LOOKING BACK 2

Being the only private station in South Western Ontario, we studied every bit of information that showed how our programs rated. In the years before microwave, the majority of our programs were local and live. In many cases we did not have much time between programs and commercials. During a two or three minute segment of 1 minuet film commercials, we had to strike one set and put up another - furniture and all. 

Commercials for local sponsors done within a show, were usually set up in one corner of the studio and one camera would breakaway from the program and trundle over to the commercial set which would normally be laid out on a roll-able table. Once into the commercial the second camera would move over for the close-up shots, then break-away again  to get ready for the main program. 

In 1957 we had two daily programs - AT HOME and MATINEE TELE-QIZ. We also had two news programs, PANORAMA and PM.

AT HOME was a ladies show, hosted by Mary Ashwell. It covered the spectrum of informative events, interviews and a largely popular cooking segment. Its popularity with our viewers was always forefront in providing the things the viewers wanted to see and hear about. So, we naturally kept an eye on how many viewers tuned in daily. The following sample, was shared with the staff, to show how it was rated.

"Taking an average of 11,000 homes per day tuned to this program means we reach 55,000 homes weekly. At an average of 12 viewers per home means, 110,000 people per week."

MATINEE TELE-QUIZ:  The audience was asked to identify what they thought a mystery object was.  The program ran during the afternoon movie. During the commercial breaks, the hosts would select a name from entries mailed-in and call that person. Wrong answers added a small amount of money to the jackpot. It was hosted by Mary Helen McPhillips and Pat Murray. (Later by Paul Soles and Norm Aldred.)

"An average of 17,000 per day, or 85,000 homes per week, or 117,000 per week."

PANORAMA was two programs under one heading. From 6 - 6:30 each weekday evening, Murray Brown or Pat Murray would host, throwing the half hour open to questions from viewers. They would also welcome special quests. It as an informative half hour.

"38,000 homes per day, 228,000 per week, 684,000 people."

The last half hour of Panorama was our major newscast of the day. It ran from 6:00 to 6:30 everyday. This was a heavily sponsored newscast, with at least one "live" commercial in each 2 minute break. Rehearsals for these live commercials were done during the 5:30 film show, a full hour before they were to be aired.

 We had one major sponsor at that time, Canada Bread who supplied us daily with fresh bread, cakes, buns etc. These were set up on tables next to the news desk to make it easier for the cameras to maneuver from newscaster to commercial. Being live, anything could and did happen.

One night we had a fine display of different cakes lined up on the table. The script called for the camera to dolly (zooms weren't invented yet) in for a tight shot of the wording on top of one of the cakes. Our cameras at that time had a turret  that contained 3 different lenses - close-up, medium and wide-angle. To get a certain lens the cameraman  had to rotate the turret to the lens he needed. During rehearsal, the medium lens was assigned the shot, but when it came time to air the commercial something happened and the cameraman hurrying to get the shot did not change from his telephoto to the medium. As the director took the shot of the cake, the cameraman, not realizing his error, kept dolling in on the cake, trying to get focused, all the while the director was yelling at him over the headphones to "focus, focus, FOCUS!"

That night our viewers saw that cake come closer to the camera until the close-up lens buried itself in the pretty pink icing.

Amid much muffled laughter, the crew and the newscaster, Bob Reinhart, had a hard time carrying on fro the rest of the news.

"52,000 homes per day, 312,000 homes per week, 936,000 people."

PM was just a half hour news show at 11:00 pm each night. 

"31,600 homes per night, 189,600 homes per week, 68,800 people per week."

Reading back through these newsletters, I find it amazing that management was so up-tight about the mistakes we made on the air. They were just to fixated on what the viewer might think, and that the negativity would turn them away from us. But it was just the opposite. Our viewers just loved to see us screw-up.

Incidentally - all of those cakes, bread etc. were never returned to the bakery. They gave them to us to take home.

LOOKING BACK

Busy looking back through various records and papers - mostly in-house newsletters and my own collection of stuff - to update and add more facts and events that happened during the history of CFPL-TV.  After reading the first half I had written back in November, I just wasn't happy with it, so I dug out all of the old stuff I have on record to add more to a new series of TV history.

I'm not quite done, but have run across some interesting things you might like to remember from back in the early 1950's.

Here's a reprint from the December 1956 of The Fourth Estate, (a monthly Free Press staff publication), by Mike Woodward who had interviewed Bob Reinhart, Station Manager.

"CFPL-TV quietly celebrated her third birthday on November 28. The party wasn't a formal affair - only friends and close relatives attended.

Not much by some standards, but in the Canadian telecasting field, that makes us veterans. The important thing is that the 85 staff members of the station represent three years of experience, not one year of experience learned three times.

We asked Bob Reinhart, the station manager to look back at our progress, and sum it up. It can't be expressed more simply than the way Bob put it: 

"We've learned that before saying "no" to anything new, to analyze it, and think the matter over. Almost anything that is worthwhile is a lot of trouble.

"Three years of experience have taught us not to be narrow minded about the future. Our path has so far been full of sudden changes. And most important of all, the public is interested in what we do. The good things and the mistakes. 

"Through the switchboard and the mailbox, the public of Western Ontario has proved that it has a right to help us make decisions. We are, above all, here to serve them."

WHERE DO WE STAND TODAY?

"We're still learning. So is the whole television profession. We're learning but the nucleus of keen men and women who form the backbone of the station are part of the business. They know what they're doing, and in that atmosphere, newcomers to the staff catch on quickly, and become part of the team. There's a realization that every part of the station and every member of the staff is important to the whole, and a realization that the station is  more than electronics and a pile of bricks....it is people.

"The emergency is now the daily crisis. We've had many emergencies, but today most of them are merely problems. That's a sure sign of growing up."

HOW ABOUT THE FUTURE?

Television, up until now, has been a lusty, energetic youngster. And like a child, it has grown rapidly, physically. Now we stand on the threshold of a new period of growth in which we will mature. It's some thing like the transition between a boy and a man. For want of a better word, it will be a period of consolidation ... weeding out the weak points in our operation, and strengthening the good ones. The good ones are the building blocks of the future."

Ignoring the insistent telephone calls and the stacks of problems on his desk, Bob put across the big point:

"Television will be a big success if we remember our obligations to the public. The biggest block to success could be a lack of human resources. If we have the men and women with the sincerity and the ability to face problems head-on that the future will surely demand, then television will be one of the biggest successes in history.

" Even now it is too big for any one person or only one station to be selfish. Think what it will be like in the years ahead."