Channel 78


Channel 78 was removed from television use in 1983, but was formerly used by television stations in North America which broadcast on UHF frequencies 854-860 MHz.
There was one full-power originating station on this frequency in Canada. CBEFT first aired on Channel 78 in 1976, moving to channel 54 in 1982. By 1996, the station had become a simple rebroadcaster of CBOFT Ottawa-Hull. Later a CBLFT rebroadcaster, it had been moved to channel 35 due to the reassignment of UHF TV channels 52-69 to mobile telephony in 2009; it remained full-power analogue until closing down in 2012.
In the United States, channels 70-83 had served primarily as a "translator band" containing repeater transmitters to fill gaps in coverage for existing stations. These transmitters were forced to change frequency repeatedly, as stations which had moved from 70-83 due to the 1983 introduction of analogue mobile telephony typically had to move again by 2011 due to the loss of UHF TV channels 52-69 to cellular telephones. While as low-power television stations these were not required to convert to digital operation on the 2009 US transition date, most were adversely affected by the upstream full-power stations conversion. Many have gone silent.