The Hour: Surpasses 10 Million Hits on YouTube Channel

EXCEEDS 129,000 IN THE QUEST TO “ONE MILLION ACTS OF GREEN” AND CONTINUES A SEASON FULL OF TOP GUESTS AND EXCLUSIVES
The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, Canada’s late night talk show, is proving to be as impressive in the online world as it is in TV land. The Hour’s YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/thehour recently surpassed 10 million views. September alone clocked in over a million hits to the channel and October is trending the exact same way. The show continues to be the most successful site at CBC.ca. It is also CBC’s most diverse multiplatform show, available nightly at 11 p.m. on CBC-TV, in addition to making content available on Twitter and Flickr, the YouTube Channel and The Hour’s home page, at www.cbc.ca/thehour.

Viewers can choose how, when and what they watch.
Last week, The Hour launched a national, environmental challenge to Canadians called One Million Acts of Green (OMAoG). Canada answered. Just a week into the campaign and as of noon today, we have already surpassed 129,483 acts in the goal to get to one million. This represents a reduction of 8,137,152 kg of greenhouse gas, which amounts to taking over 1,724 cars off the road for a year. GreenNexxus, the creator of the GHG calculator on the OMAoG website, commented that the OMAoG website is quickly becoming one of the most comprehensive social networking sites in Canada, dedicated to the environment. One Million Acts of Green, a CBC/Cisco partnership, is not about overhauling your life–it’s about one act from each individual amassing to over a million. This weekend, Nov. 1 and 2, one of OMAoG’s environmental partners, Clean Air Foundation will begin their (Seasonal LED light exchange) “SLED” campaign at 180 Home Depot stores across Canada. LED lights are 95% more energy efficient then incandescent, and Canadians can exchange their old lights for a discount on LED lights. All participating stores will be giving out recycled paper stock, enviro-friendly inked OMAoG info cards. The hope is to reach about 120,000 people. Each exchange is an act of green and it will be the featured act for the weekend at www.onemillionactsofgreen.com.
Now in it’s fifth season and renowned for it’s nightly range of guests, The Hour has featured Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Alice Cooper, Tim Robbins, Spike Lee, LeBron James, Suzanne Somers, Howard Zinn, Mafiaboy, Evangeline Lilly and Ricky Gervais live on set since our season launch on Sept. 15. Mafiaboy’s interview was an exclusive, and the only interview granted to any outlet since his arrest eight years ago. He wanted to reveal his international online takedown tale on The Hour.
Coming up on The Hour, exclusive interviews with Henry Rollins (Oct. 27), as he shares his views on the upcoming U.S. election; influential rock star David Byrne (Oct. 29), in one of the few interviews he is granting around the world. Other exclusives include Canadian legendary journalist and best-selling author. Peter C. Newman, in a rare, TV interview, and Mariane Pearl the writer portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the acclaimed film, A Mighty Heart will be a Canadian exclusive interview with The Hour in November.
Also on set next month will be rock’s latest buzz band, Kings of Leon (Nov. 6); political writer for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi; America’s greenest CEO, Ray Anderson; plus, Shaun Majumder, David Foster, Farley Mowat, and many more.
On Nov. 14, The Hour’s George Stroumboulopoulos will be presented with the Bob Edwards Award for journalism, at an event held in Calgary. In December, The Hour will broadcast shows direct from Los Angeles.
-30-
For further information on The Hour, please contact:
Julie Booth – Publicity, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
julie.booth@cbc.ca (416) 205-3769