Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Eppel: Toronto Mike'd #890

Episode Date: July 26, 2021

Mike chats with 680 News and Breakfast Television business reporter Mike Eppel about Tillsonburg, working day one at The Fan 1430 and day three at 680 News, his Toronto Mike'd mug, Peter Gross, Dick Smythe and more.

Welcome to episode 890 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Online for free local home delivery in the GTA. McKay CEO Forums. The highest impact and least time intensive peer group for over 1,200 CEOs, executives and business owners around the world. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos and decals for your home and your business.

Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majeski. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is 680 News broadcaster, Mike Epple.

Number one for news in Toronto. This is 680 News. Welcome, Mike. Thank you for that. How are you? Good. Nice to meet you, buddy. I'm just filling up my Toronto Mike-miked swag mug here with some... There you go.

I don't know if the camera can see that. Yeah, yeah. That's your camera. Sure. Yeah, yeah. there you go. I don't know if the camera can see that. Yeah, that's your camera. Sure. Mike, honestly, when I found out you had purchased a Toronto Mike mug,

I have a link at the top of torontomike.com for t-shirts, but there's also other swag there. Honestly, just so honored that the great Mike Epple would drink his coffee from a Toronto Mike mug. I saw your tweet. This would have been about a month ago now. I think you had a sale on, and I'm always one for sales.

You're a sucker for a good sale. And I did actually buy a t-shirt. And it's on its way. No, I've got it. It's the wrong size. Okay, well, their customer service should take care of that. No, I ordered what I thought was the right size. It's totally on me.

If I look like an Olympian, I could pull it off. But unfortunately, I got it a size too small and it looks kind of ridiculous. Oh, I see. Then you have to do like Mike Landsberg. You got to wear the tight shirts. Yeah, no, I'm not much into that. I'm a buck 60 soaking wet, so you know.

Okay. Well, listen, my friend, you look great. A couple of notes though. So the mug is amazing. Honestly, I'm so glad you brought it. Amazing. Awesome quality. And I'm sorry about the shirt, but actually

I do know for a fact, like if you do contact their support and say that you got the wrong size, they will like take care of you. I might actually buy another one. Wow. Just a different color because they come in just a multitude of colors. Amazing. And I just went with stock white. I might just go with a different color.

That's amazing. I want to let the listenership know though that the legendary Bojana, I was chatting her up when you arrived because she's out there working on the lawn. She's 86 years young, and she's very active and an inspiration to us all. And she lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw you, Mike Epple.

She said, I know you. She sees you on TV. Honestly, it's like she met the Beatles. And I go beet red whenever this happens. But does that happen a lot? She said, I know you. She sees you on TV. Honestly, it was like she met the Beatles. Honestly. And I go beet red whenever this happens. But does that happen a lot? How often? You know what?

I actually do get a, as soon as I start talking, people recognize the voice rather than the face. From the radio. Right. The BT element certainly does factor into it from a recognition standpoint. But a goodly amount is because of the sound of the voice, rather than, which is interesting. It shows that people pay attention.

Listen, once I was at a No Frills in line, and I was talking to the cashier, and somebody said, I know that voice, and I try on a mic. So if it happens to me, it must happen to you a hundred times more often. Absolutely, the connection of the power of sound as opposed to necessarily visual.

Because sometimes you see people and you go, is that who? I think that is, but I'm not sure. But as soon as you hear them, then that's the differentiator. All right. So I can't wait to have this conversation with you, Mike. So many points to cover here. Just to remind you, because I'm listening to you, you're just a bit off the mic, like just a titch.

And just to capture that. You would think a person who's been in the industry long enough that I'd be center mic. But I'll bet you they have, they probably have microphones in the Rogers broadcasting empire

where you could be off the mic and it picks it up perfectly. You probably don't use unidirectional mics or something like that. Yeah, it depends on the location within the newsroom itself, but at the same time, I haven't been in the newsroom

for the better part of a year and a half. I'm working with a handheld or a Sennheiser standalone at my home office. How's that going? How do you feel about that, having to adapt to these? It's been awesome. No, seriously. In fact, my wife, prior to all

of this, I had done a, you know, remote broadcast from budgets or events or what have you. So I had some of the technology. Right. And my wife would say, why don't you work from home once in a while? Because you've had, you have the broadcast equipment. Yeah, you have the means of production. And I'd call it kind of hem and haw about it and say, no, this, that, any other reason. And then March happens last year.

Right. We get sent home. I was one of the first to leave because I had a lot of the equipment. And between myself and Richard Southern, who gave me a lot of tips over Amazon, but what to pick up, mixing devices and such. Right. We set it up really quick and haven't looked back. The key has been a really strong iPhone and a new laptop. And it's so integrated, you know, once in a while it drops out, but it's so infrequent

that it's... It's amazing, right? I was one of the first to leave and I'll probably be one of the last to go back. And even then it'll be, you know, once or twice a week, cause there's no reason for me to drive. I live in Whitby. Right. So driving, you know, 35 minutes at four o'clock in the morning. Why? And you got to go to, uh, Young and Dundas. Is that where you were? Uh, Bloor and Jarvis. Bloor and Jarvis. Okay. So what's that? Okay. Yeah. And that's the wrong place. wrong place The Young Dundas

Is where City is Yes Right okay That's where City is Okay Gotta keep track And with all these Cable companies

And where their Headquarters here Okay yes of course And that's where They're building the new At Jarvis and Bloor Or whatever That's where the new

Hockey Night in Canada Broadcast studio Is being built out I think That would be in the South Tower. We're in the North. North Tower. And honestly, I get, well, I did again.

Like I said, I haven't been, I have no idea what's going on. You know what? They're talking about maybe mid-September for a slow come back into the office. Right. But even then, you know, it's all of the, you know, the rapid testing and all of this and the masks. And it's like, I just want to get everybody double vaccinated so we can move on from this. We don't have to talk about this anymore, right?

No doubt, my friend. No doubt. A couple of like time sensitive news notes. I sadly, I read today that Peter Truman passed away. I saw that. Yeah. I grew up watching Peter Truman. Yeah. Like kind of a global news fixture. And saw that. Yeah, I grew up watching Peter Truman on Global.

Yeah, like kind of a Global News fixture. And he was really like a serious news guy. Like he had, he was, you know, I think when he quit, he went off on the state of broadcast news. Like this was a guy full of integrity and stuff. And a fixture of my youth seeing him on Global News. So kind of sad to hear Peter Truman's passed away. Yeah.

Well, and it was interesting i just heard your uh interview with uh ripken about mojo radio and they played that global piece with rob davidson that was awesome i was like you know all these things that's why i listen peter gross we're gonna get to him yes please shout out to uh peter gross if he's been accusing me of being a little bit of a fanboy of yours. Because I've been watching and listening to podcasts and doing research. And I actually went, scanned back to the early days of Toronto Mic'd podcast. Oh my God.

Yeah. From, what is it, 2015? Well, you know, this thing starts in 2012, August 2012. The podcast? Yeah, the podcast. Oh yeah, the podcast. Okay. Yeah, Toronto Mic'd.

Yeah. Okay. August 2012. Well, you've had the podcast. Oh, yeah, the podcast. Yeah, Toronto Mic. Okay. August 2012. Well, you've had almost 900 of them now, so. You're 890. Okay, so this is, I love this. Like, I love it when sometimes a guest sits down there and they have no idea, like, what they're in for

or what's going on. This happens more often than you think. They literally, some nice guy asked them to come on. They might have vetted it a little bit and now they're in my backyard and they have no idea what to expect. They didn't listen to anything. They went in cold or whatever.

And that's one like flavor. And then I, you know, you get like a Tyler Stewart from bare naked ladies or you get a Mike Apple here who listen and they totally get the vibe of what's happening at Toronto Mike. And that's a whole different thing, man.

So awesome. You listen. Do you have any like, uh, like, like stories about like about when did you discover Toronto Mic'd or favourite episodes or anything?

I'd love to hear it, man. Well, you and others who tweet regularly or have, you know, the originator of I guess what was going on in Toronto media was the Yellowboard. Oh, the soundy, yeah. Yeah, the Southern Ontario. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

There's Southern Ontario, Western New York, uh, uh, website. Sure. So I was always connected to that. And then you've got Mike in Boston on,

on, uh, Toronto sports media.com. Right. Jonah YYZ. Yeah. He, I think he owns that site.

Yeah. So, you know, it's, it's, uh, even though he lives in Seattle, he's got to cover the,

yeah. In fact, I just, I was texting him not that long ago lives in Seattle, he's got to cover the... Yeah. In fact, I was texting him not that long ago. We just kind of started talking to each other on Twitter. But, you know, all of these things kind of keep me connected. I love the insides of the media business, specifically locally, so that's why. And then over the course of the past year and a half, being home, I've discovered, and this is a complete 180 for me, because originally it was like,

podcasts? What the hell's a podcast? What do I, I don't need a podcast, because I'm basically old man Simpson, you know, yelling at clouds. Grandpa Simpson. Grandpa Simpson.

Abe. So, but then I kind of discovered that they're wonderful because I walk my dogs more frequently listening to podcasts. And I'm out longer. I mean, yours are 90 minutes long on average. So the dogs are like, can we go home now, please? But I'm like, no, I'm not done.

And as soon as I get back home, I'm going to have to take my headphones off and all this. So, yeah, your podcast, you know, McCowan's on a podcast now. Hurley Burley's another favorite of mine. Oh, yeah, at Ottawa. Yeah, with Scott Reed and David Hurley and Jenny Byrne. And what are some of the other ones? Peter Mansbridge has. I mean, it's just, you know, I don't have enough time in the day to do, you know,

I come off radio and I'm walking around the house and I typically have one air pod in my right ear so that I can hear what my kids are saying to me in the background. So I'm not completely disconnected. So I'm listening to all this, all this extra media. All right. So I got to ask you, cause I'm always curious, do you, do you cherry pick episodes based on the guests? Like if you have an interest in the guest or. To some extent, if it's, if it's more media specific, I like that. Although recently, you know i was listening to the one you did with kevin hearn oh yeah and i was in tears walking walking around the what block oh that's part two yeah the part two talking about gourd downy i'm like oh my goodness

wow uh well i was in tears talking to him in my i was downstairs i was weeping uh you can't i don't think you can pick it up on the episode, but honestly, I could sense the emotion. Yeah. Well, let's look at the content. I mean, of course, I mean,

but you know, and talking about a, you know, a Canadian icon and, and, um, and, and,

and the recent one with Noel, um, uh, Noel Kassler. Kassler. Yeah. What about that? That was,

that was awesome. If, if half of what he said was, Oh yeah. I was like, Ohassler. Yeah, what about that one? That was awesome. If half of what he said was, I was like, oh my goodness. When he went off on his working with Donald Trump, I mean, my goodness. So all of these things are, you know, I just find them fascinating from a, you know,

just a general interest standpoint. But yeah, it's got a media angle. And of course, what you do with Dana and Levinson. And, you know, you had Michelle Mackey on recently. And of course, all of the other 680 past and present. Yeah, so a couple of recent, fairly recent. Now, I always think pandemic is like my time demarcation line. So during this pandemic, Richard Southern's been in the backyard.

