When Bell Media unceremoniously shuttered TSN 1040 last month, the station was crushing its competition, Sportsnet 650, in the ratings. As the only sports talk station left in the Vancouver market, 650’s ratings picked up in 1040’s absence, but only claiming about 40 per cent of 1040's audience.
Now 650 is likely hoping they can pick up more of 1040’s audience by picking up three of their hosts.
Mike Halford and Jason Brough, hosts of 1040’s popular morning show, are the new hosts of what Sportsnet hopes will be 650’s popular new morning show.
Halford and Brough have been staples of the Vancouver sports scene since 2007 when they first published the Kurtenblog with The Province. Their combination of sports opinions with off-kilter senses of humour not only laid the foundation for other blogs named after former Canucks players, but also made them a natural fit for radio.
They first joined 1040 when it was still TEAM1040 with their late-night Kurtenblogger show. After some time spent writing for a national audience with NBC Sports, they returned to Vancouver airwaves with their morning show until losing their jobs in the 1040 shutdown.
There were immediate calls from Vancouver sports fans for 650 to pick up Halford and Brough and those calls have been answered. Their new show will run from 6:00am to 9:00am, the typical morning commute timeslot.
Another addition from 1040, Karen Surman, will join Scott Rintoul in the following slot from 9:00am to 1:00pm. As has been the case for some time, the show will be broadcast simultaneously in Calgary and Vancouver, requiring the two to navigate two very different audiences.
The new show running from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, “Bik and The Boss,” will regrettably not feature Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen. Instead, it will be hosted by Bik Nizzar, a producer for 650 who has been taking on a larger role in recent months, and Craig MacEwen, 650’s program director.
The new show takes the spot of Reach Deep, the afternoon show hosted by Dan Riccio and Randip Janda. Riccio and Janda are not going far — they’ve been promoted to the primetime drive slot of 3:00pm to 7:00pm, hosting “The People’s Show” with Satiar Shah.
The flipside of addition is subtraction
With the new additions and shuffled timeslots, three 650 hosts will no longer be with the station: James Cybulski, Perry Solkowski, and Andrew Walker.
Cybulski and Solkowski were the hosts of 650’s previous morning show, which struggled to gain traction against the powerhouse Halford and Brough show before 1040’s termination. The addition of Halford and Brough meant the writing was on the wall for both hosts.
“Simply put, we didn’t deliver in the morning,” said Cybulski to Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston. “I’m really happy to see some of the opportunity the young guys are getting, Randip, Dan, Bik. And honestly they’re bringing in a hit show in the morning.”
Walker was the host of 650’s drivetime show with Shah and brought a lot of professionalism and talent to the role, but struggled at times to connect with some segments of the Vancouver market. Given his talent level, he’ll likely land on his feet elsewhere in the sports talk world.
“I enjoyed my time in Vancouver greatly,” said Walker to Johnston. “I was definitely caught off guard, but have been around long enough to know these things happen. I love my teammates at 650 and I hope the market gives the new shows all the ears and attention they deserve.”
What the other former 1040 hosts have been up to
Halford, Brough, and Surman are not the only former 1040 hosts to find a new home following the unjust destruction of their former abode.
Rob Fai immediately launched a professionally-produced post-game Canucks show on YouTube called The Nation that has quickly found a following. 1040’s Canucks beat reporter, Jeff Paterson, has joined him as a regular contributor in this endeavour, as well as continuing to host the VANcast with Thomas Drance at The Athletic.
Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal will go from radio to television, hosting a sports talk show on Vancouver Island’s CHEK TV, along with producer Ryan Henderson. The show will be called “Donnie and Dhali — The Team” and will air from 10:00am to noon, Monday to Friday.
For Taylor, it’s a return to familiar waters — he got his start on CHEK TV with the much-loved Sports Page.
Matt Sekeres and Blake Price, former hosts of 1040’s drivetime show, are staying together with a new podcast that is the harbinger of a much bigger project, according to the duo. Paterson will also be joining Sekeres and Price.
Other former 1040 hosts are in a holding pattern. Bob “The Moj” Marjanovich has called play-by-play for the BC Lions for several years and could follow the Lions to wherever they land. Others may be waiting to see if another sports talk station pops up in the coming year.
