George Stroumboulopoulos
Encyclopedia
George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos (strɒmbəˈlɒpələs; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television
's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (formerly The Hour; a talk show about the world's current events) and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic
. Stroumboulopoulos studied Radio Broadcasting at Toronto's Humber College
.
, Ontario
, Canada
, to a Greek
father from Egypt
and a Ukrainian
mother. He was raised in Toronto
primarily by his mother, and a close-knit extended family.
, B.C., for a few months before getting a job offer at the Toronto
radio station Fan 590 AM, working in talk radio for about four years before moving to MuchMusic
.
as producer and host of The Punk Show
, then host of The NewMusic, MuchLOUD
and MuchNews.
television's The Greatest Canadian
series as the advocate for Tommy Douglas
. More than 1.2 million votes were cast over six weeks, as each of 10 advocates made their case for the Top 10 nominees. Stroumboulopoulos made a personal and passionate case for Tommy Douglas, Canada's "father of medicare"; Tommy Douglas was later named The Greatest Canadian.
show, The Strombo Show
. Originally aired as a talk show on CFRB in Toronto
and CJAD in Montreal
, the show moved to the Corus network in November 2007 and the format changed to one of mainly music. The Strombo Show broadcast from 102.1 The Edge
's Toronto studio and on other radio stations in the Corus Entertainment
network, including CFOX-FM
in Vancouver
, Power 97
in Winnipeg
, FM96
in London
and Y108
in Hamilton
.
The show moved to CBC Radio 2 on November 8, 2009.
, The Hour is Canada's only late-night talk show. It has won eight Gemini Award
s. Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour have hosted a range of guests from world leaders to celebrities and politicians.
For the 7th season of the talk show, CBC announced that beginning September 20, 2010, the show was being renamed and shortened into a daily half-hour show called George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight; the revised program is broadcast weeknights at 11:05 pm local time, 11:30 pm in Newfoundland.
reality television
talent show, The One: Making a Music Star that aired on ABC
in the United States
, and CBC Television
in Canada
. It was advertised as a similar show to American Idol
and Rock Star
but with the twist that contestants would "live together in a fully functioning music academy", with their actions documented similar to the Big Brother
format.
Reportedly the most expensive summer series in the history of the ABC network, its first episode, on July 18, 2006, scored a low audience of 3.08 million viewers. Subsequent episodes had even fewer viewers. The series was cancelled after just two weeks (four episodes) with the final results undecided on July 27, 2006, with no plans for any further episodes. Stroumboulopoulos returned to The Hour after the failure of the reality television show The One.
.
Stroumboulopoulos has also been involved with numerous charitable initiatives, such as hosting the 'HipHop4Africa' Mandela Children's Fund Canada and CapAids February 2006 Toronto benefit. He has traveled to the Arctic for a special on literacy, youth culture and the loss of Inuit identity. He has been to Sudan with War Child Canada, and Zambia for a World AIDS Day special documentary. He also supports Make Poverty History. He joined other prominent Canadians in sharing views on global issues in the March 2010 issue of Upstream Journal magazine.
He was co-host of Canada for Haiti television with Cheryl Hickey
and Ben Mulroney
to help the humanitarian crisis in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.
Stroumboulopoulos became the first Canadian Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme in March 2011. Since then his network has fed more than 3,000 hungry kids through the WeFeedback campaign and donated over 7 million grains of rice through Freerice.com.
He also presented at Vancouver's EPIC Expo in May 2011 where he showed support for Fair Trade
and the work of the non-profit organization, Fair Trade Vancouver.
George showed up to the Toronto Occupation of downtown Toronto to show his support for the movement.
The CBC and Stroumbuolopuolos came under criticism for hosting an apparently extravagant party during the Toronto International Film Festival, at the Hazelton hotel in Toronto. The CBC, which is funded by the Canadian government, was particularly criticized for the hefty expenditure for the event.
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (formerly The Hour; a talk show about the world's current events) and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
. Stroumboulopoulos studied Radio Broadcasting at Toronto's Humber College
Humber College
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...
.
