Television innovations in the Anglosphere

The BBC Television Service started its operations on November 2, 1936 as the first regular television service in the world.

In its first 13 years on a regular basis from 1936 to 1949 (except WWII), the BBC Television Service covered London and the Home Counties in the United Kingdom.

Since 1926, NBC, as the first major broadcaster in America, has been a pioneer and an innovator in the broadcast industry; its innovations shape modern radio and television.

30 Rockefeller Plaza, the centrepiece of the Rockefeller Centre complex, which is located in New York City's Midtown Manhattan portion, is also one of the most famous attractions in the world.

Likewise, 30 Rockefeller Plaza also houses NBC's worldwide headquarters and New York studios.

For 30 Rockefeller Plaza, it is an iconic and world-famous skyscraper made in Art Deco.

Raymond Hood designed the Rockefeller Centre complex in 1933; this included 30 Rockefeller Plaza, whose longstanding anchor tenant is the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

General Electric (GE) is the former anchor tenant of 30 Rockefeller Plaza until the mid-2010's.

In general, both RCA and GE, as well as Westinghouse, are the original corporate owners of NBC.

The Merchandise Mart is a retail structure being located in Chicago's downtown core, once the world's largest.

Having been opened in May 1930, the Merchandise Mart has retails and wholesale goods in Chicago.

Graham, Anderson, Probst & White designed the iconic and famous Merchandise Mart building, with Alfred P. Shaw, hailing from this firm, as its primary architect.

Marshall Field & Co. built and originally owned the Merchandise Mart, which the Kennedys later ran during the second half of the 20th century, especially 50+ years.

Beyond the retail and goods industries, the Merchandise Mart is also a former broadcast centre, having housed NBC's Chicago studios for nearly 60 years, from 1930 to 1989.

Plus, the Merchandise Mart was a testing ground for television's currently-enduring innovations.

In its television section, both the 19th and 20th floors of the Merchandise Mart housed NBC's Chicago headquarters, but also gave birth to the Chicago School of Television.

The RCA Exhibition Hall, another structure located at Rockefeller Centre in New York City's Midtown Manhattan portion, is a former place depicting RCA's cutting-edge consumer electronics.

Having been described as a World's Fair for miniature electronics, the RCA Exhibition Hall, a structure being made in post-war modernism and enclosed in glass, has borderless transparency.

Plus, the RCA Exhibition Hall is a feature of this Rockefeller Centre complex, but also located directly across from the building held by the Associated Press at 50 Rockefeller Plaza.

Contrasting to the iconic headquarters of the Associated Press, which represented print journalism, the RCA Exhibition Hall represented electronic media's fluid and transparent future.

Likewise, Rockefeller Centre also housed 1 Rockefeller Plaza, which, from 1938 to 1960, served as the former base for Time Inc.

The presence of both the Associated Press and Time Inc. transformed Rockefeller Centre's scope from a strictly radio-communications complex into a centre of the radio and print media sectors.

For the public, the RCA Exhibition Hall served as their first introduction to television technology and experimental electronic colour reception.

Beyond this consumer marketing area, the high-traffic space of the RCA Exhibition Hall was likewise directly integrated eventually into NBC's broadcast infrastructure.

With RCA having a deep connection to NBC, the RCA Exhibition Hall was a fitting choice.

One person who designed the RCA Exhibition Hall was industrial/interior designer Tom Lee, who also worked at Bonwit Teller, where he advocated his friend Salvador Dali's window displays.

Made by Tom Lee, the RCA Exhibition Hall opened its doors to the public in the early post-war era.

Joining the RCA Exhibition Hall was the Centre Theatre, which was originally designed to be a movie palace for RCA's film division RKO, rivalling its sister venue Radio City Music Hall.

Formerly known as the RKO Roxy Theatre, problems that the Centre Theatre caused, like a struggling audience and a 1933 lawsuit, led to its conversion into a palace for live ice-skating spectaculars.

Inspired by the theatrical success being made by figure-skating champion Sonja Henie, the ice-skating venture of the Centre Theatre was co-headed by Arthur Wirtz, who came from Chicago.

NBC leased the Centre Theatre in the early-1950's era, converting itself into a venue for live television broadcasts.

However, the Centre Theatre was demolished in 1954.

