History of the Societe-Radio-Canada (SRC) Networks
(CBC) French Language Television Network

1949
The Government proclaimed a television policy whereby the delivery of licences, the creation of networks and broadcasting were to be strictly governed by the Board of Governors of Radio-Canada (CBC) and the latter would itself take the initiative of building studios and television stations.

The Parliament of Canada authorized Radio-Canada to borrow $4.5 million in order to create a television service in Montreal and in Toronto, TV stations that were to be operational by September 1951.

1951
The Federal Government granted another $1.5 million loan to the Société Radio-Canada for it to set up the Montreal and Toronto stations. The project was delayed for at least one year partly due to a lack of funds, but also because of a shortage of steel and a certain reluctance on the part of Quebec Premier, Maurice Duplessis.

In May, the Massey-Lévesque Commission recommended, among other items, that the administration of the national broadcasting system continue to be under the jurisdiction of one single organization accountable to Parliament and that the CBC be this organization, as it was then constituted. No private stations were to be licensed as a network without the permission of the CBC.

On June 13, the Mayor of Montreal, Camilien Houde, turned the first sod to mark the start of the construction of an antenna on Mount Royal. The Marconi Company lent two cameras to Radio-Canada for the purposes of manpower training.

The Liberal Government introduced and passed a bill to modify the Canadian Broadcasting Act, covering most of the recommendations of the Massey-Lévesque Commission. The bill also provided the CBC with an annual subsidy of $6.25 million over the following five years.

1952
On June 2, the test pattern was broadcast for the very first time from a temporary antenna that had been set up on the roof of the Mount Royal building. The facilities included a master control room, two studios, a news vehicle, a telecine system and a 16mm-film kinescope recording machine.

On July 18, the first televised coverage of a baseball game was broadcast via the cameras set up in the De Lorimier Stadium by Radio-Canada. Television arrived in Canada with the official broadcasting launch of CBFT Montreal (bilingual service) on September 6, in the presence of Mayor Camilien Houde, Cardinal Paul Émile Léger, the Minister of National Revenue, J. J. McCann, and the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Davidson Dunton.

The first program broadcast on the evening of this television inauguration in Montreal was called “Club d’un soir". CBLT Toronto (English language service) began on September 8.

At the time, CBFT had some 300 employees. The budget for the first year of operations was about $8 million. At the beginning, the station broadcast 23 hours of programming per week, split up between the two languages; however, French language programming predominated.

1953
In January, J. Alphonse Ouimet was appointed General Manager of the Board of Governors of the CBC/SRC after many years of distinguished service as an engineer and a director that culminated with the creation of the national service for which he was the prime mover.

On June 2, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was broadcast by CBC/SRC on film that had been flown in instalments from London to Goose Bay by three successive RAF Canberra aircraft, on to Montreal by Canadian CF100s, and thence by helicopter to from the CBC/SRC building. The NBC and ABC networks took the Canadian feed, as their own films had not yet arrived in New York.

In April 1953, CBFT-TV became exclusively French. Thanks to a microwave relay system built between Montreal and Toronto, English programming was henceforth broadcast on a CBMT-TV Montreal’s English language station, which started broadcasting on January 10th.

1954
The first two private French language affiliated stations began operations in Quebec City (CFCM-TV) and Rimouski (CJBR-TV). This was the start of the CBC/SRC Television Network

CBC/SRC was the host broadcaster of the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.

1955
On January 7, CBC English & French networks broadcast the Opening of Parliament in Ottawa for the very first time on television.

On June 25, CBOFT Ottawa joined the SRC TV network.

In December, the Royal Commission on Broadcasting, presided over by Robert Fowler, was created to examine the financing of CBC/SRC.

1956
CHLT-TV Sherbrooke became the fourth French language Radio-Canada affiliate.

On June 21, CFCL-TV Timmins became an affiliate of the two CBC/SRC networks (French and English). French language programs were broadcast in the morning. This broadcast sharing system between the two networks would last for 30 years.

1957
The Fowler Commission recommended that regulatory authority be taken away from CBC/SRC and given to a distinct body. The Commission also recognized that the mixed ownership (public-private) concept was a good arrangement for radio and television services in Canada.

CKRN-TV Rouyn Noranda became the sixth French language station affiliated to the Radio-Canada network.

1958
Two new private French language stations affiliated with the Radio-Canada French network, CKBL-TV, in Matane and CKTM-TV, in Trois-Rivières.

