Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Richard Southern: Toronto Mike'd #724

Episode Date: September 22, 2020

Mike chats with Richard Southern about his years at 680 News and on CityNews, appearing on Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown, and so much more.

Welcome to episode 724 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. Pumpkins After Dark. Now's the time. Save 10% with the promo code miked. M-I-K-E-D. CDN Technologies. Your outsourced IT department. Call Barb at 905-542-9759. StickerU.com.

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Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is 680 News. What's your official title, Richard? I'm kind of like you, Toronto Mike. I'm a bit of everything, but technically I'm a business reporter right now.

So you're not a Queen's Park reporter right now. I was full-time and now I'm not full-time, although I still report on it almost daily. Okay, you wear many hats over there. Yes, correct. You're the business guy.ard southern welcome richard this is like an honor mike i mean you've created something here for you know us media people where this is like the place to come you know nobody writes about media really in this town anymore nobody reports on you go to buffalo

in the states and they're reporting on everyone and this is the only place we can go to stroke our fragile egos, Mike. So thank you for that. It's a real honor. Okay. I love hearing this feedback because I don't, often with the actual members of the media like yourself, they're kind of, they don't like sharing that, even if it's true. That's a lie.

They want to be here. They fawn over you. Everyone was coming up to me at work saying, you've got to get me in Mike's backyard. Because everyone has a fragile ego and they want to be here. They fawn over you. Everyone was coming up to me at work saying, you've got to get me in Mike's backyard. Because everyone has a fragile ego, and they want to talk about themselves, Mike. Well, is that yourself? Because this is your moment.

Deep down inside, maybe. You end up, after in this business for a while, you end up psychoanalyzing yourself. Like, why am I here? Why do I want this? Why am I, you know? How long have you been in the media business i've been on the air in toronto 13 years 680 kind of hired me out of an internship

which you know you go back uh you know a decade or two and that never really used to happen in toronto but that happens and they were very kind to me they've been good to me and then for the past eight or nine years i've been on city tv every day as well. So I do radio and TV, like a full-time gig almost every day. Okay. I know you're into the, like myself, you're into the retro, like, City TV theme music. I wouldn't be sitting, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing right now if I didn't grow up watching Gordon Martin all night. Yeah. Okay?

And just like the way City, and you've talked about this before, you know how cool City was in the mid-90s. Still love City. I'm on it every day. I try to bring some of that back too, by the way, right? You're bringing back a little Moses here and there. I think so. I want to be myself. I'm not trying to be anything but myself, right?

But, you know, when I got to City eight years ago, it was certainly a different program than when I grew up watching City News, right? Different than City Pulse. Right. So I just started, they put me on, started to do business on the news channel. Remember when they had City News channel? Of course, 15, I think it was on my cable. Sure. I think we had it on channel one. Okay. Anyways, they weren't looking for someone to do business. So they said, let's put the 680 guy on. And I kind of did what I did on 680 with business. You know, I'm not a, like a, you know, I don't have an MBA. I'm not a business guy. So I look for the fun stuff, right?

And I just started going a little crazy in there. And I thought they kicked me out, but they kind of liked it. And it just kind of grew into what we do today. They clearly like it. They keep you around. Yeah. You're still there.

Have you ever fallen asleep on the air? No, I've never fallen asleep on the air. All right, because my dear friend, Peter Gross. Oh, Peter Gross. Well, I love Peter Gross. Peter Gross is one of the most fast. What I love about Peter Gross is you can walk and say dear friend, Peter Gross. Oh, Peter Gross. I love Peter Gross. Peter Gross is one of the most fast. What I love about Peter Gross is you can walk and say, hello, Peter, and he'll just tell you the most horrible things from his life.

And I like to gamble a little bit, not like Peter Gross gambling, but I love listening to gambling and drinking stories, and Peter is like a goldmine for that. Oh, look, Peter is my link to the past at City TV, and he still BFFs with Jim McKinney. That's why I love City back in the day. They weren't broadcast necessarily like your cookie cutter.

You had your Jim McKinney's, who still after 20 years didn't know how to hold a microphone, but he was Jim McKinney. They had character. Maybe they weren't the most polished bunch. You know, you had your John Gallagher in the mix. Like, it's just some cool cats. John Gallagher would just vibrate.

He'd vibrate at 11 o'clock. Oh, my God. That man. Chest hair and vibrating. Well, just imagine, if you will, Peter Gross and John Gallagher together on a podcast. I've heard it. It exists.

It's just sleeping. It's sleeping right now. So it's lying dormant. We have've heard it. It exists. It's just sleeping. It's sleeping right now. So it's lying dormant. We have to awaken it at some point. Well, I got a treat for you, Richard. I pulled the, and this is thanks to my friend. So you mentioned Gord Barton. He's an FOTM.

You're now an FOTM. You're in a great club there. And so is Ed Conroy, who might be better known as Retro Ontario. And I saw, like, I get these Facebook memories and it's like, oh, Ed Conroy came by a few years ago, and we kicked out the Toronto theme song jams or something, and it was amazing. And we played, so all this is courtesy of, you know, Ed's collection. But this is how the City TV, City Pulse opened in 1977.

You ready for this? Now, you're a little young for this. You weren't watching in 1977 because I've got a few years on you. But let's listen anyway. It's 6 o'clock. Here we go. Here we go.

City Pulse News. 90 minutes of news, weather, sports, and information. Our City Pulse News team's called Metro, bringing you up to the second developments in consumer affairs, health, business, and entertainment. City Pulse News. The stories you need to know to understand Toronto. Epic. That's what let it fly. Hey, City Pulse Anchorman, I'm constantly challenged by the question, how is this show different? What makes it unique besides its length?

I say without hesitation that it's our people-oriented, street-based mandate. It's laid out by executive producer Moses Neimer and implemented by a dedicated, exciting news team high on Toronto, running hard to keep up with a galloping, fascinating city. Moses insists that City Pulse be more than just a chronicle of passing events. I agree with him. Our idea is that life is more than hard news and that each show is a daily installment in the real-life saga of what it means to be living in a wonderful town on the north shore of Lake Ontario, at the center of Canada, and determined to be great.

Epic. Wow. Epic. And you know what? It still is that, and 680, I think, still embodies that, too, to be honest with you, but that's pretty epic, Mike. So there's still, like, in the 680, there's still, like, that DNA, right? Yeah.

Like, what we listen to there, there's still that DNA living today in 680 news. 100%. Do you listen to 680, by the way? I feel like if I'm in a car, I'm listening. But you don't own a car. You drive your bike. You could have put it on your bike, Mike, do you? Like I'm pro 680 and I respect 680,

but I don't listen to a lot of 680, to be honest. But again, I'm not in a car very often. I don't know that you've had any currently employed 680 people on until me, quite frankly. Well, let me think for a moment, if I may. You might know better than I. Is that true? Because that's an oversight. I can't remember anyone.

I'll tell you what. Are you friendly with reporter Carl Hansky? Yes. Do you have Carl on? No, but I bike by his home every day, like every single day. He lives with Michelle Butterly. Another media power couple.

Right. So you're right. After Stephanie Smythe and Paul Cook, you got Paul Hansky and Michelle Butterly. So I've met him in that they walked down my street and waved at me. So that's happened. They're just really friendly.

I don't know if they knew who you were. Yes, but literally, I'm not going to dox them. That's the term. But I could throw a rock and hit Michelle's car. I mean, they're amazing. They have a lot to say. I know. At some point, they agreed to waltz over and be in the backyard.

I got the two seats there. They're in the same pod. Carl wakes up at like 2 in the morning, and he goes to the horrible overnight crime scenes. That's his job. Well, there was a couple weeks ago he didn't have to go very far. That's all I'm going to say. Should I watch my back here, Mike,

in this neighborhood? That's all I'm going to say. He didn't have very far to travel that particular day. So Carl Hanski, Michelle Butterly, I'm going to get them on as a couple. What do you think of that? She's good. I mean, she's midday CHFI, powerhouse. And I think she does it from home right now. I'm going to get them on as a couple. What do you think of that? She's good. I mean, she's midday CHFI, powerhouse. And I think she does it from home right now. I think she's doing it from home. I'm working from home. I never thought I'd be doing

live TV and radio from my living room and my balcony, but there we are. Okay, but do you still have to go to, I mean, I guess you're doing business. Would you go to the scene of something or there's nothing to go to right now because you're not doing the car accidents? I did go out and shoot stories and I have sporadically during the pandemic but generally speaking i'm

working from home and i people do zoom interviews now and it's like the greatest thing i used to have to chase people around to do an interview and i'm just like turn your computer on and so let me ask you this because i i'm going to use my the cliche i pivoted to zoom in march when suddenly we all shut down. You can't come in my basement anymore. And I did a lot of Zooms. And then at some point, I pivoted to backyard

because I was bored of Zooms. Would you rather be on Toronto Mic? Would you rather be at home right now Zooming? I'd rather be here. It's always better in person. But the interesting thing about the Zoom interviews, it used to be the, I think a lot of the audience

would make note of that before, but now it's become this accepted thing. And there's no going back even after the pandemic. Because I can score people much easier. It's much easier to say, turn on your computer, as opposed to, I'm going to go show up with a 680 mic or a city camera. That's very intimidating. I noticed this. I book guests on Humble and Fred.

Okay, they have a show. And I know they do live 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. And getting people to kind of zoom in, like I had Norm, F-O-T-M, Norm Wilner, zoom in at 8 o'clock today to talk about like TIFF

and talk about like movies coming online and stuff. And getting him to actually go to Queensway and Islington for like 8 o'clock in the morning, like forget about it.

But getting him to turn on his computer and zoom in, he's like, okay, I'll wake up a little early and do that for you. I think you'll be more relaxed, too. It's less intimidating. So that's probably a positive thing, I think, to come out of it. Yeah, you might be right.

Yeah, you're right. You're right. Now I'm going to stick with the City Pulse retro theme. We moving through the years here? Hold on. I'm going to play this. So that would be City Pulse Tonight would be that. I think that song is, well, you know, that's going to fly now. I love the City Pulse Tonight theme. So we're going to play this. So that would be City Pulse Tonight would be that. I think that song is, well, you know, that's

Gonna Fly Now. I love the City Pulse Tonight theme. So we're going to play that in a moment here. So that was performed, just so we get this straight. That was Maynard Ferguson who was playing that version of Gonna Fly Now for City TV, City Pulse. And, of course, City Pulse Tonight. This will ring a bell, and I almost want to

talk over it. And it's funny, at 1.30 p.m. today, I have a phone call with Lorne Honickman. No way. Are you going to get some legal advice, some free legal advice? We got something cooking, but when I hear this, I want to say, like, coming up, you'll want to do it, too. Before we start, they used to do the shortest, quickest headlines in this.

I mean, we try to do quick headlines at 680, but here would be headlines like, Richard in Mike's backyard. That was like the quickest little thing they used to do in there. Right, absolutely. You're going to hear it in your mind's eye here. You ready? Here we go.

Tonight. Tonight. Shooting on the Queensway. Bay Street plummets. Mike wears headphones. Richard Southern drinks beer. That's an evergreen headline So yeah, that's it

It's called I always say it wrong It's called Pentatus I'm not picturing Harold opening his umbrella Mark Daly's jumping out of the car Anna Muraskowski I can see her kind of doing something Lauren's got the stash outside the courthouse or something.

