It has been a significant week for those like me who like to follow what is going on in the world of sports media. As reported first by the excellent blog http://www.torontosportsmedia.com/ , Andrew Krystal has been relieved of his duties by The Fan 590 and he will be re-assigned within the Rogers empire. For many this has been an inevitability for quite some time. Krsytal was on his third different time slot with the Fan 590 and had not captured the audience really in any of them. It should be noted that this was through no fault of his own. He was brought in as sorts of a sports-politics-issues hybrid as The Fan wanted to branch out. However, I remember quite well former Program Director Nelson Millman telling me that if you wanted to be sports talk show host in Toronto, you really had to know your stuff. Krystal did not have the depth to do serious sports talk and relied on shock tactics, and silly cliches. His fawning over Jeremy Roenick and Don Cherry lost its lustre really quickly, and not even the support of Bob McCown could save him. Add in the challenge of TSN Radio and Krystal was truly a fish out of water. It will be interesting to see if The Fan will reach from within to fill the role, or look outside. I'm not convinced any of the current talent is ready to embrace a key role as lead in to Bob McCown's show.
You can find the story here:
http://torontosportsmedia.com/sports-and-toronto/andrew-krystal-dismissed-sportsnet
UPDATE: The Fan 590 has posted Krystal's position. This does not neccesarily mean they are looking outside of the station, but it appears they are open to outside applicants. Gord Stellick is also on now from 12-2, at least during the summer months. Nice to see Stellicktricity back, and here's hoping that there will be a summer "Pool Party" Regular listeners to Stellick's Big Show will know what I'm talking about.
MONTREAL CANADIANS SWITCH RADIO STATIONS
The Canadiens this year will be found on 990AM, and there is a school of thought that says that Rick Moffat may not follow the Canadiens to the dial as the play by play man. An article in the Montreal Gazette states that the station will make an announcement about the on-air team later in the summer. Make no mistake about it, this is a plum assignment for whoever snags it. No doubt that there will no shortage of applicants for the position. You can find the story from the Montreal Gazette here
WINNIPEG BROADCASTING SITUATION
The other situation that bears watching is in Winnipeg. No name, no coach and nothing about where the Winnipegs will land on either the TV or Radio dial this year. On the TV end Sportsnet has five channels ready to go, but already have regional coverage of all Canadian teams except for Montreal. TSN has the Canadiens and two channels to offer up. Their opener on October 9th is alleged to be on Hockey Night in Canada. The radio rights, it seems will either go to CJOB, which carried the Manitoba Moose and have Brian Munz in-house for potential play by play. 1290 AM is the other show in town that may make a play for the rights. Nothing, to this point, has been publicized in terms of on-air talent.
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