Bob Willson (1928 – December 27, 2019) was a Canadian radio announcer and the host of programs on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. His broadcasting career started at the age of 18 at CFGP

Grande Prairie, Alberta Grande Prairie is a city in northwestern Alberta, Canada, within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highwa ...

. In 1947 he moved to

CKUA CKUA Radio is a Canadian donor-funded community radio station based in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally located on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton (hence the UA of the call letters), it was the first public broadcaster in Canada ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. Willson started with CBC in 1949 at CBW Winnipeg, and was part of the on-air staff reporting on the ''Winnipeg Flood of 1950''. When

CBWT CBWT-DT (channel 6) is a CBC Television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It has common ownership with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBWFT-DT (channel 3). The two stations share studios on Portage Avenue and Young Street in Downtown Winni ...

started broadcasting in May 1954, he co-hosted the current affairs interview program ''Spotlight'' with Bruce Marsh. In April, 1959, Willson moved to Toronto where he hosted a teen program on

CBLT CBLT-DT (channel 5) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the English-language service of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé outlet CBLFT-DT (channel 25). The ...

, ''Talk of the Town''. Willson was the Executive Producer for radio coverage of the

1988 Olympics 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...

for CBC. Bob Willson died on December 27, 2019, at the age of 91.

References

Sources

*"Winnipeg Favorite Is Popular In Toronto", ''Winnipeg Free Press - TV-Radio'', November 26, 1960, p. 16 1928 births 2019 deaths Canadian television hosts People from Grande Prairie {{Canada-tv-bio-stub