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August 8, 2024 9:51 pm  #1


A Radio Invention For Your TV

It was May 1957. There was only one commercial FM radio station on the air in Canada, and it was in Toronto - CHFI. But in those days, most people only had an AM radio. So how could anybody hear this still mostly experimental band? 

Turns out there was an app for that. Well, not exactly an app. More like a gizmo that would allow you to listen to FM radio on another relative newcomer in the house. I wonder if any of these have survived and if they're worth anything to collectors today. And would they still work on an HDTV?

Has anyone ever heard of this before? It doesn't appear they were around very long. 

 

August 8, 2024 10:44 pm  #2


Re: A Radio Invention For Your TV

Do they mean that CHFI was the first FM radio station in Canada to sell it's own commercial time?  CHFI had it's own programming from day one since Rogers didn't already have an AM station in Toronto when the FM signed on.

FM radio had been in Canada for at least 10 years prior with CFRB-FM which came on air in 1947 as a simulcast of CFRB-AM.  It looks like all of the FM stations that went to air in the late 40's were initially simulcasts of the AM operation.  However I would think the FM outlets would also play the commercials from the AM if it were a straight simulcast.  So I don't really understand why these stations weren't considered to be commercial FM since they must have been running the AM signals spots, many of which would be read live by the announcer. 

 

August 9, 2024 7:09 am  #3


Re: A Radio Invention For Your TV

RadioActive wrote:

 And would they still work on an HDTV?

If your modern TV still has an analog tuner, yes.

The only way I can see this working at the time would be for it to convert the FM signal to a VHF TV frequency, much like VCRs did.