Peter Silverman. Watch it, buddy. Watch it, buddy. I met the guy whose uncle was the guy who was told to watch it, buddy. Really? And he's pushing him out the door? That's how meta it gets. It's like, my uncle was the guy.

Peter Silverman was saying watch it, buddy. Peter had the most dangerous job in the city for 20 years. I'll bet. He's a tough cookie. He's still around. Jojo Chinto. I'm thinking of Jojo. Classic. Epic crime reporter. Come on. And then sports might be, maybe it's Peter Gross. Maybe it's John Gallagher. Probably John Gallagher.

What was it? Jim McKinney at 6 and then Gallagher at 11. Right. And Gallagher used to do the 11 o'clock news and then get up and do a morning show like Q107. How do you do this? And I think the routine was, for John Gallagher, and I know this because I produce Gallagher and Gross Save the World, is after the 11 o'clock, he'd go to a local bar and then he'd bet himself good old-fashioned, adult, consensual good times with somebody. And I think he had a scorecard. adult consensual good times with somebody, and I think

he had a scorecard. I miss the media world. It's not really like that anymore. I hear all these epic stories of times gone by. It's not really like that anymore. There's no power imbalance there. I feel like if somebody

wants to sleep with you because you're Richard Southern from 680 News... This is an adult deciding they want to sleep with you because you're Richard Southern from 680 News. Which happens constantly. You know, this is an adult deciding they want to sleep with you because you're Richard Southern from 680 News. I feel like that's fair game. That's okay, right? You have such a face for radio, I just have to get in the sack with you.

Well, they might hear that voice and it's like, that is a star. That is a star. I still can't get over the fact you're not listening to 680. It really hurts. Well, it's not that over the fact you're not listening to 680. It really hurts. It's not that I never said I wasn't listening to 680. It's that I'm not listening to much radio right now. I don't know.

I mean, I produce podcasts. I listen to a lot of podcasts. But I love talking to people like yourself. Like I want it. You're right. If I haven't had any active 680 news people on, that's an oversight. Like sometimes I have blind spots. Because I've talked a lot about TV, but 680 and radio is my jam, man.

That's what got me into this. You're going to spill all the tea here and tell me what it's like on the inside. But now, listen, I've been very honest about this. I grew up watching city TV news. And therefore, I've been inviting lots of people that I have these memories of watching.

So there's a lot of that going on. I listened to a lot of the Fan 590, and then I listened to a lot, and also a lot of 102.1, CFNY slash The Edge. So I have a lot of guests from there. I just talked to Dana Levinson this morning, and I never saw her once on the news, Dana Levinson. And she was on there for decades,

and it's because I never watch CTV news. I have blind spots. But I definitely have tuned in to 680 News. I've heard Paul Cook's voice. Have you seen me on City? Do you still watch City News? I'll tell you where I know you best from. You used to do...

I would have a commute home back in the day in a car and I would listen to Primetime Sports with Bob McEwan. And I would hear Richard Southern come in to Primetime for business updates. I'd fill in for Mike Apple, who does morning biz, and he would do that segment with Bob every day, and I'd fill in. So how did, did you do that in person or was that on the phone?

It was in person and on the phone, depending on what shift I was working. But I remember the first time I did it, I was so nervous, because this is Bob McCowan, man. Well, tell me, because this is, believe it or not, this is my greatest Richard Southern exposure was you on primetime. And of course, infamously, Bob McCowan gave me a no. He was a guy who got the invite and said no.

So I'm curious how that, how was all that? That's so ballin'. I know the first time, I should say that. Sorry, Mike, that's not happening today. It's not ballin'. Yeah, come on. Bob would have a great time and he'd have a lot to say.

You know, the first time I did it, I was kind of nervous because like, you know, I wasn't new to broadcasting necessarily, but this is Bob McCowan. It's Primetime Sports. So I go in the studio, which was his old studio there.

And, you know, he's got a pack of smokes right in front of him on the desk. This is like an old school guy, right? He's got his tea there. And anyways, he welcomes me with open arms. He's like, off the air,

Bob is like the nicest guy you've ever spoken to, right? And then on the air, he's probably my favorite person to ever be on the air with because I throw a lot of crazy stuff out. And all I'm hoping for is that there'll be a quick retort, that it won't be awkward. And no matter what I said, Bob would come back with something brilliant. You know what I mean? And it was just the easiest person to be on the air with. I know he disclosed this.

He once did like a Sportsnet magazine interview with Christina Rutherford, who's a good journalist, who's also been on this program. And he disclosed like that he, you know, part of the struggle is he wears these masks. So yeah, there is Bob McCowan and then there's microphones on or I'm tweeting or this is for the public, for YouTube.

And he puts on a mask and he becomes this character. I feel that is old school, but I also feel that would be kind of a pain in the ass. Like I feel like it would be easier if Bob were Bob. You know what I mean? Like right now, are you Richard Southerner and microphone man? That's what I've always tried to be because I think like nowadays, like people my age, like millennials, the bullshit meter is like super high in a tune, right? Like nobody, that days of being fake are over.

You can smell that phony baloney and you're not having it. It's not cool, right? And that's why like a lot of FM morning shows and stuff, it's like, you know, we're not going for that, you know? So I've always tried to be me. It's obviously maybe you've found this. It's a lot harder than people think to be yourself on the air. But that's always been my goal because that's what people want these days mike well i just can't imagine having a different persona every time i record it like it would be exhausting and it would be and i i am

allergic as well to phony baloney it's part of my issue with bob mccowan i wish bob mccowan should come out of the closet as bob mccowan like he should have this okay bobcat was this character i played for x decades i'm retiring it because it's of its time and it was successful for the time but now henceforth i will be bob mccowan and if and i'm saying if because i've never met the man but if bob mccowan is actually a nice guy because the bobcat persona is not i don't i find him crusty and grumpy and curmudgeonly and i don't give a flying fidu. Right.

He's not a pleasant guy. And I experienced a bit of that on Twitter, that, oh, this is not a nice guy I want to hang around with. So just have a coming out ceremony that now Bob McCowan is going to leave the mask in the closet and he's going to be Bob McCowan. Maybe that's what made him a great broadcaster, though. I mean, you can't argue with success, right? Okay, I'm not arguing with success, but he's now podcast him a great broadcaster though. I mean, you can't argue with success, right? Okay, I'm not arguing

with success, but he's now podcasting like me. Are you threatened by this? No, of course not. There's a million podcasts and if you're good, you'll find an audience. And if you're not good, you won't have an audience. You have more sponsors than

680. We've got to get you as a sales rep or something. I think your rate card is higher. I think that's the secret. Okay, well, you mentioned the sponsors. And I know you have to work later. What time do you work today? I'll start at 2.30 on the air on 680. I'll be on 5.25 and 6.40 on City TV.

Okay, so I want to let everyone know if Richard Southern is slurring his words later today because he downed. These are fresh from my fridge. This is the four kinds I have in stock today. They're icy cold. They're cold. So the Canuck, this is courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery.

I'm going to be there tomorrow afternoon. So this is interesting. I know you're interested in news because you're a natural born reporter. But the Great Lakes Brewery decided not to open their patio even when they were legally allowed to open a patio. They're still not open. So that patio is closed to the public.

But I'm going to set up my studio on their patio tomorrow, and I'm going to broadcast live from Great Lakes Brewery. So nobody can come to that patio. Ideally, it'd be like, oh, come grab a $5 pint and sit down with us. But it's not open for the public. But if anybody wants to pick up, you can buy a six-pack. I guess i guess it's eight packs now you can buy eight packs and you can buy your two four boxes and you can buy your beer right beside the patio like if you go to great lakes at uh what is it it's on is it uh it's queen elizabeth boulevard it's down the street from the costco you'll find

great lakes brewery but you could come pick up your beer tomorrow like between 2 and 3.30 you could throw things at me you can yell at me you can talk to me from 6 feet away you can do all those things while you're picking up your Great Lakes but thank you Great Lakes for sending over some beer for Richard so you've got the new one is the pumpkin ale so yeah

you could have one now you don't have to I've got to work I'm actually doing a story today. This is true. Kraft just announced they are selling pumpkin Kraft dinner mac and cheese. Pumpkin spice. Oh, Kraft with a K, because that's Kraft with a C.

Kraft beer. I'm just saying, because you have a Great Lakes pumpkin ale here. And I'm just saying, this is the in trend now. You know what I mean? Pumpkin everything. So I'm going to enjoy my Great Lakes pumpkin ale. Enjoy that. And of course, there's also a pale ale for you,

a blonde lager, which remains my wife's favorite, and the burst. And I had the burst. So how much can I disclose? You're a reporter. I got to be careful here. But we safely got together. So we had a TMLX, which is Toronto Mike Listening Experience.

I was looking for you. You didn't show up to this. Sorry about that. I'm isolating right now. Right. So Friday night at 6 p.m. this past Friday, we collected in Marie Curtis Park at a special location. And I know that the law came into effect that day

that you can't be over 25 people. And we were 22 people. It was like a perfect number of people. And we kind of formed a circle six feet apart. And we just checked in with each other. And it was honestly, it was amazing amazing like we didn't record anything uh it was just there was no band or no performance even though because alphagodd is guitar and we uh we all just checked in on how it's been going like the last six months like i i really think a lot of us have plowed through

because what choice do you have but i don't know about you richard maybe maybe you'll share with us now but it's been a i'm gonna use the term the technical term it's been a clusterfuck and you know you kind of plow through and then you hit the six month mark and you're like oh we're not like we might be a third the way done this thing and it's just like how do i keep going and the kids are back in school and it's so you know it's just so many things going on there and i don't know like like how are you feeling well six months into this thing it's for me i've been very fortunate i don't have kids so that hasn't been an issue that is fortunate by the way and um you know working from home it was technically challenging at first i mean you know how things are i'm trying to do live radio and tv

so it took a while to get the bugs worked out because it was kind of just me figuring this out a lot because everyone's doing it, right? So the engineers were running ragged. But once, a couple months in, once I got that straightened out, I actually really like it right now. And I'm not so sure. It suits you. Sure. I like it.

And there's been a lot of positives, actually, that's come out of this for me. I think, like, a lot of people have spent less money, you know, because I'm not going out as much. Right. I've tried things that I wouldn't normally have tried. I grew a whole garden on my balcony. Wow. You know what I mean?

And it's just like, I hate to say it, because people not only have they literally lost their lives, but they've lost their livelihoods. Right. So I hasten to say it, but for me, it's actually, it's been okay, thankfully, so far. Well, that's good to hear, because a lot of people, it's like, a lot of people, like you mentioned, a lot of people, I heard from a woman, Dana was actually talking to her, and I was listening to the convo, and she was talking about, she's an events person. Like, she literally puts on events where Michelle Obama comes and speaks, and they sell money, and it's a big deal. Sell money. They sell money. Can you sell, yeah. They sell tickets, etc.

And, like, she was obliterated like her livelihood disappeared overnight kind of deal and there's a lot of people and then you know i have a lot of live musicians on who like make money by touring and it's been tough tough it's been really bad for a lot of people but it's been good for richard suther well yeah this is the thing when when bad things happen in the world it's usually good for the news guys right i mean this is kind of what what we're after you know. Right. Not that we want this by any means. But, you know, from a broadcasting perspective, one of the interesting things that's come out of this is it's forced us to figure out how to do these things differently. And I think after the pandemic, it's going to be a positive.

