From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 23 of 36
Television Comes Into the Living Room
1952
On September 6, 1952, Radio-Canada began television broadcasts in Montréal. Images on the small screens were black and white. Families gathered to discover this new way to watch stories and programs.
Look together
Where are the children sitting?
An idea to try
Make a cardboard screen, cut out by an adult. Perform behind it with paper puppets; the audience invents a name for the show.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Montréal station CBFT went on the air on September 6, 1952. Radio-Canada’s first television broadcasts opened a new chapter in media history. The drawing evokes a 1950s living room and a small, rounded television screen, without reproducing an actual program.
Ask where the viewers are sitting. Compare the set’s knobs and shape with screens today, without assuming every family already owned a television.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
Imaginary family and television set, no brand and no real program on screen.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Radio-Canada — Premier jour de programmation pour la télévision de Radio-Canada (in French)CBFT Montréal on the air on September 6, 1952, at 4 p.m.; Henri Bergeron the first announcer; Toronto on September 8.
- UQAM — Chronologie de Montréal : CBFT-Montréal (in French)CBFT went on the air on September 6, 1952.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
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