| Type | Radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Canadian National Railway |
Key people | SirHenry Thornton (CNR President), W.D. Robb (Radio Dept. Head), W.H. Swift, Jr. (Dept. director)[1] |
| History | |
| Launch date | 1923 |
| Closed | 1933, assets sold toCanadian Radio Broadcasting Commission |
| Coverage | |
| Availability | National (along CNR rail line), through stations owned or leased by the network |
CNR Radio orCN Radio[2] (officially theCanadian National Railways Radio Department/Société radiodiffusion des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada)[3] was the first nationalradio network inNorth America.[4] It was developed, owned and operated by theCanadian National Railway between 1923 and 1932 to provideen route entertainment and information for its train passengers. As broadcasts could be received by anyone living in the coverage area of station transmitters, the network provided radio programming to Canadians from the Pacific coast (at Vancouver) to the Atlantic coast (at Halifax).
During its nine-year existence, CNR Radio provided music, sports, information and drama programming to Canadians. Programming was produced inEnglish,French and occasionally in someFirst Nations languages, and distributed nationwide through the railway's own telegraph lines and through rented airtime on other private radio stations. However, political and competitive pressure forced CNR Radio to close, with many of its assets and personnel migrating to a new government-operated agency, theCanadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), which ultimately led to theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The network's origins were in the establishment by CNR president and chairman SirHenry Thornton on June 1, 1923 of the CNR Radio Department[1] after the CNR began installing radio sets with headphones in their passenger cars and needed stations to provide programming that passengers could listen to along the CNR's various routes, particularly its coast-to-coast transcontinental line. The general public could also receive the broadcasts if they lived in the vicinity of a CNR radio station andCN hotels were also equipped with radio sets for guests. Radio was also intended as an innovation that made travel on CNR trains more attractive and provided it with a competitive advantage over its rival, theCanadian Pacific Railway.[5]
On October 9, 1923, the network made international news when it carried a broadcast of formerBritish Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George being interviewed by reporters travelling with him on a Montreal to Toronto train.[6] The first regularly scheduled coast-to-coast network program produced by CN Radio was broadcast December 27, 1928. By the end of 1929 there were three hours of national programming a week.[7]
The CNR used its already-established network oftelegraph wires along the rail line to connect the stations.[5]
In comments to theHouse of Commons of Canada, the radio service's aims were:
... to provide a means of communication between the executive officers of the railway and the public - to advertise Canada and the Canadian National Railways - to furnish entertainment to passengers on long-distance trains and guests at thecompany's hotels - and generally to make the service of the railway more attractive to the public. As an advertising medium, radio telephony is unsurpassed, and the administration believes that in the establishment of a radio department, it has taken a unique and constructive step in railway operations.
In 1929, the CNR's brief to theRoyal Commission on Radio Broadcasting stated that the radio service had five aims.
CNR president Thornton saw CNR Radio as a device to diffuse "ideas and ideals nationally by radio".[9]
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While most programming was produced locally, increasingly there was a trend towards centralization and producing content with a national scope. Programming consisted largely of live music, drama, educational broadcasts, children's programming andsimulcasts of American programming.[5] Canada's first regularradio drama wasCNRV Players produced at CNR Vancouver station CNRV by the CNR Drama Department from 1927 to 1932.[3]
One of the network's most notable broadcasts was its transmission of the celebrations of theDiamond Jubilee ofCanadian Confederation fromParliament Hill inOttawa on July 1, 1927. The three-part broadcast, consisting of speeches, songs, poems and the peals of thecarillion bells of theCanadian Parliament Buildings'Victory Tower, was CNR Radio's, and Canada's, first live coast-to-coast broadcast and was heard by an estimated audience of 5 million people listening to 23 stations in Canada, which received the broadcast via telephone andtelegraph wires. The broadcast was also carried onNBC Radio in theUnited States and ashortwave relay was used to transmit the programme to theBritish Broadcasting Corporation which rebroadcast it throughout theUnited Kingdom andEurope.[10][11]
Public service broadcasts such as news bulletins, weather reports, and local announcements were included.[12] CNR Radio also produced, as a public service, educational programmes such asAn Introduction to the Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, which was a series of lectures and performances for adults, and for childrenRadio Train in which an imaginary train travelled to a different location in each episode, with information about the sights and history of each locale. "In addition, the travelers would also encounter some mysterious problem that could only be solved at the end of the episode by the recall of facts and events that had beendescribed."[5] In 1927, CNRV in Vancouver aired a series of music lessons prepared by the Vancouver School Board.[12]
Romance of Canada was a series of radio plays written byMerrill Denison and produced at CNR's Montreal studios. RenownedBBC radio playwrightTyrone Guthrie was director of the first 14 episodes.[3] Broadcast over two seasons in 1931 and 1932,Romance of Canada recalled epic moments in Canadian history.[9] Thornton hopedRomance of Canada would "kindle in Canadians generally a deeper interest in the romantic early history of their country".[9]
What is nowHockey Night In Canada originated on the network in November 1931 as theGeneral Motors Hockey Broadcast[13][14] and was also known asSaturday Night Hockey featuring games of theToronto Maple Leafs inOntario and theMontreal Maroons andMontreal Canadiens inQuebec.[15]
