The first televised national debate among Canadian political party leaders is broadcast by CBC and co-produced with CTV. Tommy Douglas, Pierre Trudeau, Robert Stanfield and Réal Caouette push their policies on health care, foreign relations and the Criminal Code and use media's biggest stage to sell themselves as the man to lead Canada. Televised Hansard in the House of Commons was nine years away, so this was a rare opportunity to watch the leaders present their ideas to the electorate. The debate took place in Confederation Hall in the West Block of Parliament Hill. Trudeau's Liberals went on to decisively win the election in 1968, doubling the seat total of the second place Progressive Conservatives. The Liberals took 152 seats, Progressive Conservatives 72, New Democratic Party 22, Social Credit 14 and one seat going to an Independent. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 2:18:17 PM
Trans-Canada and Dominion networks are consolidated. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 2:10:49 PM
CBC Northern Service starts shortwave broadcasting to the High Arctic. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 2:03:03 PM
Aided by satellite broadcasting technology, Everest expedition leader Byron Smith transmits the first live audio and video transmission as he ascends the mountain. A special CBC Newsworld site called Everest 2000 allows Canadians to follow along through five audio and video reports posted online daily. Two of the hits were live. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 1:08:59 PM
TV syndication is launched to subscription-based streaming-video service Netflix. Among the television series Netflix now offers are seasons one through four of The Tudors, Men with Brooms and Republic of Doyle. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:55:38 PM
The roll out of CBC mobile applications begins to ramp up, following the release of a News Alerts app for BlackBerry and iPhone optimized mobile sites are introduced. The National mobile and a CBC Radio app are launched. Soon CBC News and CBC Hockey apps are also made available. By 2011, a new CBC News mobile app is available for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android and a CBC TV app for iPad is launched. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:46:35 PM
An online commenting feature is introduced for CBC.ca news stories, allowing Canadians to comment on the news as it is posted to the site. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:25:50 PM
The CBC Member Centre launches online to allow Canadians access to an updated email newsletter, digests and news alerts. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:21:42 PM
In a web exclusive, CBC.ca launches four new live audio streams - classical, singer/songwriter, jazz and contemporary. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:18:25 PM
CBC launches One Million Acts of Green, one of the corporation's first social media campaigns. The campaign urged Canadians to commit one act of "green" and then register the act on the interactive website. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:12:50 PM
The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos launches CBC's first video podcast. CBC also launches its first YouTube channel for The Hour. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:08:10 PM
Quirks & Quarks sets the stage for CBC podcasting, becoming the first program to introduce the feature. CBC Radio 3 follows suit in June and also begins podcasting its programs. Within a year, CBC Radio has expanded its podcasting service to 22 offerings. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 11:56:38 AM
CBC.ca/Art launches CBC.ca launches as an online magazine that covers arts, media and entertainment news. It also provides commentary and analysis from across Canada. Content features includes columns, quizzes, polls and photo essays. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 11:52:31 AM
CBC's presence on the Internet begins as a trial project in December 1993. It is an experiment in partnership with Industry Canada's Communications Research Center that allows audio content to be accessed via Gopher at debra.dgbt.doc.ca. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 11:47:56 AM
CBC Digital Archives is launched online. With funding from Canadian Heritage, the CBC Digital Archives site opens up the CBC Radio and Television vaults to Canadians.
Offering parallel sites in both English and French, the Archives site has hundreds of clips at launch time, and includes stories which put each clip in historical context and teachers' materials. The clips are available for streaming in the Windows Media format, and range from the '72 Summit Series to Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope and Hurricane Hazel. Access to the site is free. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 11:01:24 AM
Newsworld launches "News on Demand" video of hourly newscasts. The telecasts are offered in RealMedia and QuickTime formats and meant as a way to help reach younger audiences. The move is a breakthrough though the quality still needs improvement. A similar service was already being offered by BBC and CNN. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 10:51:30 AM
CBC Radio 3 goes online. CBC Radio's longstanding dream of reaching out to younger Canadians is finally realized with the Radio Three internet project.
