Speakers' Corner was a television series which aired weekly on Citytv and A (formerly A-Channel) stations in Canada, featuring numerous unscripted short segments on a variety of topics as recorded by members of the general public such as rants, big-ups, shoutouts, jokes, music performance, etc. After the video was complete, it was edited for television. The show was an example of Citytv founder Moses Znaimer's philosophy of interactive broadcasting.
Rogers Media, owners of Citytv since 2007, announced the cancellation of the series effective from 31 August 2008, citing the emergence of other interactive media.[1]
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Speakers' Corner began in 1990 with the original booth outside the Citytv studios in Toronto. The booth has been used for everything from heartrending pleas for assistance in locating missing children or pets, to humorous rants on things that annoy the speaker. It has also been used by musicians looking to get exposure — most famously, the then-unknown Barenaked Ladies reached their earliest audiences, prior to the release of The Yellow Tape, by performing their future hit single "Be My Yoko Ono" in the Speakers' Corner booth.
Versions of the show began on other regional CHUM-owned television stations such as CHRO in Ottawa and CFPL in London. Citytv Bogotá (which licensed the brand from CHUM) also launched its own 'Speaker's Corner'-esque booth called 'Citycapsula' when it signed on in 1996; unlike the Canadian versions, Citycapsula is free.
An Albertan version, Speakers' Corner Alberta, aired on Access TV from October 2003 until April 2008. In the fall of 2006 the Citytv stations in Calgary and Edmonton started airing the AccessTV Speaker's Corner Alberta as they were both owned by CHUM. Speakers' Corner Alberta was cancelled in April 2008 due to changes in both companies.
A French version of Speakers Corner operated at MusiquePlus, and was called VoxPop inside the MusiquePlus building in Montreal. It operated from the early 1990s until the early 2000s.
Each Speakers' Corner booth consists of a video camera, recording technology and in most cases a coin slot. Any member of the general public may enter a Speakers' Corner booth, deposit a coin (normally one dollar), then record a short video segment on any topic. Each segment is limited to a maximum of two minutes, but the content is determined by the person using the booth.
Typically, Speakers' Corner Alberta booths are free, offer a few questions, and usually have a limit of 60 seconds.
The show's producers then review the booth recordings and select the "compelling" segments for the weekly show. Segments are sometimes broadcast outside of the regular show or may even appear on other CHUM television outlets, such as MuchMusic, as interstitials.
The broadcast segments have traditionally taken on a campy atmosphere, with each segment (such as "rants", "complaints", "kudos", etc.) being introduced over clips of B-grade 1950s and 60s sci-fi movies. Of recent, however, the show has taken a more polished feel, and has included text messages on-screen from viewers during broadcast.
Several local celebrities have been created by the show, such as "The Old Man" and his opinions, and "The Devil's Advocates", a comedy duo claiming to speak for Satan.
Money collected from the Speakers' Corner booths goes to charity.
Speakers' Corner booths were located in:
For other Citytv and A-Channel outlets, either there is no Speakers' Corner program for that market, or the booth locations are not currently known. In Alberta, Access: The Education Station, which is the provincial broadcaster - owned by CTVglobemedia, operates Speakers Corner.
Mobile booths are also available to increase public access. These are occasionally deployed at special events but are not for private use. There are many requests to rent a mobile video recording booth for weddings and corporate events as seen in Citytv's Speaker's Corner FAQ.[2]