Family background
He was born in MaltonMalton, Ontario
Malton is a neighbourhood in the northeastern part of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located to the northwest of Toronto. The neighbourhood has a population of approximately 36,400 as of 2002....
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
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...
, to a Greek
Greek Canadians
Greek Canadians are Canadian citizens of Greek origin, also known as Hellenic origin. According to the 2006 Canadian census, there were 242,685 Canadians who claimed Greek ethnicity.- Authors :...
father from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and a Ukrainian
Ukrainian Canadian
A Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...
mother. He was raised in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
primarily by his mother, and a close-knit extended family.
Radio broadcasting
In the second quarter of 1993, Stroumboulopoulos worked for a rock radio station in KelownaKelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, B.C., for a few months before getting a job offer at the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
radio station Fan 590 AM, working in talk radio for about four years before moving to MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
.
MuchMusic
From 2000–2004, Stroumboulopoulos worked at MuchMusicMuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
as producer and host of The Punk Show
The Punk Show
The Punk Show is a half hour video block that aired on Thursdays at midnight and Fridays at 4:00 AM on MuchMusic and MuchLOUD. The program usually aired a mix of known punk bands and some underground Canadian groups...
, then host of The NewMusic, MuchLOUD
MuchLOUD
MuchLOUD is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel broadcasts rock, modern rock, alternative, punk, and heavy metal music programming primarily in the form of music videos with other programming including concerts, interviews, and more...
and MuchNews.
The Greatest Canadian
Prior to joining The Hour Stroumboulopoulos was featured on CBCCanadian 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...
television's The Greatest Canadian
The Greatest Canadian
Officially launched on April 5, 2004, The Greatest Canadian was a television program series by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to determine who is considered to be the greatest Canadian of all time, at least among those who watched and participated in the program...
series as the advocate for Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
. More than 1.2 million votes were cast over six weeks, as each of 10 advocates made their case for the Top 10 nominees. Stroumboulopoulos made a personal and passionate case for Tommy Douglas, Canada's "father of medicare"; Tommy Douglas was later named The Greatest Canadian.
Strombo Show
Stroumboulopoulos has hosted a long-running Sunday night talk radioTalk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
show, The Strombo Show
The Strombo Show
The Strombo Show is a Canadian radio show, hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos, which has aired since 2005.The show originated on Standard Broadcasting's CFRB in Toronto and CJAD in Montreal as a lighthearted news-oriented talk show. In November 2007, the show moved to the Corus network and the...
. Originally aired as a talk show on CFRB in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and CJAD in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, the show moved to the Corus network in November 2007 and the format changed to one of mainly music. The Strombo Show broadcast from 102.1 The Edge
CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM, promoted under the branding 102.1 The Edge, is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique choice to play alternative music...
's Toronto studio and on other radio stations in the Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
network, including CFOX-FM
CFOX-FM
CFOX-FM is a Canadian radio station in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia. It broadcasts at 99.3 MHz on the FM band with an effective radiated power of 75,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver. Studios are located in Downtown Vancouver,...
in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Power 97
CJKR-FM
CJKR-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 97.5 FM in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The station airs an active rock format branded as Power 97. It shares a studio location at 1440 Jack Blick Avenue in Polo Park, Winnipeg, with sister stations CJOB 680 and CJGV-FM "Groove FM". Currently CJKR-FM is...
in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, FM96
CFPL-FM
CFPL-FM, or FM96, is a radio station owned by Corus Entertainment and based in London, Ontario, Canada that transmits at 179,000 watts at 95.9 MHz on the FM dial...
in London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
and Y108
CJXY-FM
CJXY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.9 FM and serving the Hamilton, Ontario market, but licensed to the nearby city of Burlington. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock format as Y108. Its signal can be heard as far north as Toronto and Vaughan and as far south as St....
in Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
.
The show moved to CBC Radio 2 on November 8, 2009.
The Hour / George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight
On January 17, 2005, the first episode of The Hour went to air. Currently in its seventh season, The Hour is a hybrid of news and celebrity and covers everything from politics, pop culture, the environment, human rights, entertainment, sports and more. Airing nationally at 11:00 pm on CBCCBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
, The Hour is Canada's only late-night talk show. It has won eight Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
s. Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour have hosted a range of guests from world leaders to celebrities and politicians.
