From 1955 until 1978, Circle 8 Ranch was a popular weekly country and western television program

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 broadcast each Tuesday night on Wingham, Ontario

Wingham, Ontario

Wingham is a community located in the municipality of North Huron, Ontario, Canada, which is located in Huron County...

's CKNX

CKNX-TV

CKNX-TV was a television station owned by CTVglobemedia which served mid-western Ontario, Canada. It was part of the A television network. The station was broadcast from Wingham and had offices in Wingham...

, Channel 8. It began as a radio program called the CKNX Barn Dance on CKNX's AM sister station

CKNX (AM)

CKNX is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 920 AM in Wingham, Ontario. The station broadcasts a country music & News/Talk format.- Launch :...

.

The half hour variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 was first hosted by broadcaster Johnny Brent, then later musician Ernie King. The program featured popular country acts of the local, provincial and national stage. Each program ended with the memorable words "Lets say goodbye like we said hello, in a friendly kind of way..."

Don Robertson's Ranch Boys hosted many CKNX Barn Dances in the Southcentral and Southwestern Ontario areas. The travelling show was an offshoot of the popular program.http://www.barndance.ca/

Regular cast members who developed into regional celebrities were Ernie King, Hugh Elder, Ross Mann, Don Robertson, Cora Robertson and Wayne Riehl. Over the years, the program helped launch the careers of such Canadian music luminaries as Tommy Hunter

Tommy Hunter

Thomas James "Tommy" Hunter, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman".-Career:...

, Al Cherney, Gordie Tapp

Gordie Tapp

Gordon Robert "Gordie" Tapp, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian entertainer.Tapp studied at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts. He was the host for Main Street Jamboree, a radio program broadcast from Hamilton during the 1950s. Tapp later hosted the CBC television show Country Hoedown...

, The Good Brothers

The Good Brothers

The Good Brothers are a Canadian country, bluegrass and folk music group originating from Richmond Hill, Ontario. The band's core members are Brian Good , his twin brother Bruce Good and younger brother Larry Good ....

, Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...

and The Mercey Brothers.