[1] The two stations share studios at the Bell Media building (formerly the Montréal Téléport), at the intersection of Avenue Papineau and Boulevard René-Lévesque Est in downtown Montreal; CFCF-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Royal.

CFCF-TV was founded by the Canadian Marconi Company, owner of CFCF radio (600 AM, later CINW on 940 AM before its closure in 2010; and 106.5 FM, now CKBE-FM at 92.5), after several failed attempts to gain a licence, beginning in 1938, and then each year after World War II.

A power failure interrupted the opening ceremony, and later on, police raided the downstairs ballroom, with sirens blazing and a number of arrests made.

Canadian Marconi, as would channel 12's numerous owners over the years, felt CTV's flagship station, CFTO-TV in Toronto, had too much influence over the network.

Canadian Marconi was a subsidiary of the UK-based General Electric Company plc, and was forced to put its entire broadcasting division—CFCF-TV, CFCF (AM), CFQR-FM and CFCX—on the market.

[2] Later in 1971, Canadian Marconi agreed to sell the stations to computer and telecommunications company Multiple Access Ltd., owned by the Bronfman family.

[3] In so doing, Canadian Marconi earned a handsome return on its original investment in CFCF, which long claimed to be the oldest radio station in Canada.

Later on, the station began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule full of classic television shows and movies during the late night hours, because of the popularity of VHS and Betamax VCRs by that time.

1986 also saw CFCF become the home base for a Canadian game show: The New Chain Reaction was taped there, as was the French counterpart, Action Réaction.

Producer Bob Stewart then brought in Geoff Edwards to replace him; in turn, CFCF staff announcer Rod Charlebois was then given an on-air role, to satisfy CanCon requirements.

This would have resulted in one company having a significant stake in all of the private stations in Montreal – CFCF, CKMI, CFJP and TVA flagship CFTM-TV.

Vidéotron knew that the CRTC would never approve such an arrangement, so it sold CFCF to Western International Communications (WIC), who also owned CHAN-TV and CHEK-TV in British Columbia, CHCH-TV in Ontario and several stations in Alberta.

Also around this time, CJOH was dropped from Montreal cable systems after its owner, Baton, bought controlling interest in CTV.

After 40 years of being master of its own house to a large degree, CFCF lost much of that independence and maneuverability through the CTV/Bell Globemedia deal.

The Bell Globemedia group (made up of the entire CTV network, as well as The Globe and Mail newspaper and a variety of other channels and media assets) was renamed CTVglobemedia in late 2006.

The new media giant also acquired CHUM Limited's holdings in 2006, including the A-Channel stations, MuchMusic and a variety of other specialty channels.

As well, a significant number of bilingual Francophones also watch CFCF—for both programming and news—although CFTM, CFJP and CBFT-DT (Radio-Canada) are the obvious market leaders for Quebec's French community.

Haugland was an institution and in a special "Farewell to Bill" show broadcast on his final day, he was heralded by colleagues, viewers and former prime ministers alike.

Currently, Mutsumi Takahashi is the station's sole anchor for 6 p.m. evening broadcasts, as Bell Media eliminated the co-anchor position due to cost-cutting measures.

On December 2, 2011, Todd van der Heyden announced he would step down at the end of the month to become an anchor at CTV News Channel in Toronto.

[17] On November 14, 2017, long-time executive producer Barry Wilson, best known for his Postscript editorial, was laid off as part of Bell Media's ongoing cost-cutting measures.

[19] In January 2020, news reporter and weekend anchor Annie DeMelt left CTV to join the MUHC Communications team.

[20] On September 4, 2020, news anchor Paul Karwatsky left CTV, with Caroline Van Vlaardingen filling the spot on an interim basis.

On February 1, 2021, as part of Bell Media's ongoing cost-cutting, it announced the elimination of its Quebec City reporter position.

[21] On June 2, 2022, long-time news director Jed Kahane was laid off as part of Bell Media's ongoing cost-cutting measures.

On February 8, 2024, as part of Bell Media's largest cost-cutting in nearly 30 years, the station cancelled its local noon and holiday newscasts.