From an upstart medium to an all-pervasive cultural force
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/05/2004 (8041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
April 30, 1939: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt throws the switch to send NBC’s first TV transmission into the air from the World’s Fair in New York City.
September 1952: Canada’s first TV stations, CBFT in Montreal and CBLT in Toronto, begin broadcasting.
May 31, 1954: CBWT begins broadcasting in Winnipeg on Channel 4.
June 7, 1954: Time Building fire on Portage Avenue. CBC-TV’s first big news story.
Jan. 28, 1955: CKX-TV begins broadcasting in Brandon as a CBC affiliate station.
April 24, 1960: CBWFT signs on as Winnipeg’s French-language CBC service.
Nov. 6, 1960: KCND-TV begins broadcasting from Pembina, N.D.
Nov. 12, 1960: CJAY-TV begins broadcasting from its studios at Polo Park.
August 1968: Cable TV arrives in Winnipeg, with Metro Videon Ltd. providing service to homes in Fort Garry, while Greater Winnipeg Cablevision Ltd. offers cable service to homes in St. Vital. For an installation charge of $10 and a monthly fee of $5, cable customers can receive North Dakota stations WDAZ (NBC), KXJB (CBS) and KTHI (ABC) along with the local stations that had previously been available over the air.
September 1974: Business group led by Israel Asper receives a broadcast licence from the CRTC for a third local TV channel in Winnipeg.
Sept. 1, 1975: Pembina-based KCND-TV signs off; Winnipeg-based CKND-TV begins broadcasting from its studios in a former supermarket on St. Mary’s Road.
Feb. 1, 1983: Canada’s first premium movie service, First Choice, is introduced.
August 1984: MuchMusic launches as Canada’s first coast-to-coast cable music channel.
September 1984: TSN launches as Canada’s first all-sports specialty network.
Oct. 17, 1986: CHMI (MTN) begins broadcasting from Portage la Prairie.
September 1987: Six new specialty channels are added to local cable packages — TSN, MuchMusic, A&E, TNN, CNN and FNN.
September 1988: YTV, Vision TV and MuchMusic are added to Videon’s basic-cable package.
July 31, 1989: CBC Newsworld signs on.
Jan. 1, 1995: Second wave of specialty-cable channels is introduced, including Bravo!, Discovery, Life Network, Showcase and the Winnipeg-based Women’s Television Network.
July 1997: StarChoice launches its direct-to-home satellite-TV service, offering up to 60 channels.
September 1997: Bell ExpressVu launches its direct-to-home satellite service, offering up to 60 channels.
Oct. 17, 1997: Third wave of specialty-cable channels is introduced, including History Television, Space, Teletoon, The Comedy Network, HGTV, Prime TV, The Golf Channel and Food TV.
Sept. 1, 1999: Winnipeg-based Aboriginal Peoples Television Network begins broadcasting with a gala opening-night concert at The Forks.
December 2000: Moffat Communications announces its intention to sell off its broadcast interests, including Videon Cable, CKY-TV and WTN.
March 2001: CRTC approves the Moffat deal, which sees Videon taken over by Shaw Cable, WTN purchased by Corus Entertainment and CKY acquired by the CTV network.
September 2001: More than 40 new digital cable channels are launched simultaneously, including the Biography Channel, BBC Canada, Discovery Health, Discovery Kids, Book TV, Fashion TV, Country Canada, Independent Film Channel, Men TV, MTV Canada, PrideVision, Tech TV, Animal Plannet, ESPN Classics Canada, Lonestar, National Geographic Channel, DejaView, Showcase Action and Showcase Diva.
November 2001: Corus announces that WTN will be moved from Winnipeg to Toronto.
April 2004: Toronto-based CHUM Ltd. buys Craig Media Ltd., including A-Channel stations in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary and Toronto’s newest local station, Toronto 1.