Shake-up at Fan590, Nelson Millman out
December 2, 2009 · 26 Comments
In a blockbuster move, Nelson Millman has quit the Fan590 in Toronto to join Rogers Sportsnet.
Millman, the vice-president and general manager of the radio station, will take over as executive director of studio production at Sportsnet.
In addition to his new job, he will oversee the operation of the Fan590 until his replacement is hired. Sportsnet and the Fan590 are owned by Rogers Communications.
Millman replaces veteran producer Mike English whose dismissal was announced internally this morning.
Sources say Rogers went to Millman with the offer to move to television and he was happy to accept it.
”It was his option,” said one source. “I think he was intrigued by the offer and saw it as a big opportunity.”
Millman helped build Fan590, Canada’s first all-sports station, into a viable operation over the past 15 years. It was rumoured for months that Rogers was unhappy with the station’s declining revenue and wanted to make changes, specifically cuts. And it was speculated that Millman resisted programming changes, although one source denied that was true.
Insiders say it is unlikely that further cuts will take place at Fan590, although it has been rumoured that the morning show could be overhauled, with co-hosts Gord Stellick and Don Landry being replaced.
However, until Millman’s successor arrives, it’s all speculation.
In an interview, Millman said he was approached by Sportsnet about joining the network.
“They came over to talk to me and away we went,” he said.
Millman’s responsibilities will consist of the studio shows that include Sportsnet Connected, Hockey Central and other programming built around live play by play.
He starts next Monday. Ahead of him is a learning curve and also getting to know the staff, he said.
“The first thing I need to do is learn about TV other than just watching it. I’ve got a pretty good sense of how it goes. I think the first thing you do in a transition is nothing. You wait, take a look at it, wrap your arms around the people and try to get an idea of what they’re about, and what their priorities are, and what makes them tick.
“It’s easy to go in and affect a lot of changes without making the right one. And I won’t be operating as an island as I did here (Fan590). So, I’ve got to get to know the people I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned they’ve got a damned good staff over there, so we’ll take it as it comes at us.”
In another Toronto media move, Steve McAllister, the former sports editor of The Globe and Mail and, for the past 16 months, head of the newspaper’s sports website, is leaving the newspaper for Yahoo Canada, where he will be managing editor, sports. Yahoo is increasing its sports presence. McAllister starts Dec. 14.
The Globe sports department has lost good people over the past year. Mike Pasternak, an excellent copy editor, and reporter Larry Millson took buyouts in February, as did I. A few weeks ago, hockey writer Tim Wharnsby left the Globe for CBCSports.ca.
Tiger had three options — all bad
That wonderful thing called conventional wisdom tells us that Tiger Woods screwed up by stonewalling the media and refusing to cooperate with Florida police over his, ahem, episode with the car.
The deep thinkers in the media are thundering: This obfuscation has to stop because it’s prolonging the story — it’s making it worse for Tiger.
The media are obsessed with giving Woods the correct advice, which is to come clean, sort of. Get the bad news out. It’s never too late, you see.
There is, of course, plenty of self-interest in this.
Still, the advice is all about “getting ahead of the story,” or “doing a David Letterman,” a reference to the married, late night host who announced, before the feeding frenzy could start, that he had been bonking female staffers at CBS, including apparently an intern.
But Letterman’s case was manageable for two reasons: (a) as dastardly as his deeds were, he didn’t break the law, and (b) history showed that another prominent American cheated on his wife with an intern and lived to fight another day.
The Woods story was entirely different. He had basically three options, all of them bad.
He could have posted on his website the brutal truth, which might have read something like this:
“Golf fans, I’ve got some terribly bad news to report. The National Enquirer story, unfortunately, is correct. It’s true that I had a fling with Rachel Uchitel, the New York nightclub host. It was a mistake and I still love my wife Elin very much.
“I tried to make it clear to Elin that I loved her, but, man, did she freak out. She went for my face, chased me out of the house with a 3-iron. She almost took my head off! I was lucky to make it to the car. And then she smashed in my back window. I was so terrified I gunned the accelerator when I thought I was hitting the brakes. And that’s how I smashed into the fire hydrant and tree.
“I apologize to everyone, especially my loving wife.”
We’re exaggerating this, of course, but if that is anything close to the brutal truth, it’s a big problem for Woods. He would be the laughingstock of the world for years. He would be heckled on the PGA Tour.
Now, you could argue that’s going to happen anyway. But, it won’t as much, because we don’t really know what Elin did or didn’t do.
The second option , as articulated by a crisis management expert in the United States, had Woods issuing a terse statement that would read something like this: “I had a fight with my wife. I drove off in a huff and I lost control of my car.”
But, that statement raises more questions than it answers. And, if it were presented by Tiger as the truth, there would be no reason for him not to talk to the police. The problem is, when he made an official statement to the police that contained untruths, such as perhaps his web posting saying Elin “acted courageously,” by attempting to free him from the wreckage by smashing the back window, he would be breaking the law. (After refusing to meet with police, Woods was fined $164 for careless driving.)
