DCHP-2

hotline hot-line DCHP-2 (June 2016)

• n.

  a radio show where listeners phone in to talk to the announcer.

  This meaning of hotline is very closely related to the general meaning of a 'direct telephone link for a specific purpose' (see OED-3 1a.) and was likely appropriated to apply to radio shows which rely on telephone conversation and debate with listeners. This meaning is not specific to Canada, and in fact occurs much more frequently in the US (see Chart 1). The term is therefore North American and not a Canadianism as defined in Dollinger (2015c).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "hotline" (3), which is marked "Cdn", Gage-3, s.v. "hot-line" (2, 3).