The Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland (BCN) was the government-owned public radio service of the

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...

of Newfoundland.Jeff A. Webb, ''The Voice of Newfoundland: A Social History of the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland''.

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...

, 2008. . Following Newfoundland's admission as a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province in 1949, the BCN was absorbed into the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, and its three main

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmis ...

transmitters remain in operation today as

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

stations.

History

The

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

service was founded in 1939 by the

Commission of Government The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949. Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was dissolved when the dominion beca ...

. Later that year, it bought the Dominion Broadcasting Company, owner of

VONF CBN (640 kHz) is a public AM radio station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It carries a news, talk and information format and is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBN is powered at 10,000 ...

(640 AM) in St. John's, from the Avalon Telephone Company, forerunner of NewTel. Not long after taking control, the corporation acquired two transmitters at Mount Pearl that had been built during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

HMS Wireless Station (BZM) for North Atlantic communications with Royal Navy ships. BCN's studios were at the sixth floor of the

Hotel Newfoundland The Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland is a 4-star hotel in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, operating under the Marriott International banner. The site From the late 1690s, Fort William occupied the site. Although replaced by Fort Towns ...

in St. John's. For its entire existence, the BCN's general manager was William Fenton Galgay, who had founded Dominion Broadcasting in 1932 with Joseph Butler. Notable broadcasters also included Aubrey MacDonald, known as Aubry Mac, and the musician Robert MacLeod. BCN accepted advertising on the station whose programming consisted of commercial, educational and entertainment shows. Notable programmes included future Newfoundland Premier Joey Smallwood's ''

The Barrelman ''The Barrelman'' was a name adopted by Joseph Smallwood for his fifteen-minute radio program on the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland to promote pride in Newfoundland's history and culture. The show began as a column in the ''Daily News' ...

'', which spun information and history with island folklore, and the ''Gerald S. Doyle News Bulletin'', which interspersed family and community news about islanders with more serious journalism. In 1943, the BCN opened a second radio station, VOWN in Corner Brook and, after the war, acquired

VORG The Victorian Ornithological Research Group (VORG) is a small project-focused ornithological group of amateurs and professionals based in Victoria, Australia. It was formed in 1962. It publishes a bulletin, ''VORG Notes''. The objectives of the ...

in Gander that had previously been operated by the wartime Canadian military base. The BCN provided islanders with news of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as well as serving as a disseminator of wartime propaganda and as a recruitment tool for the armed forces. After the war, the network provided gavel to gavel coverage of the proceedings of the 1946-1948

Newfoundland National Convention The Newfoundland National Convention of 1946 to 1948 was a forum established to decide the constitutional future of Newfoundland. Nominations On 11 December 1945 the British Government announced that there would be an election to a national c ...

that was elected to determine the future of the dominion. While these broadcasts were closely followed by Newfoundlanders, the loss of advertising revenue from the commercial-free broadcasts hampered BCN's ability to improve its programming. One of BCN's final acts was to cover the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

s of June 3 and July 22, 1948, on the dominion's future. As the result was to join

Canadian confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

, the facilities and staff of the BCN were transferred to the

on April 1, 1949, when Newfoundland joined

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. VONF was renamed CBN, VORG became CBG and VOWN became CBY. Bill Galgay remained as the CBC's Newfoundland regional director until his death in 1966. All three stations remain in operation as of 2020 as

stations. To this day, all Radio One stations in Newfoundland and Labrador essentially operate as a subsystem within the Radio One network; they simulcast most of CBN's programming during Radio One's

local programming The terms local programme, local programming, local content or local television refers to a television program made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or televisio ...

blocks. A CBC Radio comedy series in the 1990s, '' The Great Eastern'', reimagined the BCN as still being in operation as Newfoundland's own independent public broadcaster, and was presented in the format of a

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

arts and culture newsmagazine show produced by the BCN.

Facilities

HQ - 6th floor

1939-1949

Stations

* Corner Brook - VOWN (AM790), 1943–1949 * Gander -

(1450 AM), mid-1940s-1949 * St. John's -

(840 and 640 AM), 1939–1949

Shortwave relays

* VONG (9.47 MHz, later 9.48 MHz) 1940-?, now defunct * VONH (5.98 MHz, later 5.97 MHz) 1940s, became CBNX in 1949, now CKZN

Transmitters

* Mount Pearl (2)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadcasting Corporation Of Newfoundland Public radio in Canada Mass media in Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian Broadcasting Corporation * Defunct Canadian radio networks Dominion of Newfoundland 1939 establishments in Newfoundland Organizations established in 1939 Radio stations disestablished in 1949