Scraping the sky

Big stick
London, ON
September 2013
For more Thematic technological, head here

This is the aerial that towers over CTV London's studios. It stands 1,030 feet (310m) high, and is the third tallest such structure in the country.

The irony of television in 2014 is that fewer and fewer people get their signal from this immensely impressive structure. Instead, they're subscribing to it via cable or satellite, or they're getting it online - either streamed or downloaded.

Still, enough people continue to capture over-the-air signals to justify the aerial's continued operation. That and our national regulator, the CRTC, has made it a requirement of pretty much every broadcaster's license. So every time I drive to the station - increasingly often given my fast-evolving career - it's a friendly beacon as I carefully wheel my way across town. I especially like when it's early morning, because the flashing lights make it even more surreal than it already is.

Sometimes when I'm finished an interview and head back to the parking lot to fetch my car, I'll stand and look up for a minute. As much as it makes me a little light-headed to even look that high, it's an immensely grounding experience to pause for a bit and listen to the wind in the structure. I quietly think about what I've just done inside, and what I'd like to do next.

This big old tower may no longer be the only way we communicate, but over half a century after it first went live, it remains a resonant part of the landscape.