City Montreal set to debut its new Breakfast Television Program

Jeffrey Feldman and Jordan Schwartz

 The folks at City Montreal unveiled their gorgeous new downtown studio today for their much anticipated Breakfast Television launch on Monday, August 26 at 6 a.m. This 2,800 square-foot studio is located in the heart of city at Rogers Media's Montreal headquarters on McGill College, with a great backdrop. PLEASE SEE MY VERY FUN VIDEO WITH THE CAST AT THE END OF THIS BLOG.

Executive Producer and Local Content Manager for Montreal Bob Babinski introduced his on-air personalities: The co-anchors are Olympic diving legend Alexandre Despatie and Joanne Vrakas; the charismatic Catherine Verdon Diamond handles weather and traffic; Laura Casella, formerly of CJAD, is the on site news reporter; Wilder Weir will be the " live eye" host, on remote each morning; and Elias Makos is the new media commentator.

Laura Casella, Alexandre Despatie and Catherine Verdon Diamond

Jordan Schwartz, vice-president of in-house productions for Rogers Media,  was in the house. He is responsible for the BT brand across Canada and was no doubt chiefly responsible for bringing in one of the most connected men in Montreal, Jeffrey Feldman, as supervising producer of the show. "Breakfast Television is already the dominant brand in morning television in Canada," Schwartz said. "Launching the Montreal edition built on this successful format will serve to enhance the Breakfast Television brand nationally."

The show will  streamed live online, a pretty impressive option for viewers and one I took advantage of for fun this morning by checking out the BT Toronto show.

Wilder Weir and Joanne Vrakas

This Montreal studio is quite extraordinary:

-A stunning video wall features nine state-of-the-art flat screen monitors to visually bring Montrealers the news. "Viewers will really notice this when Joanne goes to Laura or Wilder at a location," says Babinski. 

-Makos will control a 65 inch interactive touch-screen monitor  that will show viewers a unique perspective of what's happening around the world through social media,.

-A granite counter, with stovetop burners, hardwood flooring, on-set lighting and contemporary furniture, will highlight multiple set options for the show to feature trendsetting cooking and fashion segments, design vignettes, interviews and musical performances.

For the past week the team has been reporting for work at 4 a.m. and doing complete shows (for practice of course). Babinski said he is very pleased with what he has seen. "I think we have one of the most exciting on air teams in television," he says.

 Here is my video interview with the team.