George Stroumboulopoulos has been tapped to host and exec produce the Gemini Awards for CBC, putting his experience with the glitzy MuchMusic Video Awards to work for CBC, which will air the annual television awards live from Regina on Oct. 28.

‘He and his team have worked on a lot of great award shows like the MMVAs,’ programming boss Kirstine Layfield tells Playback Daily. ‘He’s got some fresh ideas about how to promote Canadian talent… We think it will bring a new feel to the show.’

Stroumboulopoulos, host of hipster late-night talk show The Hour, will exec produce along with Steve Sloan, a veteran of previous CBC Gemini and Genie broadcasts.

Stroumboulopoulos joined CBC in 2004 after working at MuchMusic as producer and host of The Punk Show, and host of The NewMusic, LOUD and MuchNews.

The Geminis are back on CBC this year, after two years on Global, which will still handle the red-carpet pre-show on ET Canada.