Whereas the Centre Theatre was torn down in 1954, Radio City Music Hall avoided this threat in 1978 through its grassroots campaign led by employees and a historic landmark designation.

During the pre-threat era, Radio City Music Hal aired first-run films with live short introductions.

Years after avoiding this threat, Radio City Music Hall ditched this old business model and became a popular venue for live rock concerts, pop artists and massive award shows.

On July 1, 1941, at 1:30 p.m., WNBC (and NBC) earned the distinction of becoming the first television station (and network) in the world to be supported by advertising revenue on a regular basis.

For its July 1, 1941 commercial sign-on, the call letters were WNBT.

13 years after its regular commercial TV operations began on July 1, 1941, WNBT changed its calls to WRCA-TV in mid-October 1954, and on May 22, 1960, became WNBC-TV.

Also on July 1, 1941, just an hour after WNBC (and NBC) made its first commercial telecast, its rival WCBS-TV (and CBS) did the same.

Plus, for its July 1, 1941 commercial sign-on, the calls were WCBW, similar to its rival WNBT.

Minor camera and lightning problems were factors that caused WCBW (anc CBS) to present a slightly delayed launch at 30 minutes past 2 p.m., meaning that WNBT (and NBC) came first.

WPTZ got a commercial license on September 1, 1941, the first outside New York.

Nearly 6 months later, on February 26, 1942, WRGB obtained a commercial license, which made it the second of its kind outside New York (and fourth overall).

During the US participation in WWII (from 1941 to 1945), WABD earned a commercial license.

The call letters for WABD stand for the namesake of its parent company DuMont Laboratories.

Just a year after WWII ended, WBKB earned a commercial license (the first in the post-WWII era).

For WBKB, receiving a commercial license made it the first outside the Eastern Time Zone (and sixth overall); it was also the first in the Central Time Zone.

Besides, the calls for WBKB stood for Balaban and Katz, run by Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Having been the first commercially-licensed television station located outside America's Eastern Time Zone, WBKB was an alternative to the New York-centric television scene.

Shortly after WBKB went commercial, WABD's new sister station WTTG, whose call letters stand for Thomas T. Goldsmith, a friend of its parent company's namesake, did the same.

KTLA won a commercial license, the first based west of the Mississippi River (and eighth overall).

Plus, KTLA was America's first television station not using the traditional W calls, doubling as the first located in the Pacific Time Zone.

Meanwhile, KSD-TV began as the second commercial television station in the US not using the W call letters, but also the second based west of the Mississippi River (and ninth overall).

As St. Louis, Missouri is based west of the Mississippi River, KSD-TV has innovations in television.

Staying in the Midwest, Michigan and Ohio earned television through WWJ-TV and WEWS.

Not long after, in April 1948, both KTVX and WTVR flickered to life.

Incidentally, KTVX was the first television station in the Mountain Time Zone, but also the first to be owned independently; WTVR was the first south of the nation's capital.

WDTV joined both WABD and WTTG in the DuMont-owned television group in January 1949.

Unconfined to its launch, WDTV also embarked on another television milestone: the first link between stations in both the Eastern and Midwestern regions via coaxial cable.

Due to the unique geographical location of its host city, WDTV's coaxial cable link gave stations in the Eastern and Midwestern regions the same program on a simultaneous basis, a trend still used.

Having completed DuMont's network of stations, due to WDTV's innovative and groundbreaking 1949 coaxial cable link, was the American Telephone & Telegraph Company.

For WDTV, its coaxial cable link is known in television circles as the Golden Spike, in reference to the golden spike marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.

Over two years after completing the DuMont network due to WDTV's coaxial cable link, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company had another major television milestone in the early-1950's.

Harry S. Truman delivered an historic opening speech at the conference, the theme of which is a treaty seeking to reestablish peaceful relations between Japan and the Allies after WWII.

San Francisco, California is the base for the Japanese peace treaty conference.

The War Memorial Opera House, based in San Francisco, is the venue for Harry S. Truman's Japanese peace conference speech.

Using its microwave system, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company had to transmit the peace conference speech from the West Coast to the East Coast (and the rest of the US).

Due to the American Telephone & Telegraph Company's microwave system, this conference speech by Harry S. Truman was America's first nationwide/coast-to-coast television broadcast.

Both WDTV's Golden Spike connection and Harry S. Truman's San Francisco conference speech were historic events leading to the modern network television landscape.

