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A weekend in 1948
In 1948 radio was in its golden age in North America. But even as the medium experienced unparalleled success, plans for CBC Television were already underway.
The programs and specials represented in the schedule below are drawn from CBC weekend broadcasts — Saturdays and Sundays — in 1948. CBC program guides of that year published in Ontario and British Columbia are the basis for the following grid. Most of the programs listed below were heard on all stations in the CBC Trans-Canada Network or the CBC Dominion Network; Hockey Interview was broadcast on CBM, Montreal's English-language CBC station.
The programs and specials represented in the schedule below are drawn from CBC weekend broadcasts — Saturdays and Sundays — in 1948. CBC program guides of that year published in Ontario and British Columbia are the basis for the following grid. Most of the programs listed below were heard on all stations in the CBC Trans-Canada Network or the CBC Dominion Network; Hockey Interview was broadcast on CBM, Montreal's English-language CBC station.
Time
Program
06:00 - 07:00
It's Time to Wake Up
07:00 - 08:00
Toast and Jamboree
08:00 - 08:15
Morning News
08:15 - 08:30
Devotions
09:00 - 09:30
09:30 - 10:00
Music for Madame
10:00 - 11:00
The chairman of the CBC talks about television coming to Canada.
11:30 - 12:00
Juke Box Jury
Guilty or not guilty? Each week, the four panellists on Juke Box Jury heard four new popular recordings and passed judgement. If a majority said they wouldn't spend a nickel to hear a record again, it was deemed guilty. If there was a stalemate, listeners were invited to add their opinions.
Guilty or not guilty? Each week, the four panellists on Juke Box Jury heard four new popular recordings and passed judgement. If a majority said they wouldn't spend a nickel to hear a record again, it was deemed guilty. If there was a stalemate, listeners were invited to add their opinions.
12:00 - 12:15
Junior Junction
12:15 - 12:45
Sports College
Lloyd Percival was the host of this show, which gave listeners tips on "how to be a good athlete and a good sport."
Lloyd Percival was the host of this show, which gave listeners tips on "how to be a good athlete and a good sport."
12:45 - 13:15
The Story of Stamps
13:15 - 13:30
Just Mary
13:30 - 14:00
Ozark Valley Folks
14:00 - 14:30
On the Teen Beat
14:30 - 15:00
The Jive Hive
15:00 - 15:30
A meteorologist explains the impact an atomic bomb might have on local weather.
16:00 - 17:00
Jazz Unlimited
17:00 - 17:30
Ballet Club
17:30 - 17:45
CBC Movie Critic
CBC Movie Critic, featuring "Vancouver newspaperman" Clyde Gilmour, debuted in early 1948. Later that year the show became Critically Speaking, adding radio critic Graham MacInnes and book reviewer Lister Sinclair.
CBC Movie Critic, featuring "Vancouver newspaperman" Clyde Gilmour, debuted in early 1948. Later that year the show became Critically Speaking, adding radio critic Graham MacInnes and book reviewer Lister Sinclair.
17:45 - 18:00
Anne Francis reports on the United Nations' discussion of women's rights.
18:00 - 18:45
Joe Carveth of the Montreal Canadiens rates his team's performance so far this season.
18:45 - 19:00
Saturday Sports Magazine
19:00 - 19:15
Meet Gisele
19:15 - 19:30
Reporter John Fisher discovers that three years on, most countries in Europe have yet to recover from the war.
19:45 - 20:00
Memo from Lake Success
20:00 - 20:30
Charlie McCarthy Show
This was an American import featuring ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his puppet, Charlie McCarthy. In earlier years the same program appeared on the CBC schedule as The Chase and Sanborn Hour, named for its sponsor.
This was an American import featuring ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his puppet, Charlie McCarthy. In earlier years the same program appeared on the CBC schedule as The Chase and Sanborn Hour, named for its sponsor.
20:30 - 21:00
Share the Wealth
22:30 - 23:00
Organ Melodies
23:00 - 23:30
Alberta Ranch House
23:30 - 24:00
Hotel Biltmore Orchestra
The CBC in 1948
With the deprivations of the Depression and the Second World War over, Canadians were starting to live the good life again in the late 1940s. New CBC programming kept them listening as transmitters popped up across the country.
The CBC was producing about 80 per cent of the material it broadcast on its two networks in 1948; 17 per cent came from the United States and Britain, and three per cent from private stations. Programming was becoming more innovative, too, such as CBC Wednesday Night, a weekly three-hour block of highbrow culture: theatre, literature and classical music. CBC chairman A. Davidson Dunton recognized its appeal may have been limited, saying, "More people seem interested in listening to the country music of Holiday Ranch than La Bohème, but we feel that people who like La Bohème should also have the freedom to hear opera, too."
Even more exciting was the gradual process of bringing television to Canada — a plan championed by Dunton and put into place in 1948 despite a lack of support from the federal government. In March 1949, a new government under Louis St. Laurent appointed a royal commission to inquire into broadcasting: the Massey Commission.
With the deprivations of the Depression and the Second World War over, Canadians were starting to live the good life again in the late 1940s. New CBC programming kept them listening as transmitters popped up across the country.
The CBC was producing about 80 per cent of the material it broadcast on its two networks in 1948; 17 per cent came from the United States and Britain, and three per cent from private stations. Programming was becoming more innovative, too, such as CBC Wednesday Night, a weekly three-hour block of highbrow culture: theatre, literature and classical music. CBC chairman A. Davidson Dunton recognized its appeal may have been limited, saying, "More people seem interested in listening to the country music of Holiday Ranch than La Bohème, but we feel that people who like La Bohème should also have the freedom to hear opera, too."
Even more exciting was the gradual process of bringing television to Canada — a plan championed by Dunton and put into place in 1948 despite a lack of support from the federal government. In March 1949, a new government under Louis St. Laurent appointed a royal commission to inquire into broadcasting: the Massey Commission.
