Veteran Vancouver broadcaster and former CTV Vancouver suppertime news anchor Mike Killeen will be filling in on talk shows at CKNW AM 980. He made the announcement today on his Twitter page. Killeen anchored the CTV News at Six with Tamara Taggart from 2011 until they were released in April. r. . Now Mike Killeen tells us via his Twitter page that he will be filling in on talk shows at CKNW AM 980.
Killeen and Taggart were partnered on Channel 9’s suppertime news from 2011 until their release four months ago.
Stepping from one fake news source to another. Mike should fit in well!
I hope this doesn’t mean we’ll be hearing less of Mike Smyth. He is the one bright spark there anymore. I never listen to Silly Sara or Gasper Steele unless Mike is on instead.
Bud
You are right Smyth is one of the only NW hosts worth listening to. Killeen seems like a nice guy but not very excitable. Could the the American SJW PD they have feel he cant control someone like Smyth as much as Killeen?
Good for Mike,big mistke firing Miks and Tamara,penny pinchers at CTV.
Ernie
Bud
I agree with both of you.
, I am so afraid that Killeen with buy into what the PC Program Director at CKNDP (NW) has turned the Station into. He must have sway because McComb was at one time a Fair and Balanced Broadcaster with no Sacred Cows, he would take on Conservatives and the Left, now it is Anti Conservative all the way, no matter how much sense the Cons might make at any given issue. Up until Christy Clark became B.C. Liberal Leader and won the 2013 Election there was no one in radio that had better Editorial Commentary in Canada, he was really very good. Then he somehow went under “Political Re-Assisgnment Surgery” and I now only listen when Palmer, Bruce, Smyth, Roy Green, Jill Bennett, and Michael Campbell, are on air. Interestingly enough that is still a fair amount of time so I suppose they still provide something I seek.
I am only one man with my own opinion but I really hope they leave Smyth on Air and jettison Jody when Killeen arrives, god I hope he has much more balance than what is on days now.
While I am at it I would also like to mention I would be much happier with out Eric and Niki, I quite listening to mornings and afternoons because I could no longer stand the Frced Laughs and Yukking it Up.
I find myself listening to Sirius almost all of the time now as opposed to NW when I am out in the car between 4:30 AM and 5:00 PM unless it is one of the preferred I mentioned earlier.
Keep your Fingers Crossed Killeen is willing to be his own “People Kind” !
.
Killeen is a mediocre talent. He’s not terrible but he’s not great. He will fit right in at NW.
Agree with BMCQ.
Has Niki Reitmeyer ever listened to herself on radio and how she sounds, she’s like a female William Shatner trying to make everything overly dramatic, I actually flip the station for a few minutes when she comes on now as I can’t listen to her.
@BMCQ: It was only a few years back when McComb was actually questioning “Global Warming”
@Scotty. Too right about Reitmeyer. BTW, last week she was doing an in-depth conversation with some so-called history professor (regarding the Sir John A. statue removal) and she panted on about her memories of the famous things about Sir John including the Last Spike. The Learned History Professor agreed with her but did not correct her on the fact that the iconic photo of The Last Spike is that of Donald Alexander Smith, NOT John A MacDonald.
I wonder if Ms. Reitmayer is related to former Rogers TV executive Art Reitmayer?
When are these so-called Program Managers going to get it through their thick skulls, using tv retreads (eg: Steel, Vance, Darling) just don’t cut it in the radio talk format. I saw Killeen a couple of times on tv. Dry as toast. Unless he can grow a ‘personality’ with some real chops, then just add him to the aforementioned list.
Killeen=nice/boring.
BMCQ=good choices
McComb/Sara/Steele/Adler=you’ve had a good run…you bore us now!
Just Saying…you nailed it bro…
PD @ ‘NW=worried stiff about escalating legal costs if Smyth, Allen, Bennett, Campbell, & Palmer get even more air time.
Flash to ‘NW PD…those 5 get you higher ratings+higher ad revenue+higher legal costs+higher local buzz that ‘NW is back. Get stones & tell the suits in TO to let YOU run the local station.
You’re welcome….?
CKNW use to be News Talk 980 but now has turned into News Listen. They provide little time for caller to call in anymore. Call the listener line which is just garbage. There is NO more exchange of ideas and points of view. Mike Smyth is the one person I look forward to as a host. The others are good but a huge drop off to what the Giant use to be. CKNW have your producers actually do some work and take more calls from thr public it is what has made you successfull in the past. As Kaleen another average host
I agree with pretty well all above.