Engineering both the Golden Spike connection via WDTV and Harry S. Truman's San Francisco peace conference speech was the American Telephone & Telegraph Company.

Likewise, WDTV had another first: the concept to air television 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This unique format being made for WDTV was 3 years after its debut/coaxial cable link (and 6 months after Harry S. Truman's San Francisco conference speech).

Swing Shift Theatre is the late-night movie block for WDTV, designed for the region's blue-collar steel industrial workforce coming home overnight with nothing to watch, airing from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m.

Whereas WDTV pioneered this format to offer 24-hour television via Swing Shift Theatre, many of the other television stations resisted this one.

Except WDTV, many television stations normally chose to sign off around midnight or 1 a.m., play the national anthem, and then air a static test pattern/colour bars until their morning resumption.

Late-night infomercials and cheaper solid-state technology made 24-hour television, which WDTV had pioneered, a standard practice.

Most television networks have a hybrid system: microwaves for long-distance cross-country hops, and coaxial cables for local signal distribution, since WDTV and Harry S. Truman's speech.

Satellite feeds and optical fibre cables replaced the hybrid microwave/coaxial cable system.

In mid-December 1949, the BBC Television Service began its expansion beyond London and the Home Counties with Sutton Coldfield, bringing this service to the Midlands.

Holme Moss brought BBC Television to the North in the early-1950's, continuing the expansion outside London and the Home Counties, nearly 2 years after Sutton Coldfield in late-1949.

Kirk o'Shotts and Wenvoe brought BBC Television to the 2 nations of Scotland and Wales.

I Love Lucy (starring Lucille Ball) changed television, notably with thirty-five millimetre film.

Hollywood is the place where Lucille Ball did not leave for New York, a feat that fittingly made I Love Lucy innovate a paradox: thirty-five millimetre film (Hollywood) on television (East Coast).

This thirty-five millimetre film technique for I Love Lucy (starring Lucille Ball) preserved high-quality prints for syndication, creating the modern rerun.

Likewise, preserving high-quality prints for I Love Lucy (starring Lucille Ball), utilizing the thirty-five millimetre film process, led to the shift of the TV industry centre from New York to Hollywood.

As a matter of fact, film was superior to live television, and allowed for perfect editing cuts, reruns and syndication profits, due to I Love Lucy (starring Lucille Ball).

Crossing the pond, I Love Lucy (starring Lucille Ball) was one of the first and most popular American imports on the newly-introduced ITV network.

Spun off from the NBC Blue Network, ABC, during its initial decades, suffered crises, but also won a positive reaction for its innovations.

Noted innovations for the ABC network started with Philco Radio Time, the first program on a major American broadcaster to be aired on a pre-recorded level.

In its first season, Philco Radio Time used poor-quality, unedited and live transcription discs.

The second Philco Radio Time season pioneered pre-recorded broadcasts using AEG's Magnetophon machine; its third and last season featured Ampex Model 200A recorders with 3M.

Overall, Philco Radio Time brought film technology to radio and set new broadcast standards.

Whereas NBC and CBS relied on live broadcasts, ABC, using AEG's Magnetophon machine, offered programs on a filmed/pre-recorded basis.

United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. is a 1948 decree that changed Hollywood.

Due to this 1948 decree, Hollywood film studios started divesting themselves of their theatre chains.

Paramount Pictures is one of the Hollywood film studios that began to divest itself of its movie theatre chains in the post-decree era, spinning off as United Paramount Theatres (UPT) in 1949.

Leonard Goldenson, who was the leading figure of the Paramount movie theatre chain since 1938, had maintained his Hollywood presence as UPT's President.

After the Second World War, television emerged in popularity as cinema's main rival.

Television's popularity led to a decline in movie theatre attendance, but also led Hollywood to develop larger-than-life, innovative and creative experiences that television could not match.

Marilyn Monroe serves as the defining cinematic icon of the post-decree and television era.

The struggling ABC network joined with Leonard Goldenson's UPT empire in 1953, which saved this network from extinction, but also provided capital.

Barred from filmmaking due to court rulings, Leonard Goldenson used his UPT connections to secure foundational deals with Hollywood studios.

For instance, Walt Disney, who was an iconic and world-famous cinematic symbol, signed a deal with ABC's Leonard Goldenson to put Hollywood's cinematic production levels on television.

