Network: CTV Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1961 to 1965
Broadcast Medium: Television
One of the earliest Canadian television series to seek public opinions on key issues, Telepoll was hosted by Royce Frith, and featured a weekly guest panel who debated currently hot topics on each program. A preselected group of members of the public were then polled by telephone by an independent research group for their yes or no answers on the questions which had been debated, and the responses were tabulated and aired on the following week’s show.
Guest panelists included Arnold Edinborough, Pierre Berton, Gordon Sinclair, Jack Webster, Frank Drea, Kildare Dobbs and Trent Frayne. The announcer was Russ Thompson, and the show was sponsored by Telex and Saturday Night magazine. The one-hour series ran on Sunday afternoons on CTV, starting at the end of 1961 and ending its run in the Fall of 1965. It was produced and directed in Toronto by David Cook.
Written by Pip Wedge – August, 2002