Just over one year after having his previous radio gig cancelled, Toronto radio personality Dean Blundell will be returning to the airwaves on Sportsnet 590 The FAN in Toronto.
According to a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, Blundell will begin his morning show called "Dean Blundell & Co." on March 2. The show will air weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern. The hiring was one of a series of changes to its daily schedule for the Toronto sports-talk radio station.
Blundell, receiving congratulatory replies from followers on the hiring, tweeted regarding the news with the following:
Blundell was previously heard on 102.1 FM The Edge (CFNY-FM) before the show was cancelled in January, 2014. Corus Entertainment said at the time the station was returning to a "more music-based format showcasing the best in modern rock." In December of 2013 Blundell's show (The Dean Blundell Show) was suspended following the Toronto Star reporting on comments made during a Sept. 30, 2013 show which contained homophobic comments that could have possibly jeopardized a criminal trial.
In previous years the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) admonished The Dean Blundell Show on four occasions for controversial remarks dating back to September, 2009.
News of Blundell's return to Toronto airwaves received generally negative reactions on Twitter with many referencing Blundell's prior controversies:
But as the Globe and Mail points out, Blundell's appointment is something of a trial.
“I would say the door at Rogers is always open for very talented high-performers and certainly Dean is a very talented on-air person, said Julie Adam, the vice-president of programming for Rogers Radio, adding that the station doesn't "have anything lined up for him that is firm.”
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