Walt Disney pioneered the synergy model, which used his spots being aired on television to take a look behind the scenes at upcoming films and progress reports on theme parks.

Due to the huge success of his own Disneyland television series, Walt Disney built his own theme park located in Anaheim, which was also known as Disneyland.

Plus, due to the success of his own Disneyland series, Walt Disney created the Mickey Mouse Club.

Annette Funicello is the breakout star and the most famous cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club version.

For Annette Funicello, her Tall Paul cover version juxtaposes Disney with rock music.

Due to the soft-spoken voice of Annette Funicello, her producer Tutti Camarata used a double-tracking technique to create the fuller rock sound.

Incidentally, Annette Funicello is the blueprint for the modern career path from Disney to pop music.

University High School, where Marilyn Monroe briefly attended before dropping out to marry James Dougherty in June 1942, is also where Annette Funicello graduated in 1960.

1942 is a year when Marilyn Monroe left high school and when Annette Funicello was born.

Besides Annette Funicello, Charles Wolcott is another individual associated with Disney.

After working at Disney for years, Charles Wolcott introduced rhythm & blues-rooted rock music to mainstream pop via Blackboard Jungle.

For Blackboard Jungle, Charles Wolcott decided to utilize Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets in its opening credits.

Responding to the Disney-ABC deal, Warner Bros. reversed its anti-television stance by also signing a historic deal with ABC, the first major traditional Hollywood film studio to cross the line.

NBC Saturday Night at the Movies is the first anthology series on television to deliver relatively recent theatrical films in colour from major Hollywood film studios into living rooms/homes.

Before NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, films on television were low-budget and monochrome.

However, with NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, viewers at homes enjoyed recently-released colour films from major Hollywood studios unavailable at the time on television.

The September 1961 launch of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, in particular with the rise of colour television, enhanced the cinematic experience at home.

In addition, the huge popularity of some network movie anthology series on television, including NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, offered a windfall to the film studios.

For NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, its debut in September 1961 was influenced by the pioneering cinematic vision being made by Leonard Goldenson and ABC.

Each of the first 3 NBC Saturday Night at the Movies seasons began with a 1950's motion picture being released by 20th Century-Fox and starring sex symbol Marilyn Monroe.

Not confined to these aforementioned movies beginning each of the 3 initial NBC Saturday Night at the Movies seasons, the other Marilyn Monroe films were included.

Building on ABC's early radio innovations with magnetic tape, Leonard Goldenson also pioneered the concept of putting Hollywood's cinematic values on television through this network.

Plus, the UPT-ABC merger indirectly led to the demise of the innovative, yet financially unsuccessful DuMont network, which Paramount partly-ran.

The two flagship DuMont stations (WABD and WTTG) were spun off to shareholders, forming a new broadcast entity renamed Metropolitan Broadcasting, which John Kluge later purchased.

Metromedia is the name for John Kluge's media empire.

In 1985, Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-American businessman, purchased the 20th Century-Fox film studio (which houses Marilyn Monroe), but also John Kluge's Metromedia empire.

With Rupert Murdoch's deals, the Fox Broadcasting Company was formed.

By countering the traditional Big Three networks, Fox has become a successful television network.

Fox, which is being run by Marilyn Monroe's film studio, is the modern revival/linear descendant of the DuMont and Metromedia television services.

The Disney-Fox merger, announced on December 14, 2017, creates a unique contrast between Disney's traditional magical approach and Marilyn Monroe's sex figure status.

Yet, the Disney-Fox merger did place Marilyn Monroe's Fox film catalog under the Disney umbrella.

Authentic Brands Group, a company founded in 2010 by Canadian businessman Jamie Salter, earns the rights of Marilyn Monroe's name, image and likeness since the early-2010's.

CBFT (Montreal) and CBLT (Toronto) began operations as the first television stations in Canada.

Ken Soble, whose media empire is Niagara Television, founded CHCH-TV in 1954.

In October 1961, just 7 years after its operations began in June 1954, CHCH-TV broke up its affiliation with the CBC network.

There are 3 noted reasons that CHCH-TV left the CBC affiliation:

• Hamilton was in the Toronto television area, and Toronto-based CBLT had already provided full network service to some portions of the viewing area that CHCH-TV had covered.

