I'm still listening to the announcement now.

I know it won't be Stafford taking over, considering he's in a legal battle with Chorus.

But it would have been nice.

jughead jones wrote:

vwjets wrote:

I'm still listening to the announcement now.

I know it won't be Stafford taking over, considering he's in a legal battle with Chorus.

But it would have been nice.

KEVIN FRANKISH
 

WOW!!!  What a Refreshing Surprise!

... this coincides with Dina Pugliese returning to BT.

Nice to have them both back on morning broadcasts!
 

I have to give kudos to P.D. Mike Bendixen for the choice. It's very rare a morning host - arguably the most high profile person on a radio station - suddenly resigns. But getting someone well known to replace that person is a huge task. Landing Frankish, who is well known in Toronto media and a familiar name to listeners and viewers, is a real coup.

I wonder what the folks over at 1010 are thinking about this news. 

I'll be curious to see if BT mentions this. Frankish was a huge star locally at City TV, but promoting the competition is a no-no. So while you'd think it might be something they might discuss on BT - which is on at the exact same time - my guess is they won't say a word about one of their former colleagues landing this new gig. 

I'll be giving Frankish a go.  Brady was okay, but certainly not irreplaceable.  Plenty of Frank Leo, but at least no Jiffy-App.

RadioActive wrote:

You're right, of course. But he was such a huge part of Breakfast Television history, along with Dina, you have to wonder if she'll be tempted to mention her old colleague returning to broadcasting. She almost certainly won't. But it would be amazing if she did. 

Frankish mentions her return in one of the videos he made this morning and he wandered around the Corus building searching for the front door. It would be shocking if she did, and probably something akin to career suicide given she is newly reemployed by Rogers. She could be selling phones at a retail outlet very quickly if she breaks ranks.

On Frankish's last day on BT, they showed "goodbye" messages/posts from ex-colleagues who were working for the competition.  (Of course, no branding was visible).

I suppose sometimes they can respectfully cross that line.  (I'm not in the industry)

As an F1 fan, I find it interesting that British media will refer to people from their competition as "colleagues".  For example, when Sky Sports' Martin Brundle or Ted Kravitz run into someone from F1TV, or the infamous run-in with Channel 4's David Coulthard where they briefly interviewed each other during their respective live broadcasts.

Last edited by vwjets (March 18, 2025 9:50 am)

Liberal MP Mark Holland has held the Ajax seat for 16 of the past 20 years, losing only to Conservative Chris Alexander in the 2011 Stephen Harper Conservative majority win. Holland, who became health minister, is not running for re-election. Up until Justin Trudeau's resignation, the Conservatives had a fighting chance at the seat but now new leader Mark Carney is enjoying a honeymoon period in the polls and it will be an uphill battle for Greg Brady, though the polls could easily shift come an election period.

A bit of a risk- for Brady. What happens if ratings go up noticeably under Frankish and then Brady loses the election and wants to come back from leave? Will Bendixon take Brady back or will he keep Frankish and say get rid of Alex Pierson and give Brady the afternoon slot - or just a weekend  slot?

If you missed the big announcement when it aired just after 8:30 AM Tuesday morning, you can hear the whole thing here. 

Frankish was on AM640's Saturday show as a guest and revealed a few interesting facts about how this came to be. 

When Greg Brady told management he'd be leaving to run for office, they called Frankish. He was on a beach in Mexico at the time. Imagine having to give an answer and a commitment like that when you're thousands of kilometres away. But we now know he said yes. Or "si" if you prefer Spanish. 

The other revelation is how early he has to get up to be in downtown Toronto in time for all the pre-show prep. He leaves around 2:30 AM to make it in time. I believe Kevin lives in Barrie, so it makes for an extra long commute and I don't envy him that journey if the weather is terrible. (I wonder if he has any remote equipment in his house like many hosts do, in case he simply can't get there.) 

He maintains he's used to the hours even though he hasn't done it in a while and it came back to him after more than two decades of early rising for BT.

Now the question is: does he get to keep the gig? If Brady wins, you have to surmise it's his for the next four years. If not, will he still be there in May? Oddly enough, Toronto voters may decide his fate as well as Brady's.

RadioActive wrote:

Frankish was on AM640's Saturday show as a guest and revealed a few interesting facts about how this came to be. 

When Greg Brady told management he'd be leaving to run for office, they called Frankish. He was on a beach in Mexico at the time. Imagine having to give an answer and a commitment like that when you're thousands of kilometres away. But we now know he said yes. Or "si" if you prefer Spanish. 

The other revelation is how early he has to get up to be in downtown Toronto in time for all the pre-show prep. He leaves around 2:30 AM to make it in time. I believe Kevin lives in Barrie, so it makes for an extra long commute and I don't envy him that journey if the weather is terrible. (I wonder if he has any remote equipment in his house like many hosts do, in case he simply can't get there.) 

He maintains he's used to the hours even though he hasn't done it in a while and it came back to him after more than two decades of early rising for BT.

Now the question is: does he get to keep the gig? If Brady wins, you have to surmise it's his for the next four years. If not, will he still be there in May? Oddly enough, Toronto voters may decide his fate as well as Brady's.

Years ago, when still with BT, Frankish talked about buying a downtown condo for his daughter when she was going to one of the University's in TO. He kept it after the daughter graduated, and I think he moved in to it when he separated from his wife at the time. In a post somewhere, he mentions that he has a new partner now, so perhaps he has moved back to the Barrie area.