On November 10, the Government of John Diefenbaker adopted a new Broadcasting Act that created the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) to replace CBC/SRC as regulators of the Canadian broadcasting industry.

J. Alphonse Ouimet was appointed President of CBC/SRC (1958-1967).

In December, Radio-Canada producers in Montreal went on strike to support their demands for the right to belong to a Union and to bargain collectively. Senior Radio-Canada management refused to recognize their right under the pretext that the producers played a role as managers, and the dispute festered for three long months filled with acrimony. Management finally ended up yielding to the strikers.

1959
CBAFT Moncton joined the French TV network.

On October 17, CHAU-TV Carleton opened its doors and thus became the 8th French language Radio-Canada network affiliate.

Special news coverage of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway by queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and US President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

R. L. Dunsmore was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Société Radio-Canada (1959-1963).

1960
CBWFT Winnipeg joined the French TV network to provide services to 85,000 Franco-Manitobans.

1962
On January 14, CKRT-TV Rivière-du-Loup was inaugurated, and became the 9th French language Radio-Canada network affiliate.

On Sunday, November 11, the French language radio and television networks of Radio-Canada broadcast a political debate in the Province of Quebec for the very first time. It lasted one and a half hours and pitted Jean Lesage, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and Premier of the Province of Quebec, against Daniel Johnson (father), the leader of the Opposition and of the Union nationale. The moderator was Raymond Charrette and the announcer Jean-Paul Nolet. The guest journalists were Paul Sauriol from the newspaper Le Devoir, Gérard Pelletier from La Presse, Bill Bantey from The Gazette, Jean V. Dufresne from MacLean’s magazine, as well as Lucien Langlois and Clément Brown from Montreal-Matin.

1964
On September 7, CBVT Québec joined the French language Radio-Canada TV network. The transmission tower (554 feet) and the transmitter were built on Île d’Orléans. CBVT-TV thus became the fourth French language station exclusively owned by Radio-Canada, following CBFT Montréal, CBOFT Ottawa and CBWFT Winnipeg.

1965
In May, the Fowler Advisory Committee on Broadcasting was created. Robert Fowler’s colleagues on the committee were Marc Lalonde, a Montreal lawyer and Ernest Steele, Under Secretary of State.

1966
In July, a White Paper on Broadcasting was tabled. It described the problems encountered in the existing regulatory environment, where the powers of the Board of Governors had been poorly defined vis-à-vis Radio-Canada. The Government proposed to reinforce the authority of the regulatory body and Radio-Canada would henceforth be subject to the Board of Governors.

On September 1, colour television arrived in Canada.

On December 31, the celebration of the Centennial of Canadian Confederation was broadcast live on radio and TV.

Official opening of the International Broadcasting Centre, which would be operated by CBC/SRC during the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair.

1967
About 650 million TV viewers from more than 70 countries watched the opening ceremonies of Expo 67 produced by CBC/SRC

1968
Alphonse J. Ouimet, President of CBC/SRC and Andrew Stewart, Chairman of the Board of Broadcast Governors, resigned.

On February 1, George F. Davidson was appointed President of CBC/SRC (1968-1972). Laurent Picard was appointed Vice-President.

On March 7, the Liberal Government of Lester B. Pearson adopted a new Broadcasting Act and confirmed CBC’s mandate as a national broadcaster. It also created the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC), to be responsible for the broadcasting regulations and issuing of licences, including Cable TV and which also replaced the BBG.

On April 1, Pierre Juneau was appointed Chairman of the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC).

The Radio-Canada French network was broadcasting about 15 hours of colour programming per week.

First televised debate between political party leaders in Canada; a CBC/SRC/CTV co-production.

1969
CBC eliminated tobacco advertising on radio and television.

1970
On March 1, CBXFT Edmonton, Channel 11, joined the French TV network. The official opening took place on March 11, during a large gala concert in the Jubilee Auditorium before more than 2,000 people. CBXFT was unique in that Channel 11 shared its broadcasting schedule between two TV stations, one English language station, the other a French language station. About 60 hours per week of CBXFT’s programming was in French. The other 40 hours were leased out to the Metropolitan Edmonton Education Television Association. This arrangement lasted for some 40 months. Programs came from Montreal were broadcast with a fifteen-day delay in Alberta until July 1973, except for the Téléjournal at 18:30, which was broadcast live from Monday to Friday.

The CRTC called for both public and private television programming to have 60% Canadian content.

