Somewhere in all that is Channel 11...Global sold it for a dollar, but all the debt came with it.
Channel Zero, to this day is still the (hopefully proud) owner of Channel 11.

Glow Ball news and Sh....it's the NEWS with the Farquharson's and don't forget the early days of (titty) CITY TV, when it was ch 79, and showed all those late night blue movies... WOW were the lads every lucky back then.
 

Last edited by radiodazewarrior (January 7, 2023 7:20 am)

paterson1 wrote:

Only one year and three months after City TV Toronto launched, another new station came onto the scene not only in Toronto but Southern Ontario.  Global took to the airwaves 49 years ago today at 6pm..

... and oddly enough, I worked for both
 

paterson1 wrote:

...
And here is the sign off with the map.  Notice Global had a similar "People's City" sounding sign off song  like City tv.  Even sounds like Tommy Ambrose singing..https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=rmTN_J_bbj0

"Even sounds like Tommy Ambrose singing" 

Well, there is a good reason for this....  'cause it was Tommy Ambrose singing. with music and lyrics by his partner Gary Gray.

btw, the song was called "Point of View"

The Global launch from the National Art Centre theatre on January 6th, 1974 actually had the NAC orchestra, and a trio from the Laurie Bower Singers (Ambrose was a member of The Laurie Bower Singers at the time).

In retrospect, while the Global launch special from Ottawa's NAC was splashy for the time, it was also very costly.  Rental for the NAC, union rates for the musicians, performers, and the IATSE house techs, as well as the production costs associated with staging the special (keep in mind that Global didn't have its own production mobile at the time... Big Mo was not on the road until late spring of 75.) So they also had to rent an outside mobile unit...   This one night alone helped set the stage for the serious financial troubles that Global faced in a short five months later in June of 74.


 

mace wrote:

Back when they would sign off, I loved how they would show the coverage area for each of their transmitters. In Oakville, my parent's got there best reception on ch 6. Ch 41 was better than 22. Occasionally, they could pick up ch 27 from Peterboro.

The Paris (Ayr) Channel 6 transmitter was the original main transmitter.  Uxbridge was UHF 22, and was principally meant for service to Toronto. (the Uxbridge transmitter was also one of the original six transmitters when Global signed on).

The transmitter expansion program in the late 80s saw Ch. 41 originate from the CN Tower. Uxbridge 22 ran parallel for 3 or 4 weeks, and then was shut down.  Ch. 27 was also one of the new transmitters approved, and went into service at Coburg. 
 

Forward Power wrote:

Believe it or not, the channel 22 tower is still standing today

site location [url]https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.0315789,-79.1384104,398m/data=!3m1!1e3[/url]

As I recall, the channel 22 "Uxbridge" TX had a power of 5 megawatts (ERP), which was the highest power allowed at the time, and the only Canadian TX to operate at this power level.

(you may need to copy & paste the full link as the SOWNY page seems to truncate the link at the comma in the Google Maps link)
 

I have a very personal and very different story about Global in its early days. I wondered about posting this, but since everyone involved (except me) is long dead, I guess it’s OK. (At least I think I’m still alive – some days I wonder!)
 
Sometime after Global first signed on in 1974, I discovered I had a semi-distant cousin, a lovely and kind lady named Judy. At the time, she happened to be married to one of the new channel’s co-owners, a guy named Seymour. My grandmother, who was one of the greatest people I’ve ever known and lived to be almost 101, knew I had always wanted to get into broadcasting.
 
At the time, I was still in high school, had no experience, and was just barely old enough to drive. So my dear late grandma – who was not only related to but was friends with Judy – called her and asked if Seymour might be able to find an opening for her broadcast-crazy grandson.
 
I knew nothing of any of this, until one day I got home and spoke to my grandmother on the phone. She told me all about Seymour and Judy and suggested I phone him. I vividly recall her saying, “Seymour WANTS you to call him.”
 
Well, you can imagine how excited I was. This guy was one of the owners of the TV station! And he was asking for me! I figured I was on my way, even if meant starting in the mailroom.
 
So I excitedly dialed Seymour at home, reminded Judy who I was and asked to speak to him. A growling voice came on the line, grumbling, “Yeah, who’s this?” I told him my name and that my grandmother had said he wanted to talk to me.
 
And that’s when Seymour not only deflated the balloon, but stomped on it. “Your grandmother has a big mouth!” he told me rudely. “I don’t have anything for you and I’m not going to!” And with that, he hung up.
 
In hindsight, I recognize why Seymour might not have wanted to foist a teenager with no experience onto a new station that was still trying to find its legs, both on-air and financially. But I always thought he could have been nicer about it.
 
When I told my family what had happened to my “big opportunity,” they all agreed Seymour was, well – we didn’t use the word “a-hole” in my house, but that was the general consensus. I never spoke to the man again and as noted here, the early Global ran into huge financial difficulties and it wasn’t long before the station didn’t have Seymour no more.
 
But while he lost money on his investment, he was still a rich man. And the coda to the story is that Judy eventually discovered what all of us had realized years earlier – that this was a horrible man not worthy of her. She divorced him and took him for a huge chunk of change in the settlement, and lived very comfortably on it for the rest of her life.
 
And although years and years later I had a very good chance of landing a gig at Global with my own TV experience, I eventually turned them down. And I never did wind up working there. I guess that would've made Seymour very happy.

The thing I remember best about Channel 22 was always having to turn our antenna rotor way up towards the north to bring in Global without ghosting in those analogue days. It meant you usually had to choose, because it would cause the Buffalo stations to disappear when the head was aimed the wrong way. I was greatly relieved when they finally went on the CN Tower and it was the same direction as Western New York.  

MJ Vancouver wrote:

I remember as a kid, my grandparents lived northwest of Kingston and relied on an outdoor antenna, but Global never came in clearly. The only transmitter they were in range of was Channel 2 Bancroft, but it never came in clearly. Never understood why they never put a transmitter closer to Kingston, even with CTV having a reliable signal there via CJOH.

Ironically, Global is now the only major network you can easily receive in Kingston. It's probably CBC's biggest dead-zone, population-wise. 

RadioAaron wrote:

MJ Vancouver wrote:

I remember as a kid, my grandparents lived northwest of Kingston and relied on an outdoor antenna, but Global never came in clearly. The only transmitter they were in range of was Channel 2 Bancroft, but it never came in clearly. Never understood why they never put a transmitter closer to Kingston, even with CTV having a reliable signal there via CJOH.

Ironically, Global is now the only major network you can easily receive in Kingston. It's probably CBC's biggest dead-zone, population-wise. 

CBC’s biggest dead zone, at least for television in English Canada, is London.

Regarding the ad above promoting Johnny Carson at 10pm on Global.  From 1981 until 2006 Global had Sportsline which was very popular.  In fact Sportsline often beat Carson in the ratings at 11:30, so this is why they opted to move Johnny to 10pm.  Smart move.  Here is a little retro from Sportsline which aired on their last show in 2006.  Some funny stuff.  https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=G79YCfZcbqA

Last edited by paterson1 (January 9, 2023 12:02 pm)