Bleav in The Pressrow

Howard Behar's career in business spans over 50 years, all in consumer-oriented businesses, and most recently as a speaker, advisor, mentor, and bestselling author. His wisdom, generosity, and level of integrity have had a profound impact on thousands of people who have been touched by his example, books, and speaking. Howard is known for such memorable lessons as “The Person Who Sweeps the Floor...

If you are old enough to remember the incredible TV Show Sportsnight, or you have streamed it recently, you probably have a keen interest in what life was really like in the early days at ESPN. Or, as the old adage goes, the best predictor of the future is the past, so here is an inside look at ESPN from a senior worker bee. Scott Turken worked in Bristol for over 20 years on College GameDay, Spor...

An interesting look at the behind-the-scenes at two of the biggest sports media networks, The Score and Roger's Sportsnet. Sam Nasrawi has been an executive in the Canadian sports media landscape for nearly a quarter of a century and has a very unique look at the marketplace and his experiences helping both brands grow. Topics include: How The Score did "it" successfully The changes the...

Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia has been immortalized in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He is officially the first fan to be honored at the Basketball HOF. In case you were unaware, Bhatia has attended every single Raptors home game since the franchise’s inception in 1995! With the exception of this year when the team was playing in Tampa Bay due to COVID, Bhatia has never missed a home...

When you think of the legends of news media, the name Walter Cronkite is likely the first one to come to mind, certainly in the United States. In Canada, it's without question Peter Mansbridge. For over 30 years Mansbridge was the host of the CBC (Canada's national broadcaster) nightly news, The National. a feat that earning him the honor of being the longest-serving active anchor among the big th...

Few in and around the NHL have as much experience as Doug MacLean does. Originally from Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Doug started his career in the world of education as a teacher. As he explains, good fortune led him to meet two people who proved to be very influential to his life, Jaques Martin and Bryan Murray. His coaching and management career took him from St. Louis to Washington and th...

Lee H. Berke specializes in collaborating with sports properties in developing multiplatform media networks and enhancing the value of content rights across a growing array of distribution opportunities. He founded LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, Inc. in 2001, which has worked on media efforts with over fifty teams and properties across MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, MLS, Premier League,...

Raised in Brandon Manitoba Daren Millard was a day one employee of Rogers Sportsnet, the network that was "never designed to succeed". Millard lasted 20 years with Rogers before parting ways with the network he helped build. Most often between Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean and a frequent guest or guest of Prime Time Sports Millard did it right. He made his way up the food chain starting...

In sports, there are great stories behind athletes, coaches, and staff. Those stories tend to come to life as a result of amazing storytellers, typically in the media. It is rare that those in the media share their own stories, as those who report on others tend to be relatively private about their own lives and/or they don't believe their own tale is all that remarkable or interesting. Jon Paul M...

Twelve years ago the notion of replicating a radio-like interview was something aspirational to me. The idea that I could interview someone and have people listen in and ask questions radio-style seemed very cool. Not knowing what the hell I was doing, with literally no interview experience at all, I was fortunate enough to land Mattew Sekeres as a subject, and he agreed to be guest number one. At...

Andrew Walker grew up in rural Saskatchewan before making his way to Calgary, where he joined Rogers-owned sports radio show. Several years later he was about to move to Vancouver to cross-streams and join the AM radio scene with Bell in Vancouver when Don Kollins came knocking. The Fan 590 in Toronto needed a new partner for incumbent Greg Brady and their morning drive show. Toronto scooped Walke...

Natasha Staniszewski grew up in Alberta and worked here way up the media landscape, earning her stripes becoming one of the best sports anchors in the country. Natasha joins Jonah Sigel discussing her roots, her career, how she is dealign with TSN layoff and of course her love for baking. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of...

Rogers Sportsnet Toronto Blue Jays Central Analyst Joe Siddal joins Jonah Sigel In The Pressrow to talk about the Toronto Blue Jays busy offseason and the upcoming highly hyped 2021 campaign. As always, Joe brings a dose of realism in a world where much has been seen through blue and white glasses. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection a...