1971
The first private French language television network (TVA) was launched.

1972
CBGAT-TV Matane joined the Radio Canada French television network.

The Anik I satellite was launched. CBC/SRC leased three channels for radio and television distribution.

Coverage of the Canada-Russia hockey series was carried by SRC.

Laurent A. Picard was appointed President of CBC/SRC (1972-1975).

1973
On March 23, CBLFT Toronto joined the French television network.

Official opening of La Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal, in the presence of Prime Minister Pierre-Elliott Trudeau.

1974
CBC adopted a new logo based upon the letter “C" for Canada.

On February 14, the Secretary of State, Hugh Faulkner, unveiled the Accelerated Coverage Plan, designed to make the radio and television services of CBC/SRC, in English or French, or both, available to all Canadian communities with a population of 500 or more inhabitants.

1975
A. W. Johnson was appointed President of CBC/SRC (1975-1982).

1976
CBEFT Windsor and CBUFT Vancouver join the French TV network. A re-broadcaster of CBWFT - Winnipeg- CBKFT went into operation in Regina.

Radio-Canada was the host broadcaster of the Montreal Summer Olympics.

1977
CJBR-TV Rimouski joined the SRC TV network.

CBC/SRC set up facilities for broadcasting the proceedings of the House of Commons, at the request of the Speaker of the House.

1978
CBC/SRC was the host broadcaster of the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.

1982
CBST Sept-Îles joined the SRC TV network.

On February 15, an agreement was signed to reassign frequencies between Radio-Canada and Télévision de la Baie des Chaleurs inc. (CHAU-TV – Carleton) in order to expand access to the full service offered by the Société Radio-Canada, Radio-Québec and TVA to the entire Gaspésie and northern New-Brunswick.

Start-up of the CANCOM network that was licensed to distribute television signals by satellite to remote areas across the country.

Pierre Juneau was appointed President of CBC/SRC (1982-1989).

1985
Société Radio-Canada and other private Canadian broadcasters joined the European French language television service TV5.

1986
A second private French language television network in Montreal (Television Quatre Saisons) went on the air.

A commemorative postage stamp was issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the CBC.

1988
The international French language channel TV5 Canada debuted in September.

1989
W. T. Armstrong was appointed President of the CBC/SRC (August 1 to October 31).

Gérard Veilleux was appointed President and General Manager of the CBC/SRC (1989-1993).

Patrick Watson was appointed President elect of the Board of Directors of CBC/SRC (1989-1991).

1991
Patrick Watson was appointed Chairman of the Board of CBC/SRC (1991-1994).

1993
CBC/SRC was the host broadcaster for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria.

1994
The CRTC granted SRC a licence to operate a French language all-news TV service (RDI).

1995
On January 1, Radio-Canada officially launched its all-news television channel, le Réseau de l’information (RDI).

Guylaine Saucier became Chairman of the Board of Directors of CBC/SRC (1995-2000).

Perrin Beatty was appointed President and General Manager of CBC/SRC (1995-1999).

1996
60th anniversary of the creation of the CBC.

1997
The Minister of Canadian Heritage announced stable funding for CBC /SRC over the ensuing five-year period, as of April 1998.

The SRC network won 15 Gémeaux Awards for its in-house productions and co-productions. Amongst the latter, 4 et demi…, Christiane Charette en direct, La facture, Bêtes pas bêtes and L’Écuyer are worthy of note.

The series Omertà received an award from Telefilm Canada for the best Canadian French language production.

Two stories presented on Le Point were also honoured. “Troc Made in Quebec", produced by Louise Lemelin and Hélène Pichette, were awarded the Prix Judith-Jasmin and the Prix d’investigation at the 12th Festival international du Scoop et du Journalisme.

Another story done by Claude-Jean Harel and Frédéric Zalac, “Les pensionnats autochtones", won amongst other honours, an award from the Office des communications sociales and another prize from the Canadian Ethnic Journalists’ and Writers’ Club.

1998
The coverage of the Olympic Games in Nagano undertaken by the French and English services of CBC in February became the success story of the year. The networks broadcast some 700 hours of programming for their television and radio audiences and teamed up with Sympatico, an Internet service provider, as well as the Stentor group of telephone companies to offer Canadians instantaneous access to the results via the Internet.

The International Olympic Committee awarded CBC/SRC, in partnership with NetStar, the distribution rights for the next five Olympic Games.

The House of Commons decided not to adopt Bill C-44, which stipulated that the appointment of CBC/SRC’s directors was to be done by Order-in-Council, on a good behaviour basis. This decision reassured Canadians about the non-interference approach to CBC/SRC’s programming.

