CounterSpin was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 television program which was broadcast on CBC Newsworld

CBC Newsworld

CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...

 from 1998 to 2004.

A daily panel debate show, CounterSpin guests would debate issues in front of a studio audience. The show also included news reports which tried to examine the day's issue in more depth than a typical newscast.

The show was an independent production created by executive producer Paul Jay

Paul Jay

Paul Jay is a journalist and filmmaker, and is creator and CEO of The Real News. Jay was born and raised in Toronto and holds dual-citizenship with the United States. Jay is the nephew of screenwriter Ted Allan.- Film and television work :...

, also a documentary filmmaker (Wrestling with Shadows, Return to Kandahar). Jay went onto become the founding chair of The Real News Network.

The show's host in the first season was Avi Lewis

Avi Lewis

Avram David "Avi" Lewis is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, host of the Al Jazeera English show , and former host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current-affairs program On the Map.-Family:...

. He then left the show to concentrate on other projects, and was replaced by Sharon Lewis

Sharon Lewis

For the voice actress, go to Sharon Lewis Sharon Lewis is a Canadian television personality from Toronto. She studied political science at the University of Toronto. She was an actress and author before being the host of counterSpin on CBC Television in 2001, and then hosted ZeD, also for the...

 (no relation) for one season. Sharon Lewis then went to the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

's main network to host ZeD

ZeD

ZeD is a Canadian variety television program and website. The series premiered on CBC Television in March 2002 and ran to 2006. Hosted primarily by Sharon Lewis and Ziya Tong, ZeD publicized creative works from Canada and other countries, including a substantial portion of material created by...

, and was replaced by Carol Off

Carol Off

Carol Off is a Canadian television and radio journalist, associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio. She has been a host of CBC Radio's As It Happens since 2006. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, Off also hosted the political debate series counterSpin on CBC Newsworld.She is the...

.

In 2004 the CBC announced that the series would not be renewed for the fall television season, and instead a new program would be developed for its time slot. The new program, CBC News: The Hour

CBC News: The Hour

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight is a Canadian television talk show broadcast on CBC Television and hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. Originally known as The Hour from 2005 to 2010, it first aired on January 17, 2005. The program is currently initially broadcast on CBC Television at 11:05 p.m....

, began on January 17, 2005, with George Stroumboulopoulos

George Stroumboulopoulos

George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic...

as its anchor.