Woods took the third option, the one he’s being criticized for. He hunkered down and said virtually nothing, even to police. As a result, world-wide attention continues. The jokes are all over the place.
But all of this will die down. The news cycle is almost over. The story will go away, although Woods did make an apology today about “transgressions” after a cocktail waitress said she too had a relationship with him.
Yes, there will be jokes heard on the PGA Tour, but they will disappear. They will disappear because we really don’t know enough of what happened.
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Did anybody notice how exuberant and real Sami Jo Small was when interviewed at the Olympics? I'd like to see TheFan or some other Toronto broadcaster take a chance with her as colour commentator. She'd probably have to take a part time journalism program, but she'd bring a ton of enthusiasm and international sports insights. Maybe even try her out on a trial basis, but she's be worth a shot. Bob McCowan is the big man on campus, who I personally can listen to anytime, but he does have his clique-ish buddies on – like Jim Kelley, who is average, but overpowered by McCowan when he brings insights to the broadcast (too much Buffalo stuff) anyway. Bill Watters and Greg…..spend far too much time giggling amongst themselves and presenting highly-annoying, far-too-vague, "insider" comments with far too many "secret sources". Don Landry is a top notch pro. He deserves better. Hogan does his homework and is technically strong. Football coverage is awesome. Gord, who I mostly enjoy, needs to upgrade his schick – come up with some new material – if he wants to bring up numbers. The Fan's afternoon basketball guys always fall back on comfort-zone basketball way too much – due to their obvious familiarity to the sport (and lack of in other sports) and the fact that their employer is the radio Raptor broadcaster. They try with hockey, but always go back to NBA talk. But their time slot is a non-money maker anyway.
Great insights here though. Very entertaining.
Steve
I am glad I found this site…
Anyone know what’s happening with Jim Kelly and Toth at the Fan? Both are/were an embarrassment
(never listen to the Fan much any more). Anyone wonder why they brought in Kelly as a US citizen? We can’t emply our own Canadian media personalities? (and we get a weak one like Kelly? Millman should be fired)
I enjoy Watters way more than obnoxious Boob McCown…nothing else is listenable either at the Fan…Millard is a Mimbo…nothing to say and tries way too hard, like Toth did…
Landry and Stellick appear to hate each other
Also: Houston’s replacement at the Globe? …Awful, just an embarrassment – how long before he borrows stuff from here?
I can but hope that Stellick and Landry will be canned! They are truly awful; don’t understand how they have survived this long. I find Landry particularly obnoxious and lame.
Here’s a winning FAN590 line up:
- Michael Landsberg in the morning – temporarily had the am show for 640 a few years ago and was interesting and entertaining
- Mike Toth mid mornings – Hogan is a bore, and Toth has personality…give the show to the new Mike.
- MIllard/Kyprios/Maclean – Keep the hockey talk for 2 hours at lunch…going good
- Stellick in the afternoon – find him a new guy to chat with…enjoyed him much more in the mid afternoon…find it hard to stick with Jack Armstron
- McCown – staple of the station
-Evenings – whatever…blue jays/ argos/ raptors…maybe a replay of the lunch show.
A winning fan lineup would include one name from the list above – McCowan. The rest are horrible…..Landsberg?…shudder….
I think Tiger did it the right way. So did Letterman, for that matter, but they’re different situations. Letterman can get out there, admit what he did on TV, make a few self-deprecating jokes, and it’s basically over. Sure, he might be a misogynist and a sex addict who may have abused his position of power, in what’s arguably a far more disturbing situation than Tiger’s, but he’s David Letterman, and as long as he keeps bringing the funny…
There’s no way if Tiger had tried the same thing that this would blow over so easily. Not as a pro athlete (and, much as I hate to say it, a black one at that) making as much money as he is with a lot of jealous people who’d like to poke holes in his perfect facade. And particularly as a golfer, where millions of amateurs who have a lucky round every day think “hey, I’m pretty much as good as Tiger.” Hell, I’m jealous of Tiger Woods, and I’ve only stepped on a golf course once and hated it. If he lays it all out there like Letterman did, things get worse for him, not better. He’s doing it the right way, reiterating his desire for privacy, taking quick, subtle digs at the cult of celebrity media, and praising his wife and talking about “transgressions” in general terms without actually admitting anything, also good moves if he ends up in divorce court. He can weather the storm now, and if it hasn’t blown over in another week or two, he’s still got options, the most obvious one being a softball one-on-one interview with a carefully selected media personality, like Katie Couric or one of his adoring fans in the sports media. The consequences for keeping quiet (like that paltry reckless driving fine) pale in comparison to what a big, juicy, messy adultery story would do to his reputation. Or a “lying to the police” story, for that matter. Much better to say as little as possible.
You are correct William in that there will be more blood letting at the Fan 590. I have been a listener since its inception but it now competes with 640 especially in the afternoon, Sirius Radio in the am(for those of us that admit to listening to Howard when he is serious or has an A list guest on) or other non sports radio on occasion(Derringer gets his final laugh “killing” in the am at times the station that tried to bury him when he had his own issues going).