CKNW is rarely news talk today, just run on jabbering by the hosts and a whack of 5-10 minute segments. No depth or details to any content of news, current affairs, politics or general talk. One rarely feels as if they have learned anything or had their own thoughts tested or provoked nowadays on talk radio, and notably locally NW. It’s all pablumesque now. In fact I feel IQ points suffer at times due to the current format and lack of caller engagement. the BUZZ LINE playback is fluff ‘n nonsense as it’s one way, the few callers to it are played for 1 .5 minutes and it’s on to a commercial break , another topic or the top of the hour news.
The hosts are all generic liberal, SJW, anti-Trump, anti-USA, anti-classic Canadian values, anti-white, self loathing, essentially plastic dolls with interchangeable parts. Their is rarely any shift in POV’s between the hosts, even Adler is more a Vancouverite libtard today. The injection of producers and such only stupify much of the shallow end of the pool blather.
Oh they all think they are worldly and smart but they are just shills, liberals to socialists, globalists, and full of anti-western world, self-guilt, SJW activists on air support.
Men like Pat Burns, Rafe Mair, Gary Bannerman, Jack Webster, Art Findlay, Barry Clark, even a younger Bill Good, and Good old back in the day Phil Till ALL COMPELLED YOU TO LISTEN! They provoked your thoughts, made you question things and even argue with them and even yourself. They knew what they knew and told us all what they believed. Often engaged in serious open lines . P.C. culture was not a part of their stuff. They knew not to blindly trust government whomever was in power. They did not kiss politicians ass and HELD THEIR FEET TO THE FIRE! They could devote 30-60 minutes TO ANY ONE TOPIC and even open lines!
Today CKNW and talk in general is all SAFE ZONE, PARROTING LIBERALISM AND GOVERNMENT IDEALS, KEEP IT ALL SHALLOW, P.C. BLATHER and a LOT OF CRAPPING ON THE GREATEST SOCIETY EVER, THE WESTERN DEVELOPED WORLD and the men as well as women of the western world who BUILT IT, FOUGHT FOR IT and MADE LIFE BETTER FOR ALL NO EXCUSES, NO APOLOGIES! Our world WAS NOT AND AIN’T NO SH*THOLE, not yet at least.
Chapman and Reitmeir are both in over their heads. They do fit the yuck fest that Larry Gifford is looking for. I feel bad for McComb because as BMCQ pointed out he was once a radio talent destined for the hall of fame. He stood proudly among the past greats at NW his new attitude is wiping out what would have been a great radio run at NW. Sad.
Ever wonder why Allen, Campbell, are still on air at NW ?. Perhaps the two of them with help from Jill Bennett, Mike Smyth, Roy Green are carrying the rest of the NW lightweights.
Chapman sounds like he’s just been plucked from the street and placed in front of a microphone, when he disagrees with something he struggles to articulate why then if someone contradicts him he’ll change his opinion and agree with them……………it’s totally awkward and amateurish
it is sad to see that CKNW the top dog of radio is old and almost toothless, is mike Killeen is a good fit for NW yes if you want soft news and fashion advise , great co host for Simi .
I would clean house at NW bring in Smyhe, keep Drex lure Alex Tsakumis back into radio bring in great investigative reporters like Bob Makin . perhaps talk radio in Vancouver needs 2 formats soft talk and hard talk
Right on Harry, especially when it comes to Bob Mackin, a great journalism… he recently did an interview with Jim Goddard about the Mars Water Bomber, and now that BC is crisis state with all these forest fires, lets take a listen to what he has to say…
https://www.eastonspectator.com/2018/07/27/time-to-sue-bc-gov-for-non-use-of-mars-water-bomber-bob-mackin/
Have to agree 13, every time I hear McComb I think of the guy in the office who is doing everything he can to keep his job after the new boss takes over. Sad.
Wow! That went stratospheric fast. Good. Lots of excellent input. I don’t agree with a lot of it, but I don’t expect folks to agree with my view to that is fair. Adler is a waste of time. Far more interested in his own voice and long winded, empty rhetoric than the thoughts and opinions of his guests. Ironic the many with no common sense at all has an opinion piece using the phrase. Drex and Tsakumis should never be allowed near a live mic…they can be given a dead one to play with though. Roy Green is the Prince Of Pomposity and not worth the time to do anything but change the station when he comes on. Jill Bennett, whatever her other skills are, hyphenates single syllable words and is a pain to listen to with her other speaking issues. Nikki was a breath of fresh air when she first came on. Bright, witty, quick. Somehow she has morphed into a feckless cheerleader. Sad really. When the “all indigenes all the time” CBC tops them in ratings on a regular basis the bean counters should be taking note.
