''The Great Debate'' is a Canadian television series that featured debates between pairs of panelists over a given subject. It was first shown on

Global Television Network 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 ...

in 1974, and later broadcast by

CHCH-TV CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero (company), Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Ham ...

from Hamilton, Ontario. The series was produced intermittently until 1983.

Format

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...

was the host and moderator of a televised debate between two guests who argued about a given proposition. A studio audience of approximately 200 people voted for or against the proposition at the start of the program, and again at the end after the debate to gauge the influence of the debators' arguments.

Production

''The Great Debate'' was produced by My Country Productions, co-owned by series producer Elsa Franklin and Berton. It was one of the first series broadcast on the fledgling Global Television Network. However, the broadcaster encountered financial distress within months of its debut and owed My Country Productions $48,000. Global offered unsecured creditors such as program producers a short-term 25% payment. Berton, however, proceeded to pay guest debators personally, in full for their appearance and travel. Global renewed ''The Great Debate'' for a second season beginning late 1974.

picked up ''The Great Debate'' from Global for its third, 1975-76 season, and aired these in the Tuesday 10 p.m. time slot.

Episodes

1974: first season

1974-75: second season

These episodes were listed as broadcast on Global Television, broadcast Thursdays and repeated Sundays.

1975-76: third season

These episodes are listed as broadcast on the series new flagship station, CHCH-TV, Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

1976-77: fourth season

The series was broadcast on CHCH-TV on Fridays at 8 p.m. Topics in this season included apartheid and lotteries.

1977-83: later episodes

The following episodes are on file with

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

Reception

During its initial month, ''The Great Debate'' gained a 3% share of the BBM television ratings, competing unfavourably to CTV which earned a 31% share for ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin, Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the ...

''. By mid-1974, the show's ratings increased to 201,000 viewers from 106,000 within a three-week span.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Debate, The 1970s Canadian television talk shows Global Television Network original programming 1974 Canadian television series debuts 1983 Canadian television series endings 1980s Canadian television talk shows