At 11:00 a.m., the first phase of R3 on the Web is launched with the debut of 120seconds.com. The interactive site includes work from online contributors and from R3 staff. Some 88 items are available at launch time. CBC Radio 3 is now available 24/7 on the web and now on satellite radio. The station features artists from across the country in multiple genres, including rock, pop, hip-hop, electronica, and alt-country. Its podcasts are truly unique: they're full of amazing, 100% Canadian music from new and emerging artists. It is a key starting point for thousands of musicians, CBC Radio 3 Music is the launch pad for today's best-loved Canadian artists, reaching local, regional, national, and global audiences. With more than 14,000 artists and 73,000 original songs, CBC Radio 3 maintains the largest collection of independent Canadian Music in the world. From basement demos to professional recordings, from local shows to national tours, CBC Radio 3 is one of our country's leading supporters of emerging music. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 10:28:34 AM
CBC News Online joins CBC Radio, Television and Newsworld resources into a single site - toting itself as "the most comprehensive source of Canadian news on the World Wide Web." Content on the site includes the latest headlines, in-depth analysis, regional context, interactive forums and extensive audio and video reports. The site hires print journalists and has a budget of 1 per cent of the corporation's annual operating budget. Within a month, reports suggest CBC.ca's traffic is now estimated at 800,000 page views per week. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 10:22:06 AM
CBC4Kids.ca launches and just over a month later is selected as the Yahoo.ca Pick of the Week site. The site is a project of CBC Radio and aims to bring kids aged 7-12 into the CBC fold. Content is a mix of original material, plus editorial content from CBC Radio programs and staff rewritten for a younger audience. There are also games, quizzes, science experiments, homework help and a user gallery. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:36:19 AM
CBC begins live streaming on the Internet with a broadcast of As It Happens. The move makes CBC the first public broadcaster in the world to offer continuous, real-time transmission on the internet. The streaming is done through radio.cbc.ca using RealAudio 3.0. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:33:22 AM
Newsworld Online begins to deliver breaking news to the Web. The addition comes as CBC establishes a New Media Unit for its English Television Network in the same month. The new www.newsworld.cbc.ca, marks the first time breaking news stories and headlines appear on a major CBC site. But the coverage is limited to three top stories. The content is also only updated between 12-7 p.m. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:21:33 AM
CBC's first election site goes online ahead of the B.C. provincial election. The site is established and maintained through a partnership with the Southam group of newspapers. The partnership continued for the online coverage of the Atlanta Olympics that summer. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:18:57 AM
The National establishes its web presence with the launch of its own dedicated site on March 21, 1996. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:16:32 AM
By September, CBC TV establishes its online presence with the site television.cbc.ca. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:12:16 AM
CBC.ca goes live in May and just over a month later CBC cleans up at the Canadian Internet Awards in June. The new homepage links to information about 65 radio and television programs. It also provides transcripts and programming details. Read More »
Posted on Aug 23, 2011 9:10:29 AM
The CBC Northern Service (radio) is established. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 12:34:35 PM
First telecast of the opening of Parliament. In 1957, CBC would also to a telecast from the Hill as Parliament is opened for the first-time by a reigning monarch. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 12:26:39 PM
CBC is the first broadcasting system in North America to show the complete film of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth on television - within four hours of the end of the ceremony in London. The CBC and BBC team up to have film of the coronation flown across the Atlantic by jet bomber so Canadians can watch it the day it happened. There were more than 200 microphones in the Abbey and along the procession routes, with 750 commentators broadcasting in 39 languages. RAF Canberra jet bombers flew film of the coronation to Canada - the first non-stop flight between England and the Canadian mainland. In Goose Bay, Labrador, the film was transferred to a RCAF CF-100 jet fighter and flown to Montreal. The trip was repeated two more times as the coronation proceeded. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 12:19:35 PM
CBC provides special broadcast coverage of the Manitoba floods. For 51 days, Manitobans fight to hold back the rising waters of the Red. Norwood, East Kildonan, Fort Garry - one by one the dikes fail, until almost a quarter of Winnipeg is underwater. One-hundred thousand people flee the flooded area, in the largest mass evacuation in Canadian history. Almost 40,000 people flee Winnipeg on May 11. The river crests three days later at 12.2 feet above channel capacity. By this time, about 5,000 Canadian army, navy, and air force personnel are engaged in the biggest peacetime operation in Canadian history. They man pumps, build and patrol dikes, and evacuate the residents. HMCS Chippawa, Winnipeg's Naval Reserve, becomes a vital flood-fighting command post. It coordinates the efforts of over 150 ships, including large naval whalers and cutters. Over one million pounds of equipment and 1,200,000 sandbags are airlifted into Winnipeg from as far away as San Francisco. The Red River, usually about 150 metres wide, becomes a lake 65 kilometres wide and 100 kilometres long. The flood damages 10,500 homes in Winnipeg alone. Water damages total $50 million. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 12:01:15 PM
