Yeah, a terrific show along with spinoffs to this day.
I'm hoping the Toronto version catches on but so far the show is kind of shaky.
It really needs some more solid recognizable stars.
I don't really think this current crew will ever become household names.
 

Gosh, very sorry to hear this.
I was a fan of Rex and Cross Country Checkup, but was not on board for his latter conversion as a conservative.
But that being said he was a really skilled and credible political commentator, as well as being a rather quirky and somewhat eccentric personality.
RIP.
 

Sad news.  Rex Murphy was a one of a kind journalist and definately not a team player.  He was a wordsmith, funny, smart, all wrapped up with glorious Newfoundland charm...Sleep well Mr. Murphy..https://www.cbc.ca/news

You probably didn't notice it on Thursday's original "Law & Order," but that was the 500th episode of the show that debuted in Sept. 1990. Minus a season or two when it was foolishly cancelled by NBC, it hasn't been off the air since. And it always seems to be running on cable stations somewhere, especially in the U.S. 

Here's the original TV Guide Fall Preview look at the show, before anyone had ever seen it. The first one is from the U.S. edition, the second from the one put out in Canada.


 

Rex Murphy not only hosted the national CBC show for 21 years, he was also a prolific columnist for newspapers like the National Post. The Rhodes scholar's last piece for the paper was published just two days ago. He had been battling cancer for some time, when the illness finally claimed him.

"For 21 years, Murphy, with his distinctive Newfoundland accent, hosted Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio, a nationwide call-in show and appeared on various other CBC programs. He was, as a Ryerson Review of Journalism writer noted in 1996, the “antithesis of … other high-profile on-air personalities, with their CBC smiles and central Canadian dialects.” 

Yet, after he left CBC in 2015, the public broadcaster became a favoured recipient of Murphy’s ire, often dispatched from the Comment pages of the Post. But CBC was his home repeatedly over the decades."

He was 77.

Rex Murphy, the sharp-witted intellectual who loved Canada, dies at 77

Here's one of the most famous TV ads of all time. It cost a fortune to make, was directed by Ridley Scott and incredibly, only aired once - on the 1984 Super Bowl. It's still visually stunning. 

This sad story is finally over, with the conviction of the suspect for manslaughter. 

Toronto man pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of CBC journalist

Interesting to note that back in 1960, CHUM turned this into a contest for listeners - while CJAD used it as an audition technique for potential announcers. Could you have passed the Montreal station's test?

Notice something?
I guess back in 1971 women did not exist.
Yet in my memory even back in 1971 when I went to McDonald's I would almost always be served by a woman (girl).

 A new 10 part Corus original scripted series, Geek Girl debuts on Stack TV on May 30th.
Details from Corus Entertainment..https://www.corusent.com/media-centre/press-releases/goodbye-high-school-hello-high-fashion-corus-original-series-geek-girl-drops-exclusively-on-stacktv-in-canada-may-30/ 

This has always been a huge issue in the U.S. as local stations are permitted to charge cable companies a monthly fee to carry their signal which gets passed on to the customer. Naturally, when the contract ends the station and cable company blame each other for the soon to be carriage fee increase. While the bickering continues, the station is withdrawn from the cable lineup and the consumer is literally left in the dark. Fortunately, that doesn't happen in Canada because of CRTC's mandatory must carry rule for local stations. However, there are carriage fees for all of the imported U.S. channels like A&E, CNN. FOXNews etc. I have often wondered if the fees are the same as south of the border or does Bell and Rogers negotiate directly. Since Rogers has started charging for the Buffalo channels now, I suspect they are paying for the reception. My theory is back in the analog days, Rogers used an antenna system like everyone else and plucked crystal clear signals from Buffalo. In the digital era, the signals don't travel as far so perhaps Rogers antenna system can no longer guarantee reliable reception. Maybe Rogers has to microwave the signals now and the Buffalo stations can demand a monthly fee for that?  I am no techy, but does my theory sound likely?

This will be all over the place right now...Leaf coach Sheldon Keefe fired...https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-maple-leafs-sheldon-keefe-fired-1.7198701

It's called "First Squad, First Platoon," and it's based on a story he wrote about his experiences in World War II. It's been in his daughter's possession for decades and she finally decided to submit it for publication. 

"The story is set on Leyte Island in “heavy jungle foliage” and a “hostile rain that caked mud on weapons, uniforms, equipment.” Each of the five chapters in the 11,000-word story is about a different soldier and how they died."

Unfortunately, it will cost you if you want to read it. The Strand Magazine has the rights and is selling just the story for $12 U.S., or extra fees if you want a year or more subscription to their publication. The Strand is a magazine dedicated to putting out previously unknown or unpublished material by famous writers, including Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, H.G. Wells, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Agatha Christie. 

A WWII story by The Twilight Zone’s Rod Serling is published for the first time

Speaking of iHeartRadio, the US company just released their 1st quarter.  Overall revenue was down 1.5% for all segments.  However revenue for the radio broadcast division with over 850 stations was down by 6.2%.

Read it if you dare, financials from radioINSIGHT..https://radioinsight.com/headlines/268429/iheartmedia-q1-2024-revenue-drops-1-5/ 

RadioActive wrote:

I
If a place with such a restricted budget can do this....

Mandatory basic cable carriage at a relatively high fee that generates $39M/yr is the opposite of a restricted budget. (and they still manage to lose a bit)