I try to blog about any new products and services I've tried that I either
like or don't like, but I keep forgetting to blog about my best discovery in
recent weeks: CBC Radio One.

I've never been too fond of radio in general; I find most radio programming
either obnoxious or dull, and hold a particular animosity towards radio
commercials. However, I do find it's the best thing to wake up to in the
morning because it eases me out of sleep more gently than an alarm. For
years I never listened to CBC because I have it mentally associated with
long, nauseating car rides, but when I was in Quebec in June I needed a
radio station to wake up to and found myself faced with a dial full of
unfamiliar stations and no internet on which to look them up, so I tuned in
to the English CBC just because I knew they have higher standards than most
commercial radio, so I would hear pertinent news and weather, with no
obnoxious commercials or crude hosts.

What I heard was the most relevant newscast I've heard in ages, weather at
frequent intervals, local election coverage that was interesting to me even
though this wasn't my riding, and NO COMMERCIALS except for paid political
broadcasts.

I was particularly happy with the way they covered local election issues and
the way they did news - they have a knack for touching upon all the stories
that are interesting to me - so I decided to set my radio to CBC once I got
home and listen to them for the rest of the election. The election finished
weeks ago, and I'm still listening! Every single topic they discuss is
interesting, and they leave me wanting more rather than droning on and on
for far too long. Their news coverage touches on all the developments in
the stories that are most important to me - they mention Maher Arar almost
every single day, and on days when nothing is happening with him they
mention why nothing is happening, unlike certain newspapers that just ignore
it when nothing is happening. Their traffic coverage includes mentions of
any TTC delays! Their sports coverage even touches on more interesting
things like Euro Cup and Tour de France and Olympic trials rather than just
rattling off professional sports scores, or going way overboard with
analysis.

Basically it's the first time I've ever listened to a radio station and felt
like I'm the target demographic, like they actively want me, personally, to
be listening. So I'm going to keep listening.