Early Regulation of Radio Broadcasting by the Canadian State

Regulation of Radio By the Canadian State

Few things in Canadian history have received so much public and government attention as broadcasting (Head 87). From the time radio was first established in Canada, to the State’s first tentative steps towards regulation, to the birth of the CBC and beyond, the Canadian broadcasting system has been the subject of lengthy discussion and debate which prompted the Canadian government to act in a number of ways in order to organize the field.

First of all, in 1928 (Miller) the government appointed a Royal Commission on Broadcasting in Canada headed by Sir John Aird, to study the industry. Secondly, after the recommendations of this Commission were reinforced by a Special Parliamentary Committee on Radio Broadcasting, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act was passed in 1932 (Miller), and the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) was created. Thirdly, based on the reports of two subsequent Parliamentary Committees, the Broadcasting Act was amended in 1936 (Miller), and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was created, replacing the CRBC.

Whether or not the Canadian government, the CRBC and the CBC effectively addressed the issues that motivated the State to act to regulate radio in Canada, one fact, is certain: the involvement of the Canadian government in the regulation of radio resulted in the emergence of an enduring “mixed” system of broadcasting (Head 87) which profoundly and permanently affected Canadian culture and identity both domestically and abroad (Taras 139).

The first radio station in Canada was opened by the Canadian Marconi Company in Montreal in 1920 (Collins 201). At this time, the Department of Marine and Fisheries was the government agency responsible for licensing and monitoring all radio stations in Canada, and it began to license private stations starting in 1922 (Miller). These early stations were owned by clubs, corporations, radio manufacturers, newspapers, churches, universities, and by the Canadian National Railways (CNR) (Weir 33). By 1929 there were about seventy-five stations in Canada and almost three thousand radio receiving sets in use (Weir 10). The CNR was the major force shaping Canadian radio at this time. It attempted to build a national network and offered an ambitious variety of programming including music, talks, educational broadcasts, hockey, dramas, and a limited number of French programs (Weir 33).

Many of the problems which arose as radio was being established in Canada were “classically Canadian” (Collins 198). Because radio stations were located in or near large cities with access to commercial markets, less populated areas remained un-serviced (Taras 119). Despite the CNR’s attempt at establishing a national network, national programming was severely limited by the cost associated with broadcasting form east to west across time zones to a small and scattered population (Taras 119). At this time, Canada only had exclusive use of about six radio frequencies, and there was constant interference from powerful stations operating in the US (Taras 119). Consequently, all the Canadian stations combined reached less than half of the population (Taras 119). There was also the problem of Canadian programming, which was only being offered in limited supply, and only by the CNR stations (Weir 33). The programming of other Canadian stations consisted mainly of commercial programs imported from the US, due to affordability and ease of use (Collins 203). The worry was that private broadcasting “led to a chase after ratings, a predominance of American programs, an overwhelming focus on idiotic advertising, and a numbing sameness of programs from station to station” (Cook). In this context, the Canadian government became concerned with the domination of the Canadian radio industry by US interests as the public called for improvements in broadcast coverage and quality.

The State appointed Sir John Aird as head of a Royal Commission on Broadcasting in Canada on December 6th, 1928 (Miller) "to advise parliament on the future control, organization, and financing of broadcasting" (Nesbitt-Larking 59). After studying first-hand the radio systems established in the US, Britain, and several countries in Europe, considering the input of numerous private and public organizations, and holding public forums in twenty-five Canadian cities, the Commission declared "unanimity on one fundamental question: Canadian radio listeners want Canadian broadcasting" (McChesney). In September of 1929 (Miller) the Commission submitted a report which stressed “the importance of broadcasting in promoting national unity”, and cautioned that the unique geography of Canada rendered it “impossible to finance nation-wide service with commercial revenue alone” (Weir 110). It concluded that “only a national publicly financed system could be genuinely Canadian” (Collins 202).

