''Medium Rare'' was a Canadian radio program, which aired from 1987 to 1993. Produced by

CHEZ-FM CHEZ-FM (106.1 MHz, ''CHEZ 106'') is a Canadian radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock format in Ottawa, Ontario. The station is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media. CHEZ's studios are located at the intersection of ...

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 ...

, the program was syndicated to several radio stations across Canada."CRTC quota proposal may be last straw for Medium Rare syndicator". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', November 8, 1992. Hosted by CHEZ's news director, Ken Rockburn, the program was a two-hour news and public affairs magazine show which aired on Sunday evenings, including features and interviews on politics, arts, literature and culture, although the show was ultimately most noted for Rockburn's interviews with writers."Rockburn right stuff for TVO job". ''

'', March 9, 1993. The program made Rockburn the only host in Canadian commercial, rather than public, radio ever to win three Nellies from the

ACTRA Awards The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

regulations meant that music-based stations were no longer required to air a minimum quota of

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

programming, the program was immediately dropped from the schedules of all its syndicated stations."Empty hole left as Medium Rare bids a farewell". ''

'', June 20, 1993. It continued on CHEZ for two more months, before airing its final episode in June. During this time Rockburn was a contender for the job of hosting

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

's literature show ''

Imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

'' following the departure of

Daniel Richler Daniel Richler (born 1957) is a Canadian arts and pop culture broadcaster and writer."The apprenticeship of Daniel Richler". ''Montreal Gazette'', May 19, 1991. Biography Richler was born in London, England."When it's time to stop looking like a ...

, although he was not selected. Rockburn published a book of interviews from the show, ''Medium Rare: Jamming with Culture'', in 1995. He subsequently moved to the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

, where he hosted the television interview show '' Rockburn and Company'' and CBO's afternoon program ''

All in a Day ''All in a Day'' is a 1986 children's literature, children's picture book written and illustrated by Mitsumasa Anno. It features illustrations by Anno and several other internationally known illustrators: Eric Carle, Raymond Briggs, Nicolai Ye. ...

''."Rockburn named All In a Day host". ''

'', March 7, 1996.

References

{{reflist, 2 Canadian talk radio programs 1987 radio programme debuts 1993 radio programme endings Radio programs about books and literature 1980s Canadian radio programs 1990s Canadian radio programs Syndicated Canadian radio programs