September 8: The First Person on Canadian Television Was a Weather Person!

[Music] [Applause] on September 8th 1952 Canadian English television made its debut on the CBC but for people like me and so many others it was much bigger than that because the first person to appear on the screen on televisions across Canada was a weather person hi I'm Chris May writer producer and host of this day in weather history now in its second year from The Weather Network in Canada Percy Saltzman was already a veteran meteorologist likely he had no idea that he would go on to be the first face of Canadian TV when CBC TV inaugurated English language broadcasting in the country this day in weather history he loved the weather he lived it with this outlet for weather analysis and storytelling he quickly made a name for himself with his high energy and at times rather dramatic explanations of the weather remember that when compared to today's modern technology he started with almost nothing Percy Saltzman started TV weather in the era before color it was all black and white try analyzing the Reds and blues of high and low pressure let alone the different colored Contours of most products available to us today most of that wasn't even available to him anyway his Ara was also before the introduction of computer-enhanced satellite displays and model Graphics no Percy Saltzman was armed only with a thick piece of chalk a Blackboard map his signature glasses and a quick wit he would quickly develop a dedicated fan base who would wait to the very end of every weather cast where he would punctuate it with his signature toss of the chalk up into the air then the phrase and that's the weather picture and then would complete it by catching the Stick of chalk now obviously we don't need the chalk anymore but some things have not changed from then to now for instance Saltzman used no notes or teleprompters neither do we weather is always changing so you know the story and you tell that story because minutes later that story is going to change so you tell it again and again and again as it evolves you can't script that the way you can other segments of newsour whether people back then and whether people today do not have teleprompters do not have scripts we know the story we tell the story welcome to year two of this podcast right now you're listening to the full version of today's story on your favorite podcast provider but there's also the daily podcast video short they're shot right here in my podcast recording studio so you get that perspective but often times they will include visuals from that day's event from when it happened in weather history so after listening to the full story go check out the podcast video short on television or online anytime at the weathernetwork.com wether history as a Pioneer in weather forecasting Percy Salton was a celebrity and he would also appear on air hosting numerous public affairs programs on CBC but in 1969 ah he was teamed up with anchor Lloyd Robertson while he was still at the CBC for 10 of the most watched days in television history at that time time hosting 10 days of live National coverage of the moon landing they covered the Apollo 11 Percy Saltzman would be the weatherman for 30 years between television and radio it is estimated that between the years 1952 and 1982 he would deliver 6,000 weather casts on television 3,000 on radio and also conduct in the neighborhood of 1,000 interviews still he will always be remembered with reverence when each night after another of his signature frantic 3-minute weather blitzes there would be the map there would be Percy both covered in a thick cloud of white chalk dust Percy Saltzman by those who worked with him was known as instant chaos and he hit the air as the first personality on the English-speaking CBC he was the weatherman and this moment would pave the way for others like me to do what we do and love it because we live it and that break came on September 8th 1952 this day in weather history hey do you like the podcast we'd love to hear from you if you have an idea go right now to wherever you're listening to me and rate US if you would please it's on a five-star system and we would love as many stars as you can afford so rate US but then also review us this way we can always stay on top of how you'd like like to see the show evolve then remember to subscribe to this podcast click the Subscribe or follow button right there on the very same podcast homepage you're listening on you'll be immediately reminded that the next day is ready to listen to and you also have access to every episode in the archives it dates back to June 1st of 2020 so there is a lot that we got to get caught up on on this day in weather history tomorrow is September 9th it was just as Canada's neighbors to the South were fighting for their freedom from the monarchy when the 7 1975 newfinland hurricane or Independence hurricane struck the 13 colonies and the colony of newfinland in August and September of that year that we will pick up on this day in weather history with me your host Chris May [Music]