The Passing of Lloyd Robertson, Longtime Anchor

At once point in Canadian history, all three networks in Canada had news anchors who started in Winnipeg. And so it was with the longest serving anchor Lloyd Robertson who got his first time on TV as anchor in Winnipeg roughly two years after the station started in 1954. Prior he had been working in radio in Ontario.

In 1956, CBC had some national programs but leaned heavily on their local talent to fill hours of news and variety. It truly was a time when things were so new and everyone was just winging it. By 1960, Robertson moved to Ottawa to get their station up and running to the same success as Winnipeg. It was only a matter of time before he ended up at The National for the flagship news show.

He left CBC in 1976 for the anchor job at CTV for the chance to be the chief correspondent. This was impossible under union rules at CBC where the job was just news reader. Because of his bravery, the CBC eventually made The National anchor, chief correspondent. The affiliate stations eventually stations eventually went that way too as it increasingly became untenable to election night coverage with someone who could only read what was put in front of them.

Both the CBC and CTV owe a lot to the longest serving anchor in North American history. Robertson came to be a trusted voice on the news and gave CTV credibility in its coverage. And it all started back in Winnipeg. Even today, Winnipeg is a bastion of journalism but it not quite the heyday it once was. Perhaps there will be a new evolution in TV coverage but it is hard to imagine the longevity of anchors like Robertson again.