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The Aird Report recommended that private broadcasting in Canada cease altogether and be replaced by a national system operated by a public-owned company (Vipond). Financing was to come from a license fee of three dollars per year per radio receiving set and from “indirect” advertising, meaning that the sponsor would be named, but no products would be advertised, with additional funding from government subsidies (Weir 135). Programs were to be “mainly Canadian” in origin (Vipond). Logistically, the Aird Report recommended the building of a network of seven high-powered stations, with auxiliary smaller stations for regional coverage (Weir 108). In order ...

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The Aird Commission fulfilled its mandate to recommend a plan of action that would limit the spread of commercial US programming in Canada. According to Weir, there was a need to act quickly in order to regulate the rapidly expanding field, but the start of the Great Depression and the change of government in 1930 delayed State involvement in the industry for another three years (116). During this time, public dissatisfaction grew.

A powerful group which “emphasized the threat to Canadian culture and political autonomy posed by a commercial broadcasting system” (McChesney) and called for immediate government action was the Canadian Radio League (CRL). Founded in 1930 (Miller) by Graham Spry and Alan Plaunt, the CRL supported the establishment of a public-owned radio system. The CRL had a wide following of farm, labour, educational and women’s groups, national organizations, churches, intellectuals and politicians, and the majority of Canadian newspapers (McChesney). However, public ownership was also met by significant opposition from the CNR, private broadcasters, radio manufacturers, and US corporations with Canadian interests (McChesney). Public opinion was divided. Many supported public ownership, but some areas of the country, particularly where only US programming was available, defended the private system. The arguments were complicated and often emotional. However, most came to see the issue as "the State or the United States", in Spry's words (McChesney), and the Canadian public united behind government ownership, for a combination of patriotic and practical reasons.

This overwhelming public support and sustained pressure from the CRL prompted the Canadian government to create a Special Parliamentary Committee on Radio Broadcasting in March of 1932 (Miller). The Committee was to study the Aird Report, recommend a plan for Canadian broadcasting, and suggest what agency should oversee the plan. After a thorough investigation, the Committee presented its report in May of the same year (Vipond). As the Aird Commission before it, it called for public ownership of a national radio system (Weir 131), but unlike the Aird Commission, it didn't recommend complete nationalization. Its proposal was also different with regards to management and financing. Instead of a government-owned company, it recommended the creation of a commission to fill the role of broadcasting authority (Weir 132). This commission would establish a national network by building some new stations and taking over others (Weir 133). Private stations that were not required by the network could continue operating, but private networks would not be permitted (Weir 133). The commission would control the programming of all stations and make licensing recommendations to the government (Weir 133). The network established by the commission would be financed entirely by limited advertising and user license fees, with no government assistance (Weir 132). Based on these recommendations, the government passed the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act on May 26th, 1932 (Miller), and created the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC).

The CRBC played “a dual role as regulatory agency of broadcasting in Canada as well as provider of programming (Nesbitt-Larking 62). The goal of the CRBC was to ensure “complete control of broadcasting from Canadian sources, free from foreign interference or influence” (Collins 204). By April of 1933, it had begun the process of obtaining radio stations, mostly from the CNR (Vipond). In May, the CRBC was broadcasting one hour nationally per day (Vipond). By the end of the year, it owned or leased six stations, in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Chicoutimi, and Halifax, and was broadcasting about eighteen hours nationally per week (Vipond). During the CRBC’s first year it offered both English and French programming in the form of concerts, plays, children's programs, sports, variety, special events, news, and specials imported from the US networks and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (Vipond). Also, it launched an effort to identify Canadian radio talent (Vipond).

In four years, the CRBC accomplished a great deal. The range of its Canadian programming increased, in both languages (Vipond). It developed and began to enforce technical regulations (Vipond). Facilities were modernized and expanded, and studies on engineering and coverage were begun (Vipond). The CRBC also offered technical assistance to private stations to help them improve reception and quality (Vipond). Most importantly, according to Vipond, the CRBC was able to resolve some of the frequency issues with the United States. By 1936 national broadcasting had increased to about six hours per day and two facilities, in Quebec and Windsor, had expanded the network to eight stations (Vipond).