Yes. Fantastic. Yes. What did you think of Richard's performance on Toronto Mike? He was awesome in that he is just the way he is in the backyard. Yes. Fantastic. Yes. What did you think of Richard's performance on Toronto Mike? He was awesome in that he is just the way he is in real life. He was like just, you know, he's a high energy guy. Right. He is, he can't not sit still for more.

You know, he's doing politics. He's doing businesses. 680 is doing all of these things. Right. He's doing businesses at 680. He's doing all of these things. Right. You know, he's got a curiosity about all of, you know, whatever he's covering.

And he's another guy, again, I mentioned there's two types of guests. Those who know what they're in for and those who don't. And Richard, you could tell he listened. Like, he totally got it. No, no, no. We, you know, we talk sometimes as well. It's like, hey, you know, trauma Mike had on this, you know, on his last podcast. Love it, man. I love it.

I love that I've snuck myself into these mainstream media circles, like just snuck in the back door here. So shout out to Richard Southern, great FOTM. You're now an FOTM, Mike, so you can use that on your CV or your resume. Put that on the header, on the header of my resume. Absolutely. I want to go to like the, I don't know, the City News bio page for Mike Epple, my resume, absolutely. I want to go to like the, I don't know, the City News bio page for Mike Epple or the 680 News bio page and I want to see like FOTM in the bio. That's what I'm looking to hear. Because, okay, and I get a great jam when we start talking about your bio, but first I want to ask you, Michelle Mackey,

she's this summer, so that's pretty recent. That was a recent one, yes. What did you think of her performance on Toronto Mike? Great and very honest and upbeat. Michelle is a very, you know, she's great on camera. And if you want to. That's opportunity calling. I'm a terrible. That's okay.

I was actually hoping one of my kids would call uh, would call to say, where are you? Cause they're teenagers and they sleep in. Well, we can send them a link to the live stream. They can find out where the hell their dad is. How old are your kids? Uh, 17 and 15.

Oh my, you know, I, I'm so close. I got a 17 and a 19, but, uh, yeah,

totally. Yeah. The one, uh, my oldest daughter Ainsley, um, she's, uh, just got her driver's license, her G1,

and doing the driving thing, and everybody's looking forward. It's weird. I don't know if they're looking forward to going back to school yet, but I think they're looking forward to normal school after the last year. Oh, for sure.

You're kind of lucky that your kids, because my oldest, his graduating year was lost, so he never had any of the like. That's brutal. I know. So, but I think your kids and my second born, who's turning 17 literally this week, I think they'll be okay. And they'll, they'll, they're kind of, this will come out of this at the right time and

they can still have their, you know, graduation parties. I hope that's the case. I just want them to do that and have extracurriculars and all the stuff that you're supposed to have in high school and any level of school for that matter, whether it's that or post-secondary. I mean, it's just going to school from home, that's not right. It's just not natural.

No, they hate it. But it's the circumstance, right? Yeah. I mean, it depends, I guess, how introverted you are, but most of the extroverts really hate it. Hey, I got the call and then I got distracted, but just to close up the Michelle Mackie loop here is, uh, I thought she was fantastic. Like, uh, I don't, you don't really know what to expect when you meet these, you know,

media people that are in your, your living room or on your radio in the car or whatever. And then I just was really like, uh, impressed. And I think it was only a week later, maybe she said she was for her, for the first time, she was anchoring a city news broadcast. Like I think it was only a week later, maybe, she said she was, for the first time, she was anchoring a city news broadcast. Like, I can take full credit for that, right? Like, that's clearly, like, someone hears her on Toronto Mike and says she should be an anchor. She should be the Gord Martineau of this program.

Michelle started at 680 not that long before all of the, you know of the mess of the pandemic began. Right, yes. So under that circumstance, I'd only met her a couple of times in the studio, and then our paths, because of our hours, would be different or what have you. Sure. I remember her coming by and saying, Hi, how are you doing? And the business center at the time.

But no, she was great on on the podcast she was fantastic now a lot of pressure on you as we begin this conversation because if southern was so good and mackie was so good uh like can apple meet those standards but there is a gentleman i'm gonna shout out who is yet is yet to be in this backyard and i i think i'm at a point now because i bike a lot so i bike the neighborhood and I bike a lot. I think I see him every day now. I think I see him every single day, almost.

Carl Hanski. He lives in this area, yes. Yes. Are you going to drop by and say hi after this? I wasn't planning to. Well, you don't have to. You don't have to.

I didn't give him a warning that I was coming to the neighborhood or anything of that nature. You know what? I haven't been him a warning that I was coming to the neighborhood or anything of that nature. You know what? I haven't been in the 416 again since basically last March. We have a family farm down south of Tilsonburg. And we basically, in most cases today, I took the 401 over from Whitby because the traffic was actually surprisingly light. You know what's funny? What thinking my songs are about me.

You know what's funny? What? I pressed the wrong button. Have you ever? Here's the button. Oh, man, that's hilarious. That's Drake, okay? Yes, I got that.

Hey, Tom, you ever been to Tilsonburg? Nice. Tilsonburg? My back still aches when I hear that word. While away down southern Ontario, I never had a nickel or a dime to show.

A fella beeped up in an automobile. He said, you want to work in the tobacco fields of Tilsonburg. Tilsonburg. Tilsonburg. Tilsonburg. My back still aches when I hear that word. See, this would have been my choice for Kick Out the Jams. Well, you can still do it. Tilsonburg, Tilsonburg. My back still aches when I hear that word. See, this would have been my choice for Kick Out the Jams.

Well, you can still do it. Awesome. You're kicking ass so far, so you are going to get the invitation. This is the theme song of Tilsonburg and its tobacco heyday. When I learned from your bio that you're a Tilsonburg guy, this is the first thought I had was I got to play Stompin' Tom. It's too funny to me that I accidentally played Drake instead of Stompin' Tom. Gee, I wonder why you did that. Two?

Why did I do that? Do you know? We have conversations about my affinity and lack of knowledge about hip hop and rap. So it might have something to do with that. Or Drake in particular. I don't know. Drake and Stomp-a-Tom are two Canadian institutions, two legends, icons of Canadian music. Yes, yes.

Tilsonburg is, he sings about Tilsonburg, the actual tobacco capital of Canada is Delhi. If you travel along Highway 3 another 10 miles or so, you get to Delhi. You go through Cortland, then Delhi. And that's where the big tobacco leaf is. Tobacco museum is there. Right. And yeah, our family farm is kind of in between all of that.

And you're born and raised in Tilsonburg. You're Tilsonburg through and through. Absolutely. We've had the farm and the family since the 1930s when my grandfather bought it. My ancestry is German-Hungarian. My ancestry is German-Hungarian. My grandfather came across in 28 from Hungary, a year after my dad was born. He worked in Saskatchewan for a year, lost all of his money in the 1929 market crash,

or at least the story goes. And then my dad, my uncle, and my grandmother finally were able to come across 1934, so five, six years after he left the family back in Hungary. And then anyway, they made their way to the Tilsonburg area, bought a farm, which we still own today. and uh we get back there uh my wife and i know i want it my my uh father passed in uh 2007 and my mom passed when i was very young actually in 1975 um but yeah that's i i was raised on the on the family farm and when you have a tobacco production uh you know that that's your livelihood you work uh on the family farm. And when you have a tobacco production, you know, that's your livelihood,

you work on the farm. And that's where I started when I was 12 years old in harvest. And at that time, unlike today, you know, students are working in agriculture. because tobacco specifically is very seasonal the the harvest season goes you know it's it's july and august parts of september uh at that time tilsonburg high school actually started a week after the rest of the province to give all the students time to finish up the harvest that's how integrated it all was it's very different today it's all mechanized and and the kids don't necessarily work in it. But yeah, I did that for the better part of four or five years until I

went, well, this sucks. Manual labor in the fields. Right. And I thought... The back still hurts when I hear the word Tilsonburg. It is back-breaking work. And then I got the idea after, you know, and, and there's so many stories

about this in radio where, uh, you know, future broadcasters, well, I did tapes in my basement, uh, you know, as a kid. And that's exactly what I did. Me and a buddy, uh, who unfortunately, uh, uh, passed away last year. Um, yeah, he, uh, Yeah, we did these, you know, joke, you know, performances and fake newscasts and all this, and it just kind of piqued my interest in it. Right. And then once I got my driver's license at 16, I thought the local radio station, CKOT,

it was, you know, very much local broadcasting, but didn't have a high school element. So I went in and I thought, I'm going to pitch an idea about doing something for the high schools. And Doug Cooper, who was the PD at that time, said, it's an interesting idea, but how would, you know, would you be interested in working on Sunday mornings? And again, I'm 16 years old. I don't know the first thing about broadcasting, but I go into a booth, I read some copy,

and my voice was, you know, 10 octaves higher than where it is today. I wish I had those tapes, actually, but I don't. And the next thing I know, I'm still working on the farm, but I'm also doing this Sunday morning thing to kind of start in radio. So I'm the world's worst DJ. It's just horrible, but I'm also running the AutoMat feature

for the FM side, which was all on cart. You had to load these big drums and hit play, and it would just do its thing. And then in the afternoons, I'd operate the shows, all the ethnic programming,

and reading news and all this stuff. I had no idea, but it was just- And you're only 16. Yeah, 16 to 17. It turned into a full-time job over the summer. And then I worked part-time during high school. And then subsequently, that was the main reason I got into Ryerson because my marks weren't great, but I had a broadcasting background. Sure. And I kind of said, look, I'm, I'm, I'm devoted to this, this, this medium. Right. So, uh, yeah, I got into Ryerson and, uh, it was just, it was funny.

