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WITH GAS PRICES SOARING, CBC'S MARKETPLACE INVESTIGATES THE PITCH ON PREMIUM GAS AND WHETHER OUR CARS REALLY NEED IT

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Pump Fiction airs on CBC News’ MARKETPLACEFriday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV

MARKETPLACE takes on Canada’s big gas station chains and asks whether Canadians are being misled into paying millions more at the pumps than they need. As gas prices soar, Pump Fiction puts the oil companies’ premium gas blends, at a ‘premium price’, to the test to see if we are being misled into wasting millions on gas that most of our cars don’t actually need. Does the more expensive premium gas really make your car perform better? Go faster? Get better mileage? Run cleaner? Tom Harrington pumps the big oil companies for answers, and asks, “Why are you pushing premium gas to people who don’t need it?”

 

Pump Fiction airs Friday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV; Nov. 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET and Nov. 4 at 5:30 p.m. ET on CBC News Network.

 

The price for premium is higher than regular gas—as much as 15 cents more per litre. Gas companies make the pitch that premium’s better for your car…Now it’s true that some car makers recommend putting premium fuel in their high-end models, but what about most of us who drive regular gars? It’s the MARKETPLACE gas challenge. Premium vs. regular. And you won’t believe what we find out.

 

Winner of the 2011 Gemini Award for Best News Information Series, MARKETPLACE airs Fridays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC Television. MARKETPLACE also airs Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. ET and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET on CBC News Network. For more information on MARKETPLACE, visit our website at cbc.ca/marketplace, join us on Facebook and follow us on twitter: twitter.com/cbcerica and twitter.com/cbctom. Executive producer is Tassie Notar.

 

cbc.ca/marketplace

 

facebook.com/marketplace

 

@cbctom

 

@cbcerica

 

@cbcmarketplace

 

 

About CBC News

For more than 75 years, CBC has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

 

 

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For further information, or to request interviews, contact:

 

Melissa Prince, Veritas Communications

 

o) 416-482-2669

 

c) 647-205-4744

 

prince@veritascanada.com

 

or

 

Corey Black, News and Current Affairs Publicist, CBC

 

o) 416-205-8710

 

c) 647-221-4133

 

corey.black@cbc.ca

 

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