In 1958, a new Broadcasting Act establishes a Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) to regulate all Canadian broadcasting. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:58:28 AM
In 1957, the Fowler Commission on Broadcasting recommends transferring regulatory authority away from the national public broadcaster to a separate body. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:55:42 AM
In 1951, the Massey Commission endorses the regulatory role of the national public broadcaster. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:53:16 AM
The national public broadcaster acquired the facilities and staff of the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland, as the province joins Confederation. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:48:53 AM
The first issue of the weekly program guide CBC Times is published, to help Canadians keep track of programming. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:43:10 AM
CBC FM stations are established in Toronto and Montreal. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:39:54 AM
The official opening of CBC/Radio-Canada's International Service. It later becomes Radio Canada International (RCI) in 1972. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:36:51 AM
The basic national radio network is renamed the Trans-Canada Network. The Dominion Network is also formed, linking CJBC Toronto with 34 private stations to offer an alternative lighter service. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:34:25 AM
Television is on the horizon and CBC/Radio-Canada is preparing for it. In 1947, the corporation presented a 15-year plan for the development of television in Canada. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:32:05 AM
By 1940, residents of remote communities are benefiting from radio service, as low power relay transmitters are installed for their benefit. By mid-decade, a number of private radio stations were affiliated with the national network and a total of 43 hours of French and English programs were being broadcast daily, compared with 10 hours just a few years earlier in 1936. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:28:07 AM
In 1940, the national public broadcaster adopted its first emblem - an image of radio waves and a map of Canada. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:25:24 AM
Regular broadcasting begin of the Montréal Canadians' hockey games from the Montréal Forum. The feature eventually evolves into today's Hockey Night In Canada. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:22:07 AM
CBC/Radio-Canada provides full coverage of the six-week visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. From small-town whistle stops to bustling cities, eager crowds cheered, sang and waited for hours, eager for a glimpse of royalty. CBC mobilized a crew of 100 to cover the tour. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:18:50 AM
The first Empire Christmas broadcast is marked with an address by King George V. It is the first time the voice of a reigning monarch is carried throughout the British Empire. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:12:32 AM
From 1930-31, the first Canadian television experiments were conducted in Montreal. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:10:53 AM
In 1929, the Aird Commission recommends the creation of a nationally owned company to operate a coast-to-coast broadcast system. Read More »
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 11:07:32 AM
The Corporation established its Web presence, as CBC Radio breaks new ground with the site radio.cbc.ca. Audio on demand soon becomes available on the site from Quirks & Quarks and As It Happens. Quirks & Quarks and Ideas also begin offering enhanced web content with their programs. In the Annual Report that year, it is stated the site is logging over 800,000 hits per month. Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 10:31:59 AM
On January 1st, Radio-Canada launched its all-news channel, Réseau de l'information de Radio-Canada (RDI). Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 10:30:17 AM
The 1980s saw tremendous growth in the number of private and specialty channels. In 1983, the first "general interest" pay TV channels began operation in Canada, among them the movie network, First Choice and SuperChannel.
Later came the "specialty" pay channels. CBC Newsworld was officially launched on July 31, 1989 providing Canadians with their own dedicated 24-hour news channel. It was designed for on-the-go viewers, offering frequent news updates and magazine style programming. Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 10:28:00 AM
Canada made history in this decade by launching the world's first national domestic satellite. Put into orbit in 1972, the Anik A1 satellite gave CBC/Radio-Canada the ability to beam television signals to the Canadian North for the first time in history. Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 10:26:14 AM
In 1952, the first CBC and Radio-Canada television stations, CBLT-Toronto and CBFT-Montréal, began broadcasting. By 1955, CBC/Radio-Canada's television services were available to 66 per cent of the Canadian population. Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 10:20:44 AM
On January 1, 1941, CBC News Service is formally opened; Radio-Canada's News division is also created Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 9:38:01 AM
In 1929, the Aird Commission recommended the creation of a nationally owned company to operate a coast-to-coast broadcast system and in 1932 the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) was created. Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 9:35:57 AM
Canadian radio began with the first licences for private commercial radio stations in 1922. However by the late 1920s, many Canadian radio listeners were tuning their dials to American stations. This, along with the rudimentary development of Canadian radio, led the federal government, in 1928, to establish a royal commission to advise on the future of broadcasting in Canada. Read More »
Posted on Jul 27, 2011 9:26:28 AM
The Canadian Broadcasting Act replaced the CRBC with a Crown Corporation, and Canada's national public broadcaster was born Read More »
Posted on Jul 26, 2011 1:30:58 PM
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