As a news station, it’s our job to inform the public what’s going on around the province and in your community.
But when you produce as much live television as we have, it’s bound to happen that the broadcasters unwittingly become the story.
As we celebrate 60 years of being on the air and in your community, we wanted to take a look back at some of our most viral moments.
On Aug. 11, 2009, a meeting between a dog named Ginger and Noon News anchor Randene Neill caught the eye of audiences around the world.
Ginger, who was up for adoption at the BC SPCA, took a shine to Neill and would not stop licking her face.
More than seven years later, on Neill’s last day at Global BC, Ginger paid her a surprise visit and was as loveable as ever.
On Oct. 31, 2011, Global BC sports anchor Barry Deley’s life was changed forever when he won a new home in the B.C. Children’s Hospital Dream Lottery.
The moment went viral because it happened live on the air during the Noon News.
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Even though the pronunciation of Deley’s name was incorrect at the beginning, then-co-host Squire Barnes knew right away that the winning ticket belonged to his colleague.
“I’m not kidding!” Barnes told Deley after he called him while still on the air.
“You know people are going to think this is kind of fishy,” said Deley, who’d been shopping for groceries at the time at a Real Canadian Superstore.
Deley and Barnes even made an appearance on the Ellen Show, and the moment was featured in an article in the Daily Mail.
A few years later, in what might be our most viral video of all time, an unexpected guest showed up during meteorologist Kristi Gordon’s weather forecast.
On June 21, 2013, during the Noon News weather report, as Gordon changed the screen behind her from a graphic of forecast to the tower camera, a spider could be seen hanging out at the top corner, just above her head.
“Of course he had to be right on my head!” Gordon said as she ducked to avoid something that wasn’t actually there.
Gordon’s freakout made headlines around the world, and the video has garnered more than seven million views on YouTube.
Just as B.C. was getting ready to say goodbye to 2014, Morning News host Steve Darling had a segment planned with Four Seasons wine director Emily Walker on how to saber a champagne bottle for New Year’s Eve.
Her attempted demonstration went awry, breaking the entire bottle and spilling champagne all over her.
“Hey, it’s live television, what can you do?” Darling told a shocked Walker as they both chuckled.
When Darling tried, the result was the same.
The clip was picked up by multiple news outlets from the Huffington Post to The Express in the U.K.
What is perhaps Global BC’s most talked-about viral moment started as a discussion between anchor Robin Stickley, Barnes and Gordon in a New Hour segment that aired only online on March 26, 2015.
Gordon was pregnant with her second child and decided to share a letter she had received from a viewer.
“‘Nowhere on North American TV have we seen a weather reader so gross as you,'” Gordon read. “‘Your front end looks like the Hindenburg and your rear end looks like a brick ***house.'”
Gordon revealed she had received multiple letters about her appearance and her clothes being too tight during her pregnancy.
As a result of the posted video and discussion, she was flooded with messages of love and support and invited to do interviews with multiple media outlets, even catching the attention of People Magazine.
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