This week in Canadian media history: The first Aboriginal television network in Canada was launched
The APTN was created after the CRTC issued the Therrien Commitee Report.
By Aeman Ansari
The first of its kind, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network was founded on January 21, 1992, by and for Aboriginal people. Based in Winnipeg, it was created after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) established the Committee on the Extension of Service to Northern and Remote Communities, also known as the Therrien committee. The committee determined that the government needed to ensure that broadcasting supported Aboriginal languages and cultures. It also identified a growing interest among northern Aboriginal peoples in developing their own media services. Eighty-four per cent of APTN programming originates in Canada, with 56 per cent of the programs broadcast in English, 16 per cent in French and 28 per cent in a variety of Aboriginal languages.
With research from Aboriginal Peoples Television Network website