We were talking, my wife and I were talking about this, uh, uh, just this weekend because she also was in the industry, um, working at CTV. Um, and she went to Mohawk, uh, for broadcast. Um, and we were talking about, oh yeah, applied at Niagara college and, uh, Ottawa or Carleton for, um, either journalism or political science. I know I got accepted for one of those things there. I can't even remember now. Um, yeah. So one thing kind of led to another and it just, you know, it's one of these things, and you know, 35, 40 years later, it's a lifelong career. Well, we're going to cover a bunch of this. Did you meet your wife at CTV? Yes, yes. She was a director for CTV News Channel, so she was

talking in my ear, giving me direction, and I listened, and, you know, the rest is history. It's a perfect match, actually. And is she now working with the Overdrive guys? Yes, in a different capacity. Okay. Yes. Tell her O-Dog should do Toronto Mic'd. Okay.

Oh, I'm sorry. Two things. Okay, let's get this right. That's interesting. Okay, yes. Because Overdrive is a system, an automated system. Oh, you know, I saw a tweet from you and you mentioned Overdrive. And I think when I hear Overdrive, I think of the TSN show, which is also owned by Bell Media.

So it all kind of connected to me. Overdrive is the system that is now in many of the TV control rooms, which led to all these restructuring moves. So she's not necessarily in the control room as a director. She's working on the resources side. That is too funny. I had her working somehow with TSA. No, no, and you're not the first person in the industry specific to make that mistake or correlation

because you think, overdrive? Right, remember, I don't have the, I've never been on the inside, so I hear, you know, I only, I don't know these insider terms, but okay, glad we clarified that. Okay, because then she doesn't need to pass that message on to O'Dog. Cause O'Dog will be like, who the hell is this?

I guess she could run down the hall. I think they're still in the building if they're not. He's probably working from home too. Maybe so. That's right. So we're going to get to that cause you have the CTV background and everything, but here, here's where I want to start with 680 News is start. Like, so maybe I'll play a clip.

This is a couple minutes. I almost feel like during this clip, I might walk over and just move up the arm so you don't have to hunch over so much to get in front of it. Are you sure? Because if you lift that part up, like that arm, yeah, you can push it up.

Yeah. That might just make it easier. Okay. A little more comfortable. There you go. So I'm going to play the moment where CFTR, my top 40 station of choice, by the way, as a young man, listening to Tom Rivers in the morning.

This is the moment that CFTR goes from all hits, top 40 music, to the all-new 680 News. So I'm going to play this clip. Peter Gross is in this clip, so this is going to segue nicely to him, and then we'll discuss how the heck you ended up there, okay? All right. So here we go. That's a trivia question.

Last song played on a record. Right. Big needle scratch. Here we go. Executive Vice President and General Manager of CFTR. This is a sad yet exciting moment in the history of this incredible radio station. It marks the end of one era and the beginning of a new one, and like all major transitions, it involves mixed emotions. For nearly a quarter of a century, CFTR has been a powerhouse of today's

music, appealing to a large and vibrant audience. Over the past several years, however, the popularity of contemporary music on the AM band has diminished, and we find ourselves in a situation that requires a change. Effective immediately, CFTR will become known as 680 News, providing Toronto with an innovative information service that has never been available in this city or in this country before. In the next few months, you'll become aware of how the new 680 News will work for you, and I'm confident it'll soon become part of your day. It's been a fabulous 22 years, and on behalf of the entire staff of CFTR,

thank you for your generous support over the years. I'm sure the next 22 will prove to be just as exciting and challenging. But for now, this chapter has ended, and it's time to move on. Farewell to the old, hello to the news. This is 680 News. Good morning. It's 14 degrees at 6 o'clock on this Monday, June 7th. I'm Dick Smythe, and here's what's happening. Good morning. It's 14 degrees at 6 o'clock on this Monday, June 7th. I'm Dick Smyth, and here's what's happening.

There will be normal GO Transit service this morning. Service on the weekend was normal as well. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, one week left in power, said farewell at Bay Como, Quebec last night. Canada's first all-news radio station is on the air, all news, all the time. After a Sunday of meetings, Premier Bob Ray says that his goal remains the same, to trim $2 billion from provincial expenditures. Morning showers, then sunny and warm. More rain forecast for tonight. I'm Peter Gross in sports. Jack Morris was himself

yesterday. Unfortunately, pickups set in the French Open and a miracle finish in men's golf. This is John Hinnon with business. The Nikkei is down 38 points, gold is down $2, and the bank rate is expected to increase tomorrow. No traffic and weather every 10 minutes on the ones. First, for the check of 680 News, Cantell Traffic, here's Russ Holden.

Thank you, Nick. Good morning. Traffic around Metro just starting to fill in. Roads are a little bit wet, some light rain persisting, and as a result, roads could be a little bit slippery, but no problems to tell you about so far. Accident-free TTC routes, they're all just beginning to build. Reasonable start to the morning, and we'll have another update in 10 minutes. A disturbance passing southern Ontario is bringing cloudy skies

and a chance of showers this morning, about a 30% chance. That disturbance will pass through the area quite quickly. Following that, we'll have a mix of sun and clouds for the rest of the day. Winds will be light today and a high of 24 degrees as expected. That's two degrees above normal. This evening, an overnight cloud on the increase. There is a rain beginning just before dawn, overnight low of 14 degrees.

I'm Michelle Skinner from the Weather Network for 680. Wow, so there you go. I've worked with some spectacular broadcasters. Well, yeah, we'll be talking about Peter Gross, don't worry. Yes, he is in the category. Okay, so many questions. First of all, I love listening to that because you get Dick Smythe. I mean, where do I begin? Firstly, how do we, let's get you to 680 News here. Are you a day one-er? No, I came in a couple of days after it started. It's interesting to hear John Hinnon doing business because he was actually my boss and the person who hired me. But it was so secretive, the lead up to the format switch. I mean, they were having these meetings.

That's because there was like an arms race between 640 and 680, who flips first. Right, that's right. Because I think, yes, I was reading about how close, you know, and yeah, but yeah, that would explain all the secrecy here. John Hinnan and Sandy Sanderson, and I think Derek Burgice was involved

in the whole executives. They were going to New York to listen to Wynn's 1010, which was also a 2020-20 format, which was the original. Which is like the wheel, right? Right, as opposed to 30-30. That was the 680 model to start, and it was basically patterned off of that.

Yeah, no, I was there day two or day three. I can't even remember now. So close. It was John day two or day three. I can't even remember now. So close. It was John Hinnon doing business. Michael Caine did business as well. Oh, the actor. Wow. Different Michael Caine.

And I came in as well. I was over prior to that over at The Fan, 1430. Okay. So let's look at it. So we talk about you going to Ryerson. Yes. And you're kind of specializing in broadcast journalism at Ryerson. They have that nice radio and television

arts program. Of course, the year after I graduated was the year that the Rogers campus, Rogers Broadcasting Center opened with all the new technology. So it's like, oh. No, we had a great graduating class. FOTM Patty Sullivan? Of course she's, FOTM Patty Sullivan.

Of course she's an FOTM. Yeah, she is. From TVO kids and CBC kids. And Tyler Stewart was a couple of years ahead of me. What a great FOTM Tyler Stewart is. I just want to shout him out. He's a great FOTM. I just remember in third year when a buddy brought the EP of the Bare Naked Ladies.

Oh, you mean the yellow tape? Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, you got to listen to this. Yeah, it changed everything, that yellow tape. Now, of course, we had a connection to Tyler. So it was, you know, initially that was of interest. And I was like, and I just went, if I had a million dollars, it's amazing.

And if you put it into Apple stock, then you'd be rich. So anyway, yeah, I was working prior to that at the fan. I was there for that format change. Wow. Basically, when I came out of... So is that 1430? 1430 at that point. Yeah, they hadn't switched over to 590.

Of course. When I came out of Ryerson, I basically... It was the 1990-91 recession. So there weren't a lot of jobs. There were some that were opening up in specialty channels. That was a new thing at that point, but I wanted to stay in radio. I didn't want to start in Toronto.

So I moved to Wingham north of London. Okay. CKNX, uh, worked there for a couple of months, but I had tapes out elsewhere. Right. And,

um, Wingham's kind of isolated. It's beautiful. And I grew up on a farm, but even me, even for me, it was kind of a elsewhere. Right. And, um, Wingham's kind of isolated. It's beautiful. And I grew up on a farm, but even me, even for me, it was kind of a little bit isolated. And I thought. I only hear this name Wingham with other broadcasters who seem to start their legacy. Is this like a. Well, it was, it's a radio TV combo.

Okay. And it's got a massive area that it covers because if you look on it on a map, it's, it's equidistant between London and Owen Sound. So it covers because if you look on it on a map it's it's equidistant between london and owen sound okay so it covers a huge area so it's a fantastic place to to learn and if and if you you want to you know uh a rural lifestyle i mean at that point all there was was a kfc and the local uh hotel that was wing that was wing and a radio and tv station. Anyway, so I got a call from Rock 95 in Barrie with Diana Mader, was the news director at that time. And after a couple of months, I thought, well, what I was doing in Wingham was just a four-month contract.

I went over to Rock 95, did news on the FM side on afternoons, worked with Bruce Barker and Jim Richards. Wow. And I'm just dropping all these names. No, no, by the way, you know how this works because you listen. You've got to name drop. I actually don't understand why people don't,

like they're embarrassed to drop names. What do you think people want to hear about? We want to hear Jim Richards was on the air in Barry. I think it's kind of cool, the people I've worked with. Yeah. So I don't know. No, drop the hell. No, I have no issue with that.

Whatsoever. Rod Black made a great, this is last Thursday night, Rod Black was on the phone. We had Pandemic Friday. And he made this great dad joke just on Thursday night. And it's the daddest joke of all,

but I still laughed because he delivered it perfectly and I won't deliver it perfectly, so you will not laugh. But it was basically like, I don't like to drop names uh at least that's what i told justin timberlake earlier today except the rod black honestly this guy missed his calling uh anyway uh please continue so drop more names so but jim richards

so jim richards is on the air at rock 95 yes he was doing more because he's also at the fan yes okay you guys uh hold hands and join the fan together? What happens? Not exactly. Because, again, I was on the news side of things or sports, which actually when I came out of Ryerson, I kind of wanted to do sports. I ended up doing news and just, again, to get work for, you know, and to figure out how to do what I was trying to do.

So I go over to Rock 95. I worked there for a year. And other people that were there at that time, Ann Deuce, Don Landry. Yeah, married to an FOTM. She's not an FOTM or something. Don Landry. Yeah. Another FOTM.

