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History of broadcasting in Canada
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History of broadcasting in Canada
Radio was introduced in Canada in the late 1890s, although initially transmissions were limited to the dot-and-dashes of Morse code, and primarily used for point-to-point services, especially for maritime communication. The history of broadcasting in Canada dates to the early 1920s, as part of the worldwide development of radio stations sending information and entertainment programming to the general public. Television was introduced in the 1950s, and soon became the primary broadcasting service[citation needed].
Major themes in Canadian broadcasting history include:
From the late 1890s until 1913 there were few regulations covering radio communication in Canada. The earliest stations were only capable of transmitting Morse code; despite this limitation as early as May 1907 the Marconi station at Camperdown, Nova Scotia began broadcasting time signals on a regular schedule.
The Radiotelegraph Act of June 6, 1913 established general Canadian policies for radio communication, then commonly known as "wireless telegraphy". Similar to the law in force in Britain, this act required that operation of "any radiotelegraph apparatus" required a licence, issued by the Minister of the Naval Service. This included members of the general public who only possessed a radio receiver and were not making transmissions, who were required to hold an "Amateur Experimental Station" licence, as well as pass the exam needed to receive an "Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency", which required the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words a minute. (This policy contrasted with the United States, which only required licenses for operating transmitters, and had no restrictions or taxes on individuals only using receivers).
With its entrance into World War I in August 1914, Canada generally banned the civilian use of radio receivers and transmitters. This restriction remained in force until 1 May 1919. Radio regulation remained under the oversight of the Department of Naval Service until July 1, 1922, when it was transferred to civilian control under the Department of Marine and Fisheries.
During World War I, advances in vacuum tube technology made audio transmissions practical. There was no formal category of radio stations providing entertainment broadcasts intended for the general public until April 1922, so the earliest Canadian stations making broadcasts operated under a mixture of Experimental, Amateur, and governmental authorizations.
Information about the earliest experimental broadcasts is limited. One pioneer was William Walter Westover Grant, who served in the British Royal Air in France during World War I, where he gained extensive experience installing and maintaining radio equipment. After the war ended, he returned to Canada where reportedly in May 1919 he "constructed a small station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, over which voice and music were broadcast in probably the first scheduled programs in Canada". In 1920 Grant began working for the Canadian Air Board's Forestry patrol, developing air-to-ground communication for the spotter aircraft used to report forest fires, initially using radiotelegraphy. The original base was located at Morley, Alberta, where Grant constructed station CYAA. In January 1921 operations moved to the High River Air Station in southern Alberta, where Grant established station VAW, which was capable of audio transmissions. In addition to the forestry work Grant began making a series of experimental entertainment broadcasts, believed to be the first in western Canada. Grant left the forestry project and established the W. W. Grant Radio, Ltd. in Calgary, which on May 18, 1922 was issued the city's third commercial broadcasting station license, with the randomly assigned call letters CFCN (now CKMX).
A better known example was a Montreal station, which was first licensed sometime between April 1, 1914 and March 31, 1915 as experimental station XWA to the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada, Ltd. ("Canadian Marconi"), and was one of the few civilian stations allowed to continue operating during World War I, when it was used to conduct military research. At first it only transmitted Morse code, however during the spring of 1919 employee Arthur Runciman began a series of voice tests, although initially the equipment was promoted as being useful for point-to-point communication rather than broadcasting. In early 1919, parent company British Marconi shipped a surplus 500-watt transmitter to Montreal for evaluation. As was common at a number of early stations, the engineers soon tired of having to repetitively speak for the test transmissions, and began to play phonograph records, which drew the attention of local amateur radio operators. The first documented broadcast of entertainment by XWA to a general audience occurred on the evening of May 20, 1920, when a concert was prepared for a Royal Society of Canada audience listening 110 miles (175 kilometers) away at the Château Laurier in the capital city of Ottawa. XWA eventually began operating on a regular schedule, at first run almost single-handedly by Douglas "Darby" Coats. Sometime in 1921 the station's call sign was changed to "9AM", reflecting a policy change in the call signs issued to experimental stations, and a short notice in the November 1921 issue of QST magazine reported that it was now broadcasting once a week on Tuesdays starting at 8 p.m. In April 1922, the station received a commercial broadcasting station license with the randomly assigned call letters of CFCF, and it later adopted the slogan of "Canada's First". This station was deleted, as CINW, in 2010.
