In this week’s issue… Toronto loses legendary morning man – What we learned at the NAB Show – Call change heralds Rochester NPR move – Towers coming down in PA – Remembering New England’s Bill Macek
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada
*Make a list of the most beloved radio voices in CANADA‘s largest market and one name that should be almost universal is “Don Daynard.”
The native of Owen Sound started his career up there at CFOS (560) way back in 1953, then worked in Peterborough, Kitchener and Smiths Falls before taking a brief swing at a Hollywood career. While his passion for the movies lasted his whole life, Daynard’s time in LA lasted only a few years – by the mid-1960s, he was back in greater Toronto at CFGM in Richmond Hill before joining CKFH, CFRB and then sister station CKFM.
It was at CKFM that “Double D” became a Toronto radio star, hosting mornings for 12 years and launching his long-running Saturday night oldies show.
In 1987, Daynard crossed the street to competitor CHFI (98.1), taking the sleepy beautiful music station to the top of the ratings and pairing with another morning star, Erin Davis. Daynard left the morning show in 1999 but kept on with his Saturday night show until fully retiring in 2004.
Along the way, he also hosted a show on TVOntario, made some movie appearances (including having his voice as a radio newscaster in “Porky’s”), and lived a radio dream that literally included riding off from his retirement party on a white horse to “Happy Trails.”
Daynard died on Thursday (April 21) after a long illness. He was 88.
WE’RE WELL INTO 2025…
Do you have your Tower Site Calendar yet?
Now is the time to get it — and we have reduced the price. It’s now 20 percent off!
This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).
We have quite a few calendar left and are still shipping throughout the week.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025 ready to ship, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the next calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!