Ralph Trapnell Snelgrove (June 11, 1914 – March 27, 1990) was 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 ...

radio and television pioneer who obtained one of the first television licences issued in Canada and built

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

station

CKVR-TV CKVR-DT (channel 3) is a television station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Toronto-based CTV outlet CFTO-DT, channel 9 (although the two stations ...

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is political ...

. Born in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Snelgrove was employed by Metropolitan Broadcasting in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

before becoming manager of AM radio station CFOS in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attr ...

in 1940. He moved to Barrie to set up the town's first radio station CKBB, which launched on August 31, 1949. Six years later, Snelgrove launched CKVR-TV with call letters representing his wife's name and his own (Valerie and Ralph). In 1965, he founded

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Ni ...

's first radio station, CKCB (AM). Snelgrove sold his television stations to Allan Waters in 1969 and became a director of Waters' company,

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CH ...

. He sold his radio stations to Kawartha Broadcasting in 1983. Snelgrove was the first president of the

Central Canada Broadcasters Association Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known ...

and served as president of the

Canadian Association of Broadcasters The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa. It was first ...

in 1948. In politics, he served as an alderman in Barrie and was also a school trustee. As well, Snelgrove was president of the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce. He received an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campus ...

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the c ...

in 1981 and was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1985. Snelgrove died in 1990 at age 75. One of his sons is Timothy Snelgrove, founder of Timothy's World Coffee.

External links

Tribute to Ralph Snelgrove
made by Simcoe Centre Legislative Assembly of Ontario MPP

Bruce Owen Bruce Owen (May 24, 1931 – February 7, 2022) was a Canadian lawyer and politician in Ontario. He served as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990, representing Simcoe Centre for the ...

at his death in 1990
Biography of Ralph Snelgrove at the Canadian Communications Foundation
1914 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Ontario school board trustees Barrie city councillors {{Canada-business-bio-stub, Snelgrove, Ralph