I don't remember the ch 9 era. My parents didn't get their first tv [an Emmerson] until 1957. I learned many years later, it was hot! And of course, CBLT moved again to ch 20. That makes four moves for one station. Wonder if that is a record of some kind.

With Larry Henderson and the News

Dale Patterson wrote:

It seems like yesterday when we could only get a handful of channels - 2, 4, 7 from Buffalo, 6 and 9 from Toronto, 11 from Hamilton. Sometimes we got 13 from Kitchener, 12 from Peterborough or 3 from Barrie. Then 17 came along, then 29, then 79 and 19 (not sure of the order) and the dial slowly expanded. Now of course the selection is almost limitless.

Many parts of Canada had cable way before the US.  Our family signed up for cable in 1968 with a total of 12 channels all clear, sharp and a real improvement to what we were receiving with the antenna. 

Some people were just getting their first colour tv or would be in the next few years so the timing was perfect.  This  expanded the coverage area of a few stations but especially US channels carried on the system.

We received 4 CBC stations, two CTV stations, 4 from Buffalo, channel 11, and our local cable channel that produced local programming from day one.  Back then there wasn't as much duplication as you would think since 3 of the 4 CBC channels were affiliates and didn't carry all of the network programming and had a lot of syndicated and local programming they ran on their own.  Even CFTO and CKCO had a lot of different programming, other than prime time and a few hours in the afternoon.

I was so disappointed being in Daytona Beach in 1976 with lousy weather when the hotel we were staying at only had four channels!  All off air and nothing beyond the three commercial US networks and PBS. By this time cable in Southern Ontario had been expanded and included WUTV Buffalo  and more from Canada like Global. City TV, TVO, and everyone's favourite.. Radio Canada.

In 1981 in Houston much the same story at the hotel, only 4 or 5 channels and a few fuzzy ones from out of town but really just the CBS or ABC affiliate from a distant town.  Cable as we knew it still wasn't that widespread stateside even then. Cable channels were just starting to get some traction, but still had limited availability in many areas.

So for about 12-15 years back then we were a little spoiled at least for the variety of channels available.

Last edited by paterson1 (September 8, 2020 7:48 pm)

I have always wondered how many TV sets were in homes when CBLT signed on. Like it was mentioned, all you had was one channel from Buffalo, unless Rochester was available then (not sure offhand about their TV history).

If I read that correctly, it was 146,000 across the whole country, not just Toronto right? I would venture  Windsor (Detroit) and perhaps even London (Cleveland) would make up part of that figure.

Radio111 wrote:

If I read that correctly, it was 146,000 across the whole country, not just Toronto right? I would venture Windsor (Detroit) and perhaps even London (Cleveland) would make up part of that figure.

Yes, the figures were based on television sales across Canada.  So TV sales in any city or town would be included.   By November 1953 there were approx. 445,000 televisions in Canada, and of these half  (222,500) in the Toronto/Hamilton/Niagara area. 

So possibly when CBLT signed on, using the same percent as 1953, there would be at least 73,000 sets in the Toronto/Hamilton/Niagara area when launched in September 1952.  The figure was likely closer to 100,000.

It is interesting to note that only CBLT had US competition, in Montreal and Ottawa no US TV signals could be received with any clarity.  And by December 1952 WBEN had one of the highest towers in North America and had increased power.    WBEN's new tower was 1,057 ft.and more than double the height what CBLT was using.

TV sales in Canada skyrocketed after the launch of the CBC stations in Montreal, Toronto and June 1953 Ottawa, increasing from 146,000 sets in September 1952 to 445,000 by November 1953.  CBC's first western Canadian station opened in Vancouver, December 1953 with CBUT. 

In 1954 more stations were added in Winnipeg, Montreal with an English only station, and in Halifax.  Also by 1954 privately owned affiliates such as London, Hamilton, Kitchener and Sudbury were joining the network across the country. 

Last edited by paterson1 (September 9, 2020 7:21 pm)

I used to love that channel.  Back before the days of 24 hour news _IT_ was the 24 hour news channel.    Hell, back then, it was the only all-night channel.
In the 80s I used it a lot when recording audio to vhs hi-fi.  In fact some radio stations would record their logger tapes on VHS using 3 8-hour tapes with the BN channel used as a video background.  Made finding something at a particular time quite easy.  And the audio was high quality to boot.
 

Dale Patterson wrote:

Does anyone remember the Broadcast News scrolling news channel? I used to watch that in those days before CNN and Newsworld, and I worked the cable desk occasionally during my time at CP-BN. Cablestream - as it was called - was still going in 2010 when I retired from the company, but was no longer staffed around the clock as it was in the '70s and '80s.

Yes indeed.  

The early versions were very slow as each line printed out on the screen and some stories took 2 or more screens. It was a slow process in the early days;  however it was usually the only TV news source for someone coming home after midnight from an afternoon shift.