CBC Radio Nerdz VI...

Twain's interview with Tremonti was okay, but it felt like a Q thing, to me.  Let Twain host Q.

I do have a soft spot for Twain.  When she hosted the Gemini awards, she was moving through the assembled and seated Canadian artists.  She was standing right in front of the band Swollen Memebers.  She asked the one dude in the band - "Do you mind if I sit on your lap?  I've never sat on a swollen member before."

It was one of the funniest things I've ever watched on tv.  At the time she was wearing a Calgary Flames jersey (or some Cdn NHL team kit) fashioned into a dress.   

Maybe she'll do a good job on The Current.  Perhaps the CBC will create a show for her.  It would follow the trends of finding well known Canadians to host shows.  It's certainly not a trend I'm in favour of.  Maybe Shania will replace Mansbridge.... she would be more effective on tv, I assume.

But Rafe Mair used to host the Current from time to time.  As did Brown, from Calgary.  And Newman is probably availible.  How about a Friday edition of the Current, hosted by Newman, about the prorogue, the economy, politics, etc? 

I've been leaning on As It Happens lately.  I skip the six pm newscast and plan my suppertime cooking\wine drinking\decompresion around AIH.

It's difficult to pinpoint favourite segments of the show.  Last night they interviewed a southern US doctor who studied healthy living clinics in Iran, and now that doctor is attempting to bring similar projects to the States through legislation.  Really interesting interview and ideas.

I really wish the AIH Friday night political panel would re-convene.  I listened to it religiously for until it was disbanded, for unstated reasons and never brought back.  Thinking of that panel now, my mind turns to the spin doctor extraordinare - Peter Donolo, who's presence as the defender of the Jean Chretien legacy was simply amazing to hear.

On the flip side, my disgust with my local regional morning show - the only current affairs programming availible for nearly a million people in Ontario - is growing.  The show simply does not do political coverage of any sort beyond calling up a poly-sci prof here and there and asking them general questions.  It's insulting to the audience to not even attempt to contact a variety of MPs to get their opinions.  No Green Energy coverage.  No municipal coverage. 

I know that Ontario Morning is short of resources, or so I've been informed.  But this is fucking radio.  Call every MP in the listening range and see if they'll talk about prorogation.  And if they don't answer or won't be on the show, let the listeners know, a la the Current and AIH, which regularly say they've been turned down for interviews.  The Current was keeping track of how many times it ws refused. 

I wonder if the CBC is reluctant to empower Ontario Morning with more resources, because then it might compete with Metro Morning.     

I started listening to CBC morning programming immediately following the retirement of Gzwoski.  He was, from what I understand, the glue that held the show together.

I don't see a lot of Red Torys in my part of SWOnt.  Certainly not a lot of federal Red Tories.  The closest would be Ed Holder in London, but he's more of a Conservative with a wide array of interests than a redened tory.

If you're talking red tories as in the general populace....  yeah, plenty of people who don't give a shit if you smoke pot or are gay and want to get married, coupled with a distrust of high government spending in areas outside health care.  The closest spokesperson I can think of in that area is MPP Randy Hillier.  Not a big fan of Hillier myself, but he has a following and he's unafraid of speaking his mind.

Michelle, Hillier was probably a bad example.  I'm not entirely sure of his conservative social views.  I don't think he wants to institutionalize\legislate social behaviour.  I've listened to him speak on several occasions, pre-MPP status and post.  He's quite good at poking holes in the government-big business monopolies and some of the more blatant money wasting that goes on in provincial politics.  I think he's a union supporter, or at the very least a supporter of tradespeople. 

Hillier is certainly more well known in the south than any other northern or central PC MPP.  Ernie Hardeman in Oxford, whom I used to consider an utter dunce, is a hard working MPP with solid agricultural ideas.  Not sure about his red-ness.  Toby Barrett is my MPP, and he's just a caretaker.

I won't bring up Garth Turner, haha. 

Krop51.  Well, I suppose it's nice to know CBC radio isn't perfect elsewhere. 

I'll be blunt: I think there's a lot of old school, long term CBC people working in jobs they probably think are beneath them - aka Ontario Morning - and they just don't give all that much thought to their listening audience.  It's really hard to produce a daily current affairs show about the area outside Toronto, from Toronto, with a Toronto host and a bunch of Toronto producers.  Ontario Morning has JC Kenney report news stories from Kingston and she also puts together the weekly Kingston Report.  She's good.  Janice Lee in London is not worth mentioning.  She's a producer who never plays interviews.  She'll have a QandA with Wei Chen where she mentions "I spoke to so and so" or "I was talking with this person" but she never plays a fucking clip!  It's amazing, really.  Radio with no audio.  If I pay attention to the London Free Press headlines leading up to Lee's "London Report" I can predict within 90% what she's going to talk about.  Jack Rowe in Peterborough is okay but suffers from the same syndrome where it's just him chatting with Wei Chen.  Put a fucking story together, please.

I can't remember the last time I heard a provincial, federal, or municipal politician on Ontario Morning.  But whatever second rate writer or musician is handy in Toronto, bang, immediate air time for them.

Good for Galloway.  He seems to have the well rounded skills and interests that will make him a good host of Metro Morning.  I always liked his Here and Now work. 

Here and Now, eh?  Hmmm.  It's so hard to even make a guess.  I don't know who is on the sidelines.  I imagine the same people we brought up earlier would apply here: Horseman, Hawton.  I can see Robin Brown, too. 

I think Here and Now would be a very attractive job for a lot of CBCers.  Afternoons, general interest, lots of time taken up with Fisher's newscasts and business\sports chat. 

I wonder if Here and Now will do something like the great host challenge that put Carol Off into the seat on AIH?  I loved hearing all the different voices.

Ah, which brings me to Helen Mann.  Love her.   

Hey now.  Don't be blaming us easterners for Jian and Q. 

I used to think Sounds like Canada and Shelagh Rogers was a little light.  But SLC was replaced by Q.  And now I can only sound like a crusty old CBC listener and say "I wish it was like the old days!"  That show told me about people and places in Canada.  It hasn't been replaced, and certainly Q is no replacement.

Q would be a good replacement for DNTO.  Or combine the shows, and hosts, into a national afternoon show - one hour.  That's about as much time and resources the CBC should be investing in that type of programming.

GV, Galloway can talk Leafs, soccer, baseball.  I'm listening to him do it right now.

I'll leave it up to you to decide if he has the TO roots\chops to properly host the show. 

On a related note, the BBC is cutting it's online presence and scaling back some of its "digital" programming, due to pressure from private broadcasters and a looming expansion of the conservative party in the next election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/business/media/03bbc.html