Item FILM S-2119 - AL MARTINO

In 1953, an application by A. A. Murphy & Sons Ltd. to the CBC Board of Governors was approved to own and operate a television station in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but CFCQ television would begin broadcasting on December 5, 1954. Some of the initial staff included: Blair Nelson (TV manager); Vern Dallin (assistant TV manager); Lyn Hoskins (chief engineer); Walter Romanow (production director); Wilf Gilbey (film editor); Nick Semenoff (art editor); John Lumby (photographer); Donna Knight (continuity editor); Margaret Morrison (promotion manager); Godfrey Hudson (news editor); and Ed Whelan (sports editor). In 1955 CFQC-TV was one of the stations that helped to form the Canadian Television News Film Co-operative, an organization to exchange news footage among CBC and private television stations. In 1969, owners of CFQC television were granted approval to disassociate with the CBC Television Network and to join the CTV network. A. A. Murphy & Sons sold its CFQC-TV operations to CFTO-TV Ltd. in 1972, which was followed later year by Russwood Broadcasting (a subsidiary of Baton Broadcasting) taking over ownership of both CFQC radio and television. In August 1986, Baton Broadcasting Inc. entered into a partnership agreement with Harvard Developments Inc. that would see them jointly own CFQC-TV, but would Baton alone would continue to hold the license for CFQC radio operations; Baton would change its name to CTV Inc. after they purchased the CTV Television Network effective December 21, 1998. When BCE Media purchased CTV Inc. in 2000, CFQC fell under this new ownership structure following its approval by the CRTC in December 2000. In 2014, CFQC converted its local production operations to High Definition.