Dan Schulman. Another FOTM. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Yeah. So it was quite the collection. It's like Murderer's Row going on there.

Of people. My roommate, one of the funniest guys I know, Ian McLennan, was doing news there. We had a condo on Kempenfelt Bay. It was an awesome time. Cool. But I wasn't done or sick of school. And Ryerson at that point was a three-year program. I thought, should I get my master's in journalism and maybe branch out a little bit?

Okay, so again, it was recession era. You know, I was still young. I was 21 years old. So I went to Western for a year. I took fourth-year courses because they said, if you want to do the J-School master's program, you've got to have the fourth year. Okay, prerequisite. So I did history and poli-sci. And I wrote essays. Because they said, if you want to do the J-School master's program, you got to have the fourth year. Okay. Prerequisite.

So I did history and poli-sci. And I wrote essays. Sure. This is what I did. Until I was blue in the face. Yeah. That's what I did. I wrote essays like crazy. I'm glad I did it.

Yeah. One of my favorite courses there was actually oral history. Okay. Which included going and interviewing people about their life stories and then subsequently getting it on tape and transcribing it. Okay, cool. So I did an oral history for my father. Oh, yeah, good.

And I never would have done that had I not taken that course. And to this day, you know, I've got them on tape. I don't have them on video, which is a little bit of a disappointment. My grandfather had an oral history done at, I can't remember which organization did his backstory. So I've got all these on audio. That's amazing. Which is great.

Anyway, so I did fourth year, wrote my brains out, and playing hockey too. I was still playing a little bit. And when I say playing hockey, I'm talking house league, nothing more than that. Okay, I know that drill. That was my speed of ice hockey. I met a lot of cool people who I'm still in connection, talk to today and golf with on occasion and such. Anyway, so. They're not going to drop those names?

They're not in the industry. So anyway. Anyway, so the summer of, oh gosh, 92. Okay. Is the fan was, it was still music of your life. And they were talking, the talk was they were going to go all sports. Right.

CJCL, the music of your life. I remember it well. Yeah. Dan Schulman had been hired by, to come down from Barry. And they were looking for sportscasters. So a mutual friend of ours who also worked there, he said, hey,

are you looking for a summer job to come and maybe do some sports cast? I said, yeah. So I sent my tapes to Scott Metcalf. Yes. Who would be my future boss at 680. It's all interconnected. Shout out to Scott if he's listening.

Cause through Twitter, when he announced his retirement, I invited him for his exit interview here. And he said, yeah, when he finishes his last shift and then he's done that and he hasn't been here. So I need to follow up with Scott. I'll try to, I'll try to talk to him. Okay. He's he's, he, he would be a great interview. I want to do it. He's got, he's got some wonderful stories. Um, so yeah, Shulman,

that connection from Barry got me into the fan. I lived that summer on a buddy's couch. I hadn't, I was, you know, cause I didn't know if it was going to last into the fall or anything of that nature. Right. That did turn into a gig where we were, you know, once the switch was flipped to all sports. I mean, I was doing overnight sportscasts that were nine minutes long. So you just go in with this stack of carts and wire copy. And Mike Hogan was working overnights.

Shout out to Hoagie. Yeah, and speaking of that, you mentioned the Kevin Hearn episode about Gord Downie, and Hogan went to high school, if it was tragically the case. Yeah, in Kingston. Again, we're all interconnected. It's all connected. Yeah, six degrees of separation.

And Argos are starting up soon, and Hoagie's your man. That'll be good. Gosh, more sports. I mean, that's awesome. Absolutely. And hopefully they get people coming to watch, for goodness sakes. Hopefully. So, yeah, that turned into a pretty full-time job doing news and sports there,

and I worked with the launch of the fan with Mike Inglis and Stephanie Smythe and Joe Bowen, you know, and Bob and the late Bob Durant and all of these, Natalie Pujo, Barb DiGiulio was there. So she was there day one, Barb? Yeah. She has trouble remembering herself. I know. Prior to this, I was trying to remember my own job history. So that lasted a year.

The fan was 92. 93 was the launch of 680 i wanted a full-time job i was only working on part-time hours right and um uh i sent over tapes to 680 to john hinnon specifically i wanted to do news because that's what i was doing and i wasn't as enamored with sports anymore and a former boss of mine at the Toronto Stock Exchange because I worked there when I was at Ryerson which gave me the business background um Steve Key um he was talking to John and John said hey are you interested in in in doing some because we used to do market reports at the Toronto stock exchange. Um, and Steve did that as well. Uh, he was previously with,

uh, CKO. Um, John said, are you interested to Steve about coming over to a six 80? And he goes, no, but,

or do you know anybody who could do business? And my name came up. Wow. And then, and the next thing I know, I got a, I got an offer to come there. That's exciting that you're a part of these two big radio launches.

Like, at least... I consider myself very fortunate when I think back to it. Yeah. I had recently, in this backyard, I had Rob Cowan. Do you know Rob? He makes the claim, and I believe he's correct. Why would he lie? He says he's the last guy to say, you know, CJCL and the first

guy to say the fan on 1430. Like, dude, I'm going to go with that as a true statement for $100. I think it's a true statement as well. But that's amazing. So you're part of that, that kind of like, especially for guys my age, uh, the fan was a big deal. Like I can't tell you how many hours, I mean, I was a big Jays fan, big Leafs fan, and how many hours I spent listening to the fan. So let's, okay. And I played that clip earlier of the launch of 680. And you're not a day one-er, but you're like a day three-er.

You're very, very close to the launch there. And we heard some voices there I want to ask you about because some legendary voices are in that clip. Like you mentioned your boss there, Hinnon there. But I want to ask you about Dick Smythe, who recently passed away. Can you tell me, what can you tell me about the legendary Dick Smythe? I, again, whether it was Dick or Evelyn Macko or Larry Silver or all of these, Marianne Summers.

At the fan, it was Joe Bowen and, again, Bob Durant. All these voices. I just kind of sat back at the time. I was still in my early 20s. I had no... So did you not sound like this? No. Okay. Not at all.

Not even close. And actually, my voice, I'm for some reason kind of losing it a little bit here, but maybe it's because I'm tired. It does come with the hours. No, you're in the presence of greatness, and you're nervous. No, that too. Didn't sleep well last night in preparation for this,

because I was all... Who can sleep? That's right. When 680 went on the air, because it was so secretive, the newsroom wasn't really set up for an all-news... Well, Peter told me they sat at tables across from each other. Oh, we had laptop computers. And by that, I mean, we literally had a PC computer on our lap because we didn't have enough tables and they were just bringing this stuff in.

Right. You know, and again, these are not exactly today's computers. They're, you know, IBM 456s or whatever they were called. Yeah, I remember. You know, the big paper paperweights um and carts yeah and reel-to-reel machines and we didn't have enough of those right uh gross had an office down the hall um i was kind of off the to the left of the the news booth and uh yeah we just kind of cobbled it together we have no advertising we had coffee time donuts i think was one of them

shout out to coffee time maybe something for the CNE. But it was binder twine at that point. From a Toronto Radio nerd perspective, launching before 6.40 flips to all news is vital to this. It's vital to be out first. And obviously, because 6.40 ends up not following suit. You really needed to be first, I think, in the all-news AM Toronto. I'm trying to remember if 640 at that point

was still the hog. Because I remember driving down from Barrie into Toronto and listening to that. And they'd have, like, they'd play every hour, they'd play the number one most requested song or something. And I, okay, so here's how I remember. Then they went, I think they went country.

Do they go? Okay. Before they go talk 640 at some point. Uh, okay. I'm trying to, when, when,

when, cause when I remember this, I know that when CFTR announces that they're going, uh, all news, uh, Jesse and Jean lose their job at 680 because they're not going to work at the all news station. So Evelyn Macko gets to stay

dick smith gets to stay and jesse and gene cannot and i believe they literally like go straight to 640 and sign a deal to be the 640 morning show like so they're definitely still the top 40s they're not country yet anyways when you flip through no i don't know if they're the hog still because the hog i remember the hog well it didn't last very long it was a heavier top 40 if you will like a little more like i'd say like more deaf leopard and maybe less madonna or something like that but i would say it was going on there but i do know jesse and gene they just they just go over to 640 and pick up what they were doing at 680 but yes so anyway i was yeah from my standpoint i had a template of what we wanted to do for business because, again, I'd done it at the

Toronto Stock Market when they actually had a media center that had market reports going out to various radio stations, including at that time CBC and 1010 and CKO. But we had no real, we had the wires and we had CNBC. So I was cobbling a lot of stuff together and it was just, you know, we built it over, you know, built, we went from building this city to building a radio station. We built this station. So it was, you know, the early Genesis. And then, um, eventually it went from, uh, the 20 minute news wheel to 30, 30. Um, and then, um, David Craig was one of the lead anchors, um, you know, and Rick Crabb. And there was a, you know, over the course of time, it just morphed into what it is today.

But it's still a juggernaut, right? Advertising to one or two and billing in the country. Like I said, what a juggernaut. Like, I feel like, you know, it's still strong. It's still, you know, anyone in their car is going to spend some time on 680. Like, that's yeah your best friend of course is the commute and the traffic jam is a good friend of yours as well i would argue though that over the past year okay um that yes we've seen like our our ratings have actually gone up and i thought initially because again of the lack of commute, but I think there's such a desire and hunger for information.

Right. And, and remember we were having like news conferences from every political stripe on Friday afternoons and interest rate announcements going into weekends. And it was just, you know, we're just getting bombarded with new information,

you know, 24 seven. So I think the, the demand for that actually, regardless of whether you're in your car or actually, you know, listening again on your smartphone streaming, that's massive. Yeah, you know that. It's all tabulated. As I know as a podcaster, that people's comfort level with Bluetoothing,

even just the last five years, I mean, you know, I think Bojan is Bluetoothing this episode later tonight. So I think people are comfortable with it. Hey, so back to Dick Smythe for a moment, because I grew up, so Dick, I missed, I kind of missed the whole city TV Dick Smythe. And of course, of course I did miss the, I know there's the Windsor station, the big eight, I guess.

And I mean, all that stuff. But where I knew him was, I would see him on CFMT because they would bring in the 680 news. He'd do a commentary or the 60-second news breaks. Yeah, exactly. That they do are 68-second. 68-second. And my ridiculous ego at that point is like, I could do that.

I should try to get a job. But you've got to talk like Dick Schmitt. Well, no, I was never going to. Often imitated, never duplicated. But what was he like in person? Great. Cool guy. And I know you don't.

