CTV: The Network That Means Business

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

Before the founding of the CTV Television Network in 1961, Canadians had
access only to the CBC, the public network, with a mandate by Act of
Parliament “to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural,
political, social and economic fabric of Canada.” The mandate of CTV
founder Spencer Caldwell diametrically opposed the concept of
“broadcasting as a cultural vehicle.” Caldwell, a consummate
salesman, “envisaged the relatively new medium of television as a form
of electronic communications that would sell consumer products and bring
affluence.” Broadcaster turned author/historian Michael Nolan joined
CTV in the mid-1960s. His firsthand acquaintance with the players brings
an added dimension to this excellent history of Canada’s first private
television network.

The saga of CTV’s growth from a small group of privately owned
affiliate stations to becoming a part of the monolithic Bell Globemedia
Inc. media group features the leaders of Canada’s business and
broadcast establishments. John Bassett and John David Eaton—who,
together with their sons, were majority owners of Baton Broadcasting, a
CTV affiliate—joined broadcast legends Foster Hewitt and Joel Aldred
in forming Toronto’s local CTV station, CFTO.

Michael Hind-Smith, CTV’s first national program director and Ross
McLean, its executive producer, were “stolen” from the CBC—a
tradition that would continue to the present day with the defection of
such CBC stalwarts as Lloyd Robertson, Jim Reed, Bill Cunningham, Larry
Stout, and even Ivan Fecan, who now runs the vast network. Original
programming such as Canada AM and W5 put CTV in the forefront of
Canadian broadcasting. Its Canadian content was tempered with U.S. shows
that viewers expected and demanded. Its news, sports, and public affairs
programs often led the pack.

Nolan’s impeccable research, extensive interviews, and personal
experience as a news anchor and correspondent with CTV have resulted in
a first-class study of the struggles and victories of private
broadcasting in Canada. CTV is a must-read for anyone interested in the
business, politics, and programming of Canadian media.