CFMT-TV

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CFMT (OMNI.1)
Image:OMNI.1.jpg
Toronto, Ontario
Channel 47 / Cable 4
Owner	Rogers Communications
Founded	1979
Signal Radius	1138 kW
Callsign Meaning	Canada's First Multicultural Television
OMNI Television
CFMT OMNI.1	CJMT OMNI.2

CFMT is a Canadian television station, which broadcasts multicultural programming in Toronto, Ontario. Part of the OMNI Television group of stations, it uses the on-air brand OMNI.1.

The station began broadcasting in 1979. In 1985, CFMT became Canada's first TV station to broadcast in stereo. The following year, it was sold to Rogers Communications. In 1993, CFMT installed repeat transmitters in London and Ottawa, on channels 69 and 60, respectively.

Among non-ethnic residents of southern Ontario, CFMT is likely best known as home to various English-language syndicated talk shows and sitcom repeats, most prominently The Simpsons, airing twice nightly as counterprogramming to local news and other primetime programming.

In 1980, CFMT made a bold move by being one of the first stations in Canada to go to 24-hour a day 7 day a week broadcasting with the introduction of The All-Night Show, starring Toronto comedian Chas Lawther, broadcast generally between midnight and 6 AM. The premise was that Lawther's character Chuck the Security Guard had, with the help of his never seen technically minded friend Ryerson (named after Toronto's Ryerson Polytechnic, now Ryerson University), took over the facilities of CFMT and accidentally broadcast their favorite shows over the air while fooling around with the equipment. The station's owner was suitably impressed and gave Chuck and Ryerson their own show. The All-Night Show generally showed re-runs of classic series such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and The Prisoner, and filled the space in between with music videos (including old Scopitones), old movie shorts and comedic banter. Lawther became a minor celebrity in Toronto and is still frequently seen on Canadian television. Although the show only lasted one year and ended in a contract dispute (despite surprisingly high ratings even in the days before widespread VCR use), 24 hour a day broadcasting became the standard for almost every television station in the years after the show.

In 2002, Rogers launched CJMT, or OMNI.2, in order to increase multicultural programming, and shortly after rebranded CFMT as OMNI.1. CFMT's programming for South Asian and African communities moved to CJMT, while CFMT kept programming targeted to European and Latin American groups.

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