By Kim Ploughman
For centuries, outports in Newfoundland and Labrador lived in near isolation from the outside world. News travelled slowly, if at all. By the early 1950s, a gift arrived onshore with vital information for these outports. It came from an unlikely source, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio program called The Fisherman’s Broadcast. This year, The Broadcast, as it is now known, marks its milestone 75th anniversary. Over the decades – and through several name changes – one essential truth has remained constant: the program’s enduring commitment to the outport way of life.
The Fisherman’s Broadcast first hit the airwaves on March 5th, 1951, as a modest 15-minute segment. Launched as an extension of the agricultural program, it was revolutionary for its time. With radio as the primary means of communication, this broadcast unified hundreds of isolated communities.
Using plain language and familiar voices, the program delivered practical information that mattered: weather forecasts, catch reports and safety updates. For folks listening in their stages, wheelhouses or kitchens, it was indispensable.
Retired sea captain Wilf Bartlett, now 90, recalls those heydays vividly. A native of Lush’s Bight in Northern Dame Bay, Bartlett was a frequent caller to the show’s famed “Fishline,” offering his seasoned opinions and commentary on fishery-related matters. He sums it up simply: “It was a lifeline,” saying the program felt “almost like a member of the family.”
Among the many hosts over the years was broadcaster Jim Winter, who helmed the popular program from the summer of 1977 to the summer of 1980. Speaking from his home in St. John’s, Winter reflects on the show’s enduring value. “Its relevance came from being deeply community-focused,” he says. “It shared information people recognized and trusted, especially in outports, where that connection mattered most.”
To Winter, the program represented “broadcasting at its very best.” Its resonance, he believes, is what led it to rank as the top-rated show of its day in its time slot. “People felt it truly belonged to them,” he says.
Winter credits mentorship from former hosts, such as Rab Carnell and Wilf Dyke, along with travelling the province to gather stories firsthand, for making the job very special to him. “Not only did I learn about the fishing industry from people across the province, but some also turned into lifelong friends, including Jack Troake and Gus Etchegary.”
Though radio has evolved, Winter says the heart of the medium has not changed, explaining that “The only difference is the equipment. The idea is still the same, using radio waves to transmit information and carry people’s stories back to them.”
For fisheries advocate Merv Wiseman of North Harbour, storytelling defined the program in its early days. Raised on Long Island, he describes its influence: “I was born and bred on the back of The Fisherman’s Broadcast,” he says, adding, “The program was synonymous with the fishery, primarily the cod fishery.”
Listening to the program was a sacred suppertime ritual in Wiseman’s house, when 14 family members gathered around the table, just as the broadcast came on air. “Everyone tried to stay silent,” he recollects. “You weren’t even allowed to whisper for fear of missing a single part.”
The storytelling rooted in coastal life left a lasting impression. “The entertainment value was just as precious as the information shared,” Wiseman says. “It went hand in hand.”
He credits hosts like Rab Carnell, skilled storytellers, trained to engage listeners. “They captivated listeners and brought people around the radio.”
Back then, Wiseman notes, nearly everyone was connected to the fishery. “That’s why there was a vast audience.”
Seventy-five years on, the iconic program holds extraordinary distinctions: it’s CBC’s longest-running program, the longest-running daily show in Canada, and one of the longest‑running regional radio programs in North America.
Yet, its survival, at times, felt uncertain. Winter recalls efforts to fold it into a standardized cross-country afternoon show. “Of course, we got in the way,” he says, recalling the pushback from himself and colleagues, even listeners, who believed fiercely in the program’s local focus and value. The show also persisted through the sweeping changes in the media landscape and listening habits, evolving to new realities without losing its core purpose.
In 2015, after more than six decades on air, the program shortened its name to simply The Broadcast, following an earlier change to The Fisheries Broadcast. The name, Winter points out, “reflects both the wider focus on the newly developed, non-fishery related, resources of our ocean and the historic ‘nickname’ of the program as The Broadcast.”
Today, The Broadcast airs weekdays from St. John’s between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. on CBC Radio One, reaching listeners across coastal and inland communities. True to its roots, it remains distinctly regional.
At its helm since September 2022 is Paula Gale, a CBC veteran with two decades of experience. To mark the program’s Diamond Anniversary, Gale and producer Todd O’Brien hosted a live audience event at The Rooms on March 5th, 2026.
The theatre filled with listeners, including Captain Bartlett, along with eight former hosts, reflecting on a program that has chronicled the province’s marine story for over seven strong decades. Among them was Anne Budgell, the first woman to host the program, alongside her former co-host, Jim Wellman, the show’s longest-serving host and author of The Broadcast: The Story of CBC’s The Fisheries’ Broadcast.
The late journalist Rex Murphy once deemed the fishery as the real “school” of Newfoundland life, shaping its people and character unlike anything else. Few programs have reflected that more faithfully than The Broadcast.
Its greatest achievements may be how it knit together the province’s culture, while pulling communities out of isolation. It also preserved the province’s changing relationship with the sea, from the 1992 cod moratorium to the ongoing transition from tradition to adaptation.
The program’s legacy is simple, says Gale: “It’s about creating space for the voices of those who care about the ocean, the fishery and the very reason why most of us are here in the first place – the fish.”
Gale views the show as “part of the fabric of our culture,” and as host, she treasures the tradition of storytelling, music, art and ocean heritage.
Still, she reflects, “Everything always changes. Yet, The Broadcast continues to have this remarkable staying power… maybe because we hold onto our history.”
She points to one small, but telling detail: the program’s iconic theme song, “Atlantic Guardian,” remains the same melody, updated only once in 75 years.
“Sometimes,” Gale added, “good things last.”
