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Greg Brady (broadcaster)

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Greg Brady (born 1971) is a Canadian radio host. He currently hosts the morning drive show Toronto Today on Global News Radio 640 in Toronto. Previously, he was a sports radio host with Sportsnet 590 The FAN from 2010 to 2019.

From 2007 to 2017, Brady was a regular play by play announcer for NFL games carried on the BBC. He is also a regular pundit on the BBC Radio 5 Live show Fighting Talk, holding the record for most wins on the show, alternating that honour with John Rawling over the years, and has been a freelance sports correspondent filing reports from sporting events across North America for various BBC Radio services for over twenty years.

Biography

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Born and raised in London, Ontario, Brady attended the University of Western Ontario where he studied Political Science. After finishing his four years, he then completed Fanshawe College's journalism program

Brady began his career in broadcasting at CIXX-FM, the campus radio station of Fanshawe College. He moved on to CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, then joining WDFN in the late 1990s. He appeared in various broadcast roles at WDFN before he settled into co-hosting the Jamie and Brady show, with Jamie Samuelsen, from 2002 to 2007.[1] Brady was fired along with co-host Samuelsen and update host Matt Shepard in November 2007.[2] Both Samuelsen and Shepard were eventually rehired by WDFN,[3][4] leaving Brady as the only member of that show not to return to Detroit radio. As a non-American citizen without employment, Brady was forced to move back to his native Canada where he co-hosted The Bill Watters Show on AM640 Toronto Radio.[5][6] He has also presented Leafs Lunch on the same station.[7]

Brady also has been an ice hockey play-by-play broadcaster for six seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. He spent five years as the first-ever broadcaster for the Saginaw Spirit,[8] and spent the 2007–08 season broadcasting for the Windsor Spitfires.

Brady is father of two young boys and is married to fellow sports journalist and women's hockey pundit Rachel Brady. He resigned from AM640 on June 23, 2010 in order to pursue a more favourable schedule at the FAN 590 to accommodate his family life.

On August 16, 2010, Brady made his debut on the Fan 590 on the 12 noon – 3 pm timeslot with The Greg Brady Show. On September 13, 2010, Brady made his hosting debut for Hockey Central at Noon, co-hosted with Doug MacLean and Nick Kypreos, on the 12 noon – 1 pm timeslot, with The Greg Brady Show being reduced to the 1 pm – 3 pm timeslot.

On February 10, 2011, Brady was reassigned to the 5:30 am – 9 am morning show on an interim basis after Andrew Krystal was removed from that timeslot, while still maintaining his co-hosting job on the Hockey Central at Noon timeslot. On March 10, 2011, Brady was officially named the new morning show co-host on the Fan 590, alongside Jim Lang.[9][10] Daren Millard was named as Brady's replacement as co-host on Hockey Central at Noon.[10]

On February 8, 2017, it was announced that Brady would be part of Sportsnet 590 The FAN's new morning show: Sportsnet's Starting Lineup with Brady and Price. The new show, which launched on February 27, 2017 features Elliott Price, Brady and longtime Toronto Sportscaster Hugh Burrill.[11]

In 2019, Brady left 590 for Global News Radio 640 in Toronto and became the morning drive host in 2021, after the station fired Mike Stafford. The program was renamed Toronto Today in September 2021.[12]

BBC and Fighting Talk

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Brady also does freelance work for the BBC, including co-commentating for the Super Bowl,[13] other NFL playoff games, and regular season games played in the UK, and reporting on Wimbledon. He has also been a regular pundit on the BBC Radio BBC Radio 5 Live show Fighting Talk since its debut in 2003;[14] while he regularly contributes to the programme via ISDN from Toronto (earlier Detroit), Brady has been making appearances in studio since 2007, coinciding with the annual NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium, London. He has been described by Gillian Reynolds, radio critic of The Daily Telegraph, as "fast on the factual draw and witty with it."[15] Mark Pougatch, writing for The Times, has described his observations as "entertaining."[16] BBC Five Live reaches around 6 million listeners.[17]

The 2011-12 FT campaign was Brady's most successful to date, with six victories and five appearances in the Defend the Indefensible final, including a controversial double victory on the show's 8th birthday special on 8 October 2011 to put him ahead of rival John Rawling with 41 wins all-time. As of 19 May 2012, Brady has notched 44 wins during his FT career. Brady's record of six wins and as many appearances in Defend the Indefensible that season gave him his first-ever appearance in the FT Champion of Champions show, where he unfortunately did not make the final, finishing in a third place tie with Dougie Anderson.

References

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  1. ^ George B. Eichorn, (2003), Detroit's Sports Broadcasters on the Air, page 112. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3166-9: "Jamie and Brady Show heard weekday mornings on WDFN-AM. Greg is a huge hockey enthusiast who also started on WDFN as an update anchor. Brady also co-hosts the Ice Time hockey show on WDFN."
  2. ^ "Layoffs Spread At Clear Channel/Detroit, Youngstown". AllAccess.com. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  3. ^ Austerman, Mike. "2007 News Archives: December 2007 Archives". Michiguide.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  4. ^ Austerman, Mike. "2009 News Archives: April 2009 Archives". Michiguide.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  5. ^ Greg Brady scores great gig, Press Release: AM640 Toronto Radio welcomes Greg Brady. January 03, 2008
  6. ^ Toronto Star, TheStar.com, Jan 04, 2008: "NEW HOST: AM 640 Toronto has tabbed Greg Brady as the permanent replacement for Jeff Marek on The Bill Watters Show."
  7. ^ The Globe and Mail, Globeandmail.com, April 29, 2008: "In Toronto, Brian Duff has quit AM 640's Leafs Lunch. Program director Gord Harris said the workload for Duff, who is a prime-time host for NHL Network, had become burdensome. Afternoon drive co-host Greg Brady has taken over for Duff."
  8. ^ OurSports Central, February 4, 2005: "Brady has been the voice of the Saginaw Spirit since the team's inception in 2002-03"
  9. ^ Your Name (this will appear with your post) (2011-03-10). "Sportsnet Radio Names Hosts for FAN Morning Show". Broadcastermagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2011-03-14. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  10. ^ a b [1] Archived March 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Wake up Toronto: Sportsnet's Starting Lineup with Brady & Price Coming Soon to Sportsnet 590 the FAN". 8 February 2017.
  12. ^ "Toronto Today with Greg Brady".
  13. ^ World Screen News, Super Bowl to Air Live on BBC, Jan 25, 2008: "Digital viewers will also have access to a Beginner’s Guide To The NFL and BBC Radio 5 Live’s commentary provided by Arlo White and Greg Brady"
  14. ^ BBC, Press Office, Fighting Talk returns on Five Live, 3 September 2005
  15. ^ Gillian Reynolds, Fighting for the Saturday crowd[dead link] - Telegraph Online, August 24, 2004: "The winner last weekend was regular American contributor Greg Brady, fast on the factual draw and witty with it."
  16. ^ Mark Pougatch, It's time to decide on middle England - Times Online, April 11, 2005: "Listeners to BBC Radio 5 Live's Fighting Talk on a Saturday morning will be familiar with the entertaining observations of Greg Brady"
  17. ^ "RAJAR". Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
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