No, I got along great with Dick. He was very friendly, talkative, obviously, opinionated, sure, but, you know, willing to help and just a friendly person. Like, I just, yeah. The whole crew was really quite good. I don't know about a quite liker personally here, but Wacko Macko. Evelyn, yeah. Yeah, like, Wacko Macko, that voice, that's sort of like that authoritative

news voice. Again, another one you can try to imitate, and good luck doing so, but you couldn't. Yeah, no, and she and Larry Silver. All these, you know, distinctive radio voices of the 80s and 90s and beyond, and

you know, again, all of them, we were up against a lot of pressure i suppose internally from a work standpoint but i don't remember it ever you know leading to anything uh you know where people were at each other's throats or anything of that nature we all got along pretty well actually because it was it was again you have all of those personalities it's a pretty good entertainment value off air this you know going back and forth you know stuff you sometimes think that the things that are said off air are sometimes more entertaining than what's on yeah well mac was told me stories about stuff silver would say off air and you're right that most of

it would yeah no not not uh not safe for listening, but nevertheless. But no, and again, and that's, from my standpoint, I just kind of walk in the room and listen to this stuff and laugh my head off because it was just ridiculous. But, you know, just an amazing time. There's another voice we hear in that debut moment there on 680 News that I'm going to ask you for great details about because I speak to him every week and he's become a very good friend. And he attended, this gentleman I'm going to ask you for great details about, because I speak to him every week, and he's become

a very good friend. And he attended, this gentleman I'm about to refer to, this great legendary Toronto broadcaster, he attended TMLX 7, which took place just about a week and a bit ago. He was there in the flesh in his new big white

beard and taking selfies. Which he has since shaved. Has he? Yes. I hope I'm not letting out state seekers. I'll be disappointed he shaved because he will be in this backyard, I think, in a couple of weeks. But tell me what was it like when you found out

you'd be working with City TV's The World According to Gross's Peter Gross? I honestly can't remember. That's like the Iran-Contra hearings. No, no, and yet I initially immediately gravitated to him because Peter's personality is just fantastic, and we get along. I mean, I consider him one of my, you know,

good friends to this day, best friends, really. I mean, we talk as often as you do. I'm calling him up and ranting about something. He thinks I'm a lunatic sometimes about what I go off on a tangent about. I know, well, I know you guys are tight because I was actually talking to Peter yesterday about your appearance. And he's very fond of you as well. I don't understand why Peter would criticize you for being a Toronto Mike fanboy. It just shows you have great taste in independent local podcasts. So I think Peter's out to lunch. And he's the one working with you.

What's he criticizing? We dropped a new episode of Down the Stretch last night, and it's another great episode. And I do miss Gallagher and Gross, but Gross is going to get into that with you, I think,

on his next appearance. There's so much stuff coming out about Gallagher on the next Gross appearance. You know Gallagher has up and fled

the province. Where'd he go? Nova Scotia? Yeah, well, that's his home. He's a Maritimer. But yeah, he sold his Toronto home

and he's off, I think near Halifax or something. Right. But he's gone. Anyways, we'll get into it with Gross on the John Gallagher front. John Gallagher. But yeah, Gallagher and Gross,

I always say Gallagher and Gross saved the world. It might have been too beautiful for this world. It was just too beautiful for us, and it's gone now. But who knows what the future holds. But Peter Gross, he tells me great things about you. He also says, he tells me that you are not necessarily the same broadcasting Mike Epple when you're not on the air. That's true.

So can you elaborate on that? Because you just said earlier that Richard Southern on the air and off the air is kind of the same guy, Richard Southern. But who's Mike Epple not on the air? Is he swearing like a sailor? Like, what is the difference? I have been known to drop the occasional profanity. And actually, I feel very weird. I know that swearing is fine, but in front of a microphone, I can't do it.

You've been trained, yeah. I can't do it. It's just not. It's probably best you don't swear because you don't want to slip on the reel. But that's part of what Gross is talking about. In front of the, in front of the mic, I'm, you know. Well, what does Gross want you to do is drop F-bombs? Probably.

No, he wants me to go off on a tangent about whatever, whether it's politics or the industry or what have you. And, and, and in my own defense, I have been known to have opinions about these things, which again, I have to separate from my job, which is, you know, I don't, I am not an active user or sorry, let me rephrase that. I'm not an active Twitter poster, if you want to put it, because if I said in a reactionary form to everything that was going on on Twitter, not a good idea. Because what I've learned just over my own personality, I have to take a step back from a lot of things, investigate. I'm not reacting specifically on social media to everything that's going on. I want to learn about it first before I do that. And I don't personally have the time to get into Twitter wars with anybody else. So I keep it very much.

Look, I talk about business. We have a dedicated audience and you could make the argument. Yes, you can get a lot of market information from websites or what have you. What we have as a differentiator at 680, and again, I'm sounding very businessy here,

is access to the Bloomberg terminal, which is instantaneous with market metrics that you're not going to get anyplace else. I keep it on the straight and narrow, for lack of a better description. It's served me pretty well for, you know, coming up to 20 years or thereabouts. Right, right.

Again, with 680. And it's how I was trained. I'm not doing a talk show. That's a different thing. I think that's called being a professional. I'd like to think so. And you probably enjoy your job and being employed

and this rule set you have for yourself. It's funny, it's Richard, I hope I say his last name right. I always butcher it, but Richard Deitch. He doesn't want to come on Toronto Mike because he says while he's on the air at 590, he will only do Rogers-owned things. Interesting. That's like a personal rule.

I don't know anyone who's on this rule. I don't like that rule. Wow. I'm sorry I'm not owned by Rogers. They haven't made me an offer i couldn't refuse yes and i listen to our podcast too but i think there's a place for all sorts of but that's him appearing like he might listen to other things but he won't appear on anything else so that's like his personal he calls it the uh you know the richard dyche pr rule or whatever and and you know

i think he's kind of like uh sensitive to the fact that he's like a he's an american who just came here and i guess i guess that's fine like a, he's an American who just came here. And I guess, I guess that's fine. Like that's fine. And you're, you, you've got your own rule set.

Uh, that's preserved your job for 20 years. And, and, and Peter Gross, which we're going to go into in a minute for a minute here, because I'm very interested, uh,

was not particularly careful with preserving his job. Well, okay. We'll, we'll get to that. What I will say is this, my hours are such that I will say is this. My hours are such that

I wanted to do this podcast with you today. This is my high energy day of the week. Monday. Mondays. And I have this argument with Melanie Eng on BT all the time. I love Mondays. She hates Mondays. I hate Thursdays. Thursdays to me, I am a

basket of toys because I haven't slept enough. I'm typically running on four or five hours of sleep. I feel it in my physical being. I'm tired. And that in itself lends itself to the possibility of saying something really stupid. Interesting. So that's kind of my own self-discipline that I don't want to.

So you, if I said here, not that I would, cause you know, pandemic Fridays has been hogging my Thursdays for free, literally for a year and a half now, but, uh,

almost, but, uh, if I said, Hey, let's do it on Thursday. Would you ask for like a Monday? Would you ask?

No. Well, if it depends if it's late in the afternoon. Okay. Cause I, I, I never send an email. Yeah. I never send an email before my late in the afternoon. Okay. Because I never send an email. You get punchy. Yeah, I never send an email before my nap in the afternoon.

Interesting. Because if I did, I would have pissed a lot of people off many more times than I have over the course of X number of years. That's a good rule for yourself. Yeah, it's just the nature of the beast. And I love working mornings. for yourself. Yeah, it's just the nature of the beast. And I love working mornings.

The reason, and I actually did want to talk about why I went, I started at 680, I left and I came back. And there's a reason for that. Okay, well, let's do it now. Sorry, I don't want to. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. Sometimes it's linear and sometimes we do, you know, there's tangents I'm trying to make here.

So that's a good point. So you are like, you're on 680 News today. Like you were on it today. Yes. Okay. Yes, I was. You were on it for day three or whatever the heck.

Yes. You joined that, the family there. But you haven't, you know, I'm, is it 99 to 2004? You were a business reporter for CTV News Channel.

Yes. CTV National News, CFTO, where the great Dana Levinson worked, and BNN. Mm-hmm. And then you returned to 680. So why did you leave 680 News in 1999?

At that time, I was young enough to think and wanted to try television. Simple as that. I wanted to do, because I thought- Because you're a good-looking guy. Bojana was- Thank you. You saw her reaction to you, right? Like, that must feel good. I had a do, because I thought... Because you're a good looking guy. Bojana was, I'm, you saw her reaction to you, right? Like, that must feel good. I had a lot more

hair back then. When Bojana sees me, which is almost every day, you know, hi Mike, how you doing? You know, we talk about the weather. She likes to complain that there's a lot of people on the street, like, able-bodied, fit young people, who she thinks are lazy, because they sort of like

just sit down all day and they don't you know they're not out and active and stuff and she's got these strong opinions on like you know gotta be moving you gotta be active or whatever i agree with that so when she yeah i agree with that i don't work yeah that's why i bike every day you you gotta get out and be active but mike when she saw you honestly uh she was like giggling like a high school girl like it was i've never seen anything i'm so happy to see that from Bojana. Like I've never seen that. She was swooning. So you said,

you looked in the mirror one day and you said, this face is being wasted on radio. Not exactly. It needs to be in front of a camera. Not exactly. No, I figured if I was going to do it, that was the time.

I wasn't getting any younger, so to speak, even though I was still in my twenties. And there were opportunities. CP 24 was, was going at that point and I did a test with Mark Daly. The voice. Which was awesome.

Again, that was one of those things at the time that you don't take it, you kind of take it for granted or you don't realize the special place that would actually have. All right, pause for five seconds, will you? you yes the following program contains adult themes nudity and coarse language viewer and parental discretion is advised love that continue yeah so he uh helped me out with a couple of camera tests um i had an interview with moses which was interesting, mind-bending,

and it was okay, except very esoteric, I guess, for lack of a better description. That is a good word for Moses. Yeah, Moses was very much about the vision, and I'm very much a linear, what do you want me to do? Right, yeah, right. Give me a task, I will do it. Right.

Right. And I will do it to the best of my abilities. Moses, you know, very creative. And, and so anyway, I kind of got this sense. I like the idea of working at, at, at Citi, ironically, but it just didn't come to be. And at the same time, I was also talking to CTV because they had launched Newsnet or News One, originally with the rotating table and all that in the early days of that station,

which got, I think, that only lasted a few months, that rotating desk with the different backdrops. I don't even remember, but CTV's a whole blind spot. Yeah, there you go. Anyway, even remember, but CTV's a whole blind spot for me. I apologize. So, again, what CTV wanted, they wanted business reports. I can do that. That's awesome.

