Canadian Radio and Television Annual, 1950

[Jack Bennest]

Thank you just a prairie guy

There has always been a debate of how CKOK started and when:

1. off shoot of CKOV
2. independent station started by commercial owners
3. the arrival of Maurice Finnerty


Your entry lights up the situation. Someone mentioned having an earlier version of Canada Radio and TV Annual and if so could they repeat the item for CKOK in the earlier period IF different.

Thanks again.

ps - you mentioned bios - did you mean - a listing of personnel?

[jon]

Gord Lansdell appears to have done the research on this one (CKOK history), in broadcasting-history.ca. It is quite specific:

1946
In November it was announced that CKOK was expected to go on the air soon. The station would broadcast on 1450 kHz using a Marconi 250 watt transmitter. In the early going, program service would be carried by landline from CKOV in Kelowana.

In December CKOV engineer Fred Webber was busy getting CKOK ready for operations. The station did begin operations this month and was owned by Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd.

1947
A formal reception marked the opening of new studios and offices for CKOV (Kelowna), operated by Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd. CKOV had first gone on the air 15 years earlier as amateur station 10AY. CKOV had what was likely the first satellite commercial station in Canadian radio with CKOK Penticton. CKOK opened as a repeater of CKOV and its purpose was to provide a signal in the Penticton area which had been isolated especially at night by the mountainous terrain. The only difference between the two stations was the call sign. That difference was handled with the flick of a switch from the Kelowna studios.

1948
In May, the CBC approved the conversion of CKOK from a satellite of CKOV Kelowna into an independent station. The licence was requested and approved in the name of CKOK Ltd., with control held by J. Reg Beattie, formerly with All-Canada Radio Facilities Ltd. and CHML Hamilton.

CKOK applied to move from 1550 to 800 kHz. Power would remain 250 watts. The CBC recommended the application for approval.

Harry O. Watts was manager and Jean G. Griffiths was commercial manager.

CKOK moved to 800 kHz with a power of 250 watts.

In September, CKOK became a full-time local station.

[Justaprairieguy]

Regarding CKOK, here’s the entry from the 1947-48 Canadian Radio Yearbook:


Penticton - CKOK

(Operated in conjunction with CKOV, Kelowna, BC, as a booster station)

Frequency: 1550 kcs.
Power: (day): 250 watts
(nights): 250 watts
Modulation: 100%
Channel: Regional
Time Zone: Pacific
Representative: Canada - All-Canada Radio Facilities Ltd.
USA - Weed and Company
Founded: December, 1946
Licensee: Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd.
Owner: Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd.
Newspaper Affiliation: None
General Manager: J.W.B. Browne
Station Manager: S.E. Tapley
Commercial Manager: S.E. Tapley
Production Manager: S.E. Tapley
Chief Engineer: J.H.B. Browne
Operating Schedule: Weekdays, 6:30am to 11:30pm

You might want to compare this listing to that of CKOV:


Kelowna - CKOV

Frequency: 630 kcs.
Power: (day): 1000 watts
(night): 1000 watts
Increase to 5000 watts pending
Date of increase: Undetermined
Channel: Regional
Modulation: 100%
FM Application: No
Time Zone: Pacific
Representative: Canada - All-Canada Radio Facilities Ltd.
USA - Weed and Company
Network Affiliation: CBC Trans-Canada
Founded: November, 1931
Licensee: Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd.
Owner: Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd.
Newspaper Affiliation: None
General Manager: J.W.B. Browne
Station Manager: S.E. Tapley
Commercial Manager: S.E. Tapley
Production Manager: S.E. Tapley
Chief Engineer: J.H.B. Browne
Studio Engineer: J.F. Weber
Continuity Editor: Miss Joan Pritchard
Promotion Manager: E.B. Hunt
News Editor: Eric Frost
Sports Editor: George “Bud” Powell
News Service: Press News
Transcription Services: Lang-Worth, Thesaurus, SESAC, World
Transcription Facilities: Lateral and vertical; 78 and 33 1/3 rpm
Remote Facilities: Yes
Operating Schedule: Weekdays, 630am to 11:30pm;
Sundays, 8:30am to 11:05pm
Member B.B.M.: Yes

[Jack Bennest]

The difference between history writing done today and journals from that era is remarkable.
Without original documents it is very difficult to pin down accurate information.


Thanks to just a prairie guy for opening the pages of history.

[Jack Bennest]

Just a note on transmitter power. 1000/5000 watts in Kelowna and 250 watts in Penticton did the job well.

Not much RF interference in those days. Most people listened after work/evenings until television became a factor. Programming would be American shows, transcription recordings and feeds from canadian networks. Both stations affliated with CBC**.

**By mid decade (1945), 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. - source cbc history

[Mike Cleaver]

Cartie: I'm pretty sure it was the teletype service used before BN came into being.
The old teletype in the CKOV Newsroom (and it was ancient when I was there) had an old Press News decal on it with a BN one pasted partially over it.
I'm only guessing here but it must have been a newspaper wire similar to the old CP1, 2 and 3, which we had at CHUM, along with BN radio wire and UPI radio wire.

