Ralph Benmergui

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Raphael (Ralph) Benmergui (born 1955) is a television and radio personality. He recently hosted the show Ralph Benmergui: My Israel on Vision TV, taking a critical and bipartisan look at the issues and landscape of Israel. He is also the host of Benmergui in the Morning on JAZZ.FM91. Benmergui has a long and varied broadcasting background. Over the last two decades, Canadians have come to know him as a television host and journalist who has appeared on both CBC radio and television Current Affairs and Variety.

Born in Tangier, Morocco, but raised in Toronto, Ralph Benmergui is the product of several cultures: part Moroccan, part Canadian, and all Jewish. While studying journalism at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, he was news director and program producer at the university’s radio station. The CBC offered Benmergui a research job in Winnipeg. From there, he went on to produce current affairs documentaries and was named host of Night Lines, a late-night music show on the CBC Stereo Network.

Back in Toronto, Benmergui hosted Prime Time, a nightly one-hour entertainment program on the CBC Radio Network. He moved on to co-host CBC-TV's Midday with Valerie Pringle, where his skills as an interviewer and host quickly marked him as one of Canada's top television personalities. The popular interviewer also hosted "Friday Night With Ralph Benmergui" and "Benmergui Live."

A recognized radio entertainer, some argue that his television series have generally received poor ratings and critical reviews; Canadian media pundits chastized the CBC for its repeated attempts to create news or information television shows with him as host.

He has won a prestigious Japan Prize for Best International Youth Programming, a Yorkton Film Festival prize for Best Youth Programming, and has been the recipient of five Gemini nominations.

Benmergui produced Stuart McLean’s Christmas Special for CBC television and for Vision TV, he produced 5 episodes of a series called SEEKERS chronicling the experience of five people on journey to find their spirituality. He has also hosted three wonderfully received specials, entitled “Seriously Funny” in Canada and “Punchlines in the Sand” in the US, where three comics comment on and explore through comedy, serious issues of the day.

He has also produced shows, such as the children's quiz show SmartAsk

[edit] References

• My Israel Show Website entry. Retrieved on May 3, 2008.
• Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry. Retrieved on March 15, 2006.
• Dorothy Lichtblau (1998). Benmergui a man of many talents. The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved on March 15, 2006.