''Midday'' is a

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

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- ...

, which ran from January 7, 1985

Greg Quill Gregory Raymond Quill (18 April 19475 May 2013) was an Australian-born musician, singer-songwriter and journalist. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was an entertainment columnist at the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper from the mid-1980s unt ...

, "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 pa ...

'', January 6, 1985. to June 30, 2000,"It's midnight for Midday". '' The Globe and Mail'', 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 Keith Morrison (born July 2, 1947) is a Canadian broadcast journalist. Since 1995, he has been a correspondent for '' Dateline NBC''. Career Beginning his career in the 1960s, Morrison was a reporter and anchor at local stations in Saskatche ...

and

Valerie Pringle Valerie Pringle (née Whittingham, born 5 September 1953) is a Canadian television host and journalist, hosting the Canadian edition of ''Antiques Roadshow'' on CBC since 2006. Pringle was born in Windsor, Ontario. Pringle began her career in ...

; 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 Dave Hodge (born January 8, 1945) is a Canadian sports announcer. Hodge worked for TSN, the CBC and CFRB 1010 radio in Toronto. Early Years Born in Montreal, Hodge began his career as a sportswriter with the ''Chatham Daily News'' in 1965, th ...

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 Televis ...

, who later became executive producer of ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

'' 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 CIII-DT (channel 41) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, CIII-DT maintains studios at 81 Barber Greene ...

's local noon-hour newscast was attracting in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

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 Peter Downie is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and academic. For 25 years, Downie worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. On CBC Television, he was best known as the co-anchor of ''Midday'' from 1985 to 1989 and the host of '' Man Ali ...

was hired as Pringle's new co-host; Pringle took a maternity leave in 1986, with

Sue Prestedge Sue Prestedge is a Canadian sports broadcaster who was one of Canada's first and most influential female sports journalists."Hamilton's Prestedge to lead Women's Sports Network". ''Hamilton Spectator'', March 2, 2001. After working as a sports rep ...

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 Raphael "Ralph" Benmergui (born 1955) is a Canadian television and radio personality, a writer, an ordained spiritual director, and a strategic advisor in political, environmental, and academic realms. Early life and education Born to a Sephard ...

, who was selected over

Whit Fraser Whit Grant Fraser (born November 26, 1942) is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster, and author who is the current viceregal consort of Canada. Background Born in Merigomish, Nova Scotia, and educated in Stellarton, Fraser began his career in ...

and

Stuart McLean Andrew Stuart McLean, (April 19, 1948 – February 15, 2017) was a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program ''The Vinyl Cafe''.Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui'', and was succeeded by Kevin Newman in the fall."CBC fills Midday job". '' The Globe and Mail'', 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 Pamela Wallin (born April 10, 1953) is a Canadian senator, former television journalist, and diplomat. She was appointed to the senate on January 2, 2009, where she initially sat as a Conservative. Early life and career Wallin was born in ...

as cohost of

's ''

'', 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, previously the program's entertainment reporter and a sometime substitute anchor. Newman left in November 1994 to join

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

in the

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, and was replaced by

Brent Bambury Brent Bambury (born 1960)"CBC announces host for 'All in a Day': Brent Bambury to replace Ken Rockburn". ''Ottawa Citizen'', January 16, 2002. is a Canadian radio and television personality. He has hosted a number of radio and television programs ...

, formerly the host of CBC Stereo's ''

Brave New Waves ''Brave New Waves'' was a Canadian radio program which aired on CBC Stereo, later known as CBC Radio 2, from 1984 to 2007. Airing overnight five nights a week, the show profiled alternative and indie music and culture, including film, comics, ...

'', in March 1995."New late-night host". '' The Globe and Mail'', 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 Pete Luckett (born 1953) is a British-Canadian entrepreneur and media personality known as a culinary fruit and vegetable expert. A native of Nottingham, England, Luckett emigrated to Canada in 1979, settling in Saint John, New Brunswick. In the e ...

, a grocer from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

who presented food segments, and

Antonia Zerbisias Antonia Zerbisias is a Canadian journalist associated with the ''Toronto Star'' from 1989 until she took early retirement from the paper on 31 October 2014. She has been a reporter and TV host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as wel ...

, 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 The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio founded in 1991 that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music. The members since 1995 are Trevor Strong (vocals), Mike McC ...

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