Is there any greater sign of the upheaval in Canadian TV right now than the end of Canada AM?
The news and lifestyle-oriented talk show will end after 43 seasons, the broadcaster announced today. It has been on the air since 1972, a staple of both CTV’s daytime lineup and many Canadians’ morning routines, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Bell Media is keeping longtime host Beverly Thomson in the fold with a move to CTV News Channel, while Jeff Hutcheson will, as previously announced by the channel, retire. Marci Ien will be moved more generally into Bell Media’s in-house productions department, where the company says she will work to develop new projects.
A statement from CTV says it will reveal new programming for the early-morning daypart next week, ostensibly at its June 5 upfront. In the interim, the channel will air a simulcast of live CTV News Channel programming.
Canada AM‘s list of past hosts reads like a who’s who of Canadian broadcast journalism: Craig Oliver was the show’s first producer, in 1972; Norm Perry became its longest-serving host, staying in the Canada AM host chair from 1974 to 1990; Pamela Wallin was there for two years, from 1985-87 and then again in 1991-92, with Tom Clark in the fold around the same time, from 1986-87. Don Matheson, Wei Chen, Lisa Laflamme, Seamus O’Regan and Rod Black have also all held hosting gigs on the show in the last 40 years.