''Midday'' is a newsmagazine television program broadcast on

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 ...

, which ran from January 7, 1985 Greg Quill, "Midday news show CBC's tool to grab noontime viewers". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', January 6, 1985. to June 30, 2000,"It's midnight for Midday". ''

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 ...

'', July 3, 2000. replacing local noon-hour newscasts on CBC stations. The program, which aired from noon to 1 p.m. on weekday afternoons, presented a mix of news, lifestyle and entertainment features.

Overview

Its original hosts were Bill Cameron, Keith Morrison and Valerie Pringle; Pringle hosted consistently while Cameron and Morrison alternated as her co-anchor, as both were also contributors to the CBC's nightly news program '' The Journal''. Dave Hodge was also auditioned as a potential host of the program. The program would open with a 10-minute CBC News summary, usually read by

Sheldon Turcott Sheldon Turcott (1936 – February 18, 2000) was a Canadian television journalist and news anchor, best known as a reporter and host on CBC Television for four decades. He was a frequent contributor to '' The National'', working at times as a new ...

in the news studio, and then move to another studio — the same studio, in fact, that was used for ''The Journal'' — for the main segment of the program. Following the launch of

CBC Newsworld CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

in 1989, the news summary became a simulcast of that network's hourly news update that was live for each time zone. The original producer was Michael Harris"CBC still hasn't hired new As It Happens host". ''

'', August 14, 1985. and the program was directed for its first four seasons by

Sidney M. Cohen Sidney M. Cohen is a Canadian television director specializing in live multi-camera productions requiring minimal editing and is also a TV program creator. Cohen was born in Montreal, Quebec and began his career with CFCF-TV and later CBC Televi ...

, who later became executive producer of '' Canada AM'' for

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

. Initial ratings were not strong, with the program attracting only slightly more viewers across all of Canada than CIII-TV's local noon-hour newscast was attracting in the Toronto market alone, although the program was a strong performer in the ratings by 1986."Midday grace". ''

'', April 5, 1986. After several months with the program, Morrison transferred to the CBC's bureau in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, while Cameron was not interested in taking over as a permanent host of the program due to his duties with ''The Journal'', and Peter Downie was hired as Pringle's new co-host; Pringle took a maternity leave in 1986, with Sue Prestedge filling in as substitute anchor for several weeks. Downie left in June 1989 to become host of '' Man Alive'', and was replaced by Ralph Benmergui, who was selected over Whit Fraser and Stuart McLean. Benmergui left the program in May 1992 to become host of '' Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui'', and was succeeded by Kevin Newman in the fall."CBC fills Midday job". ''

'', December 12, 1992. Newman cohosted with Pringle for only a few weeks before she left the program in December of the same year to succeed Pamela Wallin as cohost of

's '' Canada AM'', just a few weeks after Wallin was hired by the CBC to become co-anchor of '' Prime Time News'', and was replaced by

Tina Srebotnjak Tina Srebotnjak is a Canadian radio and television journalist. Background She was born in Slovenia and moved to Canada with her parents as a child, growing up in Mississauga, Ontario. She was educated at the University of Toronto, studying English ...

, previously the program's entertainment reporter and a sometime substitute anchor. Newman left in November 1994 to join ABC News in the United States, and was replaced by Brent Bambury, formerly the host of CBC Stereo's '' Brave New Waves'', in March 1995."New late-night host". ''

'', August 28, 1995. Bambury and Srebotnjak remained the hosts of the program until its cancellation in 2000."173 jobs go as CBC's axe falls yet again". ''

'', February 11, 2000. Other notable personalities associated with the program included Pete Luckett, a grocer from Nova Scotia who presented food segments, and Antonia Zerbisias, who appeared as an entertainment commentator and reviewer. The final program, which aired on June 30, 2000, featured a live studio audience and appearances by all of the program's former hosts. Comedy musical group The Arrogant Worms performed a tribute song written especially for the program, based around the theme that "without ''Midday'' telling them it was time for lunch, they'd starve".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midday (Canadian TV program) CBC Television original programming Television shows filmed in Toronto 1985 Canadian television series debuts 2000 Canadian television series endings CBC News 1980s Canadian television news shows 1990s Canadian television news shows 2000s Canadian television news shows

Overview

See also

References