Toronto Sun sports reporter Rob Longley has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NFL, and now the Toronto Blue Jays and Major League Baseball. Rob has a unique perspective on media both from a longevity perspective and from someone now covering the Jays. Topics include: Whether Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins deserve a pass on the first few years of their stint with the Jays, why they may have been u...

Whether it's Angelo Fracassi, Frank Andrews, or Zig Fracassi SiriusXM long-time radio host has been on the air for over 30 years. From the Niagara region to Las Vegas and back, Zig has built a reputation as the perennial sports radio talk show host. He covers all sports, however, he currently focuses on NFL and NHL, a rarity in the USA. Zig is a late-night owl developing audiences of all ages with...

Doug Smith has covered the Toronto Raptors from day one. He raised his hand when the Toronto Star was looking for someone to take on the role of a beat reporter when Toronto landed it's NBA expansion franchise. Now, some 25 years later, Smith is the only print reporter still covering the team. To say he's seen it all would be a massive understatement. From the early days in the Skydome to the cham...

Long-time media executive Don Kollins joins Jonah Sigel to discuss why all the job losses in media- especially sport media are counter-productive, why the pivot to the team and player-controlled stories are going to hurt the medium, and why radio as we know it is dead. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

There is not much that Gary Lawless has not seen or covered in the world of sports. He worked in Winnipeg covering the Jets for the local paper and also hosted his own, top-rated sports talk show forever. He began as a beat writer and columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press. He covered the Winnipeg Blue Bombers(CFL). In 2006 he created "Hustler and Lawless", a radio show on TSN 1290 AM, wh...

With the Corona shutting down almost everything around us in some way or another, it's worth noting that time itself doesn't stand still, and while games may not be playing things like our age and birthdays continue to occur. For many, the dream of playing junior, college or professional hockey has been a goal their entire lives with this coming June being the penultimate time of their lives. This...

Without question Paul Godfrey has seen it all in his private and public life in Toronto. He is largely viewed as being the driving force behind Toronto landing the Toronto Blue Jays and then ensuring that their current stadium, the Rogers Center got built in 1989. Godfrey later went on to lead the Blue Jays after running the Toronto Sun Newspaper. He's moved on to lead the National Post where he i...

Canadian born, Geoff Baker has covered some big news stories, many of which have turned into controversy in which all of them the veracity of his stories was proved. You may recall Tim Johnson managed the Toronto Blue Jays, only to be fired for lying to the players about a Vietnam career that didn't exist. Carlos Delgado, Baker reported was no longer standing for God Bless America during games in...

Even prior to the pandemic, the drumbeats from critics were growing louder about the overall decline in tv audience ratings in professional sports. Now, 9 months into the Corona, the losses are astronomical. Live sporting events, mostly without fans, some playing in the opposite seasons they have every played before and the industry is ripe with layoffs, cuts and uncertainty. In the middle of all...

Long time NHL executive, Brian Burke has seen and done it all in a lengthy NHL career. Together with Stephen Brunt, Burke shares his life long stories in a new book Burke's Law. Brian and Jonah talk about: The four core values in the book: Family Accountability Work Ethic Authenticity Topics also discussed include: Pierre McGuire- eating pizza with the owners Kevin Weeks- faking an injury Rogers a...

In a male dominated industry, even with women making huge strides there are still women like Michelle Sturino telling their tales, and the fact that Rogers Sportsnet Fan 590 still has no female hosts it is absolutely stunning (in a great way) that Linda Cohn is ESPN’s longest-tenured SportsCenter anchor and in early 2016 was recognized for anchoring her 5,000th SportsCenter , the most of any ancho...

Several years back I was waiting for my son to finish a skating lesson in Toronto when I got a tap on my shoulder. "Are you the Toronto Sports Media guy?" a familiar voice asked me. I had never been asked that before so it took me a second to answer yes and recognize that the familiar voice was that of former Toronto Maple Leaf player turned broadcaster Nick Kypreos. What I learned from that day f...