Despite these successes, Vipond stresses that the CRBC was plagued by scarce funds. License fee revenue, on which the CRBC heavily depended, was inadequate to finance the building of the high-powered stations recommended by both the Aird Commission and the Committee of 1932 (Vipond). Without these high-powered stations, the CRBC was still only able to reach about half the population by 1936 (Miller). Additionally, cost constraints limited national broadcasts to evenings and Sunday afternoons, which were shared by both French and English programs (Vipond), with the result that both groups of listeners felt cheated. The quality of programming suffered too, due to the lack of funding (Vipond).

In response to this criticism of the CRBC, the Canadian government appointed two more Special Parliamentary Committees, in 1934 and again in 1936 (Miller), to investigate the CRBC, the Broadcasting Act, and the system in general (Weir 203). The Committees recommended that the CRBC be replaced by a new government-owned corporation (Weir 203). This corporation was to be based on “the same principles governing a private corporation” and was to have “the powers enjoyed by the British Broadcasting Corporation" (Weir 204). In addition to control over the national network, the corporation would control the programs and advertising of all private stations (Weir 203). Also, the corporation would make recommendations to the government about licensing, power increases, and frequency assignments (Weir 204). With regards to financing, it was recommended that the corporation be allowed to borrow government funds for the purpose of building new stations (Weir 204). Essentially, the Committees envisioned a more adaptable (Cook), and better funded broadcaster than the CRBC. According to Weir, the “value of complete nationalization of radio broadcasting in Canada” (204) was upheld. Consequently, the State amended the Broadcasting Act on November 2nd, 1936 (Miller), and the newly-created Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) took over the responsibilities of the CRBC.

The CBC was mandated to be “predominantly Canadian in content and character”, “a balanced service of information, enlightenment and entertainment for people of different ages, interests and tastes covering the whole range of programming in fair proportion”, “extended to all parts of Canada, as public funds become available”, “in English and French, serving the special needs of geographic regions, and actively contributing to the flow and exchange of cultural and regional information and entertainment,” and to “contribute to the development of national unity and provide for a continuing expression of Canadian identity” (Nash 87).

The State’s goals in creating the CBC were the same as those that motivated the creation of the CRBC, with one important difference. Like the CRBC before it, the CBC “was charged with the achievement of national political and cultural goals” (Collins 206). However, the problems that plagued the CRBC had increased the stakes for the Canadian government, so the CBC also had to fulfill a legitimizing function (Nash 88). It was crucial for the State to restore public confidence in the effectiveness of a government owned and operated radio system (Nash 88). In one of its first national broadcasts, on November 4th, 1936, the CBC set out its main objectives to the Canadian public: “to make it possible for every Canadian to hear the CBC's programs and to provide the best programs from all available sources” (Nash 142).

The CBC’s first steps towards these objectives were to begin a national study of coverage and an international search for Canadian radio talent (Nash 142). The coverage study found that the existing network established by the CRBC only reached forty-nine percent of the population, with coverage concentrated in the larger cities (Nash 142). Also, the study confirmed the problem with significant interference from US stations (Nash 143). The CBC’s search for Canadian talent found a good variety, but indicated that additional training and development were needed to make Canadian programs commercially viable (Nash 144). In order to tackle the issues presented by the existence of different time zones east to west, to address the interests of different regional groups, and to increase coverage, the CBC developed a decentralized model of broadcasting, dividing the country into five broadcasting areas of British Columbia, the prairies, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes, and proposed to build modern high-powered stations in each of these areas (Nash 146). The interference problem was to be addressed by the negotiation of an international agreement with the US (Nash 147). With regards to programming, the CBC would “emphasize characteristic Canadian material in its own programs”, “identify and broadcast foreign programming of the highest quality”, and “facilitate the exporting of Canadian programs to other countries for better representation abroad” (Nash 141). The CBC also sought to expand programming in both official languages in order to promote national unity, improve relations between French and English Canada (Nash 142), and “provide reasonable, balanced opportunity for the expression of differing views on matters of public concern” (Cook).

