Rogers Media said they were cutting 200 jobs this quarter. They started last week, promising to finish as soon as possible, and today they delivered pink slips to two popular Fan 590 personalities.
Gone are Greg Brady from Brady & Walker and longtime utility host Jeff Sammut. It looks like 590 will air a show entitled Sportsnet Today The Andrew Walker Show from 1-4. No word yet on whether Sportsnet Today includes Andrew Walker, although that's highly likely considering he's still employed by the station.
Greg Brady visited my home on May 14, 2014. He appeared on episode 76 of my podcast, Toronto Mike'd, and he was entertaining, honest and an ideal guest. Part of what I like about Brady is that he doesn't pull punches. During this episode, he was brutally honest about why it didn't work out with former co-host Jim Lang. Recently, he went off on TSN Radio, which caused Mike Richards to strike back during his episode of Toronto Mike'd. Brady was always honest, perhaps too honest, but it made for interesting radio.
I knew Brady had rode in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, so when I was training for my first ride, I'd call Brady up and grill him with questions. He was very helpful.
Here's episode 76 with Greg Brady, if you missed it the first time.
Jeff Sammit visited my home on December 11, 2015. He appeared on episode 149 of my podcast, and it was a pleasure. When we finished recording, I looked at the software and saw it had crashed at the 1:02 mark. Luckily, I didn't lose that 1:02, but I had an episode without an ending. He was more than happy to re-record our last bit about his love of the Yankees and I learned a valuable lesson about recording software.
Here's episode 149 with Jeff Sammut.
This is a terrible time for members of the mainstream media. There are few options, and everyone is cutting staff. If it's not Bell Media or Rogers Media announcing cuts, it's Corus or CBC or Postmedia. Heck, CHCH fired everybody, just ask Mark Hebscher. Few are safe, job security is rare and good people who do good work are reduced to expendable numbers.
What an unfortunate state of affairs.
