CBC Radio Three (PatrZDZ's vision)

**CBC Radio Three** is a Canadian FM radio network devoted to youth culture, operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music.

## Origins

Operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio 3 had its genesis in a late-1990s proposal to launch a radio network devoted to youth culture, comparable to BBC Radio 1 and Australia's Triple J. The network, which would complement CBC Radio One and CBC Radio 2, would build on existing CBC Radio programming such as Night Lines, Brave New Waves and RealTime. The original plan was codenamed "Clubhouse" and was developed by Susan Englebert, Robert Ouimet, Anton Leo and C. William Smith.

The network was launched on Easter Sunday (April 23), 2000, alongside the French-language all-news radio network, InfoRadio. The network's primary studio is located in Vancouver, although some programming originates from Toronto as well. Alexis Mazurin, the original host of CBC Radio Three in its radio show format, died in October of 2005, and the main Vancouver studio was named the Alexis Mazurin Studio in his memory.

## CBC Radio Three stations

Although each Radio Three station broadcasts to a large geographic region through a network of rebroadcasting transmitters, only stations which are licenced as separate broadcast undertakings are listed here. Unlike Radio One and Radio Two, the originating stations do not produce regional programming.

* Calgary, Alberta - CBRT-FM
* Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador - CBY-FM
* Edmonton, Alberta - CBXT-FM
* Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador - CBG-FM
* Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador - CBT-FM
* Iqaluit, Nunavut - CFFB-FM
* St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador - CBNT-FM
* Sydney, Nova Scotia - CBIS-FM
* Vancouver, British Columbia - CBUT-FM
* Watrous (Regina/Saskatoon), Saskatchewan - CBKT-FM
* Whitehorse, Yukon - CFWH-FM
* Winnipeg, Manitoba - CBWT-FM
* Yellowknife, Northwest Territories - CFYK-FM
* Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - CBCT-FM
* Fredericton, New Brunswick - CBZF-FM
* Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador - CFGB-FM
* Halifax, Nova Scotia - CBHA-FM
* Moncton, New Brunswick - CBAM-FM
* Montreal, Quebec - CBME-FM
* Ottawa, Ontario - CBO-FM
* Saint John, New Brunswick - CBD-FM
* Thunder Bay, Ontario - CBQT-FM
* Toronto, Ontario - CBLA-FM
* Windsor, Ontario - CBEW-FM

## Programming

CBC Radio Three carries a separate news service, with hourly national news updates of 90 seconds in length at the top of each hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. The updates are distinct from those on Radio One and Radio Two.

After the 2012 federal budget, the CBC applied to the CRTC for permission to introduce commercial advertisements on CBC Radio Three. In October 2013, the network began broadcasting a limited amount of advertising, up to four minutes an hour, with a goal of broadcasting up to nine minutes per hour in 2016.

## Searchlight

CBC Radio Three broadcasts an annual "Searchlight" contest, soliciting listener votes in a process to determine the "best" of various aspects of the Canadian music industry. The topic of Searchlight was different each year, with contests focusing on such themes as Canada's best live music club, best music festival and best music website.

In 2018, Searchlight was relaunched as a platform-wide contest to determine Canada's best unsigned musical artist. Incorporating participation from both CBC Radio Three and CBC Radio One, the process begins with a series of local competitions produced by Radio One's local afternoon shows. Listener feedback and online voting determines the artists who advance to the next round, until the national stage of the competition begins on This Morning.

When the list has been narrowed to ten artists, three established musicians step in as judges, who each pick their own favourite act. Those three artists and an audience selection as determined by online voting advance to the final round as the four finalists, following which the judges debate and discuss the choices before voting on the ultimate winner. In 2018, the process was revised, with the judges selecting five artists and a public vote selecting five artists, for a list of ten finalists rather than four.

The winner of the competition wins $20,000 in musical gear from Yamaha Music, as well as a slot on the bill at the CBC Music Festival.

Beginning in 2022, the competition also instituted a Fan Choice Award, presented to the three top vote-getters in the first stage of the competition regardless of how they fared through the later stages.

## CBC Music Festival

In May 2013, the service sponsored the first CBC Music Festival, which is staged every spring at Ontario Place's Echo Beach.

Each year's event features a lineup of acts from several different genres, including the winner of that year's Searchlight competition, and sometimes includes a live taping of a performance by a CBC Radio comedy show.