[Howaboutthat]

Please don't post any more details about individual stations.
Don't need anymore trips down memory lane from Cleaver about every station he's worked at in the country.

[slowhand]

Please don't post any more details about individual stations.

"No station history", says Howaboutthat. Others seem bored by current station changes, unless they play music recorded before Disco ruined the world in 1975. The gospel according to FoxNews has already been taken. What does that leave? Bitching about the Canucks. Any other team isn't from VanCover, so it doesn't count. 'Fraid that the Canucks already have a discussion forum of their own, or have you guys been thrown off that, too?

The difference between history writing done today and journals from that era is remarkable.
Without original documents it is very difficult to pin down accurate information.

Where do you think Gord Lansdell gets his "history writing done today"? He doesn't scour the Internet for text and pictures to steal like you do, but Gord has actually seen the inside of libraries, CRTC reading rooms and provincial and city archives, looking for contemporary documents. I'm not even sure he would accept facts in the CAB book being quoted without verifying them in a local newspaper published in the same community at the time of the event in question.

End of rant. At least for this quarter hour.

[Howaboutthat]

Please don't post any more details about individual stations.

"No station history", says Howaboutthat. Others seem bored by current station changes, unless they play music recorded before Disco ruined the world in 1975. The gospel according to FoxNews has already been taken. What does that leave? Bitching about the Canucks. Any other team isn't from VanCover, so it doesn't count. 'Fraid that the Canucks already have a discussion forum of their own, or have you guys been thrown off that, too?

Try to keep up Slowontheuptake. No one is bitching about the Canucks anymore. How many Alberta teams made the post season this year? How many from Ontario are still playing? I thought so!

Jon's been in on this discussion.... hey Jon... if you see any hockey emoticons, it'd be appreciated if they were available! Thanks!

[jon]

I'll take a look around for hockey emoticons, and report back on what I find.

You hit a puck in hockey, not dribble on a ball, right?

[jon]

Hopefully, this set (they will appear on the right hand side when you post or reply) will do the trick.



Yes, I know not every one is hockey-specific....

[cart_machine]

ps - you mentioned bios - did you mean - a listing of personnel?

Jack, try to keep up. Our friend on the prairies has already posted one example. If you use those investigative reporting skills of yours, you might even have notice he gave us, in the table of contents, "Who's Who."

Here's an example from pg. 179:
IRVING, Laurie; Prog. mgr., CKWX, Vancouver; b. Victoria, B.C., 1913; U. of B.C.; marr., former radio serviceman; 34, CKFC, Vanc'r., ch. eng., later ch. anncr.; 37, CFJC, Kamloops, anncr., writer, opr.; 41, CKWX; 42, ch. anncr.; 43, asst. prog. mgr.; 45, present post. [production manager]; home, 3884 Dundas St. (GL. 0851-M); bus., CKWX (MA. 3344).

I'd certainly be willing to accept this as legitimate biographical information as it would have been supplied by the station from Laurie himself.

There are similar little squibs on many others, including a chap with whom you are familiar and whose phone number was NW. 1457-R.

It's a shame there are only snippets of this book on line because it makes reading it almost impossible (unless, as above, the snippet has the full bio). I've been able to kind of piece together a couple. I was delighted, for personal reasons, to learn that great CKNW morning man, Bob Hutton, has in his bio: "m. A.F. & A.M."

cArtie.

[Jack Bennest]

you must have the book Jim - I cannot for the life of me find any bio info on this thread.

[Jack Bennest]

Where do you think Gord Lansdell gets his "history writing done today"?

at home ..slowerbrain.. at home

[Justaprairieguy]

Hey Jack, the bio information is just a brief summary of people in broadcasting at the time. It’s really presented much like a classified ad. The 1950 edition is edited greater than the bio information in the 1947-48 Canadian Radio Yearbook.

For example, Johnny Wayne of Wayne & Shuster fame is listed in both directories.

This is exactly as it’s listed in the 1950 edition:

WAYNE, Johnny; Writer, comedian, Toronto; b. Tor., 1918; U. of T. (B.A.); marr; son; 41-42, writer, actor, CBC; 42, Army, to Army Show; 45, Johnny Home show & Music for Canadians; 46, Wayne & Shuster show; bus,. 354 Jarvis St. (MI. 5481)

Compare that to the listing from 1947-48:

WAYNE, Johnny; writer, comedian, Toronto; born Toronto, 1918; married; graduate University of Toronto (B.A.); 1941-42 writer, actor, CBC, Toronto; 1942, enlisted in Canadian Army and joined Canadian Army Show Radio Division as writer and actor; 1944, writer, actor (Armed Forces Broadcasts, BBC, England); 1945, discharged from army and appointed writer on Johnny Home Show and Music for Canadians; 1946-47, writing, directing and starring in Wayne and Shuster (RCA-Victor Show); member Beta Sigma Rho fraternity; home and business address, 32 Streathearn Blvd., Toronto (Hudson 5486).

I can only assume the 1950 edition is edited greater due to the increased number of individuals working in broadcasting in the three years between the two directories.