Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Tchrisioji in Canada By F. R. Deakins PrisiiUiil, RCA Victor Compiiuy. Ltd. Montreal. Camulii. \^^ANAi)iANS, more tli.in 100,000 of whom have been watching television from American border stations for four years, have, since the second week in September. been able to see regular scheduled programs originating in their own country. In the Montreal area, where a small number of set owners picked up distant American stations on a haphazard basis, unscheduled experimental programs went on the air in June and the first regular telec.isting in Canada began on September 6. Television as a Canadian activity is so new that it is still viewed more as a technical marvel than simply as entertainment. The public in both Toronto and Montreal, the only two cities presently having television transmitters, is buying receiving sets enthusiastically, and Canadian homes in these areas are going through the same e-arly stages of the new adventure experienced by American TV audiences three or four years ago. Just as Americans were doing in the years immediately following the war, Canadians are adjusting themselves to this medium of entertainment and education. Canada's approach to the miracle of the second half of the twentieth century has been more cautious and more gradual than was that of the United States. For the time being at least, telecasting in Canada is restricted to stations built and operated by the Canadian Broad- casting Corporation, a government-owned btxiy which also operates the only radio networks in Canada. Later, at a time still to be decided, private stations will enter the television field and supplement the services of the government-owned system, giving variety and more intense local coverage to a medium which will probably continue to be dominated on a national basis by the CBC. The delay in introducing television to Canada has been due to two factors: first, the extremely high cost of attempting to provide television coverage in a coun- try which is spre.id .across -1,000 miles and has a popula- tion approximating that of the State of New York; and second, the desire on the part of Canadian authorities to benefit from technical and programming experience in the United States before making extensive expendi- tures in Canada. As a result, the equipment being used by the first two CBC television stations is of the highest standard and based on that developed for the best televi- sion stations in the United States. Canadian television has been in the planning stage since 1947 when the first Canadian engineers and pro- gram staffs were assigned to study television as it then existed in the United States, Great Britain and France. Teams of prcxlucers and engineers visited stations in New York, Chicago and the midwest and then continued to London and Paris, reaping the benefits of knowledge accumulated in those centres. On the basis of their studies, television in Canada was organized and the fruits of their labor were made available to Canadians this year when the first programs went out over the transmitters in Montreal and Toronto. Proi^rann lelecast hi I'.ui^lish ami Vrciich In the two cities, specially designed five-story struc- tures are the operating headquarters of Canadian televi- sion. Programs are on the air daily for an average of three hours. In the afternoon a half hour is directed to children, and two and a half hours in the evening for adults. Programs are a mixture of live and film presen- tations. In Montreal, half of the programs are in the French language, the other half in English. Approxi- mately 70 per cent of the citizens of Montreal speak French. Montreal's CBFT, with its RCA 5-kilowatt trans- mitter located on top of Mount Royal, the mountain park in the heart of the city, enjoys the distinction of having been the first station to telecast in Canada. Early last June, several weeks ahead of schedule, it was on the air with test patterns, and in the last week in July was telecasting International League baseball games. To the great satisfaction of Montrealers who carr)' on year- round competition with Toronto in everything from sports to science, CBFT continued its priority and was on the air two days ahead of Toronto with regular programming in September. Part of the credit for Montreal's performance belongs to RCA Victor engineers who installed the transmitter and temporary antenna on Mount Royal. Long before any actual construction work began groups of CBC technicians were taken to Camden and to the David Sarnoff Research Center of RCA in Princeton, N. J., to see RCA equipment. These trips were followed by visits to NBC where similar equipment could be seen in operation. RADIO AGE 21