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History of broadcasting in Canada
Radio was introduced in Canada in the late 1890s, although initially transmissions were limited to the dot-and-dashes of Morse code, and primarily used for point-to-point services, especially for maritime communication. The history of broadcasting in Canada dates to the early 1920s, as part of the worldwide development of radio stations sending information and entertainment programming to the general public. Television was introduced in the 1950s, and soon became the primary broadcasting service[citation needed].
Major themes in Canadian broadcasting history include:
From the late 1890s until 1913 there were few regulations covering radio communication in Canada. The earliest stations were only capable of transmitting Morse code; despite this limitation as early as May 1907 the Marconi station at Camperdown, Nova Scotia began broadcasting time signals on a regular schedule.
The Radiotelegraph Act of June 6, 1913 established general Canadian policies for radio communication, then commonly known as "wireless telegraphy". Similar to the law in force in Britain, this act required that operation of "any radiotelegraph apparatus" required a licence, issued by the Minister of the Naval Service. This included members of the general public who only possessed a radio receiver and were not making transmissions, who were required to hold an "Amateur Experimental Station" licence, as well as pass the exam needed to receive an "Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency", which required the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words a minute. (This policy contrasted with the United States, which only required licenses for operating transmitters, and had no restrictions or taxes on individuals only using receivers).
With its entrance into World War I in August 1914, Canada generally banned the civilian use of radio receivers and transmitters. This restriction remained in force until 1 May 1919. Radio regulation remained under the oversight of the Department of Naval Service until July 1, 1922, when it was transferred to civilian control under the Department of Marine and Fisheries.
During World War I, advances in vacuum tube technology made audio transmissions practical. There was no formal category of radio stations providing entertainment broadcasts intended for the general public until April 1922, so the earliest Canadian stations making broadcasts operated under a mixture of Experimental, Amateur, and governmental authorizations.
Information about the earliest experimental broadcasts is limited. One pioneer was William Walter Westover Grant, who served in the British Royal Air in France during World War I, where he gained extensive experience installing and maintaining radio equipment. After the war ended, he returned to Canada where reportedly in May 1919 he "constructed a small station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, over which voice and music were broadcast in probably the first scheduled programs in Canada". In 1920 Grant began working for the Canadian Air Board's Forestry patrol, developing air-to-ground communication for the spotter aircraft used to report forest fires, initially using radiotelegraphy. The original base was located at Morley, Alberta, where Grant constructed station CYAA. In January 1921 operations moved to the High River Air Station in southern Alberta, where Grant established station VAW, which was capable of audio transmissions. In addition to the forestry work Grant began making a series of experimental entertainment broadcasts, believed to be the first in western Canada. Grant left the forestry project and established the W. W. Grant Radio, Ltd. in Calgary, which on May 18, 1922 was issued the city's third commercial broadcasting station license, with the randomly assigned call letters CFCN (now CKMX).
A better known example was a Montreal station, which was first licensed sometime between April 1, 1914 and March 31, 1915 as experimental station XWA to the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada, Ltd. ("Canadian Marconi"), and was one of the few civilian stations allowed to continue operating during World War I, when it was used to conduct military research. At first it only transmitted Morse code, however during the spring of 1919 employee Arthur Runciman began a series of voice tests, although initially the equipment was promoted as being useful for point-to-point communication rather than broadcasting. In early 1919, parent company British Marconi shipped a surplus 500-watt transmitter to Montreal for evaluation. As was common at a number of early stations, the engineers soon tired of having to repetitively speak for the test transmissions, and began to play phonograph records, which drew the attention of local amateur radio operators. The first documented broadcast of entertainment by XWA to a general audience occurred on the evening of May 20, 1920, when a concert was prepared for a Royal Society of Canada audience listening 110 miles (175 kilometers) away at the Château Laurier in the capital city of Ottawa. XWA eventually began operating on a regular schedule, at first run almost single-handedly by Douglas "Darby" Coats. Sometime in 1921 the station's call sign was changed to "9AM", reflecting a policy change in the call signs issued to experimental stations, and a short notice in the November 1921 issue of QST magazine reported that it was now broadcasting once a week on Tuesdays starting at 8 p.m. In April 1922, the station received a commercial broadcasting station license with the randomly assigned call letters of CFCF, and it later adopted the slogan of "Canada's First". This station was deleted, as CINW, in 2010.