The French Television network won 47 Gémeaux awards given out by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, 16 of which went to in-house productions. Amongst the latter Christiane Charette en direct, La facture, La vie d'artiste, 4 et demi..., Découverte and Charles Dutoit et Jeanne d'Arc à Tokyo were notable. Le Téléjournal was awarded a Gémeaux for the best news program, as was État de choc for the best news special. The sports department also received two Gémeaux awards for its coverage of the Nagano Olympic Games. Amongst the co-productions honoured by the Academy, were: Omertà II: La loi du silence, which earned eight Gémeaux, including the people’s choice award, Sous le signe du lion, which garnered six, L'Ombre de l'épervier, five, and Un gars, une fille, four.

Shot during the Nagano Winter Olympics, the program Harmonie, produced by Michel F. Gélinas, received four awards at Japan's 42nd Film and Video Competition, namely the Gold, the Minister of Foreign Affairs prize, the Asahi Evening prize and the Japan Times prize.

The program La boîte à lunch, for young viewers, was honoured with four awards, including the International Youth Award, in Germany, and the Award of Merit (pre-school) given out by the Alliance for Children and Television.

1999
In May, disappointed by the CRTC's decision rejecting its applications for specialty arts and culture, history and economics channels, and with strong support from several cultural organizations, the Société Radio-Canada decided to appeal to the Government to review this decision.

Robert Rabinovitch was appointed President and General Manager of CBC/SRC (1999 to date).

In August, the Federal Cabinet sent a request to the CRTC asking it to examine the relevance of creating a national French language arts and culture specialty television service.

2000
The arrival of the new millennium was marked on CBC/SRC television broadcasts, as well as on the Internet by the airing of special programs covering the spectacular festivities that took place in numerous countries all over the world.

In February 2000, the CRTC invited licence applications for a French language specialty service whose programming would be focused on the arts. Radio-Canada and partners Télé-Québec, BCE Media inc., Sept ARTE and Équipe Spectra submitted a new application in this regard. The application was finally approved on September 14.

2001
Carole Taylor was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of CBC/SRC (2001 to date)

90% of the programming broadcast by the SRC French network was Canadian-made. 92% per cent of the listenership hours devoted to SRC was being tuned in to Canadian-made programming.

2003
The overall 2003-2004 CBC/SRC operating budget was approximately $1.33 billion, of which $937 million came from parliamentary operating credits and $284 million come from advertising revenue. The SRC television network had a budget of $355.7 million. CBC/SRC costs each Canadian about $29 per year. The all-news television channel RDI was financed through a combination of subscriber and advertising revenue.

2005
At 12:01 a.m. on August 15th, the CBC and Radio-Canada locked out 5500 of their employees (journalists, directors, production and administration), all members of the Canadian Media Guild, in all parts of the country, with the exception of the province of Quebec and the Moncton bureau, where other collective agreements were in force.

The lockout began after 15 months of unsuccessful negotiations. The labour dispute was essentially triggered by the Corporation’s desire to obtain more flexibility in its use of contract employees. The lockout deprived the French network of its regular news reports from other provinces, mainly from Ottawa, and foreign news reporters shared with the CBC English Network.

On October 11, after a 88.4% majority vote, employees started returning to work after accepting a new collective agreement which limited the number of contract employees that Radio-Canada/CDC could use.

Written by Yvon Chouinard – 2004

References:

Circuit fermé – Édition spéciale 25 ans de télévision – September 6, 1977, Volume 13, No. 12 – Radio-Canada staff publication

Ici Radio-Canada – 50 ans de télévision française – Jean-François Beauchemin in cooperation with Gil Cimon, Les Éditions de l’homme

Ici Radio-Canada – 60 ans de radiodiffusion publique – Radio-Canada Communications Directorate – July 1996

La radiodiffusion canadienne – Objectifs et réalités 1928-1968 – David Ellis – Government of Canada – Department of Communications – 1979

Les communications en Gaspésie – D’hier à demain – Jean-Louis Roy, Cahiers Gaspésie culturelle – Société historique de la Gaspésie, 1984

http://www.rond-point.qc.ca/histoire/1962/Lesage-Johnson-01a.html

Straight up – Private Broadcasting in Canada – 1918-1958 - T. J. Allard – The Canadian Communications Foundation – 1979

Fonds de la Société Radio-Canada – Montreal Public Library

http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/htmfr/historique/