When do I start? And I had a very amicable break with 680 because they said, look, you want to do this, go back. You're always welcome back. Whenever this happened, 99, at that point, 680 News is owned by Rogers, right? Yep.

Okay. Just to clarify for us normies out there. Okay. And CTV News Channel is, what is that? Like a CTV Bell? Not at that time. And then it's a Globe? It's Bayton.

What is it? Bayton. Bayton and Bell. And then there was Bell Globe Media. And then there was the merger and the buyout of TSN. Right. Which led to the best Christmas party ever because it was just before the dot-com bubble burst. So money was flowing like crazy.

Wow. They were spending it. You got any stories from that? Well, there were two actually at the Masonic Temple. Yep. 99 and 2000. Right. at the Masonic Temple.

Yep. 99 and 2000. Right. And, which is, those Christmas parties, 2000, I guess,

is where I really got to know or more of a relationship with my then-to-be wife, Jennifer. But 99 was a blowout because every floor

had like a live band and food just everywhere. It was crazy. And then 2000, it was almost over uh there were almost too many people because it was the tsn crew all came in i was but those were those were the heydays and then 2001 was rod black at that party i'm sure he was i'm sure unbelievable i'm sure then you know it's a party when rod black shows up and then the bubble bursts and everything goes to hell in a handbasket. Right. With the dot-com boom and bust.

Which, by the way, that is why I love doing and talking about business. Because it's the highs and the lows. Every day is something different. The growth stories of the Nortels or the Blackberries or Bre-X. Right. All these great, you know, successes to massive failures. And it's just, that stuff has always enthralled me. I love talking about, you know, money for lack of a better description.

You know, and it's, and it's not, it's not the same story every day, if that makes any sense. Were you on the air on September 11, 2001? My wife was working at CTV that morning in the control room. She called me because I was doing afternoons then. She called me, woke me up, and said, turn on the television. Something's going on. And I'm like, oh, shit. Oh, I just swore.

Oh, my God. Oh, there you go. But it's only an S-bomb. I know. They're almost allowed now. The CRTC isn't going to give me any grief about that. No. Yeah, so that was, yeah, it was all hands on deck at that point.

I'm trying to think. Mackle was working at 640 Mojo, the aforementioned Mojo, and was like doing news for Humble and Fred or something when the, yeah, well, yeah, the first plane hits. And I don't know your memory. I think I turned on NBC, if memory serves. And they were talking about, oh, it looks like something is at the tower, World Trade Center. But they thought it was a small plane, right?

Right, like a Cessna or something. And yeah, because I was working in Thornhill. But I had high-speed internet and I was streaming. And there was that moment where you think, yes, A, you think it's a Cessna. I feel like I had just heard internet and I was streaming. And there was that moment where you think, yes, A, you think it's a Cessna. I feel like I had just heard recently in the news there was a Cessna that might have flown into a building in New York by accident or something. So there's that moment where you think it's an accident

and then you're kind of like, oh my goodness, but it's an accident. And then, sadly, the second plane hits and then instantly there's that switch from this is no accident. Right. This is a coordinated attack. Wow. I just wondered if you were on the air that day.

I went in immediately. Okay. I remember that. And because the markets were shut down for a couple of days. Right. And everything was, you know, the risk and the initial sell-off that occurred when they reopened because of, you know, was the U.S. immediately going to war or what was, it was just so many unknowns at that time. Right. I mean, you had just seen something that had, you know, shocked the world and never seen before.

And it's like, it's events like that, whether it's, you know, that or the 08 market crash, you know, the housing bubble, boom and bust. Well, the dot-com bubble, you know, subsequent to that. I mean, it's just one thing after another. So, yeah, the next, oh gosh, week after that, it was crazy times just because of all of the 24-7 covers that got. And it was, you know, on air a lot more than typical, that's for sure. Well, we're going to get you, because obviously you returned to 680 News. Yes. Because we heard you there this morning.

So before we get you back there, I just want to give you some gifts for making your debut here on Toronto. That's why I drove here. And again. Just to meet you face to face as well. It's about time. It's about time. And I also didn't want to do a Zoom call.

I think we've been talking about this episode for a long time. I feel like you gave me a pretty big lead up to get worried about it. I almost feel like this almost happened last summer or maybe I'm daydreaming. No, not quite. Anyway, I'm again tickled pink

that you have a Toronto Mic mug in front of you so I just want to say thanks again for that. That's amazing support and I love that you're a listener of the program. And again, they come in different colors Mike mug in front of you. So I just want to say thanks again for that. Like that's amazing support. And I love that you're, you're a listener of the program. And again, they come in different colors. I just opted for white. Oh dude. And that's the best contrast. I think I'm going to get a set.

You know, my wife designed that logo. I heard her in the background here, but, uh, want to give you some gifts. So I have for you fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery that you're going to bring. We will give that a good home. Give that a good home. And thanks to Great Lakes. I actually, episode 888 was actually on the Great Lakes Brewery that you're going to bring. Give that a good home. Give that a good home. And thanks to Great Lakes. I actually, episode 888 was actually on the Great Lakes Brewery patio, which is not open to the public yet.

Just a drone away. And it's going to open soon. I think we're going to have it opened probably the debut. Probably. This is almost confirmed, like 99.9%. TMLX8 is going to be also, it's going to be the Pandemic Friday finale with Stu Stone and Cam Gordon. I want to come to that, by the way.

That's, that's where I'm going here, man. Yeah. Because I was, I was going to come to the last one, number seven. Yeah. In the park. Right. And I talked to Gross about that. And he said, hold off until it's on the patio.

Not exactly. I said, hmm, seven o'clock on a Friday night across the city. Yeah. I don't know. And I wanted to meet you here first, I think, before we do that. That's actually, yeah, you played it well, because now I'm excited that you're probably going to show up. And Gross was the star of the show.

Yeah, he was a big deal. Him and the guy who created Just Like Mom, who wore his Just Like Mom shirt, and his son, Broccoli, they were big deals. Now, I just want to personally invite you, Mike, and everybody listening, and there will be more details as things are confirmed and shored up. But we're hoping for a big deals. Now, I just want to personally invite you, Mike, and everybody listening. And there'll be more details as things are confirmed and shored up. But we're hoping for a big crowd. Again, it's August 27, which is a Friday evening.

And we're going to broadcast live. We'll have an open mic where we have people kind of come up and basically tell us they're going to miss Pandemic Friday. But even if you're not going to miss Pandemic Friday, I would throw you on a mic. It'd be amazing to hear from you. So, Mike Epple, that's happening at Great Lakes. Shout out to Great Lakes Brewery. 99.9% confirmed. I have a meat lasagna for you in the

freezer. That's also Richard Southern and Peter Gross. Those are two people and I haven't checked. I'm sure it's the same with Michelle. I have to check in with Michelle Mackey. Loved their lasagna from Palma Pasta. I am really looking forward to it. I am a big pasta guy.

Me too, buddy. Again, I need to put on the pounds. It's good for me. You're in a good spot. Because I'm always going. Burning a lot of calories. High energy. I like that.

Man after my own heart there. Okay, so thank you, Palma Pasta, for sending over the lasagna for Mike Epple. There's hand sanitizer on the table, courtesy of, yeah, it's in front of the red box. Oh, yeah, there, Palma Pasta, for sending over the lasagna for Mike Epple. I have, there's hand sanitizer on the table, courtesy of, yeah, it's in front of the red box, but you probably can't see it. But that's courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. They've been pillars of this community since 1921.

And Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home was also at TMLX 7. He was there just to see Peter Gross, of course. Who can blame him? I almost, Michelle Mackey is is how you say Mackey, but there is McKay, spelled the same, but McKay CEO Forums. They have a podcast called the CEO Edge Podcast,

fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. I always embed their recent episodes on torontomike.com and there's subscription links on torontomike.com. I urge everybody to give it a listen and give it a shot. The CEO Edge podcast, again, from McKay CEO Forums. And Mike Majewski, sometimes I call Mimico Mike. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. His motto is in the know in Mimico, and he certainly is. And you can go to realestatelove.ca to learn more about Mike Majeski and how he can help you buy and or sell.

Now, Mr. Epple, you returned to 680 News where you still work to this day. What led you back in 2004? you still work to this day. What led you back in 2004? Family dynamics were the primary reason. In 2000, Jen, again, was director at News Channel. So we, you know, like I say, she's my pillar and my director in life. You love her. I do.

You love her. I do very much. I can tell the way you talk about her. I do. And we got married in 2002. Okay. Ainsley was born in 04. And at that point, due to changes in the dynamic at CTV and Bell ownership,

I had been basically moved from the agent court head office down to BNN at King and Bathurst. So I was in a satellite location. Okay. And feeding news channel from there, SIFTO, I'd come up and do Canada AM. If Deirdre McMurdy or linda sims uh needed some backfill uh on canada am which was which was awesome worked with rod black for

goodness sakes on that and seamus o'regan subsequent and valerie pringle and wow shout out to uh ralph ben murgy who worked with valerie pringle for many years so on midday. Yes, absolutely. Is that it? Absolutely. So we had had our first daughter. My hours were such that I was working almost 10 hours a day, and it seemed to be getting longer in the day past 7 o'clock for the evening news. 2003, the year before that, was the 10th anniversary of 680, which I attended. And I was talking to my former bosses, John Hinnon and, and Sandy Sanderson and,

and Paul Fisher and all, and all these other people. And they were said, Hey, you know, if you're ever looking to come back, let us know, you know,

kind of in, you know, semi-serious. Right. But, um, at the time it was, I was just finding,

I was at work a lot and we just had our first child, and I kind of made the decision that I really wanted to not miss being home. Sure. I get that. And, yeah, you hear these stories about people who aren't home when their kids are growing up, and I didn't want that to be the case. Because they all regret it. Like, to a T, they all regret it. So there were a few other things going on behind the scenes regarding direction of what, you know, almost too many cooks, for lack of a better description, which was fine. On a, not a lark necessarily, I called Hinnan John Hinnan and I said were you serious about me maybe coming back sometime because I think I might be looking you know I television I like

television but radio is my first love and the thing I found about tv is it takes an awful lot of people to make it happen. Radio is linear. And again, that comes back to my personality to some extent. Do the job. Here it is. Do it the best of your ability. Right. One-to-one.

