Midday (CBC)

Midday was a television newsmagazine series on CBC Television, which ran from January 1985 to 2000, replacing local noon-hour newscasts on CBC stations. The show, which aired from noon to 1 p.m. on weekday afternoons, presented a mix of news, lifestyle and entertainment features.

The show would open with a 10-minute CBC News summary, usually read by Sheldon Turcotte in the news studio, and then move to another studio for the main segment of the program. The news summary would later become a simulcast of the CBC Newsworld hourly news update that was live for each time zone.

Its original hosts were Bill Cameron, Keith Morrison and Valerie Pringle. The original producer was Michael Harris and the series was directed for its first four seasons by Sidney M. Cohen, who later became executive producer of Canada AM for CTV. Morrison, who initially rotated with Cameron, left after a year and Cameron left several years later, and was replaced by Peter Downie; Downie left in 1989 and was replaced by Ralph Benmergui.

Pringle left the show to become host of Canada AM, and was replaced by one of show's regular contributors, Tina Srebotnjak. Benmergui later left to become host of Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui, and was replaced by Kevin Newman. Newman subsequently left to join ABC News in the United States, and was replaced by Brent Bambury.

Bambury and Srebotnjak remained the hosts of the show until its cancellation in 2000. Other notable personalities associated with the show included Pete Luckett, a grocer from Nova Scotia who presented food segments, and Antonia Zerbisias, who appeared as an entertainment commentator and reviewer.

For many years, Midday used the same studio as the CBC's main public affairs show, The Journal

See also

List of Canadian television series