George Stroumboulopoulos

Radio

In spring 1993, Stroumboulopoulos worked at rock radio in Kelowna, British Columbia for a few months before getting a job offer at the Toronto radio station Fan 590 AM, working in talk radio. He then moved to CFNY-FM to host various shows including Live in Toronto.^[6]

MuchMusic

From 2000 to 2004, Stroumboulopoulos worked at MuchMusic as producer and host of The Punk Show, then host of The NewMusic, MuchLOUD and MuchNews.^[7]

The Greatest Canadian

In 2004, Stroumboulopoulos was featured on CBC television's The Greatest Canadian series as the advocate for Tommy Douglas, former Saskatchewan premier and regarded as Canada's "Father of Medicare". More than 1.2 million votes were cast over six weeks, as each of 10 advocates made their case for the top 10 nominees. George made a personal and passionate case for Tommy Douglas, who was named the winner of the contest.^[8][9]

The Strombo Show

Stroumboulopoulos hosted a long-running Sunday night talk radio show, The Strombo Show. Originally aired as a talk show on CFRB in Toronto and CJAD in Montreal, the show moved to the Corus network in November 2007 and the format changed to one of mainly music. The Strombo Show broadcast from 102.1 The Edge's Toronto studio and on other radio stations in the Corus Entertainment network, including CFOX-FM in Vancouver, Power 97 in Winnipeg, FM96 in London and Y108 in Hamilton.

The show moved to CBC Radio 2 on November 8, 2009, and continued as a music-oriented freeform radio talk show until 2023.

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight/The Hour

On January 17, 2005, the first episode of The Hour went to air. In the show's seventh season, in 2010, the show's name changed to George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, and it was shortened from one hour to half an hour. George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight was a hybrid of news and celebrity and covered everything from politics, pop culture, the environment, human rights, entertainment, sports and more. It won eight Gemini Awards. There are a range of guests on the show from world leaders to celebrities and politicians.^[10] The show concluded at the end of the 2013–2014 season as Stroumboulopoulos moved to Rogers Communications.^[11]

The One: Making a Music Star

In July 2006, Stroumboulopoulos hosted the American reality television talent show, The One: Making a Music Star that aired on ABC in the United States, and CBC Television in Canada. It was advertised as a similar show to American Idol and Rock Star but with the twist that contestants would "live together in a fully functioning music academy", with their actions documented similar to the Big Brother format.

The show was reportedly the most expensive summer series in the history of the ABC network.^[12] Its first episode, on July 18, 2006, scored a low audience of 3.08 million viewers,^[13] and subsequent episodes had even fewer viewers. The series was cancelled after just two weeks (four episodes) with the final results undecided on July 27, 2006, with no plans for any further episodes.

Stroumboulopoulos on CNN

Stroumboulopoulos’ hour-long talk series for CNN, Stroumboulopoulos, aired during the late spring and the summer of 2013.^[14][15] It was taped before a live audience in Los Angeles, and featured interviews in a format similar to his CBC show.^[16] Sometimes, episodes did not air as scheduled.^[15] After airing seven episodes from June 14, 2013, to August 16, 2013,^[17] CNN did not renew the show.^[18]

Hockey Night in Canada and move to Rogers

On March 10, 2014, Rogers Media, which had acquired exclusive national media rights to the National Hockey League, officially announced that Stroumboulopoulos would serve as the main host of Hockey Night in Canada, beginning in October 2014, replacing Ron MacLean. Concurrently, CBC announced the cancellation of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight after a 10-year run.^[19][20]

Strombo's role on Hockey Night, which was part of an effort to appeal to younger viewers,^[21] received mixed reception. Viewers surveyed upon his introduction felt that he was not a "credible" successor to Ron MacLean,^[22] In a move which the Toronto Star speculated was meant to help re-gain viewership lost over the first two seasons of the contract (which was also credited to the poor performance of Canadian teams in the 2015–16 season),^[23] Sportsnet announced on June 27, 2016, that Stroumboulopoulos had been let go from Rogers, and that Ron MacLean would be reinstated.^[24]

Apple Music

Starting on August 18, 2020, George Stroumboulopoulos became the host for his new show called STROMBO on the newly created Apple Music Hits radio station on Apple Music's live radio. The shows airs Monday to Friday every week at 6:00pm (PST).^[25]

He recently partnered with Apple Books to launch the book club "Strombo's Lit".

Other works

Stroumboulopoulos has also hosted a highly regarded documentary series of CBC, "Love, Hate & Propaganda" which was based on examining how propaganda affected and lead to shape crucial events that occur in the 20th century. The documentary included War on Terror, Second World War, and the Cold War.

Over the course of his career, George has interviewed multiple sports stars, entertainment icons, and world leaders.