Christopher Ward (songwriter)
| Christopher Ward | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Christopher William Ward |
| Born |
28 July 1949 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, broadcaster, judge, author |
| Instruments | Piano, guitar |
| Labels |
Warner Attic |
| Website | http://www.christopherward.ca |
Christopher William Ward (born 28 July 1949 Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian songwriter and broadcaster, known as a former long-standing on-air personality at MuchMusic, Canada's music video network, where he and J.D. Roberts were among the first video jockeys in 1984. Ward was a judge on The Next Star which is a Canadian reality television show on YTV.
Ward began his music career in the early 1970s while attending Trent University in Peterborough Ontario where he was a member of the school's campus radio station.
Some of Ward's early television appearances began in 1978 on the CBC children's series Catch Up, as leader of the show's band. He also played a minor role as a musician in an episode of The Kids of Degrassi Street alongside Alannah Myles in 1984.
Before MuchMusic launched, Ward hosted a weekend, all-night video program called City Limits on CITY-TV in Toronto. On Friday and Saturdays, from midnight to 6 am, Ward broke ground as Canada's first "veejay".. The show was broadcast from CITY-TV's old Queen Street East studios and apart from playing the latest music videos, hosted guests. Bands such as Bon Jovi and actors like Mike Myers- playing his Wayne's World character long before Saturday Night Live made it famous- added to the prototype of what MuchMusic would become. The show also had "video clip" contest segments which gave winners prizes to special events like movie debuts. Broadcast only in the Toronto region, it was a major way music videos were introduced to the Southern Ontario public. (MTV, the American television network was not broadcast in Canada due to regulatory laws protecting Canadian Content until 2006.) When the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) granted a broadcast licence for an all music channel to begin in 1984, CHUM-CITY won the lucrative rights. The application process to the Commission included Ward's current show as evidence of experience in broadcasting music video entertainment.
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