Like right now, I go live on City News using an iPad on a stand. I have two lights and a microphone plugged into the iPad, and I'm on my balcony. And I don't think the average viewer probably wouldn't know any difference. And it's like, that's so easy. It used to have like a whole live truck, right? To be able to do these things. And now I can do it with my little iPad anywhere. And so even after this is over, that's

going to change the game, I think, for broadcasting. It kind of forces you to be innovative. Even I felt that. Even the setup now with the cameras and all this. And it's a perfect day for this, right? This can be a bit hairy. I did buy an outdoor heater. They're hard to come by to now. I know. My wife

found it on Amazon and I don't need it today because it's a beautiful day but it's going to get some work in soon. But you're right. It forces you to be nimble and creative and innovative. Absolutely. And a lot of that will stick around post-pandemic.

So are you telling me now, as a reporter, there will be a post-pandemic? Like we're going to eventually be past this? Or is this the new normal forever and ever and ever? Well, it's not going to be anytime soon. I mean, we just saw the numbers come out today at 470-whatever. And the worst since, I don't know, June? May 2nd. May 2nd.

Wow, we suck. And I always see the tweets, and I think since like, I don't know, June, May 2nd, May 2nd. Wow. We suck. What? So, and I, and I always see the tweets and then I, I always, I think they always break it down. They say something like two thirds of these positive cases are people under the age of 40.

So, and then I always think, Oh, that just lets people like blame partiers like 20 something. But meanwhile, when you think about, we opened all these bars and we opened like all these strip clubs bars restaurants and who who's working at these places is typically the under 40 set i feel like we put them right in the right right in danger and i think wouldn't you like

to know like as a reporter don't you think we could could get more detail on like where are the outbreaks like are we talking about people barb Barbara Yaffe was straight-up asked on Saturday, and she said, well, we don't have that information or something to that effect. We've certainly inquired for specifics on that, and that hasn't been brought forward right now because, as you know, the premier has basically indicated that it is parties.

I mean, he's banned only parties. Everything else is still a go, right? Right. He's put his sights on TMLX7. He's like, that's going to be 25 or under or damn it. And meanwhile, we're outside and we're six feet apart and we're very responsible. And I always want to hear when I see a tweet from a reporter who will say something like, oh yeah, there was some spread at a big family barbecue. I always have one question, like, was this an indoor outdoor barbecue or just an outdoor barbecue? Do we have any evidence?

I know you might not have the answer off the top, but to me, there's a significant difference. I am doing lots of things outdoors and I'm doing almost nothing indoors. We're not recording indoors. I'm not going inside to eat at a restaurant. I'm pretty much when I have to go to a grocery store, I put on a mask

and I'm as quick as I can be. I'm doing everything outdoors. Well, I don't know about Ontario, but I've done some really interesting stories recently. They looked at credit card spending in the United States and they plotted that spending against the case numbers. And there was a direct correlation between restaurant and bar spending and positive COVID cases in that area. Right. Okay. Right. And then you probably reach a conclusion that possibly it's because

they're contracting in this place. But also the type of person who says, I will go into a bar right now is also... I want to meet the guy who's going into the strip club, quite frankly. You should get them on the show, Mike. Well, I thought I did. That's why I invited you on.

Do I smell like I've been in a strip club recently? Yeah, my sources say you were found stumbling out of the brass rail. Just an average Tuesday morning for me. That's radio, man. Allegedly, it was you. I couldn't quite ID the photo. But, oh, yeah, what was I going to say? What was I saying?

Do you remember? We were talking about, you know, restaurants and bars. Oh, yeah, the same person. And I'm not, you, and it's legal. That's the one thing. You can legally go into a bar right now. You should point that out. This is allowed.

The same person who would go to a bar right now, because I said I'm not going to a bar right now. Are you going to a bar? In the last six months, I've been once. This was three weeks ago. Inside or on a patio? We went inside, but there was no one in there. We were very conscious of what the situation was.

And we were in a table next to nobody. So, okay, okay. Gotcha, gotcha. So I have decided that I'm not going into a bar right now. And so the same person who has decided they're not going into a bar is the type of person who's also adhering to other social distancing rules. Like they're going to be careful. I think the person who will go

to a bar is also pretty reckless probably when they get together with their buds or they go to watch the the raptors game or the leaf game or whatever so i think there's that that the same type of person who's going to a bar is anyway you know what i'm trying to say here it's a premier would say they're smoking doobies and sharing you know what do you think of that like i always i joke with my wife that it's like when you're when you're um messaging to a 25 year old okay uh to be like stop partying or you'll be in big trouble like it's almost like just don't share the doobies i think that's what the premium said just gotta roll your own right now that's the key right that's the key yeah we're not saying don't do it i would like to know if

there's any evidence of uh covet19 transmission through Doobie. It's hard to know these things. You've got to look back two weeks when you get infected. I can't remember what I did yesterday. Do you have the app installed on your phone? You know I should and I don't. I couldn't think of a good reason not to install it. I'm going to get it.

It updates you once a week. You get that worrisome notification to say, just so you know, this is still going. And we have, I don't know, you've been in contact with, let's, it'll say something like 500 people. You're going to get all sorts of alerts after having me in here. Well, once a month you get, sorry, once a week you get this. And it says, you had contact, we checked you out against 500 people.

None of them have reported a positive test. So I have yet to have like an encounter with somebody with a positive test, but I think that would be a good information to have. So I do urge people to, so you're going to maybe before you leave today, I'm going to watch you. Sure. That's fair enough.

I'll do that. I should do it. You should do it. There's not a good, cause it's Bluetooth. There's no privacy concerns or anything. Awesome. Okay.

So why don't we, oh yeah, I want to read a message I got from Amber LeBlanc. That's my boss. Is that your boss? Yeah. I just saw Amber LeBlanc said, how did he get so awesome? And I had no idea this was your boss.

Not only is she the news director of 680 News, but she's also a registered sommelier. So what we did on my – my city segment at 640 every day is really interesting because they let me do whatever I want, Mike. And I just pick – the idea was I want to talk about interesting stories that I find interesting. And I have three minutes. So what we did on Friday, funny you'd mention Amber. She's a sommelier. I got a bottle of Taco Bell wine. Taco Bell is selling their own wine.

And so we cracked a bottle on City, and Amber tried it, and it damn near killed her. She choked, and she almost keeled over. Amber is the color of her energy. Remember this 311 jam? No. Does it ring a bell at all? If it's before 1995, I don't know it. I think it's close.

It's probably late 90s, probably. But yeah, Amber from 311. Shout out to Amber. But that's so, okay. She replaced Scott Metcalf, who you're going to have on. Yeah, yeah. So Scott wanted to wait. I guess he's in his final year.

He's more responsible than I am. I'm going to get fired after this. Scott wanted to wait until he retires. Well, it depends what you say. But Scott, yeah, So Scott wanted to wait. I guess he's in his final year. He's more responsible than I am. I'm going to get fired after this. Scott wanted to wait until he retires. Well, it depends what you say. But Scott, yeah, Scott came out and said, because I had someone on who's, oh, Bob Weeks. This is where it comes from. Okay, so Bob Weeks is a good FOTM now. He's been over to the backyard, and

Bob Weeks connected me to Scott Metcalf, who announced his retirement after how many years? Many, many. Oh, like 40 years or something like that. And then I said, Scott, excuse me. I said, Scott, you got to have your exit interview with Toronto Mike. Like, this is the tradition. And he's like, yes, as soon as it's done. And I think he said March or something, 2021.

Retiring is great. I mean, Scott's been there forever. He's a fantastic boss. Scott hired me. Wow. And I can't say. So you were doing the internship and then Scott. There's a squirrel coming.

Uh-oh. You were doing the internship and then Scott, there's a squirrel coming. You were doing the internship and, uh, Scott liked what he saw and offered you a job. Yeah, man. And Scott was really nice because, you know, I was green and I was doing the overnight news, Mike, and with Colin DeMello, by the way, and, uh, Katie Simpson back in the day, doing the overnight news on six 80. So I make a lot of mistakes, but Scott would be very nice about it and he'd let it slide. And I learn a lot. He's a great guy. Okay, I'm going to pull this quote from you when he comes on in March, and I'm going to play it, your positive feedback.

And Amber's a good boss? She's a fantastic boss. And she's young, and she's hip, and she's trying to move 680 in the right direction to appeal to degenerate millennials like me. We're big on Instagram now and everything. Check out our Instagram page, 680 Instagram. 680 Instagram, we're going to check it out. So is it fair to say that now your primary competition is the smartphone?

Well, it's where I get a lot of my news, man. I mean, I don't know if that's true or not, but I mean, because we still do very well in the ratings. We're one of the most highest rated radio stations in North America, quite frankly, if you look on some metrics. So I don't know if that's true 100%. Yeah, people don't tune in for like two and a half hours, but there's more. I would think

you'd have a lot of different people would spend some time on 680. But the thing is, you're still captivating your car, right? I mean, we don't have the self-driving cars yet, thank goodness, because I'm trying to feed myself, you know, trying to eat here. But um you're captive in your car and what we are kind of are you we were talking earlier about how we love twitter 680 i guess is kind of like a rolling audio twitter in your car that's the way i think of it you know yeah and uh i listened to 680 before it was all

news so this is all hits c See, FTR. Right. So I still remember the announcement that they were switching. And they kept the news people, so you had people like Dick Smythe and Evelyn Macko. She was a teacher of mine when I was in broadcasting school. Okay, that's at Humber. It was at Seneca.

She may be at Humber now. I think she's at Humber now because I did some speaking there. And Wacko Macko, she might be on the air up north. I think she's on the air on weekends up north or something like that. The last I saw her on social. She's a great voice, right? She's fantastic.

Shout out to Wacko Macko. You mentioned you got to feed yourself. So I'm just going to help in that regard. So you mentioned to me before I press record that you are a big fan of frozen lasagnas. Is that a thing or did I dream that? Yeah, I'm a big fan of frozen lasagnas? Is that a thing? Or did I dream that? Yeah, I'm a big fan of frozen. I'm actually an aficionado. Here's the deal now. Here's what people forget. They'll get their

pasta lasagna and they'll be so excited they'll throw it in the oven and they'll take it out and they'll try and eat it. That's a rookie mistake. I do that. I do that. Italian cooks will tell you, even if you're making your fresh baked lasagna, you got to eat it at room temperature.

That's the key with lasagna, Mike. Oh, I'm doing it wrong. Because it'll fall apart otherwise. You have to wait for the- But that's kind of goopy and I guess cheesy and goopy. You need to let it congeal a little bit. It'll change your life, man. Okay, but do you heat it up again or you-

No. You just let it come back to room temperature. I'm learning right now. This is- It'll hold together you'll cut it easier and you'll enjoy your palma pasta like you've never enjoyed it before okay take it from a guy who's put away a few frozen lasagnas all right all right so obviously that one that's don't take that one home that's an empty box i have in the freezer though this is not a uh this is not for television i do on authenticity around here i have a frozen lasagna for you you're you're not vegan are you no i say that because then i would have to get you one because i could get you one they have a veggie okay but i have a meat lasagna in my freezer for you right now and you're gonna take it home but you have to when you make

this up you have to communicate back to me how it went because i mentioned peter gross earlier who tells me that when he when he left when he was told to leave 680 news uh he said that he deserved it he told me he was very honest he said at least twice they would go to him early in the morning for a sports update and he'd be snoring like he'd fallen asleep so i was still asleep at this point at home mike i'm not a morning guy but did you hear about it? That's back when you could have water cooler conversations because we were in offices and things. Did you hear Peter fell asleep?