Me and a microphone. Right. Okay? So, yeah, we started talking, and I thought, you know what? So, yeah, we started talking and I thought, you know what? Mornings on radio would actually be pretty awesome just from a family standpoint. Because I'd be home, you know, a good time. Yeah, I'd be tired.

I enjoyed doing mornings. I didn't leave 680 in the first place because I didn't like it. Right. I left because I wanted to try something else. Right. So anyway, one thing led to another and, um, yeah, that in, in 2004, I, I decided to, uh, uh, quit CTV and go and go back to 680. And at that time it was like, you're leaving television. What?

And, and yeah, so it was just, it was just a choice. And, and, uh, you know, again, the management at 680, um, and, and at that point, Scott Metcalf was there, who I really enjoyed working with at the fan. So I thought, yeah, this is kind of falling into place. And yes, sure. Did I have reservations at the time? To some extent, absolutely. But I had a good break from CTV. Jen was still working there. She's worked there ever since. You know, I try to, you know, I'm very fortunate to never have, you know, been marched out or anything of that nature.

That's rare, right? So you've never been told your services are no longer required. Very rare. And that's going to, soon we're going to get back to Mr. Groves. It's going to happen at some point. I hope it's, you know, and that's fine. No, no, it's going to happen. You know, I don't know. I don't know how it's going to happen. I'd like it to be when I'm more ready for it. And it'll be more of like, we think it's time to retire. You'll get a tap on the shoulder and here's some money for you to retire now. And whether you, you know, that's how it will happen,

but hopefully not for a very, very long time. That's what I hope for you there. Anyway, so I went back and yeah, we, they, they, they wanted some people, an upgrade of business. And that's what, that's how it transpired. Well, that makes, like, that makes all the sense in the world to me. And they say you can't go home again, but you proved that wrong. And Michael Hainsworth had gone.

Right. And Deuce's. And, and Kaner had gone. Michael Kane had gone to BNN and they, he was kind of moving around. Right. And Deuce's. And Kaner had gone. Michael Kaner had gone to BNN. And everybody was kind of moving around. Right. So I went back and they moved on. It was, yeah.

It worked out pretty much for everybody as it turned out. Yeah, for sure. And as we know, you ended up, and I know this because of the way Bojana recognized you, is you do end up on TV anyways with all this. Yeah, because City News Channel starts. Right. Right. Okay. Well, that, okay. So the City News Channel Unfortunately, short-lived. Channel 15, I seem to remember. I'm trying to remember where it was on my Rogers box there, but I think it was 15. Yes,

because News Channel, CTV, let me think about that. Oh my goodness. CTV News Channel was on Rogers 15, and then it got punted up to 62 because there was Toronto 1. Right, right. The short-lived Toronto 1. Of course. Ross Weston was on Rogers 15.

Which was shoehorned in. Right. Anne-Marie Medawake and Ben Chin, if memory serves. And maybe even Melissa Grello, maybe? Possibly. Possibly. Yeah, it didn't last very long. No.

And it was kind of, why did they do that again? Because it really, it just didn't, it wasn't the best idea. And then the Sun News and all that other stuff. Anyway. Right. And then, yes, City News Channel. Was it on 15? Gosh.

I feel like it was. I think it was, yeah. If I remember correctly, City News. So what I remember is that, of course, there was a time, of course, when the Moses Empire at the city, Chum City, whatever it was called back then, they had, that was CP24 was theirs, of course. So that's City TV and CP24, same ownership. And then whenever the whole, they were told they had to, I guess Rogers had to sell one of them.

Am I right? And then they sold CP24 to Bell. So for a little time, there's like simulcasting, but then they need to like, at some point there's a date where it's like, okay, you need to be, you're separate.

Yeah, CP24 and City News were in the same newsroom. And they were competing against each other. Right. It was just, yeah. I got to go back and look at the Wikipedia on this. And then there's like people like Ann Romer and like Steve Anthony,

and they have to like, we're going there and then you're whatever. Right. Yeah. There was that strange thing. And it was all forced by the regulators. Right. CRTC. And in retrospect, have to like, we're going there, and then you're whatever. Yeah, there was that strange thing. And it was all forced by the regulators. Right, CRTC. And in retrospect, it was like, really? Is that necessary?

I'm questioning these things. But anyway, it was what it is. Well, the same kind of regulators who said, like, you can't have TSN and SportsNet, and that's why Rogers ends up buying SportsNet from the Bell. Okay, so, just to put the bow in this, though, I think out of that,

that's why there was that, uh, Rogers trying to have a CP, a CP 24 of their own. That's right. So that was the whole idea there. And it just, just didn't take.

And the funny thing about that is not funny, I guess, but had, had they waited probably about six months, that would have been when the Rob Ford era really caught the media's attention. Right. I think. Because then it was just, you know, the late Rob Ford 24-7.

I remember. Yes. I remember. I remember actually listening to you talking about some of these things on your earlier episodes. Yeah. Toronto Mike has been around long enough that, you know, it's been around for the whole Rob Ford era. It definitely came up here and there. Now, okay.

So nowadays, though, you can be seen on City TV's Breakfast television, right? Yeah, so I work with Kevin, like Kevin Frankish was... What an FOTM he is. Yeah. Wow. Love Kevin. And I actually want to talk, yeah, I want to talk about Kevin and some of these, these podcasts that have actually developed.

He's got one certainly over the course of the pandemic. I'll get to that because I think it's been really important, actually. Well, you might want to do it now only because normally I'd say go forever, but because I have this new thing. Yeah, I know. We're running out of time. We have like 15 minutes. You know, Kevin and just the focus on mental health, all of these things have come to the fore. So many things have been exposed, I suppose, for the lack of a better description over the past year and a half. Right.

You know, whether it, you know, whatever the issue. I mean, that's been one of the life-changing moments out of all of this. How many things have, you know, come out from and just become a mainstream discussion? It's like no one would ever admit to having, you know, anxiety issues or anything of that nature. I dealt with it when I was in my 20s.

I'm listening to Kevin going, I experienced that firsthand. I had panic attacks. Yeah, all that kind of stuff. Now, I worked through it. I didn't have the support that they have today. But all these things have become much more mainstream, for lack of a better description. I would say, yeah, we've destigmatized it.

And basically, we treat mental health the same way if you were dealing with cancer or something, like, essentially, and a lot of this, I will give some credit to FOTM, Michael Landsberg, of course, in his initiatives with Sick Not Weak. Absolutely. But, yeah, and Kevin Frankish, absolutely talking about what happened, and just, like, I love the fact, and even Michelle

Mackey, when she came in and she talked about her eating disorders, like, these are not like dirty little secrets. Like we're all humans and there's others that will hear you and listening to it. I hope you don't get stung by that wasp over there. I'm not allergic. There's a lot of wasps in this neighborhood, if you know what I mean. But hey now.

But absolutely. And Kevin Frank is being very open about what he's dealt with is helping, I think, many, many people. Yeah. So, you know, we did the City News channel for a while, as long as it lasted, and then that morphed into regular hits on breakfast television, coinciding with what I do on 680.

What a career, honestly. And with Peter Gross, by the way. Yeah, we got to get back to Gross. We're in the Olympics, right? Yes, we are. I'm watching. 1996, Gross and I went to the Atlanta Olympics. Wow. Yes. To see Donovan Bailey. That was my first big... right? Yes, we are. I'm watching. 1996, Gross and I went to the Atlanta Olympics. Oh, yes.

To see Donovan Bailey. That was my first big, I was not there for that. Of course, I was only, we went on a, on this, I think Air Canada put it together,

were they? Wow. And, and that was the first big corporate Olympics. I don't know if you remember. Oh, Coca-Cola. I remember.

We bid for that. They had this whole, um, Olympic, uh, what do you call it? Village? Village, thank you. But for corporates.

Right. And it was like tent after tent, and that's what I went for because I was covering business, and Gross went to cover the sports. Right. Amazing. Yeah, we flew out the day after TWA 800 off of Nantucket. Oh. That was the big story.

Right. Just before the Olympics that year. Right. And I mean, the Olympics had its own story withucket. Oh. That was the big story. Right. Just before the Olympics that year. Right. So. And I mean, the Olympics had its own story with the bombing. Right. And Gross was there for that. He stayed the entire two weeks.

Okay. And I seem to remember him breaking a few. I'll have to bring this up. Breaking a few sponsorship or broadcast rights agreements by running certain things. That sounds like pretty good. Okay. So amazing that you were there for that because now when I think 96 Olympics, I think Donovan Bailey because

we were only eight years removed. I just was there to witness Muhammad Ali lighting the torch. That's amazing. That was pretty spectacular. We didn't know who it was going to be and all of a sudden, and it was a massive stadium and we're up in the nosebleeds, but it was like, oh crap, it's Muhammad Ali.

What a moment. We've got pictures someplace of it. this massive stadium and we're up in the nosebleeds. And, but it was like, Oh crap. It's Muhammad Ali. This is, this is what a moment. Yeah. Right. What a moment. Picture someplace of it. What a moment. Uh,

I was gonna say we were, we were only eight years removed from Ben Johnson. So I felt like this country needed that clean race by Donovan, and, uh, bringing us back another gold. And I'm hoping to grass does it again this year. I feel,

I I'm just so excited to watch the grass. I'm starting to get into it. I, the, the, the opening ceremonies completely lost me, but, but that wasn't, that was not it this year. I feel, I'm just so excited to watch Degrass. I'm starting to get into it. The opening ceremony has completely lost me. But that wasn't,

that was not, this year, I know, I know, and the ratings were way down because it wasn't the same. It wasn't the spectacle. It wasn't like Rio

or London or whatever. Right. It wasn't the spectacle. Absolutely. You're absolutely right. Now the competition has started and the swimming

and the diving and, you know. The rhythm I'm into now is, I don't know, about 9 p.m. at night, I start watching live stuff and then, I don't know, 11.30 I'm going to bed is, I don't know, about 9 p.m. at night, I start watching live stuff. And then, I don't know, 11.30, I'm going to bed. And then, I don't have to wake up as early as you.

And then, early in the morning, when I wake up with the kids again, at the summer camp or whatever, there's still a bit of live stuff left. And then you catch up on what you missed. Like, I'm into the rhythm now. I watched Maggie McNeil win gold. I watched it live last night. It was super exciting. And I'm sorry.

