A Bit of OTA Nostalgia

[HDTV101]

Anyone born in the 60's in the GTA will remember Rocketship 7

http://www.youtube.com/embed/kZU0SksrjmI

[dns2]

Go back a few years before the 60's to the days of Howdy Doodie and Clarabelle the clown. (1950's)

Someone's gettin' old !

At the cottage you had one channel CKVR from Barrie !

Didn't watch TV much back then.

Dad always watched all the westerns some of which were

Lone Ranger
Gene Autry
Maverick
Rifleman
Gunsmoke
Bonanza

dns1

[JamesK]

^^^^
As a kid growing up in Oakville, we had 6 stations, 6 & 9 Toronto, 11 Hamilton and 2,4 & 7 Buffalo. On rare occasions we could get Rochester. Of course back then everything was in black & white, though there were some colour broadcasts, mostly from NBC. We only had a B&W TV though. There was often some TV station broadcasting from the CNE at the end of summer.

BTW, I remember when Ch 9, CFTO first started operation.

[reidw]

If you remember when CH 9 first started you probably remember their very first program; a telethon for Variety Village.

[Goldielover]

Heh - we had NO TV at the cottage (still don't, as it doesn't have electricity). I remember listening to the first moon landing on a battery powered radio, and hoping the batteries lasted.

I don't remember Howdy Doody (my brother does), and the earliest ones I can remember is The Friendly Giant and Chez Helene. That would be about 1960.

[mrvanwinkles]

RE: The CBS sign-on-the air from the early 70's (?)


The Original song is:

The Fifth Dimension "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In" (1969)


And here is a version of it that I found on You Tube:

[Appropriately, from the CBS David Letterman show / CBS logo at bottom.]

[Representative I think ... of what I remember on CBS sign on, early mornings, early 70's]


Aquarius and Let the sunshine in - Hair Musical on Broadway - David Letterman TV Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPLg5gA-9ck

... enjoy ... awesome.

[JamesK]

I recall watching the first moon landing at a friends place, because they'd rented a colour TV for the occasion, even though the video from the moon was in B&W.

[OTeh]

As a kid growing up in Montreal in the 60's, we had 4 stations, CBC -french, CBC- english, CFCF ( english) and CFMT (french).

One of my friend's had an antenna and I used to go over to his house each week to watch Lost in Space ( which I believe was on CBS out of Burlington Vt).

I loved US TV! Never could convince my Dad to go up on the roof to put up an antenna on our house.

I have comment to my kid's several time that when I was growing up, "we had only 4 channels in black and white and 2 of them were french". I use that along with "walking 5 miles to school uphill 4 times a day"

[awebber]

It seemed crazy that Global was called "Global Television Network" when it was really just a Toronto station with repeaters. After seeing only the Toronto broadcast (first in Toronto then in Ottawa), I was very surprised when I learned that Global Montreal actually has unique programming (different from Global Toronto anyway, nothing they do is actually "unique").

Not that long ago, CJOH wanted to drop Regional [Ottawa Valley] Contact on Saturdays for yet more material out of Toronto because RC cost too much (and the Toronto content would be effectively free), but backed off after outcry from the public.

=aw

[rmchahn]

In Vancouver in the late 60's and early 70's we had CBUT, CHAN (aka BCTV), CHEK Victoria and KVOS Bellingham.

CHEK basically simulcast CBUT or BCTV, then later they started their own local news.

Was a big fan of Pete Rolston and his puppets on his show Pete's Place. Also watched a lot of cartoons on KVOS's Funorama.

When we got cable, I remember watching JP Patches on KIRO.

Each station had its own personalities whom you identified with the station.

In 1976 we got our first two UHF stations, CKVU and CBUFT. When CKVU first came on the air, they used to air soft core porn on weekend late nights, kinda like CITY's baby blue movies.

[JamesK]

It seemed crazy that Global was called "Global Television Network" when it was really just a Toronto station with repeaters.

And isn't that enough??? ;-)

One thing I recall was the sudden appearance of several UHF stations, on both sides of the border, in the early '70s. Back then CITY was on 79 and had the Baby Blue movies. Prior to then, there was just Ch 17, PBS Buffalo which was difficult to receive. I also recall when Canadian TV went colour in 1966, though we didn't have a colour TV at the time. Back then, the CBC had to transport their colour camera from the studio on Jarvis St. to Maple Leafs Gardens, for the Leafs games (I was in the studio on one occasion when they did that).

[57]

Grew up in Peterborough in the early 60s. Only had CHEX (CBC). CTV started broadcasting from Toronto around then and we got a channel 9 antenna which allowed us to watch a very snowy CTV signal. Watched Ed Sullivan, Bonanza, Festival and a few others like Razzle Dazzle after school, but not much TV in those days. All in B&W. Didn't get to watch colour until the 70s when I went to U of T.

I was out cycling around hell's half acre most of the time in the 60s.

[sailmaker]

Surprised no one has mentioned something to the effect "hello to all our friends along the cable" because network TV really had a cable running from probably NY City to at least Chicago in the early days then further west as RF relay towers were installed.

If I had my way every Canadian radio station would use only its registered call letters and none of those artsy fartsy slogans. CFRB would be just that, not newstalk radio 1010; CJCL would be just that not Rogers Sportsnet Radio 590 the Fan. Children are running the front office it seems, I hear some growling irritating promo announcer tell me 3 times within 15 seconds that this is Sportsnet Radio, 590 the fan. He says the fan like he had a mouthful of doggy doo doo. Radio should try to attract their listeners, not pi$$ them off with repeating, repeating repeating nonsense. Oh right, its Rogers.

[Dave Loudin]

There is a valid business reason for drilling a slogan or call sign into people's heads - ratings diaries. Until the advent of Arbitron's PPM's that decode subaudible tones in order to log what's on the radio, all ratings were based on what people remembered listening to.

[Geo35]

Originally Posted by HDTV101

Anyone born in the 60's in the GTA will remember Rocketship 7

http://www.youtube.com/embed/kZU0SksrjmI

Yes..remember those lovable characters like Promo the Robot and Biff Beeper well. Let's not forget "Strikes, Spares and Misses" and host Chuck Healy who was also a Buffalo TV sports anchor.