65 years since CHBC TV first beamed into Kelowna households
Global News
Live television broadcasting on CHBC TV began in Kelowna on Sept. 21, 1957, with local headlines encouraging uptake of the new technology: 'Baby sitter problem? Then get a TV.'
It’s been 65 years since the warm glow of local television programming was first beamed into Okanagan homes in the form of CHBC TV.
After what’s described in archive newspaper copy as an arduous construction effort, including the blasting of rocks, building of roads and draping of power lines, live broadcasting in Kelowna began on Sept. 21, 1957, and a few days later in Penticton and Vernon.
“Television has come to the Okanagan Valley,” a Kelowna Daily Courier article from the day before programming went live, proclaimed. “For the first time in the long and colourful history of this, the greatest fruit growing area in Canada, people can enjoy the finest in television entertainment.”
The multipage spread heralding live, local TV offered everything from tips on how to watch TV to where, locally, one could buy the latest and greatest television.
One of the many headlines included said, “Baby sitter problem? Then get a TV.”
Chris Sobon, Global Okanagan’s current news manager, said there were only 500 homes with television receivers in September of 1957, but a year later that number had risen to 10,000 homes.
“The station ordered two studio cameras, but supplies were limited due to so many TV stations coming on the air in North America,” Sobon said.
“The result was that they had to make do with a single camera; on loan, for almost a year before the order was filled. The station relied on 16 mm film developed first by a local photo lab and then in-house.”
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