Marilyn Denis was the second host of CityLine, following in the footsteps of FOTM Dini Petty. If you're looking for a deep dive into the career of Dini Petty, including plenty of CityLine stories, look no further than episode 662 of Toronto Mike'd.
Marilyn hosted CityLine on Citytv from 1989 to 2008 and she only left CityLine to host The Marilyn Denis Show for CTV because Rogers purchased Citytv and Marilyn Denis chose to remain a Bell Media employee, 104.5 CHUM-FM being a Bell Media property and all. You see, Marilyn has been a morning show host at 104.5 since July 2, 1986. If you're a Torontonian of a certain age, you might utter the brand "Roger, Rick & Marilyn" on your death bed.
Speaking of Roger, Rick & Marilyn, Roger Ashby and Rick Hodge each have multiple Toronto Mike'd appearances under their belt, but when I wrote Marilyn to invite her on, a CTV Publicist let me know how very busy Marilyn's schedule is and my follow-ups were left unanswered. I remain hopeful that one day Marilyn Denis will make her Toronto Mike'd debut, but I'm not holding my breath.
But back to The Marilyn Denis Show on CTV... the program premiered on January 10, 2011 and this week Marilyn announced the final episode will air on June 9th. She will continue to host the morning show on CHUM with FOTM Jamar McNeil.
If my math is correct, that's 34 years of hosting a daytime television program. No small feat!
Coincidentally, Liz Braun just left her newspaper gig at the Toronto Sun and Postmedia after 37 years. Liz visits me tomorrow afternoon to talk about it all.
