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'CBC Radio 3' consists of three major parts all devoted to Canadian arts and music: a Sirius Satellite Radio station (channel 94), a weekly podcast from the CBC Radio 3 website, and streaming audio on the same website. The satellite network does air some music by international artists in its playlist, but is primarily Canadian content; the webstream and podcast are 100% Canadian music. The podcast and the CBC Radio One program ''Fuse'' also air as programs on the satellite radio channel.
The network evolved out of programming on CBC Radio Two, which also simulcasted the satellite network on Saturday and Sunday nights from its debut in December of 2005 until March 17, 2007. Radio 3 is no longer heard on terrestrial radio, but is still available through its satellite radio and Internet operations. The French equivalent to CBC Radio 3 is Bande à part.
The network plays a relatively freeform mix of indie music, including rock, pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. An article on Nerve.com, published in October of 2006, called CBC Radio 3 "possibly the world's best radio station" [1].
CBC Radio 3 is currently nominated for a Webby Award in 2007 and previously won the award in 2003.
The network's unofficial mascot is 'Bucky', a cartoon creature with the body of a duck and the head of a moose. Bucky is primarily seen in the introduction to the network's weekly ''R3TV'' video podcast, and also lends his name to the network's annual year-end music awards.

Contents

Origins

Satellite radio

''Radio 3'' leaves Radio Two

Webcast and podcasts

Concerts

Programming

CBC Radio 3 Hosts

Albums

See also

External links

Related Video

Origins

Operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio 3 had its genesis in a 1997 plan to launch a radio network devoted to youth culture. The network, which would complement CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two, would build on existing CBC Radio programming such as ''Nightlines'', ''Brave New Waves'' and ''Realtime''. Although the original proposal was abandoned, one notable step in the evolution of Radio 3 did take place that year, when ''Nightlines'' and ''Realtime'' were merged into the new program ''RadioSonic'', cohosted by former ''Nightlines'' host David Wisdom and former ''Realtime'' host Leora Kornfeld.
A slightly different Radio 3 was launched in 2000 as a converged webcasting project, based in Vancouver with its own servers and managed by CBC Radio. CBC Radio 3 initially launched separate sites '120 Seconds', 'New Music Canada' and 'Just Concerts'. Each provided audio, video and Flash content as media-on-demand streaming for site users. 120 Seconds was a directory of user and artist-created video and documentary projects, New Music Canada was entirely comprised of user-created and uploaded music by Canadian independent pop, rock, electronic and hip hop musicians, and Just Concerts included exclusive recordings of live performances by independent artists, both regular concert performances and Radio 3 studio sessions. 'Roots Music Canada' was later added to the trio of websites, and offered songs uploaded by country and folk musicians.
In late 2002, the group created CBCRadio3.com, a full-screen online magazine which profiled Canadian music, literature and visual arts, accompanied by a set musical playlist which changed with each "issue". The site also served as a portal to the other content sites and can still be viewed at [[2]]. The site was recognized internationally and won the 2003 Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Best Broadband site.
In 2003, ''RadioSonic'', now hosted by Grant Lawrence, was integrated into the Radio 3 project, and was renamed ''CBC Radio 3'' to reflect the change. With new host Alexis Mazurin, the program featured music and performances from the Radio 3 website.
On June 2, 2005, CBC Radio 3 also launched a weekly podcast, hosted by Grant Lawrence. The hour-long podcast, which now also airs as a program on the satellite radio network, has consistently ranked as the most downloaded Canadian podcast since its launch.