For the 7th season of the talk show, CBC announced that beginning September 20, 2010, the show was being renamed and shortened into a daily half-hour show called George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight; the revised program is broadcast weeknights at 11:05 pm local time, 11:30 pm in Newfoundland.
The One: Making a Music Star
In July 2006, George Stroumboulopoulos hosted an AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
talent show, The One: Making a Music Star that aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
in Canada
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...
. It was advertised as a similar show to American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
and Rock Star
Rock Star (TV series)
Rock Star is a television series produced by Mark Burnett in which aspiring singers from all around the world competed to become the lead singer of a featured group. It debuted on CBS on July 11, 2005, to mediocre ratings. The show was hosted by television personality and commercial spokeswoman...
but with the twist that contestants would "live together in a fully functioning music academy", with their actions documented similar to the Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
format.
Reportedly the most expensive summer series in the history of the ABC network, its first episode, on July 18, 2006, scored a low audience of 3.08 million viewers. Subsequent episodes had even fewer viewers. The series was cancelled after just two weeks (four episodes) with the final results undecided on July 27, 2006, with no plans for any further episodes. Stroumboulopoulos returned to The Hour after the failure of the reality television show The One.
Charity and public awareness
George Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour sponsored the "One Million Acts of Green" Internet Website challenge, calling on Canadians to register environmental acts they've done. The campaign registered over 1.6 million acts on the website. Stroumboulopoulos and his family have been devoted to this cause also supported by Dr. David SuzukiDavid Suzuki
David Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...
.
Stroumboulopoulos has also been involved with numerous charitable initiatives, such as hosting the 'HipHop4Africa' Mandela Children's Fund Canada and CapAids February 2006 Toronto benefit. He has traveled to the Arctic for a special on literacy, youth culture and the loss of Inuit identity. He has been to Sudan with War Child Canada, and Zambia for a World AIDS Day special documentary. He also supports Make Poverty History. He joined other prominent Canadians in sharing views on global issues in the March 2010 issue of Upstream Journal magazine.
He was co-host of Canada for Haiti television with Cheryl Hickey
Cheryl Hickey
Cheryl Hickey is host of ET Canada, an entertainment news magazine for Global Television Network which launched on September 12, 2005....
and Ben Mulroney
Ben Mulroney
Benedict Martin Paul "Ben" Mulroney is a Canadian television host, and is the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.-Early life:...
to help the humanitarian crisis in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.
Stroumboulopoulos became the first Canadian Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme in March 2011. Since then his network has fed more than 3,000 hungry kids through the WeFeedback campaign and donated over 7 million grains of rice through Freerice.com.
He also presented at Vancouver's EPIC Expo in May 2011 where he showed support for Fair Trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
and the work of the non-profit organization, Fair Trade Vancouver.
George showed up to the Toronto Occupation of downtown Toronto to show his support for the movement.
The CBC and Stroumbuolopuolos came under criticism for hosting an apparently extravagant party during the Toronto International Film Festival, at the Hazelton hotel in Toronto. The CBC, which is funded by the Canadian government, was particularly criticized for the hefty expenditure for the event.
Awards
- The Hour has won six Gemini Awards.
- In 2006 – Viewers Choice Award – Best Host
- In 2007 – Best Talk Series – Best Host – Best Production/Design
- In 2008 – Best Host
- Stroumboulopoulos was awarded an honouraryHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Doctor of Laws, from the University of CalgaryUniversity of CalgaryThe University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
on November 13, 2007. - He was also awarded an honourary degree in Communications from Humber CollegeHumber CollegeHumber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...
in June 2009. - He was selected by the United Nations World Food Programme as an official ambassador in March 2011.
External links
- George Stroumboulopoulos site on CBC
- Strombo.com, his personal website
- George Stroumboulopoulos's Myspace
- Recap of The Hour: Season One, including highlights of clips in the shows video archive.
- Recap of The Hour: Season Two, features highlights from the second season of the show.