I've always known Peter. When I used to fill in for Mike Apple and I used to do mornings, Peter was always on top of his stuff, quite frankly. He's sharp as a tack, but he would get comfortable in that seat early in the morning because it was really early.

He would start and he would fall asleep. I feel when I do mornings and I'm getting up at two in the morning, I just feel as sick and angry all day. It's like some people can do it. Is that the time you have to get up? That sounds... Well, when I fill in, I usually get up around three a.m. And what time would you go to bed to wake up at three?

Well, that's the thing, right? I mean, once the first day is a nightmare, then the second day I'd go to bed at like four or five o'clock because I don't nap the second day I go to bed at like 4 or 5 o'clock because I don't nap. So I just go to bed early like that. But anyway, some people like Paul, you mentioned Paul Cook who does mornings on 680. He's been doing this for like 20, 30 years.

And he sleeps in two stages. That's what a lot of these morning guys do. They'll take a nap during the day and then they'll stay up till 11. There's no good way of doing this, man. It can't be good for your health. Like Paul Cook's doctor must be saying, you know, when are you going to give this up?

This is insane. I can't imagine it's good for you. If someone dozes off, I mean, that's probably to be expected, I guess. And that's partly why these good morning show people make the big bucks, right? Absolutely. All the money in radio is in that morning spot.

They're just paying you to get up. It's like danger pay, I think. Exactly. Right. So, okay. So shout out. It's like danger pay, I think. Exactly. Right. So, okay. So shout out. We said Peter. Why did I bring up Peter Gross?

Oh, yeah. Peter Gross tells me his favorite lasagna in the world is Palma Pasta. So I want you to report back to me on how that goes. I think he's just trying to get a few free ones out of you. Yeah, and it upsets his buddy Garnet. Garnet thinks his lasagna is the best and Peter prefers the Palma Pasta. I'll be the judge of this. so you'll be the judge of this stickeru.com you'll also see a Toronto Mike sticker

yeah that's stickeru.com they're good people that sticker goes home with you Richard is it fair to say do you only listen I need to know do you only listen to Toronto Mike when I have a media personality like a Colin DeMello or something like I say

this is the only place now you can actually learn about these media personalities. That's true, man. We both grew up fans of broadcasting, and now you're a legit broadcaster yourself. So we both grew up fans of broadcasting. You became a broadcaster, and I just became a guy who talks to broadcasters. Well, that's excellent, man, because we all have these important roles to fill, man. I grew up listening to radio. My late father, who has been gone seven years now, he was blind from the age of 12.

So radio was his window to the world. Leader of the mind. Yeah. And so he introduced me to not only terrestrial radio. He used to have CFNY on growing up, you know, Spirit of Radio and everything, but he was also a big amateur radio guy. You know, you try and listen to people from all over the world. You put it on at night. You see if you can pick up someone from Australia

or England or whatever like that. So he loved radio and that really got me in and excited about radio and news and everything. Yeah, that would completely make sense. If you didn't have your site, you would totally... Your dad would have loved podcasts. He actually would have loved this podcast

because he was always saying to me, hey, what's the latest? He loved the radio gossip. He was hearing some David Marsden talking about the Spirit of Radio, like you said. And then Scott Turner's become a really good FOTM, and he's coming back soon. But those guys, if you can get And then, you know, Scott Turner's become a really good FOTM, and he's coming back soon. But those guys, you know, if you can get them to come and...

Brother Bill, we did a Zoom from... He was in White Rock, BC, so we had to Zoom it. But just if you're a fan of that era of radio, you're right. There's nothing like it, having like an Alan Cross, and you can ask him anything, right? You can get the real talk. I have a nice thing to share with you from twitter i just popped on twitter okay blair kerrigan says uh richard's segments at five and six are the remaining well this is his words okay i know you i don't get in trouble with amber

or anything but are the remaining remnants of city news personalities and he gives you a thumbs up like so that speaks to what you said which is you're you're bringing some of that dna thanks man i and i try to that's what I bring on 680 too all day, right? I mean, I just try to be me. I'm trying to have fun because you got to tell a good story these days, right? I don't think anyone wants to put on the radio and hear like a press release

or anything like this anymore. No. No. And you have a you do what I do. I always put myself I represent the listener and I myself, I represent the listener and I always think, I'm a listener who's craving real talk and certain things.

Like, what would I want to hear? And sometimes I'll do these episodes like, what are, you know, Colin DeMello coming back to kick out the jams because to me, if you had told me like this personality that I know for right now reporting from Queens Park, right?

Like if he's going to come, you're going to hear him. He's not Queens Park guy. He's just going to be a guy Queens Park. He's going to come. You're going to hear him. He's not a Queens Park guy. He's just going to be a guy, a father, who you're going to shoot the breeze with, and he's going to tell you the 10 songs he loves the most and why. To me, that's amazing. 100%.

That's interesting. Would you come back and kick out the jams? I'd love to kick out the jams with you, but I have a strange taste in music, so that could be a weird episode. Even better. I heard Colin dropped some Spice Girls, so I think I'm okay. I think I'm okay.

Colin's a great guy, man. Colin is a great guy. And he's been on twice now. I show up at Queens Park a couple of years ago when I was doing that full time. And Colin, he's the competition, right? But he was just so helpful and so nice. And that's who Colin is. Right. Colin's the Bell Media and you are

the Rogers if we're keeping track at home here here so i will kick out one jam with you later this episode just one uh you asked what's my favorites i won't give it away but you asked my favorite song that's an impossible question for anyone to answer mike that's why i throw in the hard balls i ask the the tough questions tough questions around here okay so you said scott mccarthy so what were you doing at first at 680 News? My first job was a traffic reporter, overnight traffic reporter, which, you know, is kind of our jam, right? We do it every 10 minutes and all this

deal. No pun intended. No, but it was an interesting first job to have because there's no script. You just look at the situation on the road. There's like a shorthand that they write, northbound, southbound, and you just kind of wing it. So for a young broadcaster, that's kind of an interesting first job to have. It's like you're thrown into the fire almost. And then after that, I got into anchoring and I used to do

the overnight anchoring. And I got to tell you one story. I was August 8th, 2008. I'm doing the overnight anchoring. And I think our lead story was that it's going to rain, like there's nothing going on. And the 680 Studios, located at Bloor and Jarvis, just after 3, it shook. And we said, what is that? We were trying to find out, was there an earthquake? I'm going online to the Canada government, whatever,

trying to find out if there was an earthquake. Then the phones start ringing, and people are saying, did you see this out in Keel and Wilson? And there's a big fire out here. And it took us a few calls, and then we said, wait, was this thing at Keel and Wilson what we felt across the city? And this is the Sunrise propane that blew up in the middle of the night. Of course. And we were the only ones, you know, live on the air.

So you're first on the scene? There's a bee over here now. I'm getting attacked by a bee. Are you allergic? No, but I'm just very, I'm a pansy. It's a lazy, I call it the lazy wasp time. Like that wasp, I don't think it has the, like the energy to actually sting you or anything.

They're so lazy and slow. Have you noticed they get these weak ass wasps that come out in September? I'm just a pansy over here. I'll come over and swat it for you. I go out and for 24 hours straight, I'm reporting live from a propane explosion. So that's what can happen in the middle of the night.

And that was a huge story. You were one of the first reporters on the scene. That's right. Yeah, that was a huge story. August 2008, the propane explosion. Oh my goodness. And now the huge stories happen on my street. Someone call Carl Hansky.

Tell Carl if he needs another correspondent. I'm always here to help out. Just let him know. Okay, so you're, then what was next for you at 680? Well, then I did reporting, general assignment reporting for a little bit. And then I started filling in on business. They said, do you want to fill in on business? I'm like, I don't know anything about business, but sure.

Okay, you never say no in this business, right, Mike? Is that the secret? Like if you're sharing that, if you're speaking to students right now, just always say yes? Well, that's more true now than ever, man, because there's like fewer jobs. So if they say you want to do something,

yeah, I'll do that. And just to rewind, and then we'll come back to where we are now, but I always wonder this, but before you got the gig, it was unpaid internship yeah so like how like like how many hours would you work uh and not get paid for it i'm just curious it was two or three times a week and i work a full shift so they were like eight hours each um so it was a fair but i loved it man i mean it was like i had

a good internship where i'd actually go in and I'd work with the overnight crew. Like Katie Simpson was doing the overnight set, who's now the Washington correspondent for The National. Yeah, good for her, you know, because she got her training running after Rob Ford at City Hall. A lot of people made a lot of themselves after running after Rob Ford. Daniel Dale's on CNN. Yeah, Jackson Prosko. Yeah, he's with Global, right? Yeah, it's unbelievable the training, yeah, he's with Global, right? He's, yeah,

that's, yeah, it's unbelievable the training you get by running after Rob Ford. But okay, so now, I know you loved it

because you want to do it, but like, how did you feed yourself at that time? Did you have like, assistance? I was still, I think,

living at home at that time. With mom, I was in mom's basement, Mike. Okay, so I guess what I'm wondering, and this is not, you know, I'm not throwing stones. I, I understand in mom's basement, Mike. Okay, so I guess what I'm wondering, and this is not,

you know, I'm not throwing stones. I understand why there's the, I sort of understand why there's unpaid internship, but it sounds like if you had to make money to live because you couldn't live in your parents' basement.

I was still in school though, but I could have worked if I wanted to. Okay, because it's almost like right off the top, if you want to be in this business, you're going to have to be able to, be able to afford to work for free for a while.

It does seem stacked against people who don't have that privilege. Fair. And I think it depends. If you're just running and getting coffee for people, then yeah. But it also, Scott Metcalf would never have hired me, I don't think, if they didn't know that I was there and I was competent. So it kind of worked out for me okay. I don't know anything about your industry. Like I learned everything by talking to you guys,

but there is that balance. It's like, okay, well you need to see if they're good enough to hire, but it's almost like maybe, maybe pay a minimum wage for that. Like, you know,

you're putting in the eight hours, maybe a minimum wage for that. I really would be, but you know, I mean, just the way things are now, they might just not do interns at all. That's the problem, right? That is the problem. And where would, you know, you said over I mean, the way things are now, they might just not do interns at all, though. That's the problem, right?

That is the problem. And where would, you know, you said overnights. I guess 680s still the only one doing that. So if it's 3 in the morning, I would say if you're a truck driver, but I guess other people are up at 3 in the morning, too. Everyone getting up for their morning show.

But if it's 3 in the morning and you want to listen to live local Toronto radio, what are your options? There's only one place. I mean, they used to do cut-ins on some of the other radio. They used to play a Canadian press feed, which maybe someone still does. I'm not sure. But we're live 24 hours.

I used to equate 680 to, like, your convenience store on the corner. It's, like, 3 a.m. Christmas morning, and if you need milk, like, they're there. And when you think about it, and I'm not shamelessly self-promoting, but when you think about it, this is like the coolest thing that it's always on. It still boggles my mind. It's almost like we're bearing the lead.

I think that's fantastic that you're still live and local 24-7. That's amazing. And then I say that and now I can see the news where in two months from now there will be a four-hour period where there's re-rolls or something.

