CBC Radio One will launch a new arts and culture radio show Monday called Q, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi.

The show was created after a review of all arts and culture programming on CBC Radio showed Canadians had an appetite for news about cultural developments across the country.

Jian Ghomeshi is the host of Q, a new radio arts, entertainment and cultural affairs show.
(CBC)

"To certain extent, we see it as a national arts show of record," Ghomeshi said in an interview with CBC Arts Online.

Q is promising a fast-paced mix of interviews, reporter pieces, soundscapes and music that covers a broad range of arts.

And like the James Bond gadget man of the same name, it hopes to be smart and inventive.

It is working with a loose definition of arts and entertainment that includes video games, new technology and new media phenomena, as well as architecture, opera, dance, film, TV, theatre and music.

"We have a real commitment to a fusion of pop culture and the classical arts," said Ghomeshi, who has been host of The National Playlist and a contributor to The Hour.

Celebrities and the red carpet "are not at the top of the agenda," he said, but the show will delve into pop culture stories as well as provide a broad picture of cultural events across the country.

The focus will be on Canada but also on intriguing entertainment and cultural ideas from around the world. 

Regular contributors

The first show features an exclusive interview with Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt. It will also include the premiere of the new album by Joel Plaskett Emergency, which is due out April 17, and the story of a broadcaster who has started a popular new radio station in Afghanistan with programming that is mainly music.

The show will have regular contributors, including diva Measha Brueggergosman, who will give a backstage look at opera from where ever she is in her travels. There will be a weekly chat about TV, but few reviews of arts events, Ghomeshi said.

Q will air each weekday on CBC Radio One from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in most markets, 2.30 to 4 p.m in Newfoundland, 2 to 3 p.m. in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Alberta, and from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Manitoba. An hour-long encore presentation will air each weeknight at 10 p.m.

Also on Monday, Between the Covers is migrating from terrestrial radio to online and will also be available as a podcast.

The Arts Report and The Arts Tonight are gone from the air and Freestyle and Between the Covers end this week.

Writers and Company, hosted by Eleanor Wachtel, will be expanded, with Wachtel taking on new projects in radio and on new media platforms.