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CBC News: The Hour is a television newsmagazine show in Canada. It first aired on January 17, 2005 and is broadcast Monday to Thursday on CBC Newsworld, at 8 P.M. Eastern Time with repeats at 11 P.M. and 2 A.M. Eastern. The program's anchor is George Stroumboulopoulos, a former MuchMusic host.
Starting in fall 2006, The Hour will repeat on CBC Television at 11:00 p.m. local time, 11:30 Newfoundland Time.
Format
The Hour typically begins with Stroumboulopoulos saying something to do with the picture displayed on the blue/green screen behind him, and then goes to the short opening title sequence before Stroumboulopoulos introduces himself. The picture's subject is relevant to current events or relates to one of the segments on the show. Then, Stroumboulopoulos outlines the three main stories that will be discussed throughout the program. These stories are usually interspersed with shorter segments. Prior to launching into the first of the main story, Stroumboulopoulos may briefly bring up another news item.
The three main stories are often interviews. Some of these interviews are pre-recorded, others are conducted live on the show. Guests sit across from Stroumboulopoulos in the unique red furniture on the set, appear on the widescreen television situated stage right of Stroumboulopoulos, or their voice may be played from a taped interview. In some cases, multiple guests are brought in to share their viewpoint on a particular subject. Sometimes short documentary-like interviews concerning a particular story are played, where correspondents include Jian Ghomeshi and Yasir Khan. When they are talking about an on going story, there is often a shorter video before the interview explaining, briefly, the story so far. This is called the 'The Set-Up'.
Aside from the three main stories, there are several shorter segments. These are fast-paced and designed to regain the interest of viewers whose attention wandered during an interview. These segements include:
- Mile a Minute quickly touches on current events around the world, with video or images accompanied by George's commentary.
- Canada is similar to Mile a Minute, only it involves current events in Canada.
- Time Capsule shows CBC footage from past events that relate to current events or the date, sometimes it is both video and audio, at other times George will comment on the video footage.
- The List is a primarily satirical Top 5 list concerning a current event. For example, top 5 things Martha Stewart will do upon release from prison.
- Entertainment briefly informs viewers of news in the entertainment industry.
- The Newsstand is a one-on-one interview between Stroumboulopoulos and another person in front of a variety of magazines, the idea being to candidly discuss whatever they might see on the covers of those magazines and get the guest's opinion upon them.
After the first interview, Stroumboulopoulos reminds viewers that they can email, telephone, or mail The Hour with comments about a segment on the show. Near the end of the show, Stroumboulopoulos might read one or two emails on air. The content of these emails ranges from opinions on recent events to comments about the show itself.
The very end of the show is known as The Closer and is a monologue by Stroumboulopoulos about a particular current event. It may or may not be related to the previous items on the show. This is perhaps one of the most opinionated segments of the show, because it is Stroumboulopoulos' viewpoint rather than a discussion.
Taping locations
The primary location for show tapings is the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto. However, the show has gone on location for a short series of shows in Vancouver, British Columbia, Calgary, Alberta, Montreal, Quebec, and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
One move came out of an interview with an enterprising trader who said the only limitation to his activities would be that he would not make any trade with the citizenry of a small village called Yahk, British Columbia. When the citizens protested the exclusion by writing letters to the show, the trader accused Stroumboulopoulos of hypnotizing him into making that statement and he would only go to that town if the show went there first. On Feb. 9, 2006, the producers broadcast an episode from that village.
The show has also travelled to Las Vegas, in connection to a contest in which four viewers (2 trips for 2) won trips to "escape winter."
External links
Related Video
- Recap of Season One, including highlights of clips in the Video Archive
"CBC News: The Hour"