The CBC's latest attempt to buy some cred with the under-30 set starts later tonight when The Hour -- the vehicle for ex-MuchMusic veejay George Stroumboulopoulos -- gets going.
An excerpt from a CP story on globeandmail.com:
Stroumboulopoulos brings edge to CBC with new show
Canadian Press
Starting Monday there will be some new edge — and a nose ring — on the CBC.
That's when George Stroumboulopoulos, the irreverent, punk-loving former MuchMusic VJ, begins his new job hosting a current affairs show on the venerable public broadcaster.
Sandwiched between conventional newscasts Canada Now and The National on CBC's Newsworld, The Hour will air live Monday to Thursday at 8 p.m. EST.
And with Stroumboulopoulos's well-known, no-bull attitude, the show should bring some street-cred for the under-30 set, a demographic currently unlikely to tune into the CBC for anything other than a hockey game.
"The deal was that it would be a different take on the news and that nothing would be sacred," Stroumboulopoulos explained in a recent interview at the show's Toronto headquarters.
"It's a very straight-up, no bullshit current affairs talk show."
It will be nice if he can achieve that at the Corpse, but straight-up and no bullshit aren't exactly sacrosanct parts of the CBC credo. :)
However, I'm willing to give the guy a chance. What little I saw of him on MuchMusic indicates there is a functioning mind there.
And if he makes the news's presentation more interesting and brings more young people in, so much the better!