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Now or Never

BLOG | For Now or Never host Trevor Dineen, it all comes down to trust

"I want our listeners to feel ... a sense of comfort when they turn on the radio or start listening to our podcast. Like it's an old friend that you look forward to hearing from."
CBC Radio ·
Trevor Dineen hosts CBC Radio One program Now or Never (CBC)
"So ... how does it feel to work on a national radio show?" This is the question I get asked now. And it's a hard one to answer, because I don't think it's really set in. 

You see, when I got the job, I had already worked on-air at the CBC for almost five years. It wasn't like I was starting up with a new company/broadcaster.
Weekday mornings, Trevor Dineen is a much-loved traffic reporter for CBC Manitoba. Sunday nights at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. in the Maritimes / 9:30 p.m. in Newfoundland) and Wednesday nights at 11 p.m. he hosts CBC's Now or Never with Ify Chiwetelu. (CBC)
I didn't even have to change cities, because the show is based out of Winnipeg (or as we like to call it here in Manitoba ... Winnipeg).

So nothing changed in my day-to-day life. I just arrived at work one day and I had a new desk with a lamp. 

Surrounding that desk was an entirely new group of people. Granted, I've known and admired these people for years as they produced DNTO (don't tell them the admired part). Now I was working with them, and I was suddenly the new guy again. 

Was I nervous? Yep.

Did I sweat an oddly large amount on my first day? You betcha.

But did they make me feel comfortable?  Instantly.

And that's exactly how I want our listeners to feel.  Not sweaty and in need of antiperspirants. But with a sense of comfort when they turn on the radio or start listening to our podcast. Like it's an old friend that you look forward to hearing from. Or at the very least, the guy at the bar that always has a good story to tell. 

And I trust that we'll get there. Because at the end of the day, that's what radio is built on.

Trevor Dineen is one of two trustworthy hosts for Now or Never on CBC Radio One. (CBC)
There's the trust between a host and a producer to get the show right. The trust you have to have in each other as a team to put together almost 60 minutes of engaging storytelling every week that the listener will enjoy.

The audience puts trust in you as a host, to keep them engaged and informed and give them a few minutes away from whatever is going on in their lives.

And then every time you turn on your mic to interview someone, they put trust in you to share their stories, their feelings, in their own words.

So ... how does it feel to work on a national radio show? I don't know.  I've done a terrible job trying to answer that. 

But I trust I'll figure it out soon.

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