• CBLT planned to increase transmittter power and change frequencies (which led to a near-100% overlap with CHCH-TV).

• Managers working at CHCH-TV wanted to offer more locally-produced programs instead of the CBC affiliation.

With the CBC leaving Hamilton in October 1961, CHCH-TV became the first full-fledged independent television station in Canada.

During its indie years, CHCH-TV was one of the leading sources for American programs on Canadian television.

United Program Purchase (UPP) is a consortium of television stations in Canada earning some program rights not belonging to both the CBC and CTV networks.

CHCH-TV served as the leading member of the UPP consortium.

By 1966, UPP was attracting media coverage as the potential framework for a third Canadian television network.

In autumn 1966, Ken Soble's Niagara Television put forward a proposal for a third network to break the CBC-CTV duopoly.

NTV was the name for this original proposal by Ken Soble's Niagara Television for a national Canadian television network to be carried via satellite, and its main financial backer was PCC.

December 1966 was when Ken Soble experienced sudden death; his widow Frances took over Niagara Television, and his colleague spearheaded the first full application for NTV not long after.

CHCH-TV would have been NTV's flagship for the Greater Toronto Area in its original plan.

However, in 1969, this proposal for Niagara Television's satellite-fed NTV network (which would have utilized CHCH-TV as its flagship) had hurdles/delays; its backer PCC left this plan.

Even so, the blueprint by Niagara Television directly birthed a new Canadian television service.

The Global Television Network began in Janaury 1974 as a regional television service in Ontario, with CKGN-TV (now CIII-TV) as its flagship station.

Initially, Global aired programs with a distinct Canadian touch, but suffered financial straits.

Having initially suffered from financial straits, Global was bailed out by IWC Communications, run by Allan Slaight, and Global Ventures Western, held by Izzy Asper and Paul Morton.

CanWest Capital is the other name for Izzy Asper's Global Ventures Western group.

Under Izzy Asper, Global had achieved salvation from financial ruin by using the formula that its own ancestor CHCH-TV had implemented: airing American programs.

Besides, Izzy Asper also held CKND-TV, an indie in Winnipeg that he used to pipe in Global's Ontario programming via syndication.

For CKND-TV, its roots came south of the border, where, from 1960 to 1975, it was KCND-TV, which emanated from North Dakota, but mainly served Winnipeg.

During its American tenure, KCND-TV aired programs from both NBC and ABC, the latter with which this station was fully-affiliated after its first 7 years.

Gordon McLendon ran KCND-TV from 1966 to 1975.

Throughout the 1980's and 1990's, Izzy Asper's Canwest empire acquired or launched indie stations in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the Maritimes and Quebec.

British Columbia Television (BCTV) is the former official on-air name for CHAN-TV, which is a local television station covering British Columbia; its official on-air name lasted from 1973 to 2001.

Western International Communications (WIC) is the name of a former media empire rooted in Western Canada, whose flagship station was BCTV.

Despite its CTV affiliation from 1961 to 2001, BCTV (CHAN-TV) used its distinctive presentation.

Some of the key drivers that pushed BCTV towards its unique presentation, in spite of its CTV network affiliation, included home-grown ownership and its conflict with CFTO-TV in Toronto.

Under WIC, BCTV defended Western Canadian media interests against national media interests being rooted in Eastern Canada.

For BCTV, it uniquely operated in the form of an independent station, despite its CTV affiliation.

The Pacific Dogwood flower, which serves as British Columbia's provincial flower, also serves as an iconic and famous symbol for BCTV from 1973 to 2001, refined in the mid-1990's.

Initially, BCTV came from its studios at Davie and Richards Streets in downtown Vancouver.

Not long after its 1960 debut, BCTV relocated to its permanent and purpose-built studios at Enterprise Street in the Lake City Industrial Park in 1961, fully opened in 1962.

Tony Parsons was the primary news anchor for BCTV (CHAN-TV), doing its flagship 6 p.m. newscast called the News Hour.

Ray Peters was the powerhouse behind BCTV from around its 1960 launch to January 1990.

Having begun in the sales portion, Ray Peters made his ascent to the BCTV (CHAN-TV) leadership in 1961, when it began to carry some programs from CTV, which it formally joined not long after.

Not confined to BCTV, Ray Peters also served as WIC's President and CEO from 1978 to 1989.

