12 replies to this topic

[AllseeingEye]

Everyone of course knows that CHEK is the oldest longest running TV station in Victoria, but many folks forget about Victoria's "other" station, namely the old Victoria Cablevision, Channel 10.

 

Victoria Cablevision like all cable companies of the time was a community TV station that relied primarily on subscriber and new subscriber fees, rather than advertisers, for revenues to support its operations not to mention the relatively new technology known as cable TV; the original studio was on Shelboune Street across from the McDonald's on Church Street, on land now occupied by the Urban Cup Cafe.

 

'Cable' was innovative because it delivered a TV signal via RF (radio frequency) through a coaxial cable, whereas conventional TV of the era was a signal transmitted over the air via radio waves which was received and converted by an antenna either on a rooftop or on the TV itself. Among other leading innovations starting in 1977-8 they offered something called a 'converter' - a device that sat on top of the television was operated via a remote control and which proffered viewers 24 channels above and beyond the standard twelve  on the TV dial

 

Victoria Cablevision hit the air in 1970 as part of Premier Cablevision, an Ontario-based enterprise with operations in BC, Alberta, Ontario and of all places, Ireland. At its height in Victoria in 1978-9, nearly 95% of the households in the region subscribed to cable, making SW BC, including Greater Vancouver which also had extensive Premier Cable operations notably in Burnaby, one of the most "cabled" regions in North America at the time.

 

As there was a lot of industry consolidation not to mention new technology integration happening on the Canadian television landscape, ultimately Victoria Cablevision as a local entity passed into history as through its parent Premier Cablevision the entire enterprise merged in 1980 with rival Canadian Cablesystems Limited, also Ontario-based, which itself had recently been acquired by Rogers Cable TV.

 

Here is one of the few surviving pics I am aware of the original Shelbourne Street studio (note the uber-cool early '70's shag carpet!) - 

 

 

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[Nparker]

...note the uber-cool early '70's shag carpet!

And how about the rare - for that era at least - female camera operator? Clearly Victoria was ahead of the pack when it came to employment equity.

[AllseeingEye]

And how about the rare - for that era at least - female camera operator? Clearly Victoria was ahead of the pack when it came to employment equity.

"Cable" actually was ahead of the curve in some respects and employed several women in management roles. The GM was the senior manager, with my dad as PD his number two then Daphne Goode, who some people on this forum will no doubt remember, as Number Three in the hierarchy.

 

Useless trivia fact: an unknown American media studies grad from Michigan had made her way to Victoria at the time, 1970-1ish, and interviewed with dad for an on air position; he turned her down due to inexperience. She later did ok at BCTV-Global and then much later after a long career in Vancouver, picked up a sweet government communications contract under Christy Clark. Her name was Pamela Martin.....

[Matt R.]

I have vague memories of Howie Siegel hosting a talk show and wearing a pink sweater vest with nothing underneath on this channel.

Matt.

[RoadRunner]

I have vague memories of Howie Siegel hosting a talk show and wearing a pink sweater vest with nothing underneath on this channel.

Matt.

I think his show was called Pyjama Party.

[Rob Randall]

^Yes, it was called "Pajama Party" and it aired in 1984 and nothing like it appeared on TV before or since.

[Rob Randall]

Pajama Party theme song.

 

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Edited by Rob Randall, 02 February 2019 - 11:15 PM.

[Matt R.]

^ seriously?

[Sparky]

Legend has it that Victoria Cablevision started with a guy that lived on Mount Tolmie who had an antenna that received such good reception that he started running ribbon cable to his neighbour's houses.

 

You are stirring up ghosts for me ASE, as I too was part of those early days with Daphne and the gang shooting in the studio and on location with the likes of Kim Emerson, Alan Perry, and the now general manager of CHEK Rob Germain.

 

What a hoot those days were!

 

I still have the sweater.

 

 

 

[AllseeingEye]

/\....did you knw Bob White, Gil St Denis and some of the other behind the scenes techs Tim?

 

Best thing for me was having full access to the studio, the cameras and microphones which we leveraged for our Grade 9 English project at Cedar Hill JH, a "World War II" movie starring me and several other classmates. We shot it everywhere from UVic to Mt Douglas beach to McCauley Point. That was in 1974 and I know as of the mid- 90's they were still showing it to incoming classes at the school. Ah, fame is fleeting....lol

[Sparky]

^ Yes all of the above including Rob Lowery, Rod Horner, and a few more who’s names escape me.

I was a fan boy of all things radio and television.

Good times.

[Sparky]

... and one of my most favorite memories was speaking at your dad’s funeral. He made us “stars” on Club 6.

Priceless.

[AllseeingEye]

... and one of my most favorite memories was speaking at your dad’s funeral. He made us “stars” on Club 6.

Priceless.

Nice thoughts, thanks. He always believed and said openly many, many times that the 'stars' of that show really were the kids who religiously showed up every weekend for nearly nine years and danced their butts off: "no kids, no dancers = no show" was his contention.

 

By 1970 though he felt after a decade reporting and doing everything from editing to the weather at CHEK, and almost as long doing C-6 exclusively, he'd given all he could to a 'teen dance show' (although Dick Clark would've argued otherwise!), which is why he jumped to Cablevision when they offered the PD position - well that and a big raise, heh....