By the end of 1937, the CBC had built three new high-powered stations near Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, expanding national coverage to seventy-six percent of the population, and increasing service to twelve hours per day (Nash 147). In the same year, the CBC also negotiated an international agreement with the US, redistributing North American frequencies and greatly improving the position of Canada (Nash 147). The CBC’s programming initiatives quickly delivered increased quality and variety. Programs included symphonic, chamber, choral and dance music, plays, classics and serial dramas, talks, discussions, university debates, news bulletins, religious broadcasts, variety shows, hockey games and children's shows, all offered in both French and English (Nash 150). The construction of new production studios began, in Toronto and Montreal, to encourage and develop Canadian talent (Nash 150). In 1939 the CBC completed the building of two more high-powered stations, in the prairies and Maritimes (Nash 147). Additional lower-powered stations were built in Quebec City and Chicoutimi to better serve the French population, and the problem of reaching the difficult reception zones in British Columbia was being studied (Nash 147). By the end of 1939, the efforts of the CBC began to pay off as coverage grew to ninety percent of the population (Nash 147).

The CBC’s success in increasing coverage, limiting interference, and developing Canadian content and talent were widely recognized and celebrated (Cook). The fact that the CBC was able to legitimize the system is evident given that its creation in 1936 marked the beginning of a period of over twenty years during which no fundamental changes were made to the radio broadcasting system in Canada (Miller). But this system, however legitimate and successful, was rooted in a process of stringent evaluation and review, and over the years numerous Committees and Commissions were appointed to examine it (Nesbitt-Larking 58).

The findings of these Committees and Commissions often differed in specifics, but they consistently offered support for the maintenance of a national broadcasting service (Nesbitt-Larking 59). The reports acknowledged the advances made by the CBC, but stressed the importance of continued focus on the promotion of national unity and the production of programming of a high degree of quality in both official languages (Weir 391). Consistently, the suggestion was that “there is always room for improvement” (Weir 399) in Canadian radio. Weir states that the CBC’s finances were also the issue of continued debate. Some reports concluded that the CBC commanded more than adequate funding, some found funds to be insufficient, and others questioned the CBC’s allotment of capital (Weir 252). Commercials were acknowledged as an essential source of income, but opinions differed on how much time should be allotted to advertising (Head 87). In addition, the reports criticized a lack of co-operation between the French and English branches, decentralized production facilities, and the fact that the CBC’s headquarters, located in Ottawa as a matter of law, were isolated from its key centers of production and distribution in Toronto and Montreal (Weir 285).

Whatever the criticisms, over the years the CBC became “not only the major chronicler of Canadian life but one of its defining features” and “one of the great nation-building exercises” of our time (Taras 117). Both the CRBC and the CBC drew international attention in Britain and the US for their sophistication in programming (McChesney). According to Nesbitt-Larking, the Canadian government’s “decision to build a public broadcasting system was a defiant act of national assertiveness” (57). Each action of the State was partially a reaction to the threat of US domination (Nesbitt-Larking 56). Nevertheless, the result was that Canadian broadcasting “became more than a traditional means of communication” (Nesbitt-Larking 58). Broadcasting policy transformed “the Canadian experience” such that it “became an experience in communication” (Nesbitt-Larking 58). For many years the CBC was the only thread holding Canada’s “remote communities” and “vast expanses” together (Nesbitt-Larking 56). In the face of the globalization and increased commercialization affecting all media today, CBC audiences are a remarkably loyal, if older, group (Taras 139). This public broadcaster, born out of the Canadian government’s struggle to regulate radio, strengthen the nation, and curb US influence, is “still the village square that Canadians come to in order to express themselves and to laugh and cry at their own difficulties and experiences” (Taras 140).

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