Street Cents

Street Cents
Main title
Created byJohn Nowlan
Written by
  • Andrea Dorfman
  • Ian Johnston
  • Dan Hughes
Directed by
  • Ron Murphy
  • Henry Sarwer-Foner
  • Stephen Hall
Starring
  • Jonathan Torrens (1989–1999)
  • Brian Heighton (1989–1997)
  • Jamie Bradley (1989–1994)
  • Anna Dirksen (1994–1999)
  • Demore Barnes (199?–????)
  • Kim D'Eon (1999–2003)
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons17
No. of episodes923
Production
Production locationsHalifax, Nova Scotia
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkCBC Television
ReleaseMarch 15, 1989 (1989-03-15) –
October 1, 2006 (2006-10-01)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Street Cents is a newsmagazine TV series directed at teenagers that originally aired on CBC Television between 1989 and 2006. Street Cents focused on consumer and media awareness for young people. The series was created by producer John Nowlan. He cites Britain's Pocket Money as one of the inspirations for Street Cents. The show has won several Gemini Awards and even an International Emmy for Best Youth Programming or Series. The series was lauded by critics for its efforts to be inclusive and representative of Canada's youth. The theme song for several seasons was "Where Does My Money Go?" by Thrush Hermit.[1]

Like CBC's Marketplace, the show aired without commercial interruption, because the producers did not want the bias of advertising revenue to affect the potential criticism of the advertisers' products and/or services. The show promoted safety and ethics and action while empowering young people. Sponsor logos were briefly seen in the end credits of episodes in a manner akin to public television in the United States.

In August 2006, the network airing Street Cents, CBC Television, decided to cancel the series as its target demographic, teens and preteens, have shown a decline of viewership. The last episode aired October 1, 2006 leaving CBC-TV with no programs aimed at its target demographic.

One of the original hosts of the show, Jonathan Torrens, started a YouTube reboot of the series in 2019 called Your Two Cents. The CBC subsequently announced its own revival of the Street Cents brand as a TikTok, Instagram and YouTube account in 2022, hosted by Anisha Joshi, Mercedes Gaztambide and Ian (Creo) Walters.[2]

  1. ^ O'Kane, Josh (2016). Nowhere With You: The East Coast Anthems of Joel Plaskett, The Emergency and Thrush Hermit. ECW Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1770412378.
  2. ^ Thiessen, Connie (March 7, 2022). "CBC reboots Street Cents on TikTok". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved March 8, 2022.