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50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
It's hard to believe it's been half a century since Canada made the switch to Celsius. But midnight New Year's Day marks the moment that created a sea change for TV and radio stations across the country.
I still remember the transition, with some stations - especially those appealing to an older demo - refusing to follow the new regulations. At the beginning, even those onboard would give temperatures in both F and C. It took many years for some to fully make the transition.
Now you almost never hear Fahrenheit referred to at all by anyone (with perhaps the exception of AM740.)
But as the article below notes, the transition still is far from complete. We hear temperatures in Celsius, we measure snow in kilometres, rain in millimetres, gas in litres and distances in metres. But how tall are you? Chances are the answer is still in feet in inches. Same for your weight.
Many fought the changes by ignoring it altogether. Others were downright angry.
"To hell with the weather maps and figures in Celsius," wrote one senior in a letter to the London Free Press.
The switch kicked in just as a severe storm hit the Maritimes, and some felt Celsius was to blame.
"Since those experts changed from the old Fahrenheit thermometers, the weather's been lousy," an angry reader told The Bridgewater Bulletin in Nova Scotia."
I was lucky - as a one time graphics person at a local Toronto TV station, we used to put up temperatures in C & F and I was forced to memorize both scales. To this day, I can translate between the two from memory.
I've also noticed that people from a certain generation look at you in horror if you tell them today's high will reach 50 degrees! Or that 18 is freezing cold. On the other hand, when my sister comes to visit from New York City and hears the forecast, I have to translate for her. "What does that mean?" she asks when she hears it will minus 3.
It was this week it all started. "Weather" you were ready or not.
Happy Birthday, Celsius! Canada marks 50 years of metric-Imperial measurements
- Radiowiz
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
"It's just after 1 in the early AM, I'm Ray DeeYo in for you! It's currently 16, that's 61 the old way...hey? Did you know that 16 and 61 are the only ones that flip?..." 
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- mace
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
I was raised on the Imperial measurement system and have absolutely no use for the metric system. I find it very easy to converts. 2.5cm=1 inch. 5-10cm of snow coming. 2-4". All good. 38C=100F Good for Humidex readings. -18C=0F Now it's cold. 454grams=1 lb. I need 2 pounds of ground beef for a meatloaf. Just look for a package around 900 grams. I don't worry about gas prices any more because the little driving I do now, a tankful usually lasts me 6-8 weeks.
- RadioActive
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
It's also the 25th anniversary of the Y2K non-disaster, but we sure went through a lot of panic, wondering if the lights were going to go out at midnight Jan. 1st, 2000. CTV ran a story on this Monday, with one of the experts who triggered the alarm about the so-called Year 2000 bug being asked if it could happen again.
His answer puzzles me. Yes, he said, especially when certain computer systems become outdated in 2038.
What in the world is he talking about? Why would any system become outdated and why that year? Has anyone ever heard of this?
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Thread Starter- Binson Echorec
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
RadioActive wrote:
we measure snow in kilometres
Well, I think we should adopt this^.
I've used the Kelvin scale for temperature for laughs on air - it makes every day sound much warmer. Who wouldn't enjoy a 273 degree day?
I'm as old as this adoption of metric and can do most of the conversions in my head as well. Even though we still cling to imperial for height and weight, the metric system just makes more sense mathematically.
One of the more ridiculous measurements in my mind is the stone - and it's not a metric measure as one stone equals fourteen pounds. How many people know their 14x table? I only had to memorize up to at 12x12 in school.
Last edited by Binson Echorec (December 31, 2024 10:15 am)
- RadioAaron
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
It's also the 25th anniversary of the Y2K non-disaster, but we sure went through a lot of panic, wondering if the lights were going to go out at midnight Jan. 1st, 2000. CTV ran a story on this Monday, with one of the experts who triggered the alarm about the so-called Year 2000 bug being asked if it could happen again.
His answer puzzles me. Yes, he said, especially when certain computer systems become outdated in 2038.
What in the world is he talking about? Why would any system become outdated and why that year? Has anyone ever heard of this?
This is a fascinating/boring read, depending on your interests:
- LOSat
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
2038 is the year that some Unix systems if not updated will have a Y2K date issue. Y2K was not a disaster because a lot of work went on behind the scenes to correct the issue. The Y2K bug has reared it's head after the fact as well. Some systems punted the issue down the road by assuming that if a 2 digit year was 00-19 that the date was 2000-2019 once the system rolled to 20 systems assumed it was 1920 as two digit years from 20-99 were assumed to be 1920-1999. Parking meters in NYC failed on January 1 2020 because nobody updated the systems after the temporary fix. I had a point of sale system pop up a message my card wasn't valid on January 2, 2020 for similar reasons. Yes it was a non-disaster because a lot of people behind the scenes updated systems so things would not fail over.
See here for a description of the Y2038 issue
Last edited by LOSat (December 31, 2024 11:00 am)
- RadioActive
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
Thanks for the explanation. You'd think they'd have learned the lesson from Y2K. Apparently not.
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Thread Starter- Easily Amused
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
It's also the 25th anniversary of the Y2K non-disaster, but we sure went through a lot of panic, wondering if the lights were going to go out at midnight Jan. 1st, 2000...
Back in the 1990s, David J. Smith was a fundie preacher (ex insurance salesman) whose 'Newswatch Magazine' radio program ran weeknights on WWKB 1520, 10-10:30 p.m. Very much in the style of Herbert W. Armstrong, besides government and spiritual conspiracies Smith believed that Y2K was the upcoming end of civilization.
That belief didn't stop him from trying to get listeners to buy a yearly subscription to his magazine as near as a few weeks before the date of Y2K.
🤔🤨
- Dial Twister
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
Back in the 1990s, David J. Smith was a fundie preacher (ex insurance salesman) whose 'Newswatch Magazine' radio program ran weeknights on WWKB 1520, 10-10:30 p.m. Very much in the style of Herbert W. Armstrong, besides government and spiritual conspiracies Smith believed that Y2K was the upcoming end of civilization.
That belief didn't stop him from trying to get listeners to buy a yearly subscription to his magazine as near as a few weeks before the date of Y2K.
🤔🤨
God save us from His 'believers'.
- paterson1
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
I don't believe the movement from F to C was ever a regulation. Since Canada was moving to the metric system, radio and TV were encouraged to introduce celcius temperatures into weather forecasts. CKPR radio in Thunder Bay did temperatures in fahrenheit only until 80/81. The owner of the station said that metric was a guideline and stations were not bound to give temperatures or wind speeds in metric.
- RadioActive
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Re: 50 Yr. Anniversary Of The Day Broadcasting Changed In Canada
The only thing I remember from that era at CFTR was that we weren't given the choice. The word came down from on high that we were converting. In the beginning, listeners weren't happy. They complained initially, but when they found it was a losing battle, they got used to it. Now they'd complain if we used Fahrenheit!
Still, I remember the date it started and it could not have been a worst choice - April 1st, 1977. April Fool's Day!
Perfect.
We used the date to set up an April Fool's Day joke of our own, using the confusion to launch Metric Time. It was great. People were told that with all the attention given to temperature and weather, they'd failed to publicize that telling time was also being changed. And that was followed by a great hoax, that involved "experts" and examples of how to do the conversion - including a special hotline you could call to get the full explanation. At the end of the recording, they spilled the beans that it was all a joke.
You can hear that hilarious broadcast and tape here.
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