Congratulations to Mike Richards, formerly of The Fan, Calgary's sports station owned by Rogers Communications, who is heading east for a great new gig.
I worked with Mike in Toronto several years ago and the man has multiple talents.
When he moved from the big smoke to Cowtown I was thrilled to watch his evolution from comedy goofball to seasoned broadcaster so kudo's to Mike as he gets the big payoff now not only monetarily but to return "home" because he's heading back to 1050 on the radio dial debuting the new TSN Sports radio service, now owned by CTV.
This move makes me double happy because it means a) the big guys are investing in their products again, b) they're investing in AM radio again and c) it's a chance to repair what we started several years ago with the Team sports format across the country.
I don't need to ignite the conversation about what went wrong, because that's in the past, but I am excited about the possibilities that can go right when there is direct competition by two heavyweights in the business. (Sports pun intended)
If you're a sports guy with chops in this country you'll get a phone call.
If you're a sports personality, ie former player, with a dynamic personality you'll get a call.
If you're active on social media, extra points because that's where sports commentary thrives and you too will be attractive to these guys.
I mean who doesn't follow BizNasty on Twitter these days?
If you're currently one of the "orphans" of the old Team network you should also rejoice because both of these operators will want to cozy up to you to strengthen the National scope of the chain.
This is a return to the past too as radio and tv stations used to work together like this decades ago when they were both under one roof or owned by the same company.
The tv sports guy did the radio sports too. That was just the way it was then.
Several stations also used to simulcast play by play of CFL and WHL/NHL games then as well.
Both CTV and Rogers have huge armies of talent across the country to utilize on these stations to do it right.... And a substantial budget to work with to attract top talent.
Plus the National TV exposure for programming will be a huge bonus to help radio in the new PPM world.
Hey, AM radio has been dying across the country for the past decade. Many stations flipped to FM or even handed back AM licenses in markets big and small. Maybe people will flip back again....which will also benefit other formats still active on the platform. I hope so.
This signifies a rebirth of "possibilities" in a country with an insatiable appetite for sports.
It's an over used cliche but what the heck - "yes" let the games begin!
Maybe I should unretire....this sounds like fun again!
No comments:
Post a Comment