A series of hearings took place during the "Summer of discontent", the start of the 1987-2012 period of "awakening...Anyways, nuff of that.
YTV was created as a single station that would comprise 3 parts, programming for 3 groups of kids:
- Pre-schoolers
- School-age
- "the kid in all of us" - adults and families
When YTV signed on for the first time on September 1, 1988 I was still living at home with my parents. In fact one of my sisters had a friend who was not getting along with her family and so she slept over here on that day and I think for the whole month of September and possibly part of October 1988 too.
The previous year I had already bought myself a VCR. Dad didn't believe in VCRs despite that he had a 1956 Philips reel-to-reel for himself. No, but our family coudn't have a VCR because "we don't need one".... Thank god for Youtube...
Still going back to YTV and that first day. Sister's friend was sleeping in the basement, and I had set up the equipment downstairs. But I guess it didn't really work well because sister's friend was studying to become something at Univ. So I moved the VCR upstairs. The main floor tv was some tube console and I set it up there. The 1976 SEARS portable 20" was in the basement. So I hooked up the twin-lead and kept as quiet as possible to record the opening of "The Family Channel" and YTV.
In YTV's first license period, November 30, 1988 thru ..... they are LIMITED to xx minutes of advertising PER HOUR. If I recall correctly this was gradually upped in the next few years to a MAXIMUM of 14 minutes PER HOUR. Too much advertising...and they sold the CRTC on being granted a license based on the 8 minutes PER HOUR.
A lot of the programming was retro - stuff like You Can't Do That on Television, retro movies, some newer stuff like The Black Stallion series. The Hit List, 'Are You Afraid of the Dark'?The PJs were nice, warm people.
YTV was originally owned by a partnership between ROGERS Cable and CUC Broadcasting (one of their cable systems was Greater Winnipeg Cablevision). YTV was sold to CORUS (SHAW) in 1995. Almost overnight YTV's programming changed and became much darker, more violent, the original PJs were replaced with less photogenic/less likeable (in my view). Yeah, you "PJ Fresh Phil", I'm callin' you out. You look like a neighbourhood THIEF. You are not in line with "community standards"... You were (thank god he's off the air) not someone to LIKE or want ot "invite" into my home.
They went thru a phase if I can call it that where they played Sailor Moon, "Yugi Oh" and other Japanses Anime. Because broadcasting regulations were relaxed this past decade, YTV and other broadcasters are allowed to do marathons showing the same program but different episodes for 2 or 3 hours at a time after which they show the same block after 12 midnight (11 pm. Central). This is not what YTV was originally licensed for.
Then somewhere in the 90s they upped the minutes of commercials per hour, changed PJs, and showed more and more violent programming. By the mid- late- 1990s programmes like YTV Rocks were Cancelled in favour of more and more violent cartoons, and what I believe is Reptilian-like shows like Big Comfy Couch.
Now that we have Youtube on the Internet I'm seeing lots of comments that reflect exactly my feelings towards YTV and music videos and such ... the 1980s kids programming and music videos were much better than the trash that passes as culture nowadays.
So I call on those souls who were born before and some after 1979, those of you from Generation X who now have famiies of their own, and those of too from Generation Y who want something to watch themselves or for your young family. Something that is wholesome, something that teaches one of the Laws of the Universe - the Golden Rule - Do Unto Others... I call on those who feel they are called, to write to YTV, post blogs, make Youtube videos and DEMAND that the Reptilian owners of YTV sell it off or change their programming IMMEDIATELY. We will not stand for their trash programming any longer.
See also:
Wikipedia - YTV Canada
Old Skool YTV
