Speaking of Q, I was finally able to watch Q on Bold, a one-hour weekly televised version of the radio program. It’s not really a TV show, per se, but rather a filmed radio show — in other words, more like Don Imus on MSNBC than This American Life on Showtime. There’s a Q YouTube channel too, where you can get a similar videotaped view inside the radio studio.

Generally I’m not an advocate for CBC-style synergy — the drive to “unite the platforms” that see news stories from Compass running the next morning on Island Morning. And I’m not entirely convinced that running a radio show like Q on television is a useful exercise that adds anything to the experience.

That said, it is interesting to watch partially naked radio in action. Even though I’m no stranger to the radio studio, for example, I was surprised to see just how scripted everything that Jian Ghomeshi utters into the microphone is, from intros and extros to questions — when Jian takes a breath and casually mentions “so, you were born in Utica, what was that like,” it’s not casual conversation, it’s a scripted prompt. I suppose it’s a testament to his skills that he’s able to make it sound like he’s making everything up off the top of his head.

What would be really interesting is if they had cameras rolling from before the radio show started until after it finished, and added cameras to the control room — that would really give us an archaeological dig through the radio-making process, and while it might expose even more of the artifice, it might also demystify the process enough to make more people consider taking it on as an amateur practise. (Example)