And I watched Penny and Maggie and the rest of the relay team when silver the other night, like I'm starting to get into the rhythm here. So, but I do, I do understand why there's fewer people into the Olympics this year, obviously with the pandemic going on and the no, no one in the stands and stuff,

but I'm, I'm a sucker for it. I love it. So gross. And I traveling was interesting. So, Peter Gross here. So, let's spend five minutes here on Gross. So, Gross does tell me, the famous story in this show, which Peter Gross is sick of me telling, but he did say it on the show.

I feel once you say it on the microphone in the show, it's very good. I don't know. I think he's got a restraining order on this or a cease and desist. He talks about, you know, he fell asleep. He fell asleep on his early about you know he fell asleep he fell asleep uh on his early morning shift he fell asleep they would go to him for sports and he'd be snoozing and it might have happened more than once and he sort of looks at that as a reason he was let go but he also tells me you tried to warn him like you were you were trying to look out for him and warn him

because he would place lots of like sports bets uh work and stuff. And you would be like, you know, cause you as a professional and you, you, you, you're good at, you know, being a professional,

Peter Gross would, was a little sloppy with some of these. No, listen, look, I'm going to defend Peter. Please, please.

Because yes, he and I are the polar opposites personality wise. Right. He's, he's much more manic than I am. And, and, and he's into his

gambling and all his other stuff, right? Doing down the stretch. He loves the horses and such. So, yeah, falling asleep in that environment, it's not as difficult as it sounds because again,

you're... Have you ever done it? I have not. No, because you're a professional that's not well yes but there's there's a caveat to that i'm in an open room yeah but how do you fall asleep but where i just know because the sports booth as it is configured yeah is almost tomb like but don't you have a switch in your head that says like i'm at work and at this time i'm gonna be live on the radio yes and i'm paid to be on the radio at this time. Let me put it this way. I've fallen asleep in libraries with fluorescent lighting and that's,

it's soft lighting. You're listening to the news and you're tired. It's a combination of things. I like how you have his back on this. Look, I'm going to, yes. And did I,

you know, say, you know, get off certain websites that may or may not have ended up on the air at certain times through the audio feed. I will not confirm nor deny. But no. And, you know, he had a fantastic career.

Let's face it. Oh, my God. Which is, again, because he has, well, I was going to say he has, he kind of has three podcasts, but only. So he's got one. We're looking for an act. We're looking for a sponsor. He's got a great podcast called Seniors Moment, and we're looking to find a brand

that wants to be a part of this because it's amazing. It's for senior citizens, and it's very well done by Peter Gross, and we have a few episodes in the can, but we are looking for a title sponsor. Reach out to me if you think that's a good fit. And he was also replaced by a fantastic broadcaster.

And what's his name? Simon Bennett. I've heard good things about Simon Bennett. He's just terrific on air. Terrific consummate sports guy. And it's the, if you're going to be replaced by someone who is, you know,

not as good or what have you, that's a real kick in the shins, I'd say. But, you know, Simon's a wonderful human being and he's a great broadcaster. And, you know, management makes changes from time to time. It just happens. It's the nature of the beast, for goodness sakes. That's how media works.

Right. You know? Right. So, I'm sure you'll razz him about it again. It'll come up, I'm sure, in a couple of weeks. How is the 680 News rebrand going? Because there was a press release about becoming like 680 City News.

I don't know. Honestly. There's been no memos to staff. That's the next level up in the management. Maybe it's after Labor Day. I believe it's going to be in the fall. That makes sense. But what it's going to be specific,

I don't know. Michelle said the same thing. I'm not telling tales about her school here. Well, that was the fresh news. I think that news broke the day before Michelle came on.

Yeah. So that remains to be seen. I wonder how many slips there'll be at the beginning of that transition. My sign-off is at the business center, I'm Mike Epple.

Okay. So I've got a generic because we feed 680 but also all of the Rogers green brands, as they're called, across the country. Right. Oh, yeah. So I've got a generic because we feed 680, but also all of the Rogers green brands, as they're called across the country. Right. Oh yeah.

Cause I had, I have a, on the live stream, there was a gentleman, a shout out to Dale Cadeau, who's in the Vancouver, he's in BC, British Columbia.

Right. And he says he's, he hears you on 1130 or whatever it is. So you're not just in, on the radio in Toronto, you're across, like there's a whole news network. And that's, and that's the wonder and beauty. There's a whole news network of Rogers news stations.

And that's the wonder and beauty of today's technology, where we can do that, where it's instantaneous, instantaneous feed. You're a big ticket in this town, aren't you? I don't, yeah, but that'll only get you so far. That's when you run into trouble believing your own press. Did I hear you doing hits on Primetime Sports? I did. What was it like working?

Tell me a little bit about working with Bob McCowan. Well, what you hear about Bob's on-air personality and off-air, the persona with the sunglasses and such, he's very much. Yeah, he's not on. He's not like that on-air or off-air, I should say. That's a character. Well, I heard him once talk to a Sportsnet. Yeah.

He spoke openly about having to put on the mask or whatever, like how it becomes kind of a pain. I would imagine it would be a pain in the ass if you have to assume a character every time you're doing a public thing or whatever. I did that for years with Bob before they changed. They kind of changed the format in the Don Collins era where they changed the commercial blocks.

So that kind of squeezed out the money game. And also what we were doing, I was doing some on the morning show as well with Don Landry and Gord Stelic and then Andrew Crystal came in and that was interesting. Is that going to be your safe term for it? Interesting.

Yeah, I think so. That was very stream of consciousness business. Well, he did a Toronto Mic'd episode and it was fucking bananas part of my french there i guess i dropped the bond there but uh i guess i can swear i'm not on uh roger stations but the uh andrew crystal episode like so bizarre and weird and like i don't know how that guy was on mainstream there were there were a lot of different tangents i'd have a list of things and it would just go let's talk about something completely different. I'm like,

okay. You know, he took over. You said you just listened to the Ripken episode of Toronto Mic'd. And of course, Andrew Crystal takes Ripken's spot when Ripken gets let go from the Mojo radio experience. So I did the money game with McAllen in the mornings

with Landry and Stelican. The stuff I did with Bob in the afternoons, I'd do that after my morning shift, actually. It was a pretty long day, but just, again, it was working with Bob McCallum for Pete's sakes. I'm not going to turn that down. Richard Southern would fill in from time to time as well. I remember this.

I kind of miss all that to some extent, being on the sports and talking sports business as opposed to necessarily just all business. But nevertheless, I'm busy enough as it is. You know, I mentioned I've got two kids, you know, both teenagers, Ainsley and Jaden. And Ainsley, by the way, was named after a character on the West Wing. Yeah, I do remember this character. Ainsley Hayes. Yes. Yeah, I remember this character. I love that show. Episode character on the West Wing. Yeah, I do remember this character. Ainsley Hayes.

Yes, yeah, I remember this character. I love that show. I did too, yeah. But I didn't finish it. Like, I actually... No, I didn't either. I think I went through about, you know, X number of seasons and was like, okay, that's...

And I always wonder why I didn't finish it because I really did enjoy it. But then, you know, there's some great moments there. I still remember they're playing like Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits and he's got the smoke in the church. I love all Aaron Sorkin stuff. Yeah, I do too. The American President is one of my favorite movies. It's schmaltzy, but it's so

well written. Broadcast News is, by the way, my favorite movie of all time. And that's film. For obvious reasons. We're mad as hell, but I'm not going to take it anymore. Or am I confusing my answer? No, that was Network. That's Network. That was Network. Right, that's the one filmed with Tom Gibney's in that, I believe.

I am Andrew Shepard, and I am president, was one of the catchphrases. Well, you know, Mike, I realize now that we're leaving a lot on the, we have a lot more to chat about. Like, at some point, I know it's a long drive, but at some point, like, hopefully I see you at TMLX8 on, what is that again, August 27th. But you do need to make another appearance on Toronto Mic at some point. That's awesome.

This has to happen. You were awesome. We haven't even gotten to what the heck happened over the past year. I know. Really? There's too much. And you were a little late.

I know that's a traffic problem. I'm throwing it right back at you, Mike. You're right. I could have. Look, I could have Zoomed it, but I didn't want to do that. No, this is so much better. I'm so sick of the Zooms.

Yeah, me too. Now it's like I look at a person and go, okay, oh, you live in Calgary, so we will Zoom this. That makes complete sense. But if I find out, I mean, you do live far away, but not too far. I like the backyard. All this week, I've got backyard episodes. Farah Nassar's coming in a couple of days. Billy Newton Davis is here tomorrow.

Everything's in the backyard. You didn't even get to the Drake part. Was that a Jeff Rahoman context, by the way? Speaking of him, you guys were in the Nutcracker together. We were. We are best friends, quote, quote.

That's kind of our shtick. But he's a great guy. You guys were those, whatever, you always have those two celebrities. The dolls, the canon dolls. By the way, I did that. I was in so much pain afterwards.

You have to be energetic for like two to three minutes straight. Just run around like a maniac. And I came off stage because I was so tense. My entire body froze up. It was ridiculous. But Rojo's always given me the gears about you know rap music and stuff and me well look you know you know what here's how this okay so maybe we can do a jam kicking i don't know if you'd be down with that but maybe then we talk about drake and all the and hip-hop etc like maybe we save this for the sequel okay uh just gonna be going to be a lot of Billy Joel and possibly

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. There's no shame in that game. I can do it. We're supposed to go see Billy Joel in Buffalo on August 14th. Guess what's not going to

happen because they're not opening the border. Right. Right. Bitter. Interesting. Dude, you were awesome. You're coming back.

I'm only playing you off because I literally have a couple minutes here before I have to do something else. Play us out, you were awesome. You're coming back. I'm only playing you off because I literally have a couple minutes here before I have to do something else. Play us out, Piano Cat. That's right. That's right. You know your memes. That's good.

And that brings us to the end of our 890th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. You, my friend, are Epman, E-P-P-M-A-N, on Twitter. And people should follow you there. Thank you. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. McKay's CEO Forums are at McKay's CEO Forums.

Palma Pasta, don't leave until I get you your frozen lasagna. It's in the freezer. They're at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at StickerU. Much love to StickerU. I almost forgot to give you. There's a Toronto Mike sticker on top of that red box. Yes, there is. And that's yours. I see it. Awesome. Thank you very much. That's yours, my friend.

They make great stuff at StickerU. This is going to go on my trailer. Awesome. Like, take a photo of that and then send me that photo. I love those photos. Ridley Funeral Home. They're at Ridley FH. And Mimico Mike. He's at Majeski Group Homes on Instagram. See

you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.