What's On (Canadian TV program)

What's On (Traditional Chinese: 熒幕八爪娛) is a Canadian weekly half-hour infotainment TV program that airs on Fairchild TV.

What's On 熒幕八爪娛
Title card of What's On, circa 2006.
Presented bysee Past and current hosts
Country of originCanada
Production
Executive producersClarisa Tsun
(Vancouver)
Alice Ngan
(Toronto)
Production locationsVancouver, British Columbia;
Toronto, Ontario
Running time30 minutes (including commercials)
Production companyFairchild TV
DistributorFairchild TV
Release
Original networkFairchild TV
Picture format480i (NTSC)
Original releaseJuly 1, 1996 (1996-07-01) 
present

Format

Originally started in 1996, the program is currently the longest-running program in Fairchild Television history. What's On is a 30-minute informative program that introduces viewers to events happening in and around Vancouver, British Columbia and Toronto, Ontario. It also runs short interviews with local celebrities, politicians and social figures for events they are contributing to, as well as interviews with international celebrities as they arrive in the city to promote or to perform.

Originally, there were two versions of the program. The Vancouver version and Toronto version ran in the same time slot in their respective cities on Thursday nights at 10:00 p.m. while the version of the opposite city ran on Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. However, because of the CRTC's ruling requiring Fairchild TV to air the same programming throughout the country, the two programs combined into one in July 2001 with each city getting 15 minutes of airtime. This also meant the start of the "interactive" format of the program where the hosts from the two cities shared a brief interaction as the scenes change from one city to another.

In November 2002, Fairchild Television moved the program from its Thursday timeslot to its current Sunday at 7:30pm time.

Past and current hosts

What's On is seen as a training ground for a lot of Fairchild Television personalities. The following is a partial list of past and present hosts for the program:

Host Name Edition Hosted Years Hosted
Eva Yang 楊宜文Vancouver1996–1998
Walter Ngai 倪啟瑞Vancouver1996–1998
Sunny Shum 岑恩鎏Toronto1997–2000
Eric Li 李潤庭Vancouver1998–2002
Millie Leung 梁敏賢Vancouver1998–2002
Natalie Au 區念慈Vancouver1998–2003
Prudence Yim 嚴峻Vancouver1999–2000
Benny Yau 邱穟恆Vancouver2000–2002
Leslie Tsang 曽穎妍Vancouver2000–2002
Jackson Ho 何紹文Vancouver2000–2001
Maggie Hou 侯佳慧Vancouver2001–2003
Kenny Wong 黃子俊Vancouver2001–2003
Anita Lee 李慧雅Toronto2001–2005
Leo Siu 蕭嘉俊Toronto2001–2004, 2006–2007
Joanne Kwan 關曉彤Toronto2001–2003
Georgia Leung 梁耀寧Toronto2001–2004
Jenny Pat 畢蕾蕾Vancouver2001–2002
Janis Chan 陳貝兒Vancouver2002–2003
Melody Liu 劉亮Vancouver2002–2003
Clifton Kwan 關逸揚Vancouver2002–2003
Jing Lu 盧婧Toronto2002–2004, 2010–present
Cleo Ng 吳嘉栩Toronto2003–2007
June Tang 鄧芷茵Toronto2003–2008
Johnson Cheung 張立熙Toronto2003–2005
Cindy Cheung 張瑋恩Vancouver2003–2006
Sandy Cheung 張梓欣Vancouver2003–present
Eunice Ho 何詠雯Vancouver2003–2006
Caroline Chang 張雅淇Vancouver / Toronto2003–2006
Kenneth Lau 劉家逸Vancouver2004–present
Ming Fai Lee 李明輝Vancouver2004–2008
Aimee Chan 陳茵媺Toronto2004–2005
Janet Chow 周家蔚Toronto2004–2006
Thomas Chong 莊子軒Toronto2005–present
Jessica Cheung 張葆頤Vancouver2006–present
Kayi Cheung 張嘉兒Vancouver2006–2007
Susan Wong 黃潔華Vancouver2006–2007
Sunny Chan 陳星南Vancouver2006–2008
Daryl Doo 杜光庭Toronto2006–2007
Elva Ni 倪晨曦Toronto2006–2009
Belinda Yan 顏子菲Toronto2006–2009
Caroline Khuu 丘嘉玲Toronto2007–2009, 2011–present
Ivy Hou 侯薔薔Toronto2007–2009
Susanna Chan 陳銘莉Toronto2007–2010
Alan Ho 何偉圖Toronto2007–present
Amy So 蘇家慧Vancouver2007–2008
Ca Lee Mo 毛嘉利Vancouver2007–present
Rikko Lee 李靄璣Vancouver2007–2008
Brian Chan 陳本岡Vancouver2008–present
Cherry Kwok 郭鈺淳Vancouver2008–present
Gary Yan 甄嘉亮Vancouver2008–present
Jackie Tse 謝展基Vancouver2008–present
Vincent 阿晨Vancouver2008–2009
Bernard Siu 蕭康迪Toronto2008–present
Cleone Ip 葉小寒Toronto2009–present
June Ng 吳珮如Toronto2010–present
Angel Wang 王倩Toronto2010–present
Cecilia Xu 徐顯雅Toronto2010–present
Kelly Tai 戴昭彤Toronto2010–present
Natalie Wong 黃煦齡Toronto2010–present
Jerry Lau 劉致理Toronto2010–present
Carat Cheung 張名雅Vancouver2010–present
Hilary Tam 譚曉榆Toronto2011–2012
Wendy Wen 全家欣Toronto2011–present

What's On alumni

  • Eva Yang 楊宜文 was a popular television presenter for Fairchild Television, hosting another long-running talk show Leisure Talk, until late 2006, when she left the station. She also hosted the annual Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant for several years.
  • Walter Ngai 倪啟瑞 went on to become a Promotional Executive for Fairchild Television until 2002, when he returned to Hong Kong and is now working for Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited.
  • Eric Li 李潤庭 returned to Hong Kong and became a news anchor for Asia Television and more recently, Cable TV Hong Kong.
  • Benny Yau 邱穟恆 continues to host various programs for Fairchild Television including New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition.
  • Maggie Hou 侯佳慧 returned to Hong Kong and is now a presenter for Hong Kong TVB's entertainment news channel.
  • Johnson Cheung 張立熙 has since returned to Hong Kong and has won awards from various singing competitions.
  • Kenny Wong 黃子俊 returned to Hong Kong and is now a TV presenter for Cable TV Hong Kong's entertainment channel.
  • Anita Lee 李慧雅 currently co-hosts the Toronto leg of Leisure Talk for Fairchild Television.
  • Leo Siu 蕭嘉俊 returned to Hong Kong and is presenter for Hong Kong TVB's entertainment news channel in 2005. He returned to Toronto in 2007 and is currently hosting Toronto leg of Leisure Talk.
  • Janis Chan 陳貝兒 returned to Hong Kong and is now a TV presenter for Cable TV Hong Kong's entertainment channel.
  • Aimee Chan 陳茵媺 returned to Hong Kong to enter the Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2006 where she won the crown, Miss International Goodwill, and Audience Favorite.
  • Janet Chow 周家蔚 entered the Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2006 as an overseas contestant from Toronto and garnered the first runner-up title.
  • June Tang 鄧芷茵 returned to Hong Kong to become a singer in 2009.
  • Eunice Ho 何詠雯 became a Promotion Executive for the station until March 2006. She is currently a presenter for Hong Kong TVB's entertainment news channel.
  • Kayi Cheung 張嘉兒 entered the Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2007 as an overseas contestant from Vancouver and won the crown and garnered the Miss Energetic Award.
  • Sandy Cheung 張梓欣 currently hosts the Vancouver leg of Leisure Talk for Fairchild Television. However, in 2008, she resumed hosting What's On again.
  • Rikko Lee 李靄璣 is currently signed to TVB as an artist and was a reporter for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
  • Daryl Doo 杜光庭 is currently working at Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK) as a radio program host.

Special segments

Whenever Fairchild TV has a major event coming up such as the annual New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition (NTSA Vancouver) or the Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant (MCV), What's On will run special segments within the program over several weeks to feature the event as a preview to the event. Sometimes, a company would sponsor a segment to be aired during "What's On". These segments usually feature one or two hosts which may or may not be the regular What's On presenters at that time. Some notable past segments include:

  • "Why is Mexico So Much Fun? (點解墨西哥咁好玩)"
    • Number of episodes: 6 episodes
    • Airdates: February 2002 - March 2002
    • Hosted by: Dominic Lam 林嘉華 and Jacqueline Ko 高惠鈱
  • "Beautiful Episode (芳華集)" preview of MCV 2002; MCV 2003
    • Number of episodes: 6 - 8 episodes
    • Airdates: October 2002 - December 2002; November 2003 - December 2003
    • Hosted by: Kenny Wong 黃子俊
  • "The Tale of Finding New Talents (尋找新丁的故事)"preview of NTSA Vancouver 2005
    • Number of episodes: 11 episodes
    • Airdates: May 2005 - July 2005
    • Hosted by: Kenneth Lau 劉家逸 ( as Inspector Octopus (八爪神探) )
  • "Pure Beauty Premiere (純美搜影)" preview of MCV 2005; MCV 2006; MCV 2007
    • Number of episodes: 6 - 8 episodes
    • Airdates: October - December 2005, 2006, 2007
    • Hosted by: Jessica Cheung 張葆頤 (2005); Kayi Cheung 張嘉兒 (2006); Natalie Zhang 張譯文 (2007)
  • "Mr. Sing Searches for Stars (Sing仔尋星)" preview of NTSA Vancouver 2006
    • Number of episodes: 5 episodes
    • Airdates: June 2006 - July 2006
    • Hosted by: Benny Yau 邱穟恆 ( as Mr. Sing (Sing仔) )
  • "Tips for Winter Driving (冬日駕駛錦囊)"
    • Number of episodes: 10 episodes
    • Airdates: October 2006 - December 2006
    • Hosted by: Daryl Doo 杜光庭
  • "Dou Dou Diary (豆豆日記)" preview of NTSA Vancouver 2007
    • Number of episodes: 7 episodes
    • Airdates: May 2006 - July 2006
    • Hosted by: Sunny Chan 陳星南 ( as Dou Dou (豆豆) )

See also

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