I feel like this. I hope this continues because it is... Because traffic's our thing, you can't record traffic, so that's kind of what leads to a lot of that, but it's the coolest thing, and it's really unique in that way. And there's nowhere else

you can look for it. Props to you, I think. I really do. I really like live and local. I miss the days. Like, we talk a lot on this show about the show on 590 that was airing overnight

for a while called The Game. Jeff Samet used to do the overnight. He would do overnight, for sure. And you had, of course, Norm Womack, and there was a lot of... The Night Vampire. Right, absolutely.

And then you had, you know, well, you had Roger Lajoie was involved in that. I had the producer on last week, Michelle Strino. She was there for a lot of... Right, absolutely. And then you had, you know, well, you had Roger Lajoie was involved in that. I had the producer on last week, Michelle Strino. She was there for a little bit. But I'm thinking more of like, we always talk about Strombo, right? Strombo's got the Apple Music show now. He's kind of like an example of a guy who, you know,

not, he's a different, like he's not cut from that same cloth. Yet look what he's done. Like he was a much music VJ. He was on 102.1. He had a CBC show, you know, then he had his own radio show.

Now he's on Apple music. Like Strombo cuts his teeth overnights on 590 with Jeff Merrick and Bob McElwitz Jr. on the game. Like, but that couldn't exist today because you're the only dance station

that has an overnight. It's a good trading ground for young broadcasters, you know? And we used to always work for 3 a.m. because Paul Cook would wake up and listen at 3 a.m. We knew that, and we're trying to impress Paul. So everything we do would be for the 3 a.m. You dog it at 2 o'clock.

Absolutely. We're just getting ready for that 3, you know? I got to get this Paul Cook on the program. Again, that's got to be priority one as soon as you leave here today. Okay, so you did the unpaid internship. Again, until they get rid of it. Personally, I would have done it. I'd still work for free

if I lost my job. I shouldn't say that. When it's the only thing you love, I don't have any other marketable skills probably. This is it. You can work in communications for a private enterprise. The dark side, as they call it. You can come work here at TMDS.

I'm sure we could find some kind of a... We need a reporter on staff. I could be your staff reporter. I could go out and cover Great Lakes Brewery and reporting live at Palma Pasta, Richard Southern, Toronto Mike. Honestly, let me know if you ever get it. I hope you never have to let me know.

Fingers crossed. May you have much, much success. Thank you, Mike. Okay, so where are we at now? So after we talked about the 2008 propane. Okay, business. Okay, so I think we started down this path but we didn't really get into the details uh just maybe a little more on it so walk me through a prime

time sports appearance for richard southern like a typical one like sure well i mean it's really crazy that they had business on prime time sports like i'm not 100 sure the genesis of that i think bob really liked it you know bob wanted to know how the market was. He had that much power. I just assumed, now, who owns Report on Business Television? That's Bell now. But it was at the time. When you were doing it, was it still Bell or was it Rogers? Rogers never owned that.

Maybe the R throws me off. It was like Globe and Mail partnership with Bell. All right, then scratch that whole line. I'll edit that in post. But let's say as a way to cross promote 680 News, like that alone maybe? It was sponsored, so they were making money off it. So that was like, I guess, the most important thing, right? Right.

And it was this with Mike. Again, Mike Apple, he does the mornings, and he's a great guy. And he was the one that – this was his gig, right? So I just fill in when Mike wasn't there. But Mike, you know, Mike's like – he's got a great business mind, and he's the serious business reporter right right so and then I'm not really a serious business reporter so I'm like to hell with this I'm just going to talk to Bob about what I want to talk to Bob about and if I could find any sports

related stuff that's what I go with so I'd be like you know hey Bob you know there's a new beer out today it's called pumpkin spice ale and this is the new trend and so I'd roll in there and just start talking about crap like that and and he kind of liked it. Because I know there's infamously, if you will, that if Bob does it, like Bob's got a list, right? Like you were a friend of Bob. You were A-OK with Bob. I guess so.

He didn't ask me to not come back, but, you know, I didn't know Bob personally. I used to go out for a smoke with him now and again. Do you still smoke? Just on the weekend if I'm having a drink, but not regularly, no. Okay, because it's bad for you. I know. I'm just here to help you.

I'm here to help you out here. Okay, and then you would do your business reporter, which you are now, so then you would be on 680 News, of course, but you would also do hits on other Rogers radio stations across the country, right? We still do. I mean, all the business on, because the 680 is repeated. That's format in all across the country, right? Well, we still do. I mean, all the business on, because the 680 is repeated, that's format in all these other cities, right?

There's News 1130 in Vancouver, 660 in Calgary. And with the exception of one business reporter, Richard Detman in Vancouver, we do it for all of the stations. So there's a lot of work. So I was just thinking, we live in the center of the Canadian universe,

at least. So everything comes out of Toronto in Toronto, right? So in other markets, you might get some Toronto people coming in. So when we're doing it, we keep that in mind, right? We're going to put a lot of oil stuff in there for Calgary and some Lululemon stuff for Vancouver. You've got to think of these things, though, you know? Yeah, you've got to. But it makes for a busy day because not only am I live every few minutes on 680,

but when I'm not live, then I'm taping for all the other stations across Canada. So, Mr. 680 News, tell me how you end up on television. Like, this is awesome. Yeah, and again, like, I grew up this huge City fan, and I never, like, this was never my singular goal, right? I'm at 680, I'm having a great time. I'll put in the background over your little speech just a little of that Maynard Ferguson doing

That was Bob Cole I think. What was his name? Glenn Cole. Glenn Cole. Bob Cole is a baby. I miss him. Me too. Like I was saying earlier, they started City News Channel.

They're looking for someone to do business. And I just went on there and I started to wing it. And City was very stodgy back then, right? It was very straight up newscast. And I'd come out and I'd start screwing with like Francis D'Souza, right? I'd talk about, you got a lot of hair gel in, Francis. I can barely breathe. I'm getting the fumes are wafting over here.

And he actually liked it. They liked it. They're like, this is fun, right? So I tried to bring that personality, and it worked. And then in addition to the business, they said, hey, Richard, why don't you go and talk about whatever you want to talk about for three minutes at 640. So it's been great. Because it sounds like you're being yourself, man.

You seem like a likable chap with a good sense of humor. Why would you change that when a mic's in front of you? Yeah. You don't know me very well, but clearly, Mike. No, I mean, like I say, you're going to put something on,

you're not going to succeed right now. That's just the way it is. You know, Rocky was a damn good movie. As I listen to Gonna Fly now, and is it Bill Conti who's the guy who does that music? I think so. But really, if you told me Rocky's on now,

I'd have to go watch. I'd have to shut this down and watch. I just think it's a great movie. Have you ever seen Rocky? I think I've seen the first one. I haven't seen the subsequent ones. Yeah, the second one's really good. I mean, maybe the second one.

I think I've seen them all. So I haven't seen the second of the new reboot with Michael Jordan, the other Michael Jordan from The Wire. But I've seen most of them. I've seen the one where he takes on the Russian. I think that's Rocky IV. And they're working on a new one I was reading too.

Well, I'm not surprised. It's a great franchise. He's got to eat too. He's hungry. Sly. He needs to eat. But that gets me excited to watch newscasts, right? I can feel like I'm going to hear what's going on in the streets of Toronto when I hear that.

Yeah, absolutely. There's no good TV news themes anymore right now in Toronto. What does post-Gord Martin know? It's been a long time now since he's been on the show. I ended up doing, I should say, business with Gord for two years on the air, which was like growing up watching this guy, and then I'm talking to him like I'm talking to you every day. So that was really cool.

Gord's larger than life. Like, you know, when he first, first I was surprised, for some reason I was surprised of all the guests. Like, I was surprised Gord, because Gord phones me. I was going to a Blue Jay game. He phoned you? Well, I guess way back in the day i'd sent him a note saying you should come on toronto mike like after he left city city news right and then out of

nowhere i was going to a blue jay game and i had a call from an unknown number and i answered i go hello and he goes it was mike all right so yes he goes it's gourd marno and it's like it's clearly gourd because no one no one's doing a joke on me. Like, I can hear Gord's voice, and it's Gord Marno. And I'm like, hi, Gord. How's it going? And then he says he'd like to come over Tuesday morning. He just assumed I had, I guess, nothing going on. And he's like, hey.

You drop everything. You drop everything. Yeah, well, I'm like, I guess I'm moving some things around. And then he shows up, and you're kind of looking at him, and he's got those deep blue eyes. And he looks like he just looks so well preserved. Well, I ran into him in the subway just before the pandemic in February. Oh, he rides the subway.

He still rides the subway. He's the man of the people. I would never have guessed that. But there's still these great characters at City and great personalities. Shout him out. Let's do this. I'm on the air now with Janella Massa, who is fantastic, right? And she was the first hijab-wearing reporter in Canada.

Right. Which is fantastic. She's a great person, a great reporter. We have Adrian Gobriel, who's a real cool cat. He's doing his thing there. Okay. Cynthia Mulligan, legend, okay? That's your link, I guess, right?

Your actual link to those days we're talking about. So I worked at Queen's Park. Do we know how long she's been at City News? She was a videographer back in the day. Yeah, I totally remember. I don't know how many years. But this is a long time for Cynthia. When I work at City, it's great because I talk to the camera guys.

They're the ones who have been there now the longest, and they have the great stories to tell about everybody. Once in a while, a camera guy will see me on the street and we'll be driving by and we'll put down the windows and go, I love your show. I'm a camera guy. So I think the camera guy is at City. They know what's going on.

Well, they're listening right now, that's for sure, because they said, oh, I've got to catch the Richards. Oh, they're an episode. For sure, for sure, for sure. Who else is there? Is there anybody else at City News you can shout out? Who do we got? We've got so many quick questions.

Keeping the spirit alive. Christina Carwin, who does great long-form stuff now, too, for City. They're getting into this. They aired last night. They're doing some long-form stuff. Okay. You know, documentaries and so forth. Cool stuff.

Cool stuff. Now, do you also appear on Breakfast Television? I fill in for, again, Mike Apple, who does Breakfast, the business inserts. You're like his shadow, I see. He does the business inserts, so I fill in on that. And how's that vibe going there? That's like the Dina show. Yeah, it's good.

I mean, Dina's fantastic. Why wouldn't you make it the Dina show, I guess, right? But it's always fun doing that because they like to screw around like I like to screw around, right? You know? So it's always easier to do what I do on BT. I'll come in there with something crazy. Usually I'm with Melanie Yang, who's really good, who used to do the 5 o'clock show with me on City too,

so she's really good. Now, I'm asking you the tough questions now, but are they going to replace Roger Peterson or are they going to just keep it like this? I'm not privy to that information, but I think they have a nice thing going on just from a viewer point of view, but I really don't know. You aren't in those meetings.

No, I'm not in those meetings. Above your pay grade. I'm just naturally curious because Roger kind of came in for Kevin Franklin. 680 pays. I'm the 680 guy, right? I mean, I talk a lot about city, but I'm the 680 guy. All right. So tell me about when was the move to Queen's Park

and then when was the move to queens park and then uh when was the move back to focus yeah that was two years ago they signed me to queens park just after uh doug ford got elected right so that was uh you know it was a challenge because i never really done like full-on political reporting before so we got a bureau there you know an office in queens park so then i'm there and i'm trying to figure this out because it's a different world, right? Where people try to spin you every direction and no matter what you do, someone will call you. One of these flacks, they all have their PR

flacks, Mike. So no matter what you report on, someone's going to call you up and yell at you. So you really have to develop a thick skin pretty quickly in Queens Park. Is that a way of saying, like, if you report something negative about Doug, there's a staffer from the PC party that will let you know that we don't think this is fair? You're hoping not to get a call because then you know you nailed it, right?

