Metro Morning

Metro Morning is CBC Radio One's local morning program in Toronto, airing on CBLA-FM. The program airs from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. weekday mornings, and has frequently been Toronto's highest-rated radio program in its timeslot.[1] The program is currently hosted by Ismaila Alfa.

Metro Morning
Other namesTomorrow Is Here (1973-74)
Running time5:30 am–8:30 am
Country of originCanada
Language(s)English
Home stationCBLA-FM
Hosted byIsmaila Alfa
Recording studioCanadian Broadcasting Centre
Original releaseApril 2, 1973 – present
Websitecbc.ca/metromorning

Metro Morning does not air on most of CBLA's rebroadcast transmitters outside of Toronto, which air the separate program Ontario Morning instead. However Metro Morning was broadcast on the Paris, Ontario transmitter CBLA-FM-2 to serve Waterloo Region and the westernmost parts of the Greater Toronto Area, until the start of that region's local morning programming, Morning Edition, on March 11, 2013.

History

Metro Morning premiered in 1973 with the name Tomorrow Is Here. It replaced I'm Here Till 9 which had been hosted by Alex Trebek from 1971 until the end of 1972 when it was decided to replace it with a show that had a harder news format. George Rich hosted the morning show between Trebek's departure at the end of 1972 and the launch of Tomorrow Is Here on April 2, 1973.[2]

Previously, CBC's morning show had been Toast and Jamboree, hosted by Bruce Smith, from 1948 until 1971.[3][4][5]

Tomorrow Is Here was renamed Metro Morning in 1974.[6] The program's first host was Bruce Rogers,[6] who was succeeded by Harry Brown in 1975.[7] Brown won an ACTRA Award for Best Public Affairs Broadcaster in 1976 for his work on the program.[7]

For its first two decades, the program was broadcast from CBC Radio's former Cabbagetown studio at 509 Parliament Street, which had previously been a theatre.[8] During this era, the show was famous for Tuffy, the station's "watchcat", who would be referred to regularly on air and even appeared on station merchandising.[8] The show moved, along with all of the station's operations, to the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in 1992.

Joe Côté became host of the program in 1979, and stayed with the program until 1992 as its longest-serving host as of that time.[9] He was succeeded by Matt Maychak,[10] who left the program in 1995;[11] Maychak was replaced by Andy Barrie, the longest-serving host in the show's history.

After Barrie retired from the program in 2010 he was succeeded by Matt Galloway, who had served for several years as host of the station's afternoon show Here and Now.[12] Galloway's final day as host of Metro Morning was on December 6, 2019,[13] following which he took over as host of the network's national morning news show The Current on January 6, 2020.[14] The program was helmed after Galloway's departure by guest hosts including Farrah Merali, Piya Chattopadhyay, Ismaila Alfa, Jill Dempsey and David Common until Alfa was named the permanent host on July 7, 2020. He officially assumed the role on August 24, 2020.[15]

Prior to being named host of Metro Morning, Alfa was the host of Up to Speed, the network's afternoon program on CBW in Winnipeg, Manitoba,[16] and has been active as a hip hop musician, most notably participating in the 2008 Record of the Week Club project.

Hosts

References
  1. "Why is this man the city's top morning radio host?", Toronto Star, July 17, 2004 (as archived at Friends of Canadian Broadcasting).
  2. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/radio/cbla-fm
  3. "Metro Morning marks 40 years of telling Toronto stories". CBC News. April 3, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  4. "Former CBC radio host Bruce Smith dies". CBC News. December 28, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  5. Bradburn, Jamie (July 15, 2015). "Vintage Toronto Ads: Alex Trebek The Jeopardy! host was CBC Radio's morning man for a year in the early 1970s". Torontoist. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  6. Martin Knelman (June 11, 2003). "Metro Morning gets its groove back". Toronto Star.
  7. "Harry Brown, longtime CBC broadcaster, dies in native Nfld. at age 72". Canadian Press, April 1, 2002.
  8. Henry Mietkiewicz, "Watchcat Tuffy's the radio star of Canadian Broadcatting Corp." Toronto Star, August 2, 1986.
  9. Greg Quill, "Metro's mornings just won't be the same, Joe". Toronto Star, September 2, 1992.
  10. Frank Jones, "How Matt learned to say 'Tor-on-TOE'". Toronto Star, January 31, 1994.
  11. Antonia Zerbisias, "Morning radio show host axed by CBC". Toronto Star, June 17, 1995.
  12. Vincent Donovan, "Metro Morning's new voice, new view; Matt Galloway bringing diversity to CBC show". Toronto Star, February 9, 2010.
  13. Ted Fraser, "Fans bid farewell to long-time CBC Radio 'Metro Morning' host Matt Galloway". Toronto Star, December 6, 2019.
  14. Abhya Adlakha, "CBC’s Matt Galloway leaving ‘Metro Morning’ for ‘The Current’". Toronto Star, October 24, 2019.
  15. "Metro Morning names Ismaila Alfa as new host". CBC News. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  16. Jacob Lorinc, "Ismaila Alfa named new host of CBC Radio’s ‘Metro Morning’". Toronto Star, July 7, 2020.
  17. Dick Beddoes, "Making it all add up". The Globe and Mail, November 15, 1977.
  18. Elina MacNiven, "CBC highlights diversity in Radio week celebration". The Globe and Mail, May 9, 1981.
  19. Peter Goddard, "Andy Barrie's defection to CBC stuns CFRB staff". Toronto Star, July 25, 1995.
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