Satellite radio

Satellite radio was approved in Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on June 18, 2005. Over the next several months, Radio 3 was relaunched as a channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. The main CBC Radio 3 site was shut down for part of 2005 to facilitate the relaunch, although the podcast, the media-on-demand subsites and the Saturday night Radio Two program remained active.
The satellite radio service launched on December 3, 2005, at which time the weekend program on CBC Radio Two became a live simulcast of the satellite radio service. The main CBC Radio 3 website was relaunched a few days earlier, now featuring a collaborative music blog and an Icecast stream of Canadian music.
The network's primary studio is located in the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre in Vancouver, although some programming originates from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto as well. Alexis Mazurin, the original host of CBC Radio 3 in its radio show format, died in October of 2005, and the main Vancouver studio was named the Alexis Mazurin Studio in his memory.
Regular hosts include Grant Lawrence, Lisa Christiansen, Jay Ferguson, Craig Norris, Tariq Hussain, Lauren Burrows and Chris Murphy. When Norris is hosting, producer Pedro Mendes is also heard engaging in on-air comedic banter with Norris; Chris Kelly has sometimes (but not always) been similarly featured on Lawrence's show.
Some personalities, including Jennifer Van Evra, Chris Kelly and Bande à part's Yuani Fragata and Didi Gagnon, also contribute to Radio 3 as band interviewers, but not as regular hosts. Canadian musicians and other media personalities also sometimes appear as guest hosts — examples have included Joel Plaskett, Carolyn Mark, Nirmala Basnayake, Hannah Sung, Amanda Putz, Brent Bambury, Chris Alscher (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?), Zena Sharman and Nardwuar the Human Serviette.
Most music playlisted on CBC Radio Three comes from the New Music Canada site while all music played on the podcast must first be uploaded by the artist to the New Music Canada site. Radio 3 also publishes its playlist online. In August 2006, Radio 3 launched its own weekly chart show, '''The R3-30'''.
On December 25, 2006, CBC Radio 3 held its first annual ''"Bucky Awards"''. The Bucky Awards is an awards celebration to promote independent Canadian music, and is fully controlled by the fans of CBC Radio 3, the fans decide who wins the awards in each category. [3]

''Radio 3'' leaves Radio Two

On January 17, 2007, the CBC announced that as of March, CBC Radio Two would no longer air the Radio 3 simulcast. The final simulcast, which aired on March 17, was a retrospective broadcast which included past interviews with William Shatner and John Lydon, visits from past hosts David Wisdom and Leora Kornfeld, phone interviews with Buck 65, Joel Plaskett, Sara Quin and Jim Bryson, and live in-studio performances by John K. Samson and Christine Fellows, as well as listener requests for classic songs from any era in which ''Radio 3'' or its predecessors aired.
''The R3-30'', which is usually taped in advance and rebroadcast on Radio Two in a later time slot, also aired live from Vancouver that evening and incorporated listener phone calls into the program's usual format.

Webcast and podcasts

Due to licensing issues, not all of the music played on the radio network can be streamed or podcasted — accordingly, the Icecast stream available from the network's website is ''not'' a simulcast of the satellite radio broadcast, but is programmed separately. Until early 2007, the webstream consisted exclusively of music with the occasional identification break, although the network has indicated that it will soon begin including some of the network's feature and interview content on the webstream.
Unlike Bande à part, which has produced a number of special short run podcasts in addition to its regular weekly music podcast, Radio 3 only produced its main music podcast through 2006.
As a result of the Radio Two schedule changes, on February 26, 2007 CBC Radio 3 created several new podcasts to complement the original CBC Radio 3 podcast — the podcasts include a daily '''New Music Canada Track of the Day''', the weekly 'CBC Radio 3' podcast with host Grant Lawrence and an hour-long weekly ''R3-30'' podcast.
As well, the network also launched a new internet streaming program titled '''CBC Radio 3 Sessions''', which features live performances by artists at the CBC Radio 3 studio. [4]. The ''Sessions'' also air as a program on Sirius 94.
On April 20, 2007, as part of CBC Radio 3's 100th podcast, a weekly video podcast was introduced to complement Lawrence's weekly audio-based podcast. The new video-based podcast, '''R3TV''', revolves around the personalities at CBC Radio 3 and features a particular artist each week, who provides commentary for the podcast and has their music videos featured in the show. [5] ''R3TV'' is also available as a channel in Miro Media Player.
Notably, all Radio 3 podcasts are available in ogg, a freely-licensed audio format, in addition to the more conventional mp3 format.

Concerts

In addition to the on-air studio sessions, the network also regularly sponsors public concerts in music venues.
The Connect the Dots Tour in 2004 featured a different lineup of bands in each city, including , Ninja High School, The Russian Futurists, Young and Sexy, The Unicorns, The Super Friendz, Lederhosen Lucil, Dragon Fli Empire and controller.controller.
Tour Tournée in the winter of 2006, jointly sponsored by CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part, included bands such as Wintersleep, Two Hours Traffic, Konflit dramatiK, Hexes and Ohs, Great Aunt Ida, Shout Out Out Out Out, Novillero, Les Breastfeeders, SS Cardiacs, Les Dales Hawerchuk, Pony Up! and The Deadly Snakes. Each of the eight locations had a different lineup of predominantly local bands, and at least one francophone band performed at each venue. On October 1, 2006, Radio 3 and Bande à part again jointly sponsored See Vous Play, a show in Toronto featuring Les Breastfeeders, Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, Les Trois Accords and The Joel Plaskett Emergency.
Also in October, the network was a sponsor of the Exclaim! Mint Road Show, a cross-Canada tour featuring The New Pornographers, Immaculate Machine and Novillero to celebrate the 15^th birthdays of ''Exclaim!'', a Canadian music magazine, and Mint Records, a Vancouver independent record label.
CBC Radio 3 was also the sponsor of a nation-wide tour in March and April 2007 featuring The Constantines and Jon-Rae and the River. The tour also featured Shotgun & Jaybird for the Eastern Canada portion of the tour while Ladyhawk toured for the Western Canadian portion of the tour.
On April 27, 2007, CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part jointly presented Quebec Scene, an Ottawa concert featuring The Stills, The Besnard Lakes, Karkwa and Mahjor Bidet.
On June 9, 2007, as a part of the annual NXNE festival, CBC Radio 3 presented a concert in Toronto featuring United Steel Workers of Montreal, Ohbijou, Sebastien Grainger et Les Montagnes, You Say Party! We Say Die!, In-Flight Safety and Two Hours Traffic. [6]