But they'll nitpick in every little aspect of the story. And you mentioned earlier Colin DeMello, who recently kicked out the jams here, and he's covering Queen's Park for the competition there at CTV Toronto. there at CTV Toronto. Let me like, who else do you remember working with covering the Doug Ford Queen's Park beat there?

Well, it was me and Cynthia on the Rogers side. Robert Benzie for the Toronto Star is like, basically, he's the gold standard, you know? If Robert said something, if Benzie said something, then we're like, well, okay, it's good. We're good with this. You know, it's 100%. And he still is like that. He's a great guy, too. Rob Ferguson from the Toronto

Star, they have a big bureau there. Right. Yeah. Travis Dan Raj for Global News. Colin says some people call him Travis. It's not even funny. Even the premier will mix Travis and Colin. Oh, really? Absolutely. That's not cool. That's not cool here.

Okay, so now let's, I know you're not on the Queen's Park beat right now. I still break a lot of stories and I cover it regularly, but not on it full time. Because today I saw the news that Ontario's reporting 478 cases of COVID-19. And if you look at it, I know they said in toronto that was 153 new cases and these numbers are higher than they've been in quite some time and they seem to be creeping up here like um what at 680 i i always get i know i know you're not this is not your specialty but

is this uh i always think like it can't be a second wave because I don't think we finished the first wave. Like, this is simply, like, and I guess, is this simply people, like, losing their focus on keeping things outside and staying six feet apart from people? Consider this. They said there's never been a pandemic in recorded human history that didn't have a second wave. I mean, you can almost telegraph it. And if you look at the chart in Ontario, I think this is a second wave. And we actually heard that over the weekend from Barbara Yaffe, who said we are in a wave. But you look at August, the beginning of August, it went almost to nothing.

And then we're clearly on the upswing right now. And the government of Queen's Park is really, I don't envy their position, Mike, because they're between a rock and a hard place. They don't want to go back to stage two okay because the economy is already a hot mess right now right so to shut things down again it's going to be very difficult to do that um right we'll see now in the next couple of weeks what the numbers might push us to do but they're in a very tough place between wanting to obviously get these numbers down, but not wanting to destroy the economy further. You know?

No, totally, totally. It is a tough spot. The one thing I'd say to that is that the Sick Kids report that Doug likes to wave around and say we're going to adhere to this model did suggest that class sizes be 15 students. And he didn't fall that part. I'm just, because my daughter's in a bigger class right now. It's one of those things that,

you know, could come back to haunt them. But, you know, that's where politics kind of creeped into it because, you know, I think there might've been some concern about, you know,

the unions maybe wanting to keep those class sizes. I don't know. The premier never spoke to that, but that's just the speculation on my side. No. And that's, that is where you, that, but that's just the speculation on my side. No, and that is where you, that's uncool here to have politics

creep into a health and safety measure. I know, I know. So, yeah, I do agree that this is a shitty time for the world, and it's difficult. And we, you know, and nobody wants to roll back to stage two

and i don't have all the answers i just know that uh you it would have been prudent i think to adhere to the sick kids report fully like yeah and that's what the education minister said uh he would do in in june you know right and then i interviewed one-on-one live on 680 the education minister three weeks ago and he said well and i showed him the pictures of the teachers were posting of their classrooms with all the desks in them and he contended at the time that that's not going to be the case when the schools finally opened but it turns out that has been the case in in some schools right so when it gets political and it puts our kids at risk, that's not cool. Yeah, they threw it onto the boards. They said the boards have whatever they can do with themselves, but that's not the case.

Passing the buck there. Okay, so let's hope that everybody out there is being careful. Mike says, move it outside and be careful. Look at how many feet away are we from each other right now? I can barely see you. I can't hardly make you out right now, Mike. You're over there somewhere. each other right now. I can barely see you. I can't hardly make you out right now, Mike. You're over there somewhere. I think at least, I don't know, 12 feet maybe. I don't know. I'm a metric guy. I don't know what's going on here. But we're a good distance apart and we're being very careful. The numbers right

now are where they were going at the end of March. Like you look at the chart, we are right, it's happening right like it did in March. That's the concerning thing. And we haven't hit flu season yet. And that'll be a whole other, and this is not 680 news, so I can say,

have you ever accidentally sworn on 680 news? No, and I always worry about that. So you don't want to say it on this mic because it could give you a bad habit. I probably shouldn't. Right, so you don't do it, but I'll just say it. You're trying to fuck my career up, Mike.

Oh, be careful. You bastard. This mic is hot. This is a live mic. Do you also adhere to the rule that every mic is potentially a hot mic? You really should, but I mean we're on the air so much that that

does get forgotten, but luckily fingers crossed that's never happened. Shout out to Avery Haynes, who's been on the program there. That was kind of unfair, but yeah. With her doing my segment, by the way, she was amazing. Can't say enough good things about Avery.

Yeah. I have a lot of respect for Avery too. And I think Avery's tight with your colleague there, Cynthia Mulligan too. Totally. Yeah, totally. So it's such a tight-knit group, this Canadian media landscape here. So I'm going to play a jam from you in a moment here. You're going to hit the post?

I want time and weather. That's your job. That's your job. I want to thank just a couple from you in a moment here. You're going to hit the post? I want time and weather. That's your job. That's your job. I want to thank just a couple more sponsors. This is interesting. I know you said you have no kids, but do you have nephews, nieces? Yeah, I got a niece. My sister has a little baby.

Okay. Oh, it's a little baby. Okay. Well, she's like a year and a half. Oh, it's still too young for this, I think. But for everyone out there who's got kids or grandkids or nephews and nieces, uh, Halloween's coming and I don't know what the official declaration is and what we're going to do, but it will be different. Like it won't be the same Halloween we're used to. So due to, you know,

there's a pandemic going on. So the way to save Halloween is if you go to pumpkinsafterdark.com, you can buy, uh, you go, it's a, it's a-through event, Pumpkins After Dark. It's like two and a half kilometers in Milton, Ontario. They got 150 jack-o'-lantern sculptures, 7,000 pumpkins. I mean, these sculptures are bigger and better than ever. There's a 40-foot tower. There's a 50-foot tunnel. It's unbelievable.

And the tickets are selling out. So you got to get your date and time right now because they're selling much faster than last year because it's a drive-thru event so again pumpkins after dark.com you uh you have to buy it online you can't buy on site so you got to go there book your time and then uh use the promo code miked m-i-k-e-d it'll save you uh 10 on your tickets and it'll like help you give your i don't know maybe your kids still dress up for the the car ride through the uh pumpkins after dark uh country heritage park in milton like save halloween for the kids because it's great that that's still going to

happen and that's something fun to do with halloween because we were talking yesterday about the toronto christmas market being canceled and a lot of these favorite things that people like to do this time of year are not going to happen. Yeah, good point. Good point. So this is a drive-thru event. So it's a very, it's contactless. They're even going to scan your ticket through the window.

So completely safe. And yeah, pumpkinsafterdark.com, great partners back for a second year. Shout out to them. If you're looking to buy and or sell real estate in the next six months, I strongly urge you to have a conversation with Austin Keitner from the Keitner Group. Austin's a great guy. He's involved in so much charity in this neck of the woods and just a very honest, solid citizen. But he's also a, he knows his stuff when it comes to real estate.

So just have a convo with him. You can text Toronto Mike to 59559 to speak to Austin. And finally, last but not least, CDN Technologies are there if you have any computer or network issues or questions. They're your outsourced IT department. Just call Barb at 905-542-9759. Or you could write her at barb at cdntechnologies.com.

It's nice to see a podcaster who's actually making money. No, this is really impressive, man. This is really great that you've been able to do this. Well, thank you. What episode are you? What are we recording right now? It took you like 700 days to get me on, but that's fair. That's fine.

Right, but it was worth it, first of all. And you'll be back to kick out the jams before the snow comes. We'll get you back here. But, I mean, you've created this whole, your whole broadcasting infrastructure yourself. So where is the 680 News segment about this enterprise happening,

this grassroots enterprise? I've never... I see a story here. I see a story here. Right. Like, think about it. This guy in his basement, this is all cooked up for my own creative energy. Like, there's, you know, like, and people like yourself are making their way to this

new Toronto backyard. Well, you're not anyone unless you're in this chair now. This is the way you made it. And who am I to be that guy, right? How did you get all these sponsors? Like, this is impressive because you must have had very many listeners when you tried to get them.

No, I would say I did a couple of years with no sponsors at the beginning, like no sponsors. And then the first sponsor in, I'm looking straight at the Great Lakes Brewery logo there. They literally called me up and said, hey, can we have a chat? They called you up?

Yeah. I was not hustling. I was thinking about like, you know, oh, it's all about the real talk. And I wasn't even considering monetization at the time. And Great Lakes said, we love your podcast. And we keep hearing references to our hood. Like I might say something about walking to San Remo Bakery or biking rural York. And all these references that they said, we think you're in our backyard.

And then I said, yeah, I'm close. and then i biked over and we had a chat and they said this is what we'd like to do like we'll give you money and we'd like you to give beer our beer to your guests because they're like ron mclean's coming over you know strombos coming over give our beer to your guests and i we worked out a deal and they've been on board they've been renewing now i think they're on their fifth year, maybe. So without pride too much, but I'm a reporter.

This is what I do. So you're actually making, this is your job, is it? You're making a living from this. Okay, so my job, it's okay. So I can't pay my mortgage just on the sponsorship money,

but it is definitely a revenue stream for TMDS, which is my company, Toronto Mike Digital Services. The other side of that coin that's interesting is that I produce other people's podcasts. So this morning I produced an episode of Dana Levinson's

unlaunched brand new podcast. Wait, is this, I was unaware of this. You have a Dana Levinson podcast. Well, it hasn't launched yet actually, but we've recorded three episodes and I've still work on the back end to do before this launches. I literally have a call call not too long from now

with Lorne Honickman about his new podcast. I don't know if you're listening to Hebsey on Sports, if you're a sports fan, but every Friday morning we go live with Hebsey on Sports. He was actually the first client at TMDS. I produced the Humble and Fred show. I produced Peter Gross' excellent Down the Stretch podcast. If there's one thing the man knows, it's horse racing.

And it's excellent. And I'm not a big horse racing guy, but he had me watching the Queen's Down the Stretch podcast. There's one thing the man knows, it's horse racing. And it's excellent. And I'm not a big horse racing guy, but he had me watching the Queen's Plate the other day. Yeah. You win any money? I didn't put any money on the line. But I did pick a winner and I didn't win, but I didn't put any money on the line.

But his podcast is excellent, Down the Stretch. So these people pay you to produce their podcast. Do they sell it? Do you sell it? Who sells it? You know, Hebsey's got a sponsor that he sold and I've helped sell some stuff for Humble and Fred.

One of the ones I just want to shout out, because it's excellent and it's currently unsponsored looking for a title sponsor, is Not That Kind of Rabbi with Ralph Ben-Murgy, which he has these really interesting spiritual discussions with people. It's just Ralph Ben-Murgy, it is Ralph Ben-Murgy, which he has these really interesting spiritual discussions with people. Like, it's just Ralph Ben-Murgy.

It is Ralph Ben-Murgy-ist. And I highly, highly... Well, you have a lot of great broadcasters out there who have either retired or who have been let go. You have a great roster of people to call on for these podcasts. Yeah, and Larry Fedorek. I put out his podcast, I Was Eight.

