Amber Dawn MacArthur (born 27 June 1976) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
and
netcasting personality, bestselling author of two books, and keynote speaker. MacArthur (aka Amber Mac) is the former co-host of BNN's ''App Central'' and ''Bloomberg Brink'',
G4TechTV's ''Call for Help'', and
TWiT's ''The Social Hour'' (successor to ''net@night/
Inside the Net''). She was the most followed Canadian television personality on Twitter in 2008. In 2018, she was named DMZ's 30 inspirational women making a difference in tech.
She is now the co-host of the 2018 AI podcast series, The AI Effect where she interviews notable guests such as Prime Minister Trudeau and Mayor John Tory. Amber is President of a digital media company called AmberMac Media, Inc.
MacArthur used to produce and co-host her own
video podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. ...
, ''commandN'', and has also hosted on ''
Torrent
Torrent or torrents may refer to:
* A fast flowing stream
Animals
* Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae
* Torrent fish
* Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs
* Torrent robin, a bird species
* Torrent salamander, a family of s ...
'' and ''Gadgets and Gizmos'' for
G4techTV Canada. MacArthur worked for over a year for
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
's
City''News'' and
CP24
CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...
, and she had returned to the now CTV-owned CP24 as New Media Specialist and was the host of
Webnation
''Webnation'' is a television show about technology that is aired on CP24 in Toronto, Canada. It features technology news, viral videos, reviews and trends. The program first aired on October 14, 2009, and replaces the talk television show ''Ho ...
. She previously hosted and produced a show for
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
called "Girls Go Geek" alongside her brother
Jeff MacArthur
Jeff MacArthur is a Canadian netcasting and tech personality. MacArthur co-created commandN.tv, a technology/social media video podcast with his sister, Amber MacArthur, and has acted as co-host and business manager for the production since its i ...
and Christopher Dick that features women in technology.
Background
MacArthur is originally from
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...
,
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...
, and lives in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. She received an undergraduate degree in English from
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...
, and studied journalism at the
University of King's College
The University of King's College, established in 1789, is in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.Roper, Henry. "Aspects of the History of a Loyalist College: King's College, Windsor, and Nova Scotian Higher Education in the Nineteenth Century." Anglic ...
in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
.
She and Christopher Dick have one son.
Career
Technology
MacArthur worked for
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
for two years as a web strategist, as a web designer at
Razorfish in San Francisco, and as a judge at the
Webby Awards
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
2000. She was also Director of Web Marketing at HigherMarkets, "where she managed corporate branding initiatives, software usability and online course development."
In 2007 she co-founded a media company MGImedia Communications Inc. with her brother Jeff.
Television
Upon graduation, MacArthur worked in her hometown of
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...
at
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
, as an associate reporter from April to July 1999,
[Amber MacArthur's resume](_blank)
and the San Francisco radio station
KQED.
In July 2002, she co-hosted a
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
special "Science on the Red Carpet", with
Dave Foley
David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...
at the
Science & Technical Academy Awards.
She appeared weekly in the summer of 2006, as a tech columnist for
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
.
In 2004 MacArthur became a host on ''Call for Help'', a technology series produced for
G4techTV Canada, which still airs daily on G4 Canada and
HOW TO Channel
HOW TO Channel was an Australian cable and satellite television channel. It was carried on the Foxtel Digital, Optus TV featuring Foxtel Digital and Austar Digital platforms. It was owned by Premier Media Group, a 50/50 joint venture of Publish ...
in Australia. MacArthur is the subject of a song written in tribute to ''Call for Help'' 2.0. While working as a host on ''Call for Help'', MacArthur joined the series ''Gadgets and Gizmos'' as a co-host, working with Marc Saltzman and
Andy Walker until the show ended production in 2005.
From August 2004 to September 2006, MacArthur was host of the
G4techTV Canada program, ''
Torrent
Torrent or torrents may refer to:
* A fast flowing stream
Animals
* Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae
* Torrent fish
* Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs
* Torrent robin, a bird species
* Torrent salamander, a family of s ...
'', which is still in production.
She also hosted ''Gadgets and Gizmos'' for the Canadian channel.
On 28 August 2006, MacArthur announced on her blog that she was leaving her position at G4techTV and would no longer appear on ''Call For Help'', ''Torrent'', or ''Gadgets and Gizmos''.
In mid-September, she joined
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
,
CP24
CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...
in Toronto with the title "New Media Specialist", to report on "new media and interactive trends" for
City''News'' International. She first appeared on the station's nightly newscast, ''CityNews at Six'', commenting in another reporter's story on
9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government ...
propagated through the Internet. Segments since have ranged from former sex trade workers blogging the
Robert Pickton
Robert William "Willy" Pickton (born October 24, 1949) is a Canadian serial killer and former pig farmer. He is suspected of being one of the most prolific serial killers in Canadian history.
