One year after being fired from Toronto FM station The Edge for controversial on-air remarks, Dean Blundell is returning to the Toronto airwaves as co-host of a new morning show on Rogers Media-owned Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
Debuting March 2 and running weekdays from 5:30-9 a.m., Dean Blundell & Co will star Blundell and co-host Andrew Walker, currently co-host of the station’s morning show Brady & Walker. Beginning March 30, Walker’s co-host Greg Brady will take over the 1-4 p.m. timeslot currently occupied by Tim & Sid.
The roster shuffle also sees Tim & Sid co-hosts Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro moving to TV, hosting a new 5-7 p.m. weekday show on Sportsnet beginning July 1. Details of that show, which will overlap with Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown, are still being determined.
Blundell arrives at Rogers with a well-earned “shock jock” tag. He was fired by The Edge’s parent company, Corus Radio Toronto, last January following homophobic remarks he made about a sexual assault trial for which show producer and co-host Derek Welsman served as jury foreman.
Scott Moore, president, Sportsnet and NHL properties for Rogers, said Blundell — who he described as “the best available free agent on the market” — arrives at the sports station with both a built-in audience (he boasts more than 78,000 Twitter followers) and a reputation.
“The audience is familiar with him, but I think they will be surprised by his reinvention,” Moore told Marketing. “He’s keenly aware of what the Sportsnet brand is and that he’s going to be a great part of that brand.
“He’s a great broadcaster, but he will be a different broadcaster. I’m confident in what he’s going to bring to the table.”
While admitting that Blundell’s on-air history was a “major consideration” in the hire, both for Rogers and him personally, Moore said he’s not concerned about any advertiser pushback.
“I’m not worried about blowback from advertisers, because I think they get it,” he said. “Advertisers will understand that we’re going to help reinvent Dean, and that he’s a terrific broadcaster who is well-proven at bringing audiences.”
There has already been some “good positive buzz” about the hire from the ad community, he added, noting that Blundell’s show would likely attract a slightly younger audience than its predecessor, which could bode well for ad sales.
“We’ve been very dominant in the males 25-54 category, but the only issue with that is males 25-54 tend to get 26-55 pretty quickly, and you want to reinvigorate it at the lower end while you can,” said Moore.
He went on to suggest that Blundell’s controversial remarks were merely part of a bad boy persona he cultivated with The Edge in an attempt to stand out in the highly competitive morning drive slot.
“I spent a lot of time with Dean, got to know the type of person he is, and got to know that he’s great at playing a role and that’s what he was doing in his previous iteration,” he said. “I’m convinced that as a broadcaster he is one of the best in the business and that he understands his role here will be very different.”
He suggested it might take audiences a “little while” to understand that Blundell would be different in his new role.
“There are those that have a tough time understanding that people can change, that people can morph into a different style, but those people are going to be very surprised when they listen to him and see the type of broadcaster he is. It will be a very different show from the one he was hosting at The Edge.”
Winning over audiences could take time however, as Blundell clearly has his detractors. In online stories announcing the move Tuesday, he was variously described as a “sophomoric jackass” and “loudmouth blowhard,” although one defender said his was the only good radio morning show, “unless you are a hipster or church-going middle-aged person who lost their sense of humor.”
Moore said another major consideration in the on-air shakeup was a desire to put Micallef and Seixeiro on television. He said the new show would reinvent the early evening timeslot for sports television, which has traditionally been occupied by sports highlights shows that are no longer resonating with audiences because so much of their content has been seen before.
“Sports networks are having some difficulty on both sides of the border because people aren’t waiting until 6 p.m. the next day to see highlights,” said Moore. “They need to see something different, better and more engaging, and I’m very confident Tim and Sid will bring that.”
Moore said Sportsnet 590 The Fan is doing “incredibly well” from a ratings standpoint, but that he is committed to widening its lead in the sports radio segment.
The deal has been in the works since last summer, with Rogers inviting Blundell to guest host on Sportsnet while working with Micallef and Seixeiro to help establish the new direction for their show. “We took the time to put all the pieces in place and do it all at once,” said Moore. “I’m not a fan of dribs and drabs.”
