I used to enjoy looking at Toronto's radio ratings. Then, I got fed up with the entire process. Who is carrying these PPM devices? Stations target a specific demographic, but regular folk like me can't access these figures. With so little data available, and so much skepticism, I just stopped
Q107 is 40 years old today. The station signed on with Deodato's "Also sprach Zarathustra" back on May 22, 1977 and the first song played was "Hard Rock Town" by Murray McLauchlan. The first voice you heard belonged to John Rode. A tweet by @arc185 led me to this page
Yesterday at 9:55am, Lou Schizas's Happy Capitalism segment aired on The Stafford Show with Mike Stafford on AM640 Toronto. Both Lou and Mike have been on Toronto Mike'd, and they talked about my podcast for two and a half minutes. Here's the audio evidence. Here's a transcript of the
When Josie Dye said goodbye on 102.1 the Edge, so began one of the worst kept secrets in Toronto media. Josie Dye was leaving CFNY to host the morning show on rival station Indie88. Her show debuted last Monday. This neat little video promoted her new show with Matt
During my conversation with Bubba O'Neil, the chat turned to race in Canadian sports media. He told me the best advice he'd received was from John Saunders who told him he'd have to work ten times as hard to make it, because he was a black man. Black people may
In this 223rd episode, Mike chats with Barry Davis about his years at The Fan, his time at Sportsnet covering the Blue Jays, why he's no longer there and his Tom Petty tribute band, We Ain't Petty. This episode is exactly 56:28. You can listen to this episode in
In my very basement you learned about Mike Richards' new independent venture and Greg Brady's return to mornings on The Fan 590, but there was other news today. At 102.1 the Edge, my station throughout the 90s, they shuffled the deck. The new morning show is going to be
In this 220th episode, Mike chats with The Fan 590 morning show host Greg Brady about being bumped from mornings for Dean Blundell, losing his job and coming all the way back with Elliott Price and Hugh Burrill. This episode is exactly 1:29:44. You can listen to this
In this 218th episode, Mike chats with Craig Venn about his years at CFNY, being Lobster Boy on the John Derringer show and hosting the morning show at 94.9 The Rock. This episode is exactly 1:36:12. You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways:
In this 217th episode, Mike chats with CHFI morning show host Maureen Holloway about her years at 99.9, working with John Derringer at Q107 and taking over for Erin Davis on 98.1. This episode is exactly 1:06:56. You can listen to this episode in a variety
Jennifer Valentyne worked at City TV almost her entire working life until they let her go last April Fool's Day. Rogers Media's loss was Corus Entertainment's gain and she quickly caught on as host of The Bachelorette Canada’s live After Show on the W network. Throw in a few
The Dean Blundell era at The Fan 590 is over after two years. Starting February 27, Greg Brady is back doing mornings at his old station. You may recall he and Andrew Walker were bumped from mornings to afternoons to make room for Blundell. Brady was subsequently let go in
About a year ago, Ingrid Schumacher visited my home and shared several great stories about her four decades on the air at 104.5 CHUM-FM. She was even on the air the night John Lennon was shot. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and urge you to listen to it here.
In this 212th episode, Mike chats with Jesse Dylan and Gene Valaitis about their years on Toronto radio as Jesse and Gene, what they've been up to since and what's next for the duo. This episode is exactly 1:09:38. You can listen to this episode in a variety
I have a Skype call scheduled this afternoon with Jesse and Gene. Jesse is in Vancouver and Gene is in California, so Skype will have to do for this reunion episode of Toronto Mike'd. Thinking of Jesse and Gene got me thinking of Toronto radio personalities over the past few
George Stroumboulopoulos invited some of Canada's best musicians to his home and had them cover Tragically Hip songs. The result was four awesome hours of what he calls Hip 30. All four hours of Hip 30 audio is available to you here. Enjoy this most excellent playlist. The Tragically Hip,
Jeff "Scruff Connors" Newfield was 64. He was the radio broadcaster best known in these parts for his two stints at Q107, and most recently, MOJO Radio.
Josie Dye started at 102.1 the Edge way back in 2002. She took over middays when Kelly Cutrara left and stayed in that spot until she moved to mornings following the cancellation of the Dean Blundell Show. That experiment didn't last long, and Josie Dye was moved to 2pm-6pm.
When I was young, I'd slowly turn the dial on my transistor radio to see if I could pick up stations from outside the GTA. I'd get awfully excited when I'd find a station in Cleveland, for example. I distinctly remember doing this one Christmas Eve and being delighted by
Last week I was chatting with Chris Zelkovich about Toronto's sports radio stations. I asked him to imagine what might happen if Bob McCown left 590 for the same timeslot on 1050. In this scenario, do you think Bob McCown would be permitted to say goodbye to his 590 audience
Erin Davis, a fixture on Toronto radio for 28 years, has announced her retirement. She records her last morning show for CHFI on December 15 and will then move with her husband to British Columbia to "begin a new life". I had the pleasure of being visited by Erin for
In this 200th episode, Mike chats with broadcasters Humble Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson about their podcast, the state of radio today and how long they'll run. This episode is exactly 1:50:37. You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways: Subscribe in iTunesListen via Google
Way back in 2003, Humble and Fred were the morning show on AM 640, only then it was called Mojo Radio. Humble and Fred were seduced by Mix 99.9 and gave notice, so AM 640 recruited John Oakley form rival CFRB and Oakley worked mornings on 640 ever since.
In this 198th episode, Mike chats with Q107 deejay Joanne Wilder about her years at Q, her appearance in Playboy and how it feels getting to play Duran Duran. This episode is exactly 1:07:57. You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways: Subscribe in iTunesListen
You'll remember that Rickey Henderson ad for Bob McCown's morning show on The Fan 1430 back in '93. I shared that one a few years ago, if you need your memory jogged. At that same time, there was an ad with Doug Gilmour that Retrontario just dug up. It's safe
