This week in Canadian media history: Radio-Canada International launched
RCI is the international broadcasting service of the CBC.
By Aeman Ansari, Reporter
Launched on Feb. 25, 1945, Radio-Canada International was known as the “Voice of Canada” in its early years and then CBC International service until 1970. Studies commissioned by the CBC Board of Governors in the late 1930s concluded that Canada needed an international radio service to broadcast a Canadian point of view to the world. Throughout its early years, the CBC International Service concentrated on broadcasting to Western Europe in the aftermath of World War II. In 1947, RCI began providing transmission facilities to a new international body, the United Nations. These broadcasts continued until responsibilities were transferred to the Voice of America. In June 2012, CBC ended shortwave services and RCI became accessible on the Internet only.
With research from the Canadian Communications Foundation.
