: ''For the song, see

Good Rocking Tonight "Good Rocking Tonight" is a jump blues song originally released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown and was covered by many recording artists (sometimes as Good Rockin' Tonight). The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, th ...

''. ''Good Rockin' Tonite'' was 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 series, which aired on CBC Television from 1983 to 1993."As Good Rockin' Tonite turns 10, CBC video show's host is on a roll". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', January 28, 1993. The program, similar to the American ''

Friday Night Videos ''Friday Night Videos'' (later becoming ''Friday Night'' and then ''Late Friday'') is an American music video show that was broadcast on NBC from July 29, 1983 to May 24, 2002. It was the network's attempt to capitalize on the emerging popularit ...

'', played popular

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s, and also featured interviews with musicians, viewer contests and a countdown of the week's most popular singles and albums across Canada. Along with CBC's daily daytime music video program '' Video Hits'', the programs represented the only options for Canadian viewers of the mid-1980s to see music video programming outside of cable TV. The show premiered on October 8, 1983. The program's original host was

Terry David Mulligan Terry David Mulligan (born June 30, 1942) is a Canadian actor and radio and television personality based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Life and career Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Mulligan worked as a Royal Canadian Mounted Pol ...

, who left to join the nascent MuchMusic in 1985. He was replaced by Stu Jeffries,"Good Rockin' Tonite host has best of both worlds". ''

'', January 8, 1986. who hosted for the remainder of the show's run. It was produced at the

studios A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

CBUT CBUT-DT (channel 2) is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBUFT-DT (channel 26). Both stations sh ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. When Jeffries was first hired to host the program, he was simultaneously working as program director of radio station

CJME CJME is a radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, broadcasting at 980 kHz. Its format is news/talk. It shares studios with sister stations CIZL-FM and CKCK-FM at 2401 Saskatchewan Drive in Regina. History CJME was founded and sig ...

in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, and flew to Vancouver every Friday to tape the program. He later gave up the Regina job and moved to Vancouver. The show generally aired Friday nights at 11:30 p.m. on CBC Television's owned-and-operated stations, but was delayed to a weekend airing on some of the network's private

affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

. Initially airing for 90 minutes per episode, the show was trimmed to 60 minutes in 1986 due to budget cutbacks at the CBC. For part of the 1984-85 season, the series aired alongside the companion program '' Rock Wars'', a national "battle of the bands" competition hosted by

Brad Giffen Brad Giffen is a retired Canadian news anchor who has worked on television in both Canada and the United States. Over his broadcasting career he has also worked as a radio personality, disc jockey, video jockey, VJ, television reporter, televisi ...

.Keith Sharp, ''Music Express: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Canada's Music Magazine''.

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in print, ...

, 2014. . p. 143. In the summer of 1987, the series was temporarily bumped to midnight to make room for the short run series '' It's Only Rock & Roll''. In 1989, the show was briefly moved to Thursday nights, with its Friday night time slot taken over by '' Pilot One'',"Pilot One project scaled down by CBC". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', October 18, 1988. but returned to Fridays after the latter show's cancellation. The show's cancellation was announced by the CBC in February 1993,"CBC axes second rock show". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', February 27, 1993. and its final episode aired on April 3. ('' Video Hits'', the CBC's other music video show, aired its last program the day before, after eight years on weekday afternoons.) The show's famous catch phrase, used by both hosts, derived from the lyrics of the

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

with the same name, was "Have you heard the news? There's been ''Good Rockin' Tonite''!"

References

{{reflist, 2 CBC Television original programming Rock music television series 1980s Canadian music television series 1993 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian music television series Canadian late-night television programming Television shows filmed in Vancouver