''This is That'' was a

news satire News satire or news comedy is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire has been around almost as long as journalism itself, but it is particularly popular on t ...

program broadcast on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, which aired comedic news stories presented in the style of a real CBC Radio public affairs program.Natasha Lederman
CBC Radio satirical show 'This Is That' sparks as much outrage as laughs
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', June 21, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011. The program began as a summer replacement in 2010, returned in the summer of 2011, and was added to the regular schedule in the fall of 2011. It is hosted by Pat Kelly and

Peter Oldring Peter James Edward Oldring (born August 25, 1971) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Early life Oldring was born on August 25, 1971, in Drayton Valley, Alberta. He graduated from Sir Winston Churchill High School in 1989 in Calgary, Alberta, ...

, and produced by Chris Kelly. The ''This Is That'' team have also produced comedy videos for the CBC's web comedy platform CBC Comedy."After 9 seasons, This Is That says farewell (seriously)"
''This Is That'', September 26, 2018. In September 2018, the ''This Is That'' team announced that its 13 new episodes in fall 2018 would be the show's final season. The show's series finale was a live and improvised special from the

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

on December 22, 2018. In the 2019 Canadian federal election, Kelly and Oldring produced a number of short-format ''This Is That'' segments for the network's morning news series '' The Current''.

In the media

The program, whose style has been compared to ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...

'', drew phone calls from listeners who did not realize that they were listening to a comedy program and took the content seriously; Oldring and Kelly admit to having been surprised that listeners would be fooled. In June 2010, the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' reported as fact that CTV purchased the set of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series '' Friends''; this, however, was a satirical story by ''This Is That''. Two years later, Canadian journalist Robert Fulford wrote an article for the ''National Post'' claiming that the show is "worth tuning in for". Also in 2012, Public Radio International reported as fact a ''This Is That'' story that dogs in Montreal would have to know commands in both English and French by law.CBC Radio show strikes again with ball-less soccer satire
by John Bowman, at CBC.ca (via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

); published September 6, 2013; archived October 3, 2013; retrieved March 9, 2015 In early 2013, '' Harper's'' reported as fact a ''This Is That'' story in which a Canadian student "sued her university for failing to accommodate her allergies to cactuses, escalators, tall people, and mauve." In September of the same year, several media organizations, including ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' and the ''

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'', reported on a story about an U-11 organization that had decided to play soccer without a ball to remove competition from the game. In 2014, Jonathan Jones at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote an article analyzing the satire in their story about a New York artist creating invisible art and selling it for millions.

Awards

The program has won three

Canadian Comedy Awards The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. T ...

. Their comedy special "The Christmas Letter" won a gold medal in the category of Best Comedy Special at the 2014 New York Festivals International Radio Awards and their fourth season won a bronze medal in the category of Best Regularly Scheduled Comedy Program at the same awards ceremony. At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, Oldring won the award for Best Actor in a Web Program or Series for his performance in the show's CBC Comedy video series."Andrew Phung, Peter Oldring, Wynonna Earp Digital, Secret Alberta doc win Canadian Screen Awards"
'' Calgary Herald'', March 9, 2018.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Official site
CBC Radio One programs Canadian radio sketch shows Satirical radio programmes Canadian news parodies 2010 radio programme debuts Canadian comedy web series 2018 radio programme endings Canadian Comedy Award winners Canadian Screen Award winning digital content 2010s Canadian radio programs