Now, could we make a Richard Southern podcast? Oh, my God, yeah. That's the whole idea. So, that's so basically, in a nutshell, yes, I have sponsors for Toronto Monk, and that does generate some revenue. I also produce other people's podcasts, and there's corporate ones I won't, but I do some corporate podcasts that I don't talk about the same way I talk about Ben Merge's. But all of this is your job.

You're a podcaster. I'm 100% of my job is to be the sole guy at TMDS. Right. And I'm always looking for new clientele. Do you have a hard out, by the way? I saw you look at the watch. No, I just have one of these horrible Apple watches that tells me when I get an email. I apologize. Okay.

Is it about your appearance? I thought it was Amber. That's why I checked it, but it wasn't. Sorry. I just don't want to cause any trouble. But you've been very careful today. I don't think you've done anything. Well, you haven't really thrown the hard balls. Well, I've been, you know, the unfair hard balls, I've been kind of holding off because I don't think that's a nice move

to bring currently employers. You didn't want to do the sneak attack. Right. Like, I don't, people, I have a reputation for the real talk, and if there's anything glaring, we do it. But at the same time, I'm not out to get you in trouble. I'm all about real talk so long as I don't get fired because as I say, I have no other marketable

skills. Is there something I should be asking you about that you're surprised I haven't asked you about? No, I don't think so. But I think we're having an... I like to hear people talk about broadcasting. That's what we're doing. This is something you can talk about because and this is just before I play your jam here but the uh numerus puts out this and again i i don't get

the book okay i don't get the full book but i think bray and associates there's a someplace david bray who publishes like the uh 25 to 54 demos for all the stations and stuff like it gives you a taste of what's being measured by by numerous in the radio ratings okay so my question i guess i'm curious in the pandemic like what has what has 680 news learned about listenership since since march when uh as far as i know a lot of people started working from home which means less time in a car i often joke that am radio's best friend is a traffic jam. For a while, there was no traffic jams. At least we have some traffic jams again.

No, but there was tons of news. In March and April, the ratings went through the roof. Because you're a news station and everybody wanted to know what's the new rule, what's going on with the pandemic. This is a huge story that happens again and again every single day.'s the craziest thing about covid so you're you you're from what you could measure and analyze uh your listenership went up in march april because yes and then it

went down a bit and if you look at and i'm not spilling any secrets here because i think this is public knowledge but if you look at the most recent book that came out yeah uh the afternoon is outpacing the morning which is but and a lot of stations have seen that, and that's because people aren't driving to work in the morning as much as they used to. That makes sense. But they're driving later in the day, and they're still looking for news and all that sort of stuff. Well, let's give all that money in the morning so people are getting. Give it to the afternoon people.

I think you're right. I think you're quite right. You're onto something with that, Mike. Again, I've been working from home since 2011, so my lifestyle in that regard didn't actually change. But it was amazing to me how little radio I consumed, like actual terrestrial radio, when I was not in my car. But you're on your bike.

I get why you can't put your radio on on your bike. Well, I can, but I'm a big fan of podcasts. And I do listen to a lot of podcasts on my bike ride with my very safe Bluetooth headphones that allow in all ambient noises, so I'm very careful. But I'm a big fan of the podcasts on a bike ride, and I will get on my bike for 90 minutes a day.

That's like my medicine, if you will. It's crazy. It's good, but it's crazy. I don't know if it's crazy, because I hear people, like 90 minutes, that gets me about 30 31 32 kilometers or something yeah because you said the other day you tell tell your entire year and there was like 600 000 calories or something yeah so i have an app and i've ever since 2012

i've recorded every single bike ride i've done with this app it's the one i use is called map my ride and it it likes to tell you well the one thing I'm interested in, which I measure, is how many kilometers did I ride? Because I have targets. Like, for example, I like to hit at least 500, which I do unless I break my arm, which I did. But I like to hit at least 500 kilometers. And in nice months,

I really do try my best to hit a thousand on nice months. And this month, I'll probably end up at like 900 or something. Are you just trying to get out of the house? No, because before COVID, i was home alone in this house all alone from like 8 a.m till like close to 5 p.m every day like so it would just be i would do my work and then at some point usually at noon i would jump on the bike and then i'd be back at 130 like i just did my 30k a day or i and i use it to get to play i have to go to gigs i used to record in like boardrooms downtown toronto and i would take my studio and i'd put it in the trailer of my bike

and i and even in the middle of winter i would bike to my corporate my corporate clients and set up in the uh in the boardroom here i'm gonna phone call let's see if it's 680 news tell richard not to bother coming in today my favorite thing about you toronto mike though is that you're so toronto centric that you named your youngest son Jarvis. Yeah, well, my daughter named him Jarvis, but yes, after this tweet. Do your other kids

have Toronto names like that? No, James, Michelle, Jarvis, and Morgan. I really like the name Jarvis. I think that's pretty cool. The only Jarvis I could think of at the time was Jarvis Cocker from Pulp. Music, we're going to talk to music. Like, would this be... You know what, when I think Jarvis Cocker from Pulp. Music, we're going to talk to music. Like, would this be...

You know what, when I think Jarvis, no offense to your son by any means, but I think of Hooker Harvey's. I think I might name my cat Hooker Harvey's. Yeah, I know, that's absolutely another thing. But that's a great name, and that's a great Toronto-centric name. Do you regret not naming your other kids

after Toronto Streets? No, no, no. Because I had this thought, what if I decide one day I want to live in, name. Do you regret not naming your other kids after Toronto Streets? No, no, no. I had this thought, what if I decide one day I want to live in, I don't know, way up north or something in a cabin in the woods. People are very confused. What's this Jarvis? What is this? Booker Harvey's? We don't have that up here.

I live in Toronto my whole life. For right now, this phase of my life, I'm very happy with everything. Is Toronto Mike's thinking of ditching Toronto? I don't like to close these doors. Who knows where I could end up at some point. This is breaking news right here. This is breaking news here. Recently what I learned, there was a lot of news

I'm sure covered extensively at 680 News about how, for example, the guy Dundas was named after. He was like an anti-abolitionist and a slave owner and he didn't treat his slaves well. Like that kind of news was coming out. Like, should we rename the street?

Whatever. I then was on another station. It's called CBC. So it's not in the same. Never heard of it. Never heard of it. It's a public broadcaster. And they don't have to run ads.

They aren't allowed to run ads. It's not really fair, right? But yet they're in the ratings. That's a whole nother story. I can imagine the frustration when you're trying to compete with a station. It's not a fair level. It's important to have a public broadcaster. That's my opinion, though.

Right, but one of its greatest things is that there's no ads. But okay, what can you do? We're trying to feed ourselves. No, I totally get your frustration. With Palma Pasta and Great Lakes Brewery. I totally get your frustration there. But what I learned on a documentary show on that station is that the guy Jarvis, what's his first name?

The guy Jarvis is named after was really shitty to his slaves. Like not only did he own these slaves, but he was like shitty to them. And there's this terrible history. And I was thinking, oh, that kind of sucks. Like, cause you named him. My daughter saw the sign for Jarvis and suggested the name. And that's how he got the name. But it is, you know, William Jarvis, I want to say.

Maybe it's William Jarvis. None of them were very good. That's from what I understand. All these old politicians, they were very old politicians, were never very good. But what do you think? Should we change Dundas? Where are you on this?

This must be like heaven sent to talk show hosts and stuff. We're going to open the lines right now. Because I can, uh, I can buy into both arguments. Like I can totally say, you know, let's,

let's, let's change it. Like racist history. But at the same time I can be, no, don't change it, but tell the story like warts and all like real talk. Yeah.

You know, this is the, the man that Dundas is named after. And this is, uh, how he lived his life and how he is. History is remembering him. Likeundas is named after. And this is how he lived his life and how his history is remembering him. Like, don't sugarcoat it and glorify them. Like, just use it as an opportunity to like,

you know, in schools especially, but what I would call real talk about some of these people. Like, don't glorify them because they were a part of Toronto's history. Tell it like it was. Like, I think it's a good opportunity. Yeah. But then, I don't know. You evolve

over time. Back then, it was acceptable to be involved in slavery. Now, maybe it's not acceptable to even display a name of someone who was. I accept that. Maybe it is time to change it. On Twitter, I'm sorry to turn the channel. What are they saying? The aforementioned

Blair Kerrigan. He's a great guy. He does these great Photoshop things. Okay, so yes, and I've enjoyed them as well. He just put one up. I'm just going to retweet it here. It's you. I think it's showing what it'll look like

after you make your palm-of-pasta lasagna. So anyway, it's on your Twitter feed too. You'll see it later. Is it me devouring a big lasagna? Yeah, you're pretty much showing off your new lasagna. He doesn't need to Photoshop that. I'll actually send you a legit picture later. And he's such a good guy.

He stuck a Toronto Mike logo in there as well. So that's very cool. But I don't know if we should get rid of it. I'm kind of thinking you keep the name, but it's almost like I saw this like at Baby Point, you know Baby Point

or Bobby Point? But anyway, there was this, somebody put up like this fake historical plaque that told the real story of this guy Bobby

that it was named after and like, and I think it's almost like you need to do that. Like it's like, okay. Are we that married to Dundas?

Like who cares if we change the name point? That's my opinion. Okay, so, but Dundas, that name is everywhere. Like it's a lot of stuff.

Like just, and you can get rid of the, you can get rid of the name But Dundas, that name is everywhere. It's a lot of stuff. It's a street in the subway. You can get rid of the name like Dundas, like this never happened and it never existed. Or you can teach what happened and we could learn from our history. In Berlin, there's no Hitler Avenue. Yeah, I know. Yes, you're right. Meet you in the corner

of Hitler. I feel like that's like Godwin's argument here. You Nazi'd up there. But it's true though, right? That is true. How come we can forget we want to get rid of some things, but not other things? I think we have to like be able to like differentiate

between like Adolf Hitler and then. Okay. But I can see your argument too. Yeah. So I can go both ways on this one. I feel like I could argue both sides, which always makes for a good talk radio debate. Is your favorite Toronto street name Jarvis now

because of your son? Seriously. I don't know. Where'd you grow up? I grew up in what was like the Allentonks, York, not York region, but the borough of York in what we call Metro Toronto. So Alan Tonks was my mayor for many years back in those pre-amalgamation days.

And I was born in a Parkdale hospital. And so, yeah, I'm a West End guy my whole life, that's for sure. West of Yonge. Whereabouts did you grow up? I grew up at 404 and Finch. So I was right on the border between North York and Scarborough, technically in North York,

but right next to Victoria Park, which is the border. Okay, so Mel Lastman was your... Mel Lastman was our mayor, and then, of course, he went on to be our megacity. Remember the megacity thing? Oh, my God, of course.

It was such a whole thing. Was that 98? That was like 98, 97. Yeah, yeah. Well, he won... He was our first two terms for sure. And called the army in. You know, we haven't had many mega city mayors,

so you could really easily do it off the top of your head because you had Mel Lastman, and then you had David Miller, and then you had Rob Ford. I don't know if you remember that one. Never heard of him. And then you have a guy named John Tory. Who was your favorite mayor? I was a big Dave Miller guy.

