Relaying Results
Microwave technology was introduced during World War II to aid communications by enabling the broadcasting of plans over long distances. When the war ended, the technology was adopted by the broadcasting community. Microwave Broadcasting allowed the CBC to reach a larger audience. The previous broadcasting system allowed them to reach only around 40-60% of Canadians , they were now able to reach between 60-75%.
One of the obstacles with microwave technology was the large amount of power it required, as a consequence, all transmission stations had to be built near power plants to ensure an abundant supply of electricity. Main stations had 80 kilowatt transmitting towers, smaller transmission or reception stations would have had towers between 20 and 60 kilowatts.
Microwaves of a broadcast were sent from a large transmission station, from there they were picked up by a number of smaller stations which re-broadcast the signal until it reached a reception station that distributed the broadcast to an audience through a wire. These distribution stations were usually owned by individuals who bought or rented the waves from the main distributor.
