''CBC 2000 Today'' was a

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

' special programming covering the new millennium celebrations around the world from December 31, 1999, into January 1, 2000, as part of the '' 2000 Today'' programming in Canada.

Peter Mansbridge Peter Mansbridge (born July 6, 1948) is a British-born Canadian retired news anchor. From 1988 to 2017, he was chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of '' The National,'' CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. He was also host of CB ...

anchored the 25 and a half hours of broadcast from the

Canadian Broadcasting Centre The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control centre for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporati ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

temporarily converted the atrium into a type of "Millennium time studios" that included a desk, where a standing Mansbridge spent most of his time, a news studio, where Mansbridge would interview guests, and a makeshift Canadian Broadcasting Centre where CBC News staffers would follow the latest developments.

Broadcast highlights

Originally, the name of the broadcast was ''2000 Today'', but it was officially retitled as ''CBC 2000 Today'' because

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

joined 60 other nations, all celebrating the dawn of the new millennium. The network was part of the '' 2000 Today'' consortium that included the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the United Kingdom, ATV in Hong Kong,

RCTI RCTI (abbreviated from ''Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia'') is an Indonesian free-to-air television broadcaster. It is best known for its soap operas, celebrity bulletins, news, and sports programmes. It was first launched in 1989, origi ...

in Indonesia, RTM in Malaysia,

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

in China, TCS and Singapore Television Twelve in Singapore,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in Australia,

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

in Japan, MBC in South Korea,

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

in South Africa, TVE in Spain,

Rede Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In ...

in Brazil,

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

in the Philippines,

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

in Germany, RTP in Portugal,

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

in New Zealand,

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

and Once TV in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, TVN in Chile,

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

in Quebec and the rest of the country,

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

and

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

in France,

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

in Italy,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, and WGBH, in the United States, and

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

in Ireland. (The program was nonetheless consistently promoted under the same name). This was by far the most comprehensive coverage of any of the broadcast networks in Canada.

stayed on the air for the entire duration without a break using only commercial breaks and correspondent pieces to rest, eat, or change suits. He changed his wardrobe many times, including wearing a tuxedo when Canadians celebrate the new millennium at the end of ''2000 Today's'' international feed after midnight celebrations were broadcast from

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at 6:00 AM EST. The Millennium celebrations occurred nationwide from St. John's, Newfoundland to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. In

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Prime Minister

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

presided over celebrations on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

, which included artistic performances and a midnight fireworks display launched from the

Peace Tower The Peace Tower () is a focal bell and clock tower sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the Victoria Tower, after the latter burned down in ...

. Fireworks were launched from the

CN Tower The CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...

in Toronto. At least millions of Canadians tuned into some portions of ''CBC 2000 Today''.

Development

''2000 Today'' was conceived as part of the

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

celebrations, given the numerical significance of the change from 1999 to 2000. The program was produced and televised by an international consortium of 60 broadcasters, including CBC and headed by the

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and WGBH in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The BBC provided the production hub for receiving and distributing the 78 international satellite feeds required for this broadcast.

Production

CBC launched their millennium eve programming on November 1999. At the time the program was described as the largest, single television show in Canadian history. Up to 2,000 staff worked on the ''2000 Today'' project worldwide, with hundreds of workers based at the

. In a television studio and the atrium were utilized while fibe outside satellite units, cameras in various locations worked to pull together an array of images from around both the country and the world. At the time, technicians at their sister network,

, were on strike in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

. Transmissions in were seen as scheduled, but using only the main feed from the BBC, with a French voice-over. Also, as a consequence, 2000 footage from across the country was scarce on SRC's presentation, while footage from

was not available at all worldwide (though the network did manage to get the only Quebec coverage on their own network—a video shot of midnight fireworks in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's ...

, shot from Ottawa).

References

External links

CBC archive of New Year's Eve 2000
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:CBC 2000 Today 1999 television specials 2000 television specials 1999 in Canadian television 2000 in Canadian television 1990s Canadian television specials 2000s Canadian television specials CBC Television original programming CBC News Network original programming CBC News New Year's television specials Turn of the third millennium