When Ray Peters joined in 1961, BCTV (CHAN-TV) was in debt and had a struggling situation.

But by the time Ray Peters retired in January 1990, BCTV (CHAN-TV) had turned into a financial and ratings success.

Cameron Bell was BCTV's news director from the late-1960's to 1989.

Under Cameron Bell, BCTV pioneered a tabloid news approach that revolutionized television news in British Columbia and helped this station dethrone the CBC's ratings crown.

During its initial years since Tony Parsons joined the station in 1975, BCTV used an isolated, box-like news studio.

In 1977, BCTV began to use a news studio layout that had a unique texture.

For its unique news studio layout, BCTV juxtaposed the regular newsroom backdrop (CBS) with Fred Harpman's NewsCentre (NBC) and its locally-owned indie station status.

Having been a departure from the oft-used philosophy that the studio is the newsroom, emphasized by CBS/WBBM-TV, the philosophy, emphasized by BCTV, was that the newsroom is the studio.

BCTV's specially-made newsroom-as-set trend offered better and more open-concept visuals, improved lighting, superior acoustics and a smoother flow between on-air personnel and journalists.

This hybrid newsroom-control room set trend (which BCTV developed) made the news studio look less conventional and more like a high-functioning, authentic and professional newsroom.

Ray Peters and Cameron Bell, both involved with BCTV, were the geniuses behind the creation of its innovative hybrid newsroom-multi-monitor control room set associated with Tony Parsons.

Modern 21st-century news studio sets do not abandon the philosophies of CBS, NBC and BCTV; they utilize digital technology to merge and evolve them into flexible ecosystems.

The huge success/popularity of the News Hour on BCTV stemmed from its formula being made by its collective trio of architects.

Ray Peters' management, Cameron Bell's editorial direction and Tony Parsons' on-air presence are just some factors in the formula that made the News Hour on BCTV a profound success.

Having been launched in a Metal year, BCTV (CHAN-TV) is a force in the television industry.

This Metal element represents BCTV (CHAN-TV), not just in television's heavy and hardware-driven nature, but in its historically physical industrial park location.

Besides, this Metal element also represents BCTV (CHAN-TV) in its main transmitter location on the mountain, which has been used since its inception.

Robert Malcolm anchored the News Hour Final on BCTV from 1972 to the early-1990's.

Linden Soles anchored the News Hour Final on BCTV until being replaced by Ted Chernecki, who did this one from the early-1990's to 2001.

Jill Krop anchored the News Hour Final on Global BC from September 2001 to the early-2010's, when Global News BC1 was about to launch in 2013.

During Robert Malcolm's tenure as its anchor, the late-night newscast on BCTV was the News Hour Final; under his successors, it was simply News Hour Final.

Pamela Martin delivered the news as well on BCTV from 1977 to 2001.

In addition, Tony Parsons anchored Canada Tonight, produced by BCTV for WIC television stations outside British Columbia, from its 1993 inception to its 2001 demise.

Bill Good anchored Canada Tonight in its local BCTV version from its 1993 launch to its 2001 end.

Norm Grohmann was the primary weatherman for BCTV (CHAN-TV), lasting in separate stints until 1998.

For his humorous approach/wit doing the weather on BCTV, Norm Grohmann had earned popularity.

Between Norm Grohmann's departure and return, Fred Latremouille filled in his shoes.

Wayne Cox carried on the legacy begun by Norm Grohmann and Fred Latremouille.

Until 1997, Bernie Pascall, John McKeachie and Barry Houllihan alternated doing sports for BCTV's newscasts.

Squire Barnes, Barry Deley, Keith Wells and Jay Janower replaced the sports team comprising Bernie Pascall, John McKeachie and Barry Houllihan on BCTV in 1997.

Jim Conrad, who was rooted in Canadian radio, served as the primary announcer for BCTV, doing its promos, tags and news intros from the early-1990's to August 2001.

From 1996 to 2001, Jim Conrad famously opened BCTV's newscasts (especially the News Hour) with these words: "Live, from BCTV, here are tonight's...top stories."

After three main news headlines were summarized live on BCTV, Jim Conrad also delivered a famous hand-off with: "Right now, the News Hour, with Tony Parsons."

When its promos end, Jim Conrad announced the words: "on BCTV," "TV for BC" or "BCTV."