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Fifties in America
Television in Canada

Television was first introduced to Canadian audiences during the early 1950's. Although it came slowly to the country, it spread rapidly and became an important part of Canadian culture.

The first television broadcast originating in Canada took place in 1952. The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) aired a program from its Montreal studio on September 6 and from Toronto on September 8. The advent of television had come slowly in Canada. At the end of World War II, Canada had no television stations and until 1952, the only television broadcasts in Canada were American programs transmitted from stations across the border. The delay was the result of a number of factors. A fierce debate raged in the government over private control of the industry, how to fund the industry, and over the potential affect television might have on Canadian life.

A year before the initial broadcast, the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (also called the Massey Commission), which was established to study national culture, made a number of recommendations about what the nature of television in Canada should be. Perhaps the commission's most important proposal was that the CBC be granted regulatory power over television broadcasting. The commission described American shows as lowbrow entertainment and made a number of recommendations, including that controls should be put in place to avoid excessive commercialism and to encourage content and the use of Canadian talent. The members argued that television programs be geared toward Canadian cultural matters and that there should not be other commercial stations before the CBC had provided sufficient programming in English and French. For the most part, the Liberal government adopted the Massey Commission's proposals.

Scope and Content
Originally the scope and content of Canadian television was limited. In the first few months of operation, the CBC channels in Montreal and Toronto had only three hours a day of programming, and that figure slowly rose in the intervening years. The Montreal station provided French shows, along with programs in English. After arranging a financial agreement with the three American networks, the CBC offered American television shows. A seminal event in Canadian television occurred in 1953, when the CBC was the first network in North America to show the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Great Britain. In the aftermath of that broadcast, sales of television sets across the country soared, and by 1956, more than half of Canada's households had a television set.

Popular shows during the 1950's included Canadian fare such as The Family Plouffe, Anne of Greene Gables, and Flight into Danger. Sporting events were also popular, including the Canadian Football League and coverage of the National Hockey League. To fill the great demand for hockey, the CBC programmed a special Saturday Night Hockey. Part of the CBC's mandate was to provide news coverage, and as early as the 1950's, the CBC devoted more time each week to news than did the American television networks.

The BBG
For nine years, the CBC was the only broadcasting company in the country, though there were private stations that carried CBC shows. When the Progressive Conservative Party came into power in 1957, they challenged the single system that had essentially granted the CBC a monopoly. In 1958, the Conservative government passed the Broadcasting Act, which created the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG). The Conservatives followed many of the recommendations made by the Royal Commission of Broadcasting (Fowler Commission) in 1957. The most important change was that the BBG would take over the regulatory powers over broadcasting from the CBC. However, the CBC maintained its role as Canada's public broadcasting network and it was not privatized, as some had hoped.

Another important facet of the Broadcasting Act was that all programming on the CBC and the private networks had to contain at least 45 percent Canadian. A year later, in 1959, the BBG issued new guidelines that mandated that by April of 1962, all television stations had to have no less than 55 percent Canadian content during the week. This requirement proved to be a difficulty that most of the stations could not reach, and it was not until 1965 that the regulations went into effect. By that time there were several private networks. In 1961, a new television network, the CTV began operations. The CTV was the CBC's first major competitor. During the next several years a number of private networks grew, though the CBC retained its dominant position.

Impact
The Massey Commission had hoped that television could be used as an instrument to promote Canadian nationalism. However, from the beginning, American programs were popular in the Canadian market, which forced the CBC and the CTV to have a quota of original Canadian broadcasting. Despite concerns over the impact the television industry might have on Canadian culture, the public embraced the new technology. The growth of television during the 1950's was spectacular. In 1953, only one quarter of the population had television in their homes; in 1956, CBC programming was available to two-thirds of the country, and by the end of the decade, 95 percent of all homes had access to television. Nearly eight out of every ten households owned a television set. By the end of the decade, television was a ubiquitous part of Canadian life.

Further Reading
Nolan, Michael. CTV: The Network That Means Business. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2001. A thorough history of the first private television network in Canada.

Peers, Frank W. The Public Eye: Television and the Politics of Canadian Broadcasting, 1952-1968. A comprehensive work covering the first sixteen years of the medium. Peers ably describes how the government played a large role in Canadian television.

Rutherford, Paul. When Television Was Young: Primetime Canada, 1952-1967. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990. The author examines a time in Canadian television known as the golden age.

Stewart, Andrew, and William H. N. Hull. Canadian Television Policy and the Board of Broadcast Governors, 1958-1968. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1994. This work studies how the BBG shaped Canadian television.

Justin P. Coffey

See Also
Andrea Doria sinking; Bowling; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; Communications in Canada; Communications in the United States; Education in Canada; Hockey; Housing in Canada; Nielsen ratings; Pay television; Television in the United States; Theater in Canada; TV Guide.