Music programing includedOld-Time Fiddlers contests which were broadcast to the full network from Moncton. In 1925, CNRT in Toronto broadcast a complete performance ofYeoman of the Guard as well as performances ofclassical music. In the same year, CNRM inMontreal broadcast a complete in-studio production ofThe Mikado and otherGilbert and Sullivancomic operas with a full orchestra and CNR Radio signed a contract with theHart House String Quartet and in 1927, put them on national tour with broadcasts from each station in celebration ofBeethoven's centenary. By the 1930s, the network was airing condensed studio productions of greatoperas.[12] In 1929, CNR Radio launched North America's first transcontinental concert series, theAll-Canada Symphony Concerts featuring theToronto Symphony Orchestra conducted byLuigi von Kunits for a series of 25 broadcasts. The music performed was composed entirely by Canadian composers.[12] CNRV Vancouver produced several shows celebratingBeethoven's centenary.[16] The network also had its ownradio orchestra conducted byHenri Miro in 1930 and 1931.[17]
Other programming included broadcasts in French beginning in 1924 with the opening of CNRM in Montreal; by the 1930s CNR Radio had a French network in operation.[12] Some programs were also produced and broadcast in someNative Canadian languages from 1927 over CNRO Ottawa and CNRW Winnipeg.[16] Regular network distribution of CNR programming to all its stations and affiliates began in 1928.[18]
Thornton's goal was for the CNR to create a network of radio stations along the CNR's transcontinental line from coast-to-coast with CNR sponsoring and controlling the content allowing programming across the country to be consistent, if desired, so that passengers could listen to programmes consistently as they travelled across the country rather than have conflicting programs fade in and fade out along the way.[5] The CNR was able to use its existing network oftelegraph wires, which were strung on poles alongside CN's track network, to transmit programs from one station to another, which allowed CN Radio to broadcast programs over stations across the country, simultaneously.[5]
By 1925, a 10-station network was established.[5] By 1930, the network consisted of 27 stations, 87 amplifiers, eight studios as well as 27 radio engineers and many telegraph engineers and line repair staff.[5] Three of the stations, CNRA inMoncton,CNRV inVancouver andCNRO inOttawa, were owned by the CNR and transmitted at a strength of 500 watts.[16] CNRO was located in the towers of theChateau Laurier hotel. The rest of the network consisted of "phantom stations", or existing privately owned radio stations on which CNR leased airtime. A CNRcall sign would be heard on the phantoms during times of the day when it was leased by the railway, after which the CNR station would "sign off" and the regular station would resume broadcast.[19] The radio network broadcasts could be received by train passengers through headsets or loud speakers aboard specially equipped train cars[4][6] as well as by anyone living within signal range of a station. CNR issued printedprogram guides for free distribution to any member of the general public who requested them.[5] CNR stations and affiliates were linked by the CNR'stelegraph lines that ran alongside the rail track.[19] The network owned studios in several cities where it used "phantom stations" for transmission including Toronto where it had studios located in theKing Edward Hotel, Halifax with studios in the CNR ownedHotel Nova Scotian and Montreal where it had studios in the King's Hall Building.[16]
In 1928, theLiberal government ofWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King commissioned aRoyal Commission on Broadcasting (the Aird Commission) to study the future of radio in Canada. The Aird Commission issued its report in late 1929 calling for the creation of apublic broadcasting system in Canada along the lines of theBritish Broadcasting Corporation and other national broadcasters around the world in order to prevent U.S. domination of Canadian airwaves and to promote national objectives. To this end, the report called for the creation of aCanadian Radio Broadcasting Company which would build high-powered radio stations across the country as part of a public radio network.[20]
Meanwhile, CNR's radio network was a target of its commercial rival, the privately ownedCanadian Pacific Railway. CNR Radio was a commercial venture with the primary purpose of attracting riders to the CNR by offering them entertainment as well as, beginning in 1929,[8] providing direct revenue to its parent by selling advertising. The CPR complained intently that by allowing government-owned Canadian National to operate a radio network, particularly one that sold advertising, the government was allowing CNR to engage inunfair competition. In 1930, the CPR began construction of its own radio network —CPR Radio — but due to financial difficulties during theGreat Depression it was closed in 1935.[5][21]
The1930 federal election resulted in the defeat of the Mackenzie King government and the assumption of power by aConservative government led byR.B. Bennett who, as a corporate lawyer who had had the Canadian Pacific Railway as one of his clients, proved sympathetic to its arguments and opposed any government competition with the CPR and was determined to strip the CNR of its radio network.[5]A group of ConservativeMembers of Parliament successfully pressured Thornton, the radio network's principal champion, to resign as president of CNR in 1932 - he was also stripped of his pension.[22]
In November 1931, as a result of intense pressure from the Railway Committee of theHouse of Commons of Canada, the CNR ended its on-train radio reception service,[8] and ceased broadcasting entirely in 1932.[12] TheCanadian Radio League lobbied heavily for the implementation of the Aird Commission report creating a public broadcasting system under the aegis of a new government agency,[20] and in 1932 the Bennett government agreed to set up theCRBC.[23] In early 1933, the CNR sold its radio stations and studios to the CRBC for $50,000;[8] many of the CNR's radio staff went to the CRBC as well.[8] In turn, the CRBC's facilities and much of its staff were taken over by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation when it was created in 1936.[5]
Phantom stations also existed at various times inSaint John,Fredericton,London/Kitchener-Waterloo,Chatham,Brandon,Yorkton,Red Deer, two inHamilton, a third in Toronto and one inMichigan.[7]
Media related toCNR Radio at Wikimedia Commons
