Editing ZeD (section)

==Concept and creation==
The concept of ''ZeD'' was originally developed by [[Rae Hull]],<ref name="Sperounes">Sandra Sperounes, "ZeD sneaks onto CBC: Mothercorp's PR engine sits idle, counts onword of mouth to win fans: hype & hawk: A look at market forces," ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'', April 6, 2002, pg. D.9.</ref> who was the regional director for CBC in [[Vancouver]], British Columbia.<ref name="Atherton">Tony Atherton, "ZeD awaits viewer input," ''The Province'', Vancouver, B.C.: March 24, 2002, pg. B.18.</ref> and new media pioneer McLean Greaves. It was initially imagined as being "[[wiktionary:freeform|free-form]], hip and fast moving, with no segment longer than a few minutes," but beyond this contributors would influence the content.<ref name="Atherton"/>

In November 2001, CBC invited Canadians to come up with cheap but intelligent creative ideas in connection with the anticipated series "''zed''," and received 1,000 efforts.<ref>"Spotlight," ''[[The Vancouver Sun]]'', January 4, 2002, pg. C.6.</ref>  When ''ZeD'' premiered on March 18, 2002, it was still considered to be in development,<ref name="Atherton"/> and its first four weeks from March to April were experimental.<ref name="Sperounes"/>  It was not advertised, except for CBC informing the press, since ''ZeD'' was meant to be discovered among viewers who would then inform other viewers.  CBC was still hoping to attract contributors, and Hull added, "I'd be happy if people discovered ''ZeD'' and made their own decisions about it."<ref name="Sperounes"/>

In March 2002, the series was called '''''ZeD beta v 0.1'''''.<ref name="Quietly">"CBC quietly launches new late-night show," ''Cape Breton Post'', March 20, 2002. pg. B.11.</ref>  The name ''ZeD'' appears to have been chosen to suggest the series was uniquely Canadian, since ''zed'' is how Canadians pronounce the letter "[[Z]]."<ref name="Gill"/>  The ''ZeD'' website was also launched at the time.  Both the series and website were based in Vancouver.<ref name="Quietly"/>