May I suggest that you have your callers just say: “H-U-L” rather than: “I’ll hang up and listen to your guest’s answer.”

Over the course of one show, I believe that the time savings generated would add up. I really enjoy both afternoon and evening shows.

All The Best,
DW
Orillia ON

Hey, D,

Thanks for writing. I understand where you’re coming from. Viewers in the past have taken issue with everything from “thanks for taking my call” to “how are you? Great, thanks, and you?”

You might be surprised to learn how little time is spent on these pleasantries.

“I’ll hang up and listen to your guest’s answer” consumes approximately 3 seconds per call. Market Call at 1:30PM ET handles about 8 combined calls and email messages, and MCT at 6PM ET about twice that. Eliminating pointless references to hanging up (after all, we’ll hang up on them to clear the line if they don’t hang up on us!) saves less than 30 seconds of the 30 minute show and about a minute for the night programme.

Note the yellow paper on the wall. It’s our list of “frequent callers”. BNN Market Call screener Michael Chu politely requests viewers who have repeatedly gotten through to wait a week or two before calling back to give other viewers a chance to ask a question.

We already urge them to get straight to the question. The savings on a per-show basis simply aren’t substantial enough to pressure the callers further, and the cumulative effect over the course of a year isn’t an accurate assessment since we can’t squeeze in another topic in the 24 seconds saved, anyway.

I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity, so eliminating my follow-up questions to squeeze in another call or two degrades the value of the program over time.

In an effort to get more content on-air, you may have noticed some changes I made when I returned to the show. The past picks segment focuses exclusively on the weakest of the picks, and promotions for other guests and shows have been shortened or eliminated.

Partial panoramic image of the BNN control room

In speaking with viewers, I’ve found they get a big charge out of saying the “hang up” phrase they hear all the time, so I’m reluctant to push for its elimination.

Thanks so much for watching – and for taking the time to offer your thoughts on improving the show.

I wanted to reply personally so you know your suggestion has been seriously considered.

Michael