Jan Tennant (born 1937) is a
Canadian television journalist.
Early life
Tennant was born in
Toronto,
Ontario in 1937, growing up in the
High Park North neighbourhood, attended Runnymede Public School and
Humberside Collegiate Institute
Humberside Collegiate Institute (also known as Humberside CI, HCI, or Humberside), formerly known as Toronto Junction High School and Toronto Junction Collegiate Institute is a public high school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves the ...
, and then attended the
University of Toronto.
Teaching
She graduated with a degree with Physical Education and Health and began teaching at
Queen Elizabeth Junior High in
Port Credit, Ontario (1960), Switzerland (1961–62), then obtained a Type A Certificate in Physical and Health Education, and Type B in English and French at the
Ontario College of Education (1962–63) before resuming teaching at
Castle Frank High School in
Toronto until 1965.
Broadcasting
Jan Tennant joined the
CBC in 1966 as a unit secretary. She soon became a script assistant for ''
The Way It Is'' and ''
The Nature of Things'' and then moved into announcing for both radio and television. She was formerly an announcer for the
CBC Radio and
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
including commentary on ''
Science Magazine'' and in 1974, became the first woman to host ''
The National'' when she appeared as a substitute anchor. Jan became the announcer for the popular CBC-TV series
Reach for the Top in 1971, and in 1973 she took over from
Alex Trebek
George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...
as host of the series for the next eight years. Tennant had also anchored ''The Saturday Evening News'', the 6 p.m. national newscast, before that program was renamed ''
Saturday Report'' in 1982.
She subsequently left the CBC and worked as an anchor for
Global Television Network
The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...
until 1987.
She retired from broadcasting in 1998.
She has since been freelancing in Vancouver.
References
* Shaw, Ted. "Mid-life crises aren't for Tennant", ''Windsor Star'', February 1, 1992, p. F6
Living people
Canadian television news anchors
University of Toronto alumni
1937 births
Canadian women television journalists
Journalists from Toronto
20th-century Canadian journalists
20th-century Canadian women
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