Speakers' Corner (TV series)

Speakers' Corner is a television series that aired weekly on Citytv and A (formerly A-Channel) stations in Canada, later CTV Two) from 1990 to 2008, featuring numerous short segments on a variety of topics as recorded by members of the general public in the form of rants, big-ups, shoutouts, jokes, music performances, etc. After the video was complete, it was edited for television. The show was an example of Citytv founder Moses Znaimer's philosophy of interactive broadcasting, and essentially created what some 21st-century media outlets would retroactively label as a precursor to YouTube.

Speakers' Corner began in 1990 with a video booth outside the Citytv studios in Toronto. The booth's original intent was for viewers to record news commentary and "letter to the editor" segments for broadcast on CityPulse, but the booth soon proved so popular, with many segments being recorded that fell far outside the initial concept, that the decision was soon made to create a full half-hour weekly series. Segments that were relevant in a news context continued to appear on CityPulse, and entertainment-oriented segments also sometimes appeared on other CHUM television outlets, such as MuchMusic and Space, as interstitials. (The concept pre-dated CITY, with Keeble Cable pitching the idea in 1970.)

The series' theme music was composed and performed by Graeme Kirkland.

Within the series, segments selected for broadcast would be organized around themes, with several clips on similar or interrelated topics airing together. Sometimes an entire episode would revolve around a single theme, while other times several distinct themes would be presented over the course of an episode.

Several local celebrities were created by the show. The then-unknown Barenaked Ladies received their first widespread publicity, prior to the release of The Yellow Tape, by performing their future hit single "Be My Yoko Ono" in the Speakers' Corner booth before a live show at The Rivoli in early 1991. The following year, they made a repeat appearance on the program in a bid to leverage their newfound fame into a publicity boost for Rheostatics' new album Whale Music. Musician Jesse Labelle also received his first significant break as a result of Speakers' Corner, being invited to join FeFe Dobson's band after his performance in the booth was broadcast.

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