Toronto Radio: Dean Blundell Sports Getting The Big Mo

Talk personality Dean Blundell fared much better in his second month on the air for Toronto sports CJCL 590 AM The Fan, and according to The Globe&Mail, his chief rival’s ratings faded.

Blundell & Co., which replaced Brady and Walker, with hosts Greg Brady and Andrew Walker, as The Fan’s morning show on March 2, drew an average share of 3.3 per cent of listeners between ages 25 to 54 in April. That was a jump from 2.3 per cent in March.

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At the same time, TSN Toronto CHUM 1050 AM's morning show, Mike Richards in the Morning, slid from an average share of 1.3 in March to 0.7 in April.

While it is only one month, the trend is encouraging for Fan owner Rogers Media, as Blundell’s 3.3 April share also stopped a steady morning-ratings slide that started a year earlier with Brady and Walker.

Bumping Brady and Walker to the 1-4 p.m. weekday slot initially created controversy because their ratings were considered stable, while Blundell’s mix of vulgar and sometimes misogynistic and homophobic humour in his previous job (on Toronto FM station 102.1 The Edge) kept him in hot water with Canada’s broadcast authorities.

Ratings from Numeris that showed Brady and Walker’s decline started in April, 2014, and they were never able to arrest the slide. That April, Brady and Walker had a 4.8 share of adults 25 to 54 in the morning slot; by February, 2015, that share was down to 2.4.



Blundell also increased his share of what is considered The Fan’s target audience, males ages 18 to 49. In March, Blundell had a 3.5 share with that group and raised it to 4.9 in April. This appears to have been done at the expense of Richards. His share of the men 18 to 49 went from 2.4 in March to 1.1 in April.

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