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A Monday in 1959
Beatniks and teenagers, drug addicts and "night people," Errol Flynn and other manly men – they all came to audiences in 1959 on the CBC airwaves. And so did a tour of a potato-chip factory.
The radio and television schedules below are a composite day of programming on a weekday in 1959. Television programs were on the national CBC network, while the radio programs listed here were on both the Trans-Canada and Dominion radio networks.
The radio and television schedules below are a composite day of programming on a weekday in 1959. Television programs were on the national CBC network, while the radio programs listed here were on both the Trans-Canada and Dominion radio networks.
Time
Program
06:00 - 08:00
Toast and Jamboree
08:00 - 09:15
A.M. Chronicle
09:15 - 09:45
Music in the Morning
09:45 - 10:15
University of the Air
University of the Air was a long-running adult-education program on the CBC. In 1965 it was merged with another program, The Learning Stage, to become Ideas — a show that continues into 2004.
University of the Air was a long-running adult-education program on the CBC. In 1965 it was merged with another program, The Learning Stage, to become Ideas — a show that continues into 2004.
10:15 - 10:30
Kindergarten of the Air
Kindergarten of the Air was produced by the CBC's School Broadcast department. It was a 15-minute program for preschool listeners. Each show had a different topic, often grouped around a theme of the week, such as birds or safety.
Kindergarten of the Air was produced by the CBC's School Broadcast department. It was a 15-minute program for preschool listeners. Each show had a different topic, often grouped around a theme of the week, such as birds or safety.
10:30 - 11:00
Lift Up Your Hearts
11:00 - 12:00
School Broadcast
CBC School Broadcasts, which began in 1940, were planned by education authorities and played on CBC stations during school hours for teachers and students in the classroom.
CBC School Broadcasts, which began in 1940, were planned by education authorities and played on CBC stations during school hours for teachers and students in the classroom.
12:00 - 12:30
BBC News
12:30 - 13:00
13:15 - 14:00
14:00 - 15:30
Trans-Canada Matinee
Trans-Canada Matinee was a one-hour program aimed at women. The show consisted of tips on grooming, fashion, food and home; news commentary, music, and serial drama were also part of the mix.
Trans-Canada Matinee was a one-hour program aimed at women. The show consisted of tips on grooming, fashion, food and home; news commentary, music, and serial drama were also part of the mix.
15:30 - 16:00
Open House
15:30 - 16:30
Appointment with Agostini
16:30 - 18:30
Tempo
18:00 - 19:00
News
18:30 - 19:00
Teens discuss a dance-show lesson in racial prejudice.
19:00 - 20:00
20:00 - 20:30
It's cool, daddy-o: a CBC reporter learns about the beat generation.
21:00 - 21:30
Women need not listen: a new radio show addresses the concerns and interests of men.
21:30 - 22:00
A Montreal reporter meets denizens of the city who come out after hours.
23:00 - 24:00
Ballet Club
The CBC in 1959
The novelty of TV may have worn off, but Canadians were still glued to the tube. By 1959, seven years after television came to Canada, 90 per cent of Canadians can get the service at home. That's due in large part to the recently completed microwave network that brings instant TV transmission across the country.
At the beginning of the year, the CBC television network broadcasts for almost nine hours daily – from 2:45 to 11:30 p.m. – on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays the programming day is longer at 11 hours. (Local programming adds a few more hours.) There's a lot of programming to fill those hours: CBC Times reports that the network expects to produce about 10,000 TV programs totalling 5,000 hours this year. Radio numbers are even more impressive: 50,000 programs across the CBC occupying 13,000 hours.
Radio may have given way to TV in most of the nation's living rooms, but
it has its defenders. In 1958, CBC Times notes: "Radio appears now to be more strongly entrenched than ever, occupying other rooms in the house, to say nothing of the radio sets one can find in barns, factories, offices, stores, restaurants, automobiles, summer cottages and at picnics." There are radios in over 96 per cent of homes and a total of 7 million radios in Canada.
The novelty of TV may have worn off, but Canadians were still glued to the tube. By 1959, seven years after television came to Canada, 90 per cent of Canadians can get the service at home. That's due in large part to the recently completed microwave network that brings instant TV transmission across the country.
At the beginning of the year, the CBC television network broadcasts for almost nine hours daily – from 2:45 to 11:30 p.m. – on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays the programming day is longer at 11 hours. (Local programming adds a few more hours.) There's a lot of programming to fill those hours: CBC Times reports that the network expects to produce about 10,000 TV programs totalling 5,000 hours this year. Radio numbers are even more impressive: 50,000 programs across the CBC occupying 13,000 hours.
Radio may have given way to TV in most of the nation's living rooms, but
it has its defenders. In 1958, CBC Times notes: "Radio appears now to be more strongly entrenched than ever, occupying other rooms in the house, to say nothing of the radio sets one can find in barns, factories, offices, stores, restaurants, automobiles, summer cottages and at picnics." There are radios in over 96 per cent of homes and a total of 7 million radios in Canada.