Like, I don't know if that speaks to some of my politics or whatever, but I would do the Terry Fox run in High Park every single year. Did you do it this weekend on your lonesome? I did it sort of. Like, I raised the money, which is the most important thing. And then I did, like, I didn't run anything, but I used to walk it anyways in High Park. I didn't ever run it

anyways and i did a bike ride uh and i thought about like oh this is the day we would have the whole family would have been at high park early in the morning but to finish that loop on david miller is it was always i always liked that he was always there and he would always you know tell the story about his mother i think his mother passed away from cancer and and he was always kind of representing that because he's from that neighborhood, even when he was just a counselor and all that stuff. But yeah, I mean, you know, here we are, John Tory's job. We're both Toronto boys, and it's through and through, Mike.

Right, and that's why you're here, man. And that's why you're going to come back and kick up the jams. But we're going to give a teaser here. And this is a slow burn, so I guess you're right. I could talk all over here. I want time, and I want weather. And name song titles. Well, you should do that. You're the bro. I could talk all over here. I want time and I want weather. And name song titles. Well, you should do that.

You're the bro. I'm not a FM guy. You're the music guy. Here we go. I've never hit a post in my life here, but I'm afraid to try. Let's do this. Thank you. I'm just looking right like the one minute mark of the song and I'm just thinking yeah it is quite the uh it's perfect for a good post. And I could be now just thanking everybody, all the FOTMs who came out to Marie Curtis Park on Friday for TMLX6.

It was amazing to see you all. We snuck in some cold beverages. Amazing! Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I had to throw in another amazing because I was early, but you just keep doing that too. I did get to throw in another amazing because I was early. But you just keep doing that too. I didn't get to tie the weather, but that's okay. You did very good.

And you know they can cheat now, right? Because I've been in studios with live DJs and they literally have a clock counting down. And sometimes there's multiple posts. Sometimes you have a post for, I don't know, they bring in the drums or something. And then you have the post for when the talking starts, the singing, I should say.

So you can actually hit both times down both posts. It's kind of dummy proof now. The state of FM is like that. I mean, the playlists are all completely super controlled. And that sucks, right? This is where you notice it. You notice it when a big

musician from that genre dies. Okay, so this is the trick. And I know, shout out to Mark Weisblatt who will be on the show on the 30th of this month to recap two months because we missed August, but Mark Weisblatt's coming back from 1236. But like if you have, let's say Q107,

let's say Tom Petty dies. Just, they publish what they play. See how long it takes to play some Petty. Like that's, youty. Sometimes at certain times where things are so automated, they simply can't break it. Which is really unfortunate because when you think about John Lennon

dying, he was murdered in 1980. We still have the sound checks and stuff. You heard Chum FM that night or Q107 or whatever. Just listening to them kind of, they just, they play Beatles stuff,

and John Lennon, and they talk about it all night long. Like it was, you know. I mean, if it happens at a shift when I think the PD's there, you're going to get, I'm remembering Michael Jackson dying, and it was like midday,

and I think, you know, CHFI was like all over that right away, but yeah, I know what you mean. Some, I know there's, yeah, there's some recent examples of like a key artist in your catalog or whatever

in your rotation dying and it takes an awful long time before you hear a song, which is... When you get a request, if people, you know, the top 40 stations

are taking requests, they just wait for that song to come up and then pair it with a listener request. That's the dirty little thing. Is that what you're doing, Maypots?

That's, I just want to know. And boom! And by the way, in that ratings book we were talking about where you talked about the listenership of 680 News, really strange, and I'm not taking anything away from the station,

but a very surprising result for Q107. Yeah, I was shocked to see that too. It is shocking because I'm pretty sure in a certain age range, Q is the most listened to station amongst for Q107. Yeah, I was shocked to see that, too. It is shocking, because I'm pretty sure, in a certain age range, Q is the most listened to station amongst woman listeners. But it's not classic rock anymore. I guess what is classic rock has changed, right? I think it's more of like, to borrow a Bobcat line,

raising a Spockian eyebrow. There's something there to investigate, Mr. Reporter, because some of it doesn't quite smell right. Not to take anything away from the mic. They're kind of doing what boom is doing from what I can discern and, you know, playing towards the 40 year old crowd. And there's probably some success.

Oh, it's definitely been boomified. That's no doubt, but there's something off a little bit there, but this jam, let me talk to you. It's a flawed system. Mike, there's only like 30 of these beepers. But this jam, let me talk to you about... Well, it's a flawed system, Mike.

There's only like 30 of these beepers. And if five of them change their habits, you can completely job the whole thing, like juke the stats. You go into a doctor's office, they don't have 680 on typically. You know, they're going to have another station on. So it's hard to do this thing.

Well, you can say it because you own it. CHFI might be on. Absolutely. And that's one of yours. Top fantastic station. And your stations one of yours. Fantastic station. And your stations are 680, Fan 590, the aforementioned Fan 590, CHFI,

and Kiss 92.5. With one of my favorite morning shows, and I'm not just saying that, Roz and Mocha, they're really good. They've both been on this program, and I hear they're the new Edmonton show. Is this the news? Oh, really? Well, this is the thing in radio now anyways, right? Like, I'm on, I do business in Calgary, so whatever. This is the way it is now.

That's, yeah, but usually you're not doing the whole morning, you're not hosting the whole morning show in Calgary. But tell me about why you like that song. Like tease us for when you come back to kick out the jam. Yeah, I love, I've seen U2 three times here in Toronto. And I just, my family's Irish, and maybe that plays a role in it, you know, with streets and everything. Right, well, because U2's from Dublin and maybe that plays a role in it, you know, with streets and everything.

Well, because you two's from Dublin, is that the connection? Yeah, and the streets have no name. That's because in Ireland they don't name a lot of streets. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, apparently that's true. Now, somebody will probably tweet us and say I'm wrong, but that's what I believe the song is about. It's about Ireland.

Oh. Yeah. My family has an Irish history, too, as well. And I was recently there, but I didn't notice the street thing. Yeah. I, uh, my family has a, like an Irish history too as well. And, and, uh, I was recently there, but, uh,

I don't, I didn't notice the street thing, but, uh, yeah, that's definitely, that's definitely the, uh,

the YouTube home base. Actually, I don't know. I think for tax reasons, I think they're actually not in Dublin or whatever. Well, that's funny. Cause like Apple is incorporated in Dublin for tax reasons.

Uh, that's weird how that all works out. I remember seeing you two, um, a bunch of years ago in, in the Rogers center. Yeah the roof open, and the CN Tower lights were coordinated with the stage lights, and it was like the coolest shit I've ever seen. So they pay extra for that, I hope. I want to spot him.

He gets what he wants. And he always drops a Toronto reference. He'd be like, yeah, I just got off the TTC today, and everyone would just go crazy. Like in The Simpsons. and everyone would just go crazy. Like in The Simpsons. I don't know if you ever watched The Simpsons. What's the fake band with Spinal Tap?

Spinal Tap. Yeah, they were on. You're right. They were on. Bono was on YouTube. I was on The Simpsons too. But when Spinal Tap was on and they said, we were driving here on Route 401.

They just dropped that reference. That's by my house. This is the move, man. And then at the end they called them Springden or something. Hello, Springden. There will be no encore, I think is what... But I will say, I've never seen U2 in concert. I respect U2. I kicked them out last Friday.

I did see Bono, though, because I was at a Pearl Jam show and Bono and The edge were on the side of the stage watching and, uh, Eddie Vedder and Bono. And I think the edge might've been involved too, but those two guys went on the mic and did a cover of Neil Young's rock and in

the free world. So I was there, I was there for that. So that's, that's pretty cool. So at least I've been in the same building when Bono was on the mic singing something. That's pretty cool. The first time I saw them, the same building when Bono was on the mic singing something. That's pretty cool.

The first time I saw them, I think it was 03, and then after the show at the ACC, they went to Much, and Much used to do these sort of live interviewed shows in primetime. Is this the Intimate and Interactive? Yeah, that's it. Of course, there's some legendary

Intimate and Interactive there. Much, which is not owned by your company there, but it's not the same station now. You want to talk about great TV, those VJs, they do their breaks. Talk to me, buddy. This is my wheelhouse. They do their breaks. They just walk out in the street

and they just start talking to somebody. They had no idea. Nothing planned. That's always the greatest thing to do when you're broadcasting and it has the best results. I kind of miss that. I loved Much Music. I watched a lot of Much Music, and then I've tried to have a bunch of them on, people like Steve Anthony

and stuff like that. He's been on a couple of times. Master T, you have Master T? Master T's been on, for sure. Speaking of breakfast television, I had Ann Romer over here last fall to commemorate the 30th anniversary of breakfast television.

And we called up all the on-air original staff members who were like on the air that day. John Whaley, David Onley. I know David Onley very well. Great guy. We called him up and we called up Steve Anthony who was in Prince Edward County buying,

I don't know what he was buying, frog legs or something like that. But yeah. That's pretty cool. I mean, that's, it was such a, I mean,

they were kind of that way back then too. It was less formulaic, you know? Yeah. And I think just to go back to the whole Moses environment, he was really big on like, you know,

different, different people like Peter, Peter Gross was driving a cab, right? Then suddenly he's doing The World According to Gross on City Pulse and stuff. He was kind of big on that authentic voice and the real deal and giving you

especially how much music where there was no budget, they kind of gave you a lot of free reign to do different things. That ends up being the greatest thing in the end. Right. And just like the pandemic here is the greatest thing that's happened to Richard Souther. I'm not going crazy with that. But you know what ruined much was YouTube.

I mean, that was just the end of much. That's true. Videos were on demand via YouTube. Absolutely. You're right. You're right. Dude, I hope you have a very lengthy, successful career at 680 News. You're one of the bright lights in that great station.

And tell Amber she can send over some more 680 people. I'd be happy to have them on. Thanks. And now you're going to start listing on your bike too, which is great. Yeah, because I need those traffic updates when I'm on the Martin Goodman Trail. Mike, it's a real honor that you'd have me in. And we love the show. Everyone in the business loves the show.

And it's great what you've done. And we really appreciate it, man. I love hearing that. So here, let me give you another half an hour. I'll stop the song. And you can go on more about how great the show is. Keep doing what you're doing. It's important. It's good for the city.

It's good for the business. And we appreciate it. Thanks for coming on. You're going to be back to kick out the jams. That's for sure. That is for sure. And that, that brings us

to the end of our, what the heck is this? This is our 720, I should know this. Yes, 724th show. You can follow me on Twitter.

I'm at Toronto Mike. Richard, give us your like, your Twitter and your Instagram. How can people follow you right now? At Richard680news on Twitter. Richard680news on Instagram.

I'm like you. I'm hopelessly hooked on Twitter. Even though at one foul slip and I'm fired. That's the funny thing about Twitter. You have control over what comes off your fingertips. I can be in trouble for what I tweet, too, but it's just I know that people are reading. You're not getting paid for it, yet you do it,

and it could get you fired. It's this weird thing with Twitter, but I love it. So follow, and we'll have a good time. Yeah, and you should follow Richard on Twitter and follow him on Instagram, too. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, I'm there tomorrow, so it looks like another nice day tomorrow.

Rain is my enemy in these backyard sessions, but I'll be on the patio tomorrow recording. They're at great. I will be day drinking tomorrow, but I'm on my bicycle. I don't, don't drive. I don't drive to great lakes there.

Palma pasta is at Palma pasta. Sticker. You is at sticker. You the Kiteener group are at the Kiteener group. CDN technologies are at CDN Technologies. And Pumpkins After Dark are at Pumpkins Dark. 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.

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