A combination of crappy sports teams in town(Raptors, Leafs and Blue Jays) with little or negligible “buzz”, and a retracting economy is the perfect storm for some reorganizing at this feisty radio station.
So….:
- actually pay Norm Rumack to pull a shift for years (I assumed it was the world’s longest internship until he got canned)
- put someone on morning shift in the country’s biggest market and apparently never listen or aircheck them
- use those accomplishments carry the Olympic torch
- get a job in TV
sounds great. but would I have to work at Rogers to do the same?
p.s. – you nailed it, GreyBlues. shocking, innit?
“The first thing I need to do is learn about TV other than just watching it. I’ve got a pretty good sense of how it goes.”
Well, that just about says it all, doesn’t it??
Wow.
“The first thing I need to do is learn about TV.”
Quote of the year
Does anyone know what The Fan is going to do in Vancouver for the Olympics? As far as I know their knowledge of Olympics sports is:
1. Hockey hockey hockey
2. Mike Hogan loves alpine skiing, or at used to.
3. Um, the rest only talk about hockey.
Have these guys done their homework is is the coverage of the Olympics going to be rah rah Canada in those weird sports, now let’s talk about men’s hockey some more.
Yeah, I’ve listened to The Fan since the early 90s, and I think it has become stale as well.
Agreed. Prime Time is my favourite show on radio. McCown is fantasic, it’s great sports journalism. It blows away The Watters Show on 640 in my opinion (that show is just so hockey focused that i have to tune out. They are more likely to talk about any random NHL team than, say, the Jays or Raptors. I guess it satisfies the hockey pucks, but I’d rather hear a focus on the Toronto teams.)
I enjoy the Gameplan, and I’m a big fan of the Blue Jays broadcasts (much better than the TV side). But other than that, I’ve found myself tuning out most of the rest of the day.
As for 6am to 2pm, I don’t really listen too much anymore. Maclean and Millard are fun together, but again it’s just too hockey focused for me. I like hockey, and I appreciate that it’s huge here, I’m just not interested in two hours of super in depth all hockey stuff. I’d prefer something a little more relaxed, maybe a little more general sports talk. I’d also like to hear more of guys like Brunt, Elliotte Friedman, Jeff Blair, and Bruce Arthur – solid sports journalist types.
Just my two cents. Hopefully they make some good changes.
I too agree the FAN has become stale and I hope this is the beginning of some changes.
I gave up listening on a regular basis years ago in favor of ESPN Radio. I now just listen to The Bobcat and The Blue Jays broadcasts, everything else has a local community broadcasting feel to it. A city of this size deserves a better product then The Fan delivers in my opinion.
I just hope the new person’s first act is to send Doug Farraway out to pasture, but I digress.
Gary Reynolds used the word “stale” to describe the FAN 590’s morning show . . . and he’s dead-on! I tuned in for an extended listen recently for the first time in probably 4 years and was shocked that nothing had changed since when I used to listen regularly.
Landry is a solid broadcaster, with enough journalism in his blood to handle the morning drive slot, but he’s so obviously going through the motions at this point. Stellick is just flat-out weak, still using incorrect words, ridiculous references and cliche catchphrases many years into his radio career. Most days, Landry’s broadcasting skills can somewhat mask Stellick’s incompetency. Listen in when Landry’s away . . . and, if you can last 15 minutes, that’s about 12 more than I can.
the fan 590 needs a few changes.
i think the morning show is old and stale. i love my sports but John Oakley usually gets my attention in the morning. Gord and Don are not interesting to me.
hockey central from 12-2pm works. Kypreos and Maclean are doing great with Mallard.
2-4pm Not so great…..
i like jack armstrongs energy but there comes a point when i need to change the channel because my nerves can’t take it any longer. Chuck Swarsky did the same thing to my ears…whats with the basketball guys?
I don’t mind when the Deacon is filling in. He’s pretty solid.
Prime Time Sports- my favorite radio program. Bob is a legend. Brunt, Shannon, and Kirk are great sidekicks. Roundtable rocks.
After that PTS……I listen to the Leafs on am640!
I can’t believe you listen to the Fan all day…I feel like ripping my ears off after about an hour of listening…
Apparently Nelson Millman doesn’t like your headline. He just mocked it and you on the radio. Too bad for him. I love getting the inside story of what is going on in the media. No one has as thin skin as reporters and media who make it their job to criticize others. Keep up the great work Bill.
Well, it’s because Houston got most of the story wrong.
1. It was a demotion.
2. It was against Millman’s wishes.
3. Syndication will replace local shows during the day, and the morning show would soon be revamped.
4. It was done to cut costs.
All of these points were eliminated from Houston’s story later in the day.
“There’s a reason he only writes on the internet now,” was Millman’s best line.
I never liked Tiger before this incident. Too cocky.
By the way, Bill you forgot to mention yourself in the good people that have left The Globe in the past year.
Edit: Oops, I see you did mention yourself!
Twice.
Don Landry needs to be replaced & Gord should go back to the afternoon.