@MedicineHatNews
The arrival of local television on Sept. 13, 1957 brought with it promises of World Series games (on tape) but the promise of a live Grey Cup final later in the fall.
It also brought he first “TV Guide” of sorts to Hatters who were treated to 12 broadsheet pages of stories – headlined the “TV Edition” of the Medicine Hat News.
It featured hoards of ads from ten local furniture stores selling television units, explanations of the technology, and the daily line-up of CHAT-TV which began continuous broadcasts at its’ Redcliff facilities on the day.
The News is looking back at notable events from Medicine Hat’s history leading up to the celebration of our 140th publishing year later this fall.
Monarch broadcasting’s sign on at 4:55 p.m. on Saturday afternoon was followed by “Long John Silver,” the National Film Board presents, and “Romar of the Jungle.”
A B.C. Lions and Calgary Stampeders game and “Front Page Challenge” headlined Sunday programming, but later in the year the enterprise would join the national micro-wave signal network and provide CBC newscasts and “may other top flight features, at the very moment they are happening.”
A full-page ad from Monarch chairman Harry Yuill and GM Bob Buss welcomed viewers and thanked the CBC for assistance and “advertisers, local and national, who after all, supply the lifeblood of the entire broadcasting and telecasting industry from coast to coast.”
