The last time As It Happens was looking for a co-host feels like a long time ago. Chris Howden took over for Jeff Douglas to host with Carol Off a couple of months before the COVID-19 pandemic. Douglas was the co-host for 8 years before leaving to host Mainstreet, the weekday afternoon CBC Nova Scotia show.
Now As It Happens is looking for a host to replace Carol Off, who is leaving the show after nearly 16 years. Her last edition will be February 25. Off will work on a new summer series for CBC.
With all due respect to Howden, Off is the primary host of the show in terms of conducting interviews. She had a long background in reporting around the world for CBC News before landing in As It Happens.
"I was a wild animal and I was never going to be a house cat," Off said.
Off replaced Mary Lou Finlay as the co-host in 2006 and worked with Barbara Budd. The almost 16 years Off worked on the show was the third-longest tenure on the show behind Alan Maitland (1974-1993) and Budd (1993-2010). Barbara Frum, mother of David Frum, was a host (1971-1981). As It Happens has been around since 1968.
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"It's the hardest job I've ever had, for sure," Off said. "It's the emotional range of it. I've laughed. I've cried. I've become angry. I have learned something. I've had my head turned around. And that's in a single day."
Replacing Off will also be a hard job. Howden had been with the show since 2003 and head writer for the show for the previous decade. That may not be the path for Off's replacement.
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There will be guest hosts filling in for Off after February 25 so there will be quite a bit of time before we know the permanent replacement.
For a lot of listeners to the program, Carol Off is As It Happens. They will be very tough shoes to fill.
As It Happens airs for 90 minutes on CBC Radio One following the World at Six. The program airs in the United States through Public Radio Exchange on some NPR stations. The show is also available through the CBC Listen app and the podcast version is also an option.
photo credit: @cbcasithappens
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