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Telemiracle

Telemiracle
Telemiracle33Logo.jpg
Logo for Telemiracle 33
Genre Telethon
Presented by Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation
Opening theme You are the Miracle by Brad Johner and Donny Parenteau
Ending theme O Canada
Country of origin Canada
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 41 (as of 2017)
Production
Location(s) Saskatoon or Regina
(alternating)
Running time 20 or 21 hours (with 30-minute break for national news)
Release
Original network CTV Saskatchewan (1977-present)
CBC Saskatchewan (1977-?)
Original release 1977 – Present
External links
Website www.telemiracle.com

Telemiracle is an annual telethon organized by the Kinsmen and Kinettes in Saskatchewan, Canada for the benefit of the Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation. Initially broadcast on both CTV and CBC affiliates in Saskatchewan, it is now broadcast, commercial-free, exclusively on the province's CTV affiliates. Generally broadcast the first weekend of March, the 41st edition took place in Saskatoon on March 4 and 5, 2017. The 42nd Telemiracle is expected to take place in Regina during the first weekend of March, 2018.

Originally, the Kinsmen had the idea to have a car raffle to raise funds to help with all the requests for assistance they received but the government wouldn't allow it. So instead, they came up with the idea for a telethon. In 1977, the first telethon raised more than CAD $1 million, which at the time was considered a record for per capita telethon fund-raising in a 20-hour period (the province had a population of only about 1 million people at the time). The telethon passed the $2 million mark for the first time in 1983, and the $3 million mark in 2001. Telemiracle has exceeded the $4 million mark seven times and $5 million six times, most recently in 2017.

Early broadcasts of the telethon featured a mix of national and international celebrities such as the late John Allan Cameron, Gloria Loring, Alan Thicke, the Irish Rovers, Arte Johnson of Laugh-In, Bob McGrath of Sesame Street, game show personality Jim Perry, his daughter Erin Perry, singer and TV host Blake Emmons (who was the telethon's de facto host during the first few years, a post later taken over by Thicke in the 1980s), pianist Frank Mills and Saskatchewan-born motivational speaker Alvin Law. In recent years, the event has mostly attracted Canadian talent. Traditionally, the telethon alternates between the two major Saskatchewan cities of Saskatoon and Regina.


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