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Raymond Williams (1979:23) argues that the media took form in the development of industrial society as a means of controlling social action and building social relationships in space and time. As he states:

  the press for political and economic information; the photograph for community, family and personal life; the motion picture of curiosity and entertainment; telegraph and telephony for business information and some important personal messages

In other words, from this perspective, media technology can be seen as a “social form” taking on particular functions and responsibilities resulting from a larger set of social forces. Discuss the development of Canadian television in this context.

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Answer & Explanation

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Television didn't really take off until the 1950s, despite being conceived in a crude form in the 1920s. The CBC launched its broadcast in Canada on September 6, 1952, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of Canadians living within range of American transmissions south of the border already had television sets. The CBC's premiere was less than stellar. Inverted transmission of a flashing test pattern of an Indian surrounded by a geometric design. Following the test pattern, an urgent new item flashed images of two individuals who had just robbed a bank. Uncle Chichimus, the puppet show, followed. The first moving, talking Canadian face emerged at last: meteorologist Percy Saltzman, who informed us about the weather.

Only Toronto and Montreal had radio stations in 1952; Ottawa and Vancouver joined them the following year. Montreal received its French-language station in 1954, and Winnipeg and Halifax followed suit. By this time, fifteen commercial stations were opened, each of which was required to broadcast at least 10-1/2 hours of CBC content per week.

Television grew in popularity much more quickly than anyone could have expected. The millionth television set was purchased in Canada in 1954. Most people initially mistook television for radio with pictures. However, it was quickly apparent that television sets posed a number of issues. First and foremost, they were difficult to avoid. Second, people without televisions tended to appear out of nowhere. Worst of all, no programming was available for the countless children who had become instant television junkies.

Television had changed Canadian life by the end of the decade. Many former family activities and chores were tossed aside in favor of watching television, and living-room furniture was rearranged to accommodate the television set; TV-tables were invented; TV-dinners were invented; and many former family activities and chores were tossed aside in favor of watching television instead. Television had an impact on family life, eating habits, home design, comedy, and politics.

In Canada, television also sparked a mini-boom in culture and education. At least in the beginning, Canadian programming tended to be fairly distinct from American programming. Shakespearean tragedies, panel discussions on Canadian literature, science series, current affairs debates, and folk-singing events were among the most serious and intellectual programming available in Canada. However, most Canadian programs were ignored since Canadian audiences preferred American TV. However, until early 1953, Canadian networks were not permitted to show them.

When the CBC attempted to emulate American triumphs in its own programming, the results were frequently abysmal. The outcomes were often quite satisfying when the CBC was not attempting to emulate. Documentaries and news programs, as well as music shows like Don Messer's Jubilee and Holiday Ranch, sports programming like Hockey Night in Canada, and outstanding Canadian dramas like Les Plouffe, were all created by Canadians. By 1958, the CBC had built a coast-to-coast microwave transmission link, giving it a genuinely nationwide network. The introduction of television machines also allowed the same program to be broadcast across the country in the same time zone, tying the country together even more tightly than the railway had done many decades before.

In Canada, television has risen at an exponential rate since the 1950s. The founding of the Canadian Film Development Corporation (now Telefilm Canada) in 1967 and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1968 contributed to this expansion. Telefilm Canada's financing has enabled the creation of several exceptional Canadian-themed programs, including the internationally acclaimed Anne of Green Gables. The CRTC has served as a supervisory and regulatory authority, ensuring that Canadians have access to the best in Canadian and worldwide television programming at a fair price.

These elements, together with Canada's closeness to the United States, have resulted in Canadians being among the world's largest per capita television viewers. Only Belgium, a tiny country with one-third of Canada's population and 0.3 percent of its geographical size, has a higher percentage of households with cable television subscriptions than Canada.

Step-by-step explanation

The American NTSC 525-line B/W 60 field per second system was chosen as the broadcast standard by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In September 1952, it began broadcasting on television in Canada. CBFT, a Montreal radio station, broadcasted the inaugural program on September 6, 1952. The first broadcast was bilingual, with English and French spoken simultaneously. The Toronto station CBLT went on the air two days later, on September 8, 1952. After a second English-language station was licensed to CBC in Montreal later in the decade, this became the country's English-speaking flagship station, while CBFT became the French-language flagship. In October 1953, CKSO in Sudbury, Ontario, became the CBC's first privately owned affiliate television station (at the time, all private stations were required to affiliate with the CBC, a requirement that was relaxed in 1960-61 when CTV, Canada's second national English-language network, was formed).

References

1. ^ Stephens, Mitchell (February 6, 2015). "History of Television". www.nyu.edu. New York University. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
2. ^ Huurdeman (2003), p. 149 The first telefax machine to be used in practical operation was invented by an Italian priest and professor of physics, Giovanni Caselli (1815-1891).
3. ^ Beyer (2003), p. 100 The telegraph was the hot new technology of the moment, and Caselli wondered if it was possible to send pictures over telegraph wires. He went to work in 1855, and over the course of six years perfected what he called the "pantelegraph." It was the world's first practical fax machine.
4. ^ "Giovanni Caselli". Archived from the original on January 15, 2016.
5. ^ Jump up to: Shiers & Shiers (1997), pp. 13, 22
6. ^ Perskyi, Constantin (August 18-25, 1900). Télévision au moyen de l'électricité. Congrès international d'électricité (in French). Paris.
7. ^ "Sending Photographs by Telegraph", The New York Times, Sunday Magazine, September 20, 1907, p. 7.
8. ^ de Varigny, Henry (December 11, 1909). La vision à distance (in French). Paris: L'Illustration. p. 451. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
9. ^ Burns (1998), p. 119