After dropping out of school, Pickton left a butcher ...
trial, to a
Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...
/
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
mashup.
In January 2007,
she launched a weekly program on CP24, which became quite popular as a vodcast. Originally titled "Inside Popnology",
the CHUM Television-produced program quickly became ''
Webnation
''Webnation'' is a television show about technology that is aired on CP24 in Toronto, Canada. It features technology news, viral videos, reviews and trends. The program first aired on October 14, 2009, and replaces the talk television show ''Ho ...
''. She resigned in October to go for freelance projects, feeling she was being asked to target too old an audience, and wanted to pursue two projects in the United States. They convinced her to stick around for two more months, after Rogers Communications promised her show would be weekly on the
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
network and on
G4techTV Canada,
reformatted, as of January 2008 as ''Webnation V2''.
(
CTV's parent company;
CTVglobemedia
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
bought out CHUM Limited in June 2007, with the exception of the Citytv network, which was sold to Rogers.)
She was informed on 4 January 2008 that the budget was not there for the program. Just before the announcement, the program was named the "Top New Podcast Award for 2007" by
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
.
Citytv began airing ''The Lab with Leo Laporte'' around this time. CP24 has since made some reorganization to the anchors/reporters as a result of the change in ownership of CP24's former parent company; CHUM Limited. For a time, after
David Onley
David Charles Onley (born June 12, 1950) is a former Canadian journalist who served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was named
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province bu ...
, MacArthur hosted ''
Home Page
A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website. The term may also refer to the start page shown in a web browser when the application first opens. Usually, the home page is located at the root of the website's domain or subdomain ...
''; Jee-Yun Lee replaced her when MacArthur resigned. MacArthur's ''
Webnation
''Webnation'' is a television show about technology that is aired on CP24 in Toronto, Canada. It features technology news, viral videos, reviews and trends. The program first aired on October 14, 2009, and replaces the talk television show ''Ho ...
'' replaced ''HomePage'' on the CP24 schedule 14 October 2009.
Over the years, she has been a technology guest on
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...
,
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
,
Global TV
The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...
,
CTV Montreal
CFCF-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Noovo flagship CFJP-DT (channel 35). Both stations share studios at ...
,
MTV Live,
MuchMore
M3 was a Canadian English language Category A services, Category A cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite specialty channel owned by Bell Media. Established in 1998 as MuchMoreMusic, the network began as a spin-off of the y ...
Music,
Life Network
Slice is a Canadian English language discretionary service channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts reality shows targeting young adult women, typically dealing in subjects such as fashion and lifestyles.
This cha ...
, and
CFRB
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a clea ...
.
Podcasting
In June 2005, MacArthur started the weekly video
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
''commandN'', which covered technology trends both online and offline. The podcast has not released an episode since June 2013, however. A commercial study found that commandN was the fifth most-downloaded podcast among surveyed Canadians.
Through October 2006, she worked on a podcast with ''Call for Help'' co-host
Leo Laporte
Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...
called ''
Inside the Net'', which then morphed into ''net@night'', and then ''The Social Hour'' with Sarah Lane, a Friday lunch time live broadcast. The show was available as part of the
TWIT.tv network before it was retired from the Twit network in October 2014.
MacArthur describes how various types of technology work on the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
radio show/podcast Spark.
Journalism
Since summer of 2006, she has written a monthly "Web Trends" column for ''
The Calgary Sun Urbane Magazine''. She has been quoted by major Canadian newspapers, when they need a tech expert. ''
Now Magazine'' declared her the "Best geek personality", 2006.
Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
Amber MacArthur's Official Website and Blog*
*
commandN',
Webnation',
net@nite',
MGImedia'
The Lavin Agencyrepresents Amber MacArthur for speaking engagements in the U.S. and Canada: some of her speech topics here.
Amber MacArthur: TWiT
Interviews
Toronto Through the Eyes of Amber MacArthur BlogTO, 7 December 2006
TheFlux.tv podcast interview with Amber MacArthur
* Chris Hogg,
Digital Journal TV: Up Close and Personal With Internet Star Amber MacArthur, ''Digital Journal'', 19 January 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Amber
1976 births
Living people
Canadian television hosts
Writers from Charlottetown
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian bloggers
Canadian technology writers
Dalhousie University alumni
University of King's College alumni
Women technology writers
Canadian women bloggers
Canadian women television hosts