Première Chaîne

Infobox Network
slogan =
network_name = Première Chaîne
network_
country = Canada
network_type = Radio network
available = National, through regional stations
owner = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
key_people =
launch_date = 1937
past_names = Radio-Canada (1937–1997)
website = [http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/indexPc.html La Premiere Chaine]

"Première Chaîne" is a Canadian French language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation / Société Radio-Canada, the public broadcaster in Canada. Its sibling network CBC Radio One is a generally equivalent service.

The service is available across Canada, although not as widely as CBC Radio One. Only the provinces of Quebec and Ontario are served by more than one Première Chaîne production centre — in all other provinces, the whole province is served by a single station with multiple transmitters. The network does, however, reach 90 per cent of all Canadian francophones.

channel 94.

History

Some French language programming had aired on the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission's CRCM since 1933, but the French network was formally created on December 11, 1937 with the launch of CBF.

In 1938, the station was expanded into a fledgling network with the launch of CBV in Quebec City and CBJ in Chicoutimi. Also that year, the long-running soap opera "La Pension Velder", which ran until 1942 and was then revived in the 1950s as a television series, aired for the first time. The following year, the even more successful and influential "Un Homme et son péché" was launched.

For the first month of World War II, Radio-Canada aired 24 hours a day, broadcasting war news from Europe. Also that year, the network broadcast its first Montreal Canadiens hockey game.

In 1940, another popular radio soap, "Jeunesse dorée", made its debut. In 1941, the network — which had previously relied on Canadian Press reporters — launched its own news division. Also that year, the network launched two shortwave radio stations in Montreal to serve francophones outside of Quebec. Throughout the 1940s, however, the network's expansion in Quebec was accomplished primarily through private affiliate stations.

In 1942, the network controversially refused to give airtime to the "No" side in the Conscription Plebiscite. Nonetheless, 72.9 per cent of Quebec voters were opposed.

In 1945, the International Service was launched. In 1946, the network launched an experimental FM station in Montreal (which would become CBFX), and expanded outside of Quebec for the first time with the launch of CKSB as a private affiliate in St. Boniface, Manitoba.

The network also had seven privately-owned affiliates:
*CHGB, Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, 250 watts
*CHLT, Sherbrooke, 1,000 watts
*CHNC, New Carlisle, 1,000 watts
*CJBR, Rimouski, 1,000 watts
*CJFP, Rivière-du-Loup, 250 watts
*CKRN, Rouyn, 250 watts
*CKCH, Hull, 250 watts
*CKCV, Quebec City, 1,000 watts [ [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/index3.html] ]

In 1948, the influential children's series "Tante Lucille" and Gérard Pelletier's public affairs program "Les Idées en marche" debuted. Also that year, three studios in Montreal's King's Hall building were destroyed in an explosion, leading Radio-Canada to centralize its operations in a new building on boulevard Dorchester.

In 1952, the network became autonomous from CBC head office in Toronto. Previously, all programming decisions had to be reviewed by the Toronto staff in advance.

Through the 1960s, the network began to expand, taking over Toronto's CJBC in October 1964, and launching Ottawa's CBOF in 1964 and Vancouver's CBUF in 1967. As well, influential broadcaster Lise Payette launched her first program, "Place aux femmes", in 1965.

The network eliminated tobacco advertising in 1969, and eventually dropped all commercial advertising in 1974, except for Montreal Canadiens hockey games (which would move to the Radiomédia network in 1997). The Maison Radio-Canada, which remains the flagship facility for all of Radio-Canada's broadcast services, was officially opened by Pierre Trudeau in 1973, and Radio-Canada's FM network was launched in 1974. Through the remainder of the 1970s, the station began to directly acquire many of its private affiliate stations, including CHFA in Edmonton, CFRG in Gravelbourg and CFNS in Saskatoon, although with the CBC's financial difficulties in the 1980s, this process was slowed down considerably.

The network was rebranded as Première Chaîne in 1997, concurrently with the rebranding of all of the CBC's radio networks.

In 1999, Radio-Canada applied to the CRTC for a license to launch a third all-news station in Montreal, on the 690 AM frequency CBF had surrendered in 1997 when it moved to FM. The application was rejected. Radio-Canada filed an appeal of the decision with the Federal Court of Appeal, which denied the request in October of that year.

In 2002, two of the network's last three remaining private affiliate stations, CKVM in Ville-Marie and CFLM in La Tuque, disaffiliated from the network, and the final private affiliate, CHLM in Rouyn-Noranda, was directly acquired by the network in 2004. The network now directly owns all of the stations that broadcast its programming.

Première Chaîne schedule

National news is read at the top of every hour. Extended newscasts air at 8 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.; other newscasts are brief summaries of headlines. Local newscasts air throughout the morning and afternoon on weekdays, either on the half hour or immediately following a national newscast. Local newscasts only air in the morning on weekends.

Weekdays

*5:00 - 9:00 - Local morning shows
*9:00 - 11:30 - "Christiane Charette"
*11:30 - 1:30 - Regional noon shows
*1:30 - 3:00 - "Fréquence libre"
*3:00 - 5:30 - Local afternoon shows
*5:30 - 6:30 - "Sans frontières"
*6:30 - 7:00 - "D'un soleil à l'autre"
*7:00 - 8:00 - "275-Allô"
*8:00 - 10:00 - "Porte ouverte"
*10:00 - 12:30 - "Christiane Charette"
*12:30 - 5:00 (Monday-Thursday) - "La nuit, la vie"
*12:30 - 6:00 (Friday) - "Plaisirs de la nuit"

aturdays

* 6:00 - 11:00 - Local morning shows
* 11:00 - 12:00 - "Mag radio"
* 12:30 - 2:00 - "Les affaires et la vie"
* 2:00 - 4:00 - "Ouvert le samedi"
* 4:00 - 7:00 - "Des airs de toi"
* 7:00 - 8:00 - "Euromag"
* 8:00 - 12:00 - "Macadam tribus"
* 12:00 - 6:00 - "Le temps d'un nuit"

undays

* 6:00 - 8:00 - Local morning shows
* 8:00 - 10:00 - "Pourquoi pas dimanche?"
* 10:00 - 12:00 - "Dimanche magazine"
* 12:00 - 2:00 - "Les années lumières"
* 2:00 - 4:00 - "Je l'ai vu à la radio"
* 4:00 - 6:00 - "Écoute pas ça"
* 6:00 - 8:00 - "Allez, c'est le retour"
* 8:00 - 12:00 - "Par 4 chemins"
* 12:00 - 5:00 - "Au détroit de la nuit"

* Note: The brief "National Research Council Time Signal" airs daily at 12 Noon Eastern time across the network.

tations

In addition to primary production centres listed here, most stations in the network also serve a larger region through rebroadcasters. Due to the significant number of such rebroadcast frequencies, those are listed in each individual station's article rather than here.

References

External links

* [http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/indexPc.html Première Chaîne]
* [http://www.radio-canada.ca/util/endirect/premiere.asx Windows Media Stream]