Information Morning is

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

's local morning show program for mainland

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 ...

. It is produced out of the studios of CBHA-FM in Halifax and is simulcast on all CBC Radio One transmitters on mainland Nova Scotia.

History

''Information Morning'' was first broadcast on June 1, 1970.Pat Connolly, "Information Morning: 35 Good Years", ''Halifax Daily News'', June 18, 2005 The original format of the morning

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism * Current Affairs, former name for Behind the News Politics * An ...

show was a "fast-paced, tightly made omnibus of news, weather, commentary, reviews and interviews," with the rumble of a distant teletype in the background. The Dartmouth Free Press's Stefan Haley called it well-done, intense and "hell on a hangover." It was part of the "Radio Revolution" at CBC Radio which started in the late 1960s as the CBC sought more ambitious, live coverage of news and current affairs including listeners as well as experts, on shows such as '' As It Happens''. This change was embraced by CBC regional morning shows which developed three hours of live radio combining "survival information", about news, weather and traffic, with interviews and documentaries about local and national issues. ''Information Morning'' was the second regional CBC show in Canada to launch the new morning format, after CBC

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. The show tripled CBC Radio's morning audience in Halifax in one year going from seven per cent to 20 per cent and attracted coverage in ''Time'' magazine. The first ''Information Morning'' host was Bob Oxley; with news by Frank Cameron and Brian Bullock; sports by George Young; and weather by Reid Dexter. In 1971, Don "Trigger" Tremaine became a host with

Gerry Fogarty Gerald "Gerry" Fogarty is a former sportscaster and politician. He was the last Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia to be appointed by the Premier rather than elected by his peers. Before politics Fogarty was a Halifax, Nova Scotia b ...

as sportscaster. In 1976 Don Connolly joined Don Tremaine as co-host, establishing a popular era of serious interviews balanced with "kitchen table" banter known to some as the "Two Dons".Ian Wiseman, "The Two Dons", ''Halifax Chronicle Herald'', April 30, 1983 Don Tremaine retired in 1987 and was replaced by Joan Melanson.Rob Roberts, "Rise and Shine, ''The Daily News'', June 3, 1990 Elizabeth Logan served as co-host from 1991 to 2010. The show broadcast from the historic art deco Halifax CBC Radio Building until 2014 when the building was sold to a developer for demolition and the show moved to the new CBC Nova Scotia studios on 7067 Chebucto Road.

Ratings

''Information Morning'' has often enjoyed the largest morning radio audience in Nova Scotia, although the show's ratings dipped to 2nd and third place in the 1980s in the wake of host changes and a national strike at CBC Radio in 1981. However, the show climbed back to No. 1 in the overall Halifax radio audience by 1990 and has been at the top of the ratings across most parts of the province while remaining the number one morning show in Halifax.

Current format

''Information Morning'' is broadcast live from 6:00 am to 8:37 am. Interviews are mixed with the national CBC Radio News on the hour and local news on the half-hour along with weather and sports. The show regularly goes on the road to broadcast from location at communities around Nova Scotia. Information Morning did a pioneering location broadcast on September 11, 2014 when the show was broadcast from the remote

Sable Island Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island ...

, the first live radio broadcast from the island famous for its shipwrecks and wild horses. The show also conducts an annual fundraising campaign for the Feed Nova Scotia

food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...

through the "Share the View" art calendar. On June 2, 1975, ''Information Morning'' began an annual tradition of a public "birthday show" at the

Halifax waterfront The Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk is a public footpath located on the Halifax Harbour waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Constructed of durable heavy timber, the Halifax boardwalk is open to the public 24 hours a day. The boardwalk also ...

which usually attracts a large live audience. The 16th Birthday party was held at the Halifax Sheraton. The show currently features co-hosts Portia Clark and Louise Renault, with sportscaster John Hancock and meteorologist Brennan Allen, who in December 2016 replaced

Peter Coade Peter Coade (born February 14, 1942) is a Canadian broadcast weather presenter. In 2013, he was certified by the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as having had the longest career of any weather broadcaster. He held this record until 2016, when ...

who retired in September. Allen left in December 2017 to work for Environment Canada, and was eventually replaced by meteorologist Tina Simpkin on January 2, 2019. On November 20, 2017, Don Connolly announced that he would retire, ending 42 years with a last show on January 26, 2018. Nova Scotia native Portia Clark, a former co-host of ''Edmonton AM'', became the new host in April, 2018.Portia Clark named new host of Information Morning
CBC News, February 8, 2019. Accessed February 14, 2019. In August 2020, long time culture reporter Tara Thorne was fired for a tweet concerning the Liberal Premier's family (and a personal opinion) on her personal twitter account.

''Information Morning'' in other areas

The ''Information Morning'' name is also used for morning programs on CBC Radio One outlets in CBI

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CBZF-FM CBZF-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 99.5 MHz from Fredericton, New Brunswick and is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. History CBC Radio programming first aired in Fredericton on private affili ...

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

CBAM-FM CBAM-FM is a radio station broadcasting at 106.1 MHz from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, and is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBAM broadcasts with a power of 69,500 watts. History The Canadian Radio B ...

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because of ...

and Saint John

CBD-FM CBD-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 91.3 MHz from Saint John, New Brunswick and is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. History CBD was launched on October 15, 1964 at 1110 AM. Prior to its launc ...

. However, despite the usage of the same name in these cities, the actual programming is locally produced in each region, and not related to ''Information Morning'' in Halifax.

References

* ''Information Morning Scrapbook 1970-1980'', CBC Radio Halifax (1980)

External links