CBC Radio 3 is much more than the “hip kid brother” of CBC Radio 1 and 2. Known to fans as “the home of independent and emerging Canadian music,” CBC Radio 3 got its start in the late 1990’s and developed its innovative identity, sound, mandate and mode of transmission throughout the 2000’s.
First conceived as a fully-operational youth-focus radio channel, Radio 3’s early ambitions were cut short during the recession of 1990’s, so Radio 3 debuted as a few distinct radio programs which were aired Saturday and Sunday evenings on CBC Radio 2.
Fast-forward to spring 2005, Radio 3 was at a crossroads: the radio programs weren’t reaching their targets, the public didn’t know, or couldn’t figure out, what Radio 3 was, lay-offs were looming and the CBC lockout was on the horizon. Radio 3 needed to make a bold move in a new direction or risk being cut entirely.
Enter Steve Pratt.
Joining the CBC in 2004 as Director of Radio 3 and CBC Radio Digital Programming, Pratt thought the sibling station would do a better job reaching its audience if it went online. With previous experience working for MuchMusic, AOL Canada, CTV and YTV, Pratt knew that young Canadians weren’t tuning-in to traditional media platforms anymore. They were turning to the world wide web instead.
★ Steve Pratt :
The CBC Radio 3 podcast launched on June 6th, 2005. Within the first few weeks the podcast was doing very well, charting around 500 dowloads a day.
But all that changed when iTunes 4.9 launched two weeks later. The Globe and Mail’s Ivor Tossell wrote about Radio 3’s meteoric rise on July 22, 2005:
“Radio 3 had started its podcast of indie music a few weeks previous, and had been seeing about 500 downloads a day. That number flew up to 20,000 downloads when iTunes started promoting them, according to Radio 3’s director, Steve Pratt. The figure has since levelled out at more than 7,000 daily.” Radio 3 retained it’s #1 rating on ITunes Canada for an amazing … weeks, beating out Al Franken, sundry morning shows and the CBC’s own Quirks and Quarks podcast (which, incidentally, has turned out to be oddly popular in Scandinavia).”
– “Recasting Radio 3 for the iPod crowd,” July 22, 2005
The CBC Radio 3 Podcast reached its 1-millionth download within a year of its debut. That number has since quadrupled.
The weekly podcast features host Grant Lawrence introducing audiences to an hour of the best in new Canadian music. Lauded by fans and critics alike, Exclaim! magazine called it “Canada’s most important podcast” and Spin magazine called it “the top podcast in Canada.”
To date, over 200 CBC Radio 3 Podcasts have been produced. Thanks to the success of Lawrence’s podcast, a handful other CBC Radio 3 podcasts have been added to to the Radio 3 roster.
In November 2008, Grant Lawrence spoke with me about the genesis of the Radio 3 Podcast, its global listenership, band recognition and more.
★ Listen to my entire conversation with Grant Lawrence: (39:51 mins)
☆ Bands signed to music labels thanks to the CBC Radio 3 podcast: Pride Tiger, The Hidden Cameras and Hey Rosetta!
☆ CBC Radio 3’s yearly “Top 3 Podcasts”: 1) The Best of 20**, 2) Sweatin’ to the Indies, 3) The Summer Road-Trip Podcast
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***Please Note: Quirks and Quarks was the CBC’s first podcast. The CBC Radio 3 podcast was second.***
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