I am going to go out on a limb here folks. It is time Nelson Millman to make a change to his morning show over at the Fan 590. I don’t want to call for someone to lose (not loose) their job, but the morning show is just stale. Why do I bring this up today, well, Don Landry was out ill today and Damien filled in for Landry. It was the best morning show they have had in ages. Let me be clear, I don’t know Don Landry from Adam. To quote Pat Burns, “I wouldn’t know him if I hit him with my car.” I don’t dislike him personally, nor the work he does. However, if ever there was a guy suited for a mid day slot it would be him. He can be funny, he likes to do more shtick then substance and I am sure he has a ton of loyal followers. He just isn’t a sports guy. This is a time slot the Fan has all to their own and to be honest most mornings I punt to 550 or god forbid music. If I am not getting sports at 590, there is no reason to listen. Nelson needs to find a replacement for Landry during that show and move Landry to an hour where his talents will be more appreciated. I can’t see the ratings for this show getting any better then they are right now. The show has peaked and I predict will decline until a change is made.
Damien was fantastic this am with Gord. They have amazing chemistry and man, they spent time actually talking about what their sports guests earlier in the am had to say. Damien was saying how he thought wht Burke was doing with Pogge was the right move, that it was part of a plan. He said he disagreed with Scotty’s take from earlier in the am which was great in that I didn’t get to hear all of it. There was a lot less hijinx then there usually is and a bigger focus on sports. Again, for some reason I think Damien’s column has suffered greatly as a result of the other things he does. He is better in his blog and is better then that on the radio. Watching him faceoff against Simmons on Sunday’s is pretty interesting too. In his column he rarely says why leaf fans should be happy that Cliff is gone. It sounds like a personal vendetta, and more so every time he says it isn’t. This morning he actually put some meat on the bones saying that if Cliff were still in charge we would have seen more deals like the one Cliff made for Lee Stempniak, trading away 2 guys who at the very least should have been given a shot with the Marlies to work our their careers. Damien guaranteed that Cliff was going to do everything in his power to get the team to the playoffs this season and deals like that were evidence of such. Now, I have no clue whether that is true or not. Damien also wrote that Doug Gilmour was paying for his players to be at the ACC this Saturday and we have since learned otherwise. At least it makes for interesting radio. It is certainly better then another bit of Ken Dryden in the house of commons! Good on Damien for mixing it up a bit, making it interesting etc.
I would like to see the Fan 590 think outside the box a bit more. In many major cities I have lived in the morning show and the drive home show feature a radio guy and a print guy as permanent hosts. The radio guy is always there (except for vacations) and the print guy is sometimes a little late, sometimes on the road or sometimes absent. They have good chemistry and create a good product. Now Brunt is a part timer on the Fan, not full time with McCown. While I love Brunt’s work, I think he comes across as being to cerebral for radio in this town. He is certainly better then some of the other guys though. I would love for the Fan to find a way to get Damien or someone like him in there with Stellick. Maclean would be a better fit to be honest. One of the problems I think is that we don’t have a huge bullpen of talent (at least known) in this market. It’s not like there are 5-10 guys on other shows who you say, man they would be awesome on the Fan. With the exception of Brady on 640 (and I think he would be terrific with Stellick, but can’t see that happening anytime soon), I really can’t think of anyone. Now Brady came from Detroit and there are probably a lot of folks in the industry looking for work in other markets. I think Nelson really should make a change, move Landry to the mid-day and bring in someone else to work with Stellick. This morning was a tease.
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As I have said before, the morning show on FAN 590 is at its best when Landry is away and they have someone like Cox or Friedman as a guest co-host with Stellick………….I agree that Landry is the weak link but I wouldn’t get rid of him unless I had someone better lined up………..there is no way that Cox or Friedman would ever become the full time co-host in the morning……………..and it would be next to impossible to convince one of the other print or TV guys to replace Landry………….it takes a certain type of person to agree to wake up at 4:00 each morning…………..maybe they could replace Landry with a bunch of rotating co-hosts who would each do a week at a time.
I’m not a big radio listener anymore, neither music or talk. I do record PrimeTime Sports on TV as that’s easier than trying to listen walking home. Plus it’s interesting to watch them discuss stuff and I can fast forward through segments I don’t care for.
I look forward to Brunt’s turn at the sidekick role and while I don’t hate Kelley, I prefer Brunt much more than him.
One of the other things they need to do is find a better replacement host when McCown is away. I don’t mind Toth in a Monday or Friday roundtable but all week of him as host turns me off. Faulds is better but I still don’t look forward to hearing/seeing him as host. Elliott Friedman had potential until, I think, CBC pulled the plug on that. C’mon CBC! Friedman as alternate sidekick or replacement host would be interesting.
Cox as sidekick would be too much dourness which gets tiring after a while. I did listen when he was PTS co-host way back when. Stellick and Cox together has always been good radio. Their afternoon show was always entertaining. I wouldn’t be able to listen to them in the morning but if they were put on TV I’d definitely record the show.
A very fair post…Cox and Stellick are very good together… I too, enjoyed the show…I also like the comment about Landry….though I’m not sure I’d change his time slot…perhaps his shtick is more suited to a music stations morning show (a la roger, rick and maralyn)….he is funny/entertaining…just not suited for an all sports slot/station.
Now, if you could solve the HNIC Hotstove panel issue…that would be awesome….Brunt (who I agree is very good) would be great on that show….please replace Strachan and Milbury!