Prior Smith

Last updated
Prior Smith
Born1944 (age 79–80)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Occupationbroadcaster

Prior Smith (born 1944) is a Canadian broadcaster who owns and operates the network radio program Canada Calling and, for 35 years, produced [1] the Canadian syndicated radio show "Grapeline".

Contents

Broadcasting career

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Smith began his career in radio broadcasting with brief stints as a news reporter/announcer at CKLY-Lindsay, Ontario, (1966) CHYR Leamington/Windsor, Ontario (1967) and CJSS Cornwall, Ontario (1968) before moving to CJAD Montreal, Quebec in 1968. After one year at CJAD he moved to the legendary CFRB in Toronto in 1969. He worked as a general assignment news reporter/newscaster for the next 18 years.

While working in news at CFRB, Smith branched into radio network syndication creating and distributing a number of national radio programs, the most prominent of which was Grapeline featuring hockey commentator Don Cherry and sports broadcaster Brian Williams. The program, the longest running nationally syndicated radio show in Canadian history, started in the fall of 1984 and concluded in the spring of 2019.

Also during his time at CFRB, Smith created a syndicated radio news program to serve traveling and vacationing Canadians across the southern United States.

Canada Calling

Canada Calling is a daily radio newscast prepared in southern Ontario throughout the winter months. It is available on demand online at http://www.canadacalling.com and syndicated to a network of radio stations across the U.S. Sunbelt and the Bahamas, serving the more than three million Canadian vacationers who travel south each winter.

The original program was created by CBC sports and news announcer Dave Price. It was launched January 4, 1954 on stations in Miami Beach and Tampa.[ citation needed ]

Price would retire in the mid-1970s, selling the operations to Canadian broadcast executive Finlay MacDonald.[ citation needed ]

In 1977, Smith formed his own network and his coverage of the market quickly expanded to include all of Florida, The Bahamas, Arizona, southern California and south Texas. For a brief period the two networks competed for audience before Price's original service ceased operations. Smith has carried on the Canada Calling tradition as on air host each winter season for the past 47 years during which time he has never missed a day.[ citation needed ] Canada Calling's 70th Anniversary season began January 1st, 2024.

Canada Calling's decades on air throughout Florida was honored by the Florida Association of Broadcasters at its annual convention in Miami Beach June 26, 2013 with Prior Smith in attendance representing the longest running radio show in Florida history.

Related Research Articles

<i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> CBC broadcasts of the National Hockey League in Canada

CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the Hockey Night in Canada brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its history in various platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Cherry</span> Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator

Donald Stewart Cherry is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five seasons after concluding a successful playing career in the American Hockey League, leading the team to four division titles and two appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CFRB</span> Radio station in Toronto

CFRB is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.

CJCL is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toronto, while its transmitters are located near Grimsby atop the Niagara Escarpment. It is the flagship station for the Toronto Blue Jays, and also airs games from the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Bisons and Buffalo Bills. CJCL is also a CBS Sports Radio affiliate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Chevrier</span> Canadian sports announcer (1937–2007)

Don Chevrier was a Canadian sports announcer. He worked in television and radio, and was born in Toronto, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHUM (AM)</span> Sports radio station in Toronto

CHUM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 1050 kHz. The station is owned and operated