Programming

Each host appears in between five to eight program blocks during the week, which may be either live, prerecorded or a repeat of an earlier broadcast. The network also has three program blocks on weekends set aside for guest hosts, who may be musicians or broadcasters not regularly associated with the network. During the overnight hours, an unhosted music mix airs. The podcast, ''The R3-30'' and the CBC Radio One program ''Fuse'' also air on the network.
During hosted blocks, content may include band interviews, recorded music, live in-studio performances or remote broadcasts from concert venues. In addition to extended band interviews, the network also airs a number of shorter interstitial one to three-minute features profiling bands and musicians through humour:

★ 'The Canadian Dictionary', where a musician provides a definition of a Canadian colloquialism,

★ '90-Second Egg', a series of questions about a musician's favourite things,

★ 'Stand By Your Van', where a musician relates a story of something that happened to them on tour,

★ 'Occupational Hazard', where a musician talks about the worst job they ever had,

★ 'Ask Shane', advice from musician and "amateur rocktologist" Shane Nelken of The Awkward Stage,

★ 'So Sue Me', in which two songs are compared to detect intentional or unintentional plagiarism,

★ 'Dudes Where's My Tour Diary?', an audio tour diary filed by Calgary band The Dudes,

★ 'Tour Diary', where artists tell what is happening on tour, the artists are interviewed by Lisa Christiansen,

★ 'Gearheads', where a musician talks about their instruments or other musical gear,

★ 'Then and Now', two songs from a band's discography, one early and one recent, are contrasted to show how the band has evolved and changed,

★ 'Lisa Retort', where Lisa Christiansen rants on an issue or two that is currently on the news, such as Britney Spears shaving her head,

★ 'Indieland Who's Who', a humorous profile of a musician in the style of Canadian television's ''Hinterland Who's Who'' commercials (e.g. the wild danbejar)

★ 'The French Connection', where Lauren Burrows interviews Bande à part host Alexandre Courteau and discuss an up-and-coming Quebecois music act that has not been featured on CBC Radio 3 before. Courteau also teaches Burrows a new French word or phrase in each interview.

★ 'Yes, No, Maybe', similar to the 90-second egg, musicians are given rapid-fire questions to which they can only answer "Yes" "No" or "Maybe".

★ 'City of the Week', a short informational profile of a Canadian city, followed by music from three or four local artists who may or may not have previously been played on Radio 3.

CBC Radio 3 Hosts

★ Lauren Burrows

★ Lisa Christiansen

★ Jay Ferguson - currently on hiatus due to touring with Sloan

★ Tariq Hussain

★ Grant Lawrence

★ Alexis Mazurin - former host of CBC Radio 3, died in 2005

★ Craig Norris

Albums

Several compilation albums featuring CBC Radio 3 artists and live performances have also been released:

★ ''New Music Canada, Vol. 1'' (2004)

★ ''CBC Radio 3 Sessions, Vol. 1'' (2004)

★ ''Mint Records Presents the CBC Radio 3 Sessions'' (2006)

See also

★ The Verge, a similar network on the XM Satellite Radio platform,

★ Triple J, the Australian equivalent to R3,

★ BBC 6 Music, the UK equivalent to R3.

External links

★ CBC Radio 3

★ CBC Radio 3 Magazine Archive

★ Bouncing off the satellites, Nerve.com, October 10, 2006

★ Past CBC Radio 3 podcast archive

Related Video

★ George Stroumboulopoulos visits the Radio Three team, '', 1 December 2005.

★ Behind the Scenes at CBC Radio 3, ''Inside the CBC'', 30 January 2007.