Alya Ramadan and Chris Walker will be coming to Osoyoos to broadcast Daybreak South on Jan. 20. (Photo supplied)
The radio crew that hosts the daily morning show that is listened to by tens of thousands of loyal listeners across the South Okanagan – including many from Osoyoos and Oliver – is coming to town next week.
Management with CBC’s Daybreak South morning program have arranged to have host Chris Walker and his longtime partner Alya Ramadan visit Osoyoos, Oliver and Penticton, where they will broadcast their daily morning show live.
Walker and Ramadan will be broadcasting from JoJo’s Café on Main Street in Osoyoos on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
They will broadcast live from Medici’s Geleteria in Oliver on Thursday, Jan. 21.
They will finish their mini-tour of the South Okanagan on Friday, Jan. 22, where they will broadcast their show from the Bench Artisan Food Market on Vancouver Street.
All three shows will be broadcast live beginning at 6 a.m. and continuing until 8:35 a.m., said Walker, in an interview from the CBC Radio studios in Kelowna, where Daybreak South has been broadcast and produced for the past several years.
His bosses at CBC decided several years ago that bringing Daybreak South to loyal listeners across the Southern Interior would be a good idea and he’s thoroughly enjoyed travelling to different communities to broadcast the show, said Walker.
“Last year we were in the Kootenays for a few days and we had a great time,” he said. “We try to get out on these tours once or twice a year, and maybe even more during election years, to talk about the issues in each community.”
During the upcoming visit to Osoyoos and Oliver, Walker said he and his production staff are arranging interviews with local people to discuss important issues in each respective community.
Because the news can change so fast, he’s not sure exactly what topics will be covered, but they will be topical and deal specifically with local reaction, he said.
“I’m pretty confident that because Osoyoos is a border town, that we’ll be doing something on the low Canadian dollar and how that affects shopping across the border,” he said. “Everything we talk about during the show will be important issues that affect residents in each of the communities.”
Walker said he and his family are regular visitors to Osoyoos and other towns in the South Okanagan, especially during the summer tourist season, and he’s looking forward to the upcoming tour.
“We’ve never brought the show to Osoyoos or Oliver during my four-and-a-half years as host of Daybreak South,” he said. “I’m a big fan of that region … I come down there quite often and so does Alya as we both love that part of the world.”
JoJo’s Café sits about 60 people and those wanting to attend should show up before 6 a.m. as the seats will be taken on a first-come, first-serve basis, said Walker.
“We’ll try and arrange things so we can comfortably fit in as many people as we can,” he said.
Advances in technology over the past five years allow for remote broadcasts like this to take place without too much difficulty, said Walker.
“Technology has made going out on the road like this much easier,” he said. “You can broadcast directly over an Internet line, unlike in the old days when you would have to arrange to have a separate line set up through a provider like Telus to do a broadcast like this.
“There are still a few technical things that provide some challenges, but we’ve been doing this long enough to have everything pretty well under control.”
JoJo’s management has promised to provide free coffee to everyone who attends the live broadcast next Wednesday and he’s looking forward to coming to Osoyoos and Oliver for the first time as host of Daybreak South, said Walker.
“I love doing these road trips and would do them more often if I had my choice,” he said. “It’s nice to get out on the road and we’re particularly looking forward to this trip because Penticton is a very big market for our show and we also have a very strong base of loyal listeners in both Osoyoos and Oliver.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
