Timeline of Key Events in Canadian TV History

 

Origins of TV

1901 – First transcontinental radio broadcast

1917 – First scheduled radio broadcast in Montreal at Marconi’s experimental stn

1919 – First Canadian radio station launched

1932 – Broadcasting Act establishes the Canadian Radio Broadcast Commission

1936 – CBC established

1946 – NBC, CBS and ABC radio networks launch TV stations

1948 – First US TV signals spill across the Canadian border

1949 – Massey Commission launched (to provide TV policy recommendations)

1951 – Massey Commission releases its report (Cdn TV to be public)

 

1952-1960: Dominance of the CBC

(Characterized by news, sports and children’s programming; content produced in-house; no private broadcasters or independent producers).

1952 – CBC granted monopoly on TV (150,000 TV sets already in Canada)

         -- First cable TV systems in Canada are built (Montreal, London and Van.) (Reduces spectrum scarcity)

1954 -- private stations were authorized in vaarious locations to act as “rebroadcasters” of the CBC’s signal

1957 – 39% of Canadian households have a TV set

1958 – Board of Broadcast Governors founded (prior, CBC was a competitor and regulator).

 

1961-1968: From the BBG to the CRTC

1961 – CTV launches (first private network)

1964 – 4% of Canadians subscriber to cable

1967 – Colour TV launches

1968 – Broadcasting Act is revised.  Creates the CRTC, regulates cable.

 

1969-1983: Consolidation

1970 – Content regulations established

         -- Global and CityTV launched (in the 70s)

1972 – 97% of Canadian households have a TV set

1973 – HBO launches

1975 – CRTC gains responsibility for regulating telecom

1976 – Income tax advantages for companies advertising on Canadian media

1982 – 58% of TV homes connected to cable

         -- Framework for specialty services (managed choice)

         -- CRTC licenses first pay services – TMN, SuperChannel, Super Ecran

 

1983-1993: The Rise of Independent Production

1980s – CCA introduced (later replaced with the CPTC)

1983 – Direct subsidies for independent producers through Telefilm Canada

         -- CBC to license 50% of content from independents

1984 – CRTC licenses five specialty services, including TSN and MuchMusic

1987 – CRTC licenses more specialty services, including YTV and Musique Plus

1988 – First major cuts at CBC begin

1990 – Audience share: Broadcasters 84%, Specialty 14%

1991 – New Broadcasting Act, emphasizes programming and technological

 change, and private/public contribution and interests

         -- Videotron launches Videoway, a crude interactive TV service

-- Supply of Canadian programs – 42%.  Share of Viewership – 32%

 

1994 to Present: Impact of Digital Technology and Media Convergence

1994 – Cable companies contribute to production fund

         -- DTH is introduced in the US by DirecTV

         -- CRTC licenses new specialty services, including WTN and Showcase

         -- The ‘Web’ emerges into the mainstream

1995 – CRTC releases convergence report, opening the way for telco and cable competition and allowing distributors to own content.

1996 – CRTC licenses new specialty services, including SportsNet and Comedy

         -- High-speed Internet begins to roll-out on cable

1997 – Canadian Heritage contributes $100 million to create CTF

         -- Cable monopoly broken with launch of DTH in Canada

-- Audience share: Broadcasters 70%, Specialty 30%

-- Internet penetration: ~25%

1998 – Digital cable is launched (solidifying elimination of spectrum scarcity)

         -- CTV changes ownership, becomes corporation rather than cooperative

         -- Alliance and Atlantis merge

1999 – Quebecor out bids Rogers for Videotron

         -- CRTC releases its new media decision (won’t regulate the Internet)

         -- CTV buys Netstar

-- AOL buys Time Warner

-- iCraveTV.com launches.  Brings on the wrath of old media in Canada and US

-- TiVO launched at CES

2000 – CRTC licenses some 200 digital specialty services

         -- Rogers launches interactive TV

         -- BCE buys CTV and Globe & Mail, creates Bell Globemedia

         -- CanWest buys WIC then Hollinger Newspapers

         -- Corus buys Nelvana (both owned by Shaw Cable)

         -- Benchmark for a hit TV show is 700,000 viewers

2001 – Technology sector crash.  Along with the Internet economy?

         -- Events of September 11

         -- Federal budget focuses on security – gives CBC more money

-- Supply of Canadian programs – 46%.  Share of Viewership – 34%

-- Audience share: Broadcasters 58%, Specialty 42%

-- Digital cable and DTH penetration: 25%

-- Internet household penetration: ~65%

-- High-speed household penetration: ~25%

-- DVDs: ~25%

2002 – AOL writes down $40 to $60 billion of ‘goodwill’

         -- VOD launched in markets across North America

         -- 1 million TiVO households in North America

         -- CTF is cut (Feb 2003?)

2003 – HDTV gets momentum

         -- VOD rollout on cable nearly complete

         -- PVR’s in 3 million US homes

         -- Home networks are the big thing

         -- Internet piracy is a hot topic

         -- Home entertainment networks are the rage at the CES