Cross Country Checkup
Encyclopedia
Cross Country Checkup is a Canada
-wide open-line radio show that airs Sunday afternoons on CBC Radio One
.
Every week, host Rex Murphy
presides over a lively discussion on an issue of national interest or importance and invites listeners to call in with their opinions and thoughts. The topics are usually related to Canadian politics. In addition to Murphy, the show has commentators who are experts or involved in the issue. They are interviewed by Murphy and answer questions from callers. The show has been running since 1965, when it was started to provide a nation-wide forum to discuss the then-proposed national health insurance system now in place in Canada
.
The program is broadcast live at 4 p.m. Eastern Time Zone across the country, unlike most other Radio One programs, which air at the same local time in each time zone.
Previous hosts included Brad Crandall, Dennis Trudeau
, Harry Elton, Dale Goldhawk
, Elizabeth Gray
and Moses Znaimer
.
On occasions in the past, the program has gone to air as Cross-Continent Checkup by involving a radio network in at least one other foreign country, such as National Public Radio in the United States, London Broadcasting Company
(as it was then known) in Britain or the CBC's own Radio Canada International
, and taking calls from English-speaking callers in all involved countries. In each case, callers generally call a toll-free number in their own country. Checkup, nevertheless, often receives calls from callers outside Canada.
Close to half-a-million listeners tune in every Sunday afternoon to hear a lively exchange of ideas between callers and invited guests, and a broad cross-section of opinion on the topic of the day. On average, 5,000 to 10,000 people attempt to call the program during the broadcast to join the discussion.
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...
-wide open-line radio show that airs Sunday afternoons on CBC Radio One
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 both local and national programming...
.
Every week, host Rex Murphy
Rex Murphy
Rex Murphy is a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters.Murphy was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, 105 kilometres west of St. John's and is the second of five children of Harry and Marie Murphy...
presides over a lively discussion on an issue of national interest or importance and invites listeners to call in with their opinions and thoughts. The topics are usually related to Canadian politics. In addition to Murphy, the show has commentators who are experts or involved in the issue. They are interviewed by Murphy and answer questions from callers. The show has been running since 1965, when it was started to provide a nation-wide forum to discuss the then-proposed national health insurance system now in place in Canada
Medicare (Canada)
Medicare is the unofficial name for Canada's publicly funded universal health insurance system. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.Under the terms of the Canada Health...
.
The program is broadcast live at 4 p.m. Eastern Time Zone across the country, unlike most other Radio One programs, which air at the same local time in each time zone.
Previous hosts included Brad Crandall, Dennis Trudeau
Dennis Trudeau
Dennis Trudeau is a Montreal broadcaster. From 1987 to 2005 he was the anchor of the supper hour local news show on CBMT in Montreal.-Career:Trudeau worked with the CBC from 1979. For eight years he hosted the local show Daybreak on CBM before becoming a national radio host fronting As It Happens...
, Harry Elton, Dale Goldhawk
Dale Goldhawk
Dale Goldhawk is a Canadian broadcaster and investigative reporter. Goldhawk Fights Back began as a consumer advocacy segment on CBLT's dinner hour newscast in the 1980s — Newshour. He joined Leslie Jones as co-host of CBLT Morning between 1984 and 1986...
, Elizabeth Gray
Elizabeth Gray
Elizabeth Gray is a Canadian radio broadcaster, who has been a host and documentary producer for CBC Radio.Previously a researcher on Cross-Country Checkup and a substitute host on This Country in the Morning and Morningside, Gray took over from Barbara Frum as cohost of As It Happens in 1981.In a...
and Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.-Early life and career:...
.
On occasions in the past, the program has gone to air as Cross-Continent Checkup by involving a radio network in at least one other foreign country, such as National Public Radio in the United States, London Broadcasting Company
LBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
(as it was then known) in Britain or the CBC's own Radio Canada International
Radio Canada International
Radio Canada International is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Until 1970, it was known as the CBC International Service and was sometimes referred to as the "Voice of Canada" in its early years.- The early years :The idea for creating an...
, and taking calls from English-speaking callers in all involved countries. In each case, callers generally call a toll-free number in their own country. Checkup, nevertheless, often receives calls from callers outside Canada.
Close to half-a-million listeners tune in every Sunday afternoon to hear a lively exchange of ideas between callers and invited guests, and a broad cross-section of opinion on the topic of the day. On average, 5,000 to 10,000 people attempt to call the program during the broadcast to join the discussion.