geographical areas poorly served by terrestrial television signals. Cable television began in the United States as a commercial business in 1950s. The early systems simply received weak ( broadcast ) channels, amplified them, and sent them over unshielded wires to the subscribers, limited to a community or to adjacent communities. The receiving antenna would be taller than any individual subscriber could afford, thus bringing in stronger signals; in hilly or mountainous terrain it would be placed at

14161-546: Was originally shipped by tankers through the Great Lakes from Superior, Wisconsin until the 1953 expansion of the Enbridge pipeline system into Sarnia. Today, Sarnia is home to 3 major oil refineries owned by Suncor , Imperial Oil , and Shell Canada . An additional refinery owned by Imperial Oil is located in Nanticoke . These refineries collectively supply much of the province's fuel demand, in addition to providing feedstocks for

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