Further, did someone like the delightful Mz Lazerton ever get to read (poorly) news on the morning run? She has difficulty with basic English composition, reading and pronunciation of common words. Is there no mentoring at ‘NW? I think she has potential, but I wouldn’t have hired her for a 5000 watt prairie station without assisting her with such basics she obviously lacks. BCIT grad I guess?
@bud. Whatever happened to the great News readers (Kerry Marshall, Jack Marion, Mani Bazoonis). The current crop can’t even read, never mind write.
To all of the above: “Tell us how you really feel”
I really hope the Station and Program Managers of various radio stations lurk here as I think they could glean some decent info.
Just sayin…BCIT happened. Grads today don’t have to be able to write, spell or speak properly. Evidence of this can be found hourly on ‘NW and CBC. As for me, I need to proof read before I hit send. 😉
Yes BCIT and SAIT turning out grads who can’t even speak – fur and yur, thee and eh, couple days should have been caught in skool and corrected. Rookie mistakes ya but even now there is no working with talent to improve in the bigs.
Well, even the older folks on air and in all stations and TV’s have fallen prey to laxity in speech. When did been” become “bin”? “Going/moving forward” has to do with movement not “from now on or in the future”. “Gunna” for going to. “Jewlery” for jewelry. There was a time one could look to broadcasters for proper English usage and pronunciation. No more. Even the CBC has fallen prey to sloppy speech.
One of the great reporters / interviewers in broadcast journalism is Stephen Sackur of BBC. His show ‘HARDtalk’ is can’t miss for those who love hard, well-researched and beautifully articulated questions, combined with answers that are just as wonderfully crafted. The sparring is like watching a Shakespearean play.
Not even a fraction of that has existed at CKNW since he days of George Garrett, Gary Bannerman and Rafe Mair. So, fluff is fluff is fluff is radio, hence Mike KIlleen will be just fine adding a different, if bland voice to the airwaves. Luckily I’ll never really know because unlike everyone else on this thread… I DON’T LISTEN TO CKNW.
Broose
It is obvious that “You Are The Man” !!
We all make our choices for varying reasons.
For several years I Personally mostly listen to Sirius when out in the car. I do make an effort to listen to CKNDP (NW) if I can get Bruce, Michael Campbell, Palmer, Smyth, JILL Bennet and Roy Green as most of the time I find what they offer of interest. I travel a lot and I Listen Live to those and NW or WX News to keep updated when I am out of the country.
We all make various listening or viewing choices depending what works for us at any given time.
It is OK to listen to any given station even infrequently if that Station provides content one might desire for any reason.
I believe that many long time Listeners to NW are frustrated but still find certain personalities or content of interest, why would or should that listener not seek out what content they enjoy if the opportunity presents itself.
It is no different than choosing a piece of fruit, some you enjoy some you do not, simple.
CORUS/SHAW have destroyed a powerhouse radio station. From top to bottom they have removed talented personnel to simply save a few bucks in salaries. Take for example news readers. The people hired to replace Tom Mark and Terry Bell do not understand the copy that is infront of them They are simply reading a script and likely have NO understanding of the content. But they have salaries that are lower than those paid to Mark and Bell. They also have less paid vacation time and less benefits. CHEAPER .
13
Great points, your points are well taken and those same points make up a large part of the problems at NW.
It is very sad that the PD at NW only listens to the Voices in his own head!
Oh, and perhaps he also Listens to the Voice of His Neighbours Dog!
Back to the topic at hand, Mike Killeen. Has anyone actually heard him as a fill-in host yet?
@news watcher. I listen to nw every week day from 2am till 5pm. weekends I listen to Jill Bennet.
No sign of Killeen.
I used to listen to CKNW on a regular basis, but now only when Mike Smyth, Jill Bennett or Bruce Allen on. Very seldom are the phone lines open now, and we have to listen to John McComb and Simi Sara giving their views and no one has the opportunity to debate them. Simi Sara is so annoying, repeating the same thing over and over. What happened to CKNW when listeners phoned in and had lively exchanges with the host.
I agree with the comments of Kathy Roddham. All of the other hosts seem to think everyone wants to hear their never ending left leaning jabber. Simi Sara and Lynda Steele are both very annoying with their single minded thoughts that everyone is expected to agree with or there is something wrong with you? I also hate the “topics of the day” approach where the same topics ares hashed over and over by each host but again with little or no opportunity for listener comments. Roger Green on the weekend is the only really true phone in talk show on CKNW.