Al Bruner (1923 - 1987) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television broadcaster, most noted as the co-founder of the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...

."Al Bruner, 63, TV innovator Global network founder dies". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', August 29, 1987.

Before Global

Bruner was born in

Leamington, Ontario Leamington ( ) is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 27,595 in the Canada 2016 Census, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after Windsor, Ontario. It includes Point Pelee National ...

in 1923. In his early days Bruner sang in

Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved w ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

orchestra, but soon found his way into broadcasting by helping to establish the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

-based television station CFTO-TV, which went on the air in 1961. However, Bruner's eyes turned to Hamilton when the founder of

CHCH-TV CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located near the corner of Jack ...

, Ken Soble, asked him to become the sales manager at his station, which had recently become disaffiliated with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

, and was the first independent television station in Canada. With the financial backing of

Power Corporation of Canada Power Corporation of Canada () is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portf ...

, Soble put forward a proposal to the

Board of Broadcast Governors The Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) was an arms-length Government of Canada agency. It was created in 1958 by amending the ''Broadcast Act'' to regulate television and radio broadcasting, originally taking over that function from the CBC. ...

in 1966 for a national television network which would broadcast by

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

, with CHCH as its flagship. Soble died just a few months after submitting his original proposal, and Bruner took over the application process. Power Corporation backed out of the application in 1969, and Bruner was fired from Niagara Television."Four firings at third network". '' The Globe and Mail'', February 22, 1969.

At Global Television

Along with Peter Hill, Bruner then founded Global Communications to continue the network license application."Satellite in plans for third network". '' The Globe and Mail'', April 22, 1970. The new company was ultimately granted a six-transmitter network in southern Ontario, stretching from Windsor to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, in 1972, but could not obtain a transmitter that would reach

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

."Six-station TV network is approved". '' The Globe and Mail'', July 22, 1972. The network, which promised high levels of local content, launched on January 6, 1974."A new TV network comes to life as the old scoffers just fade away". '' The Globe and Mail'', January 5, 1974. However, after three months in business the station ran into financial trouble and was purchased by

Canwest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcast ...

."Global's long term value impresses takeover team". '' The Globe and Mail'', April 20, 1974. After leaving Global, Bruner worked on devising broadcasting technology, and pitched his idea of

local insertion In broadcasting, local insertion (known in the United Kingdom as an opt-out) is the act or capability of a broadcast television station, radio station or cable system to insert or replace part of a network feed with content unique to the local ...

, unheard of at the time, to the broadcasting community in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. However, his ideas never reached fruition as he died in a New York post office of a heart attack in 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruner, Al 1923 births 1987 deaths Global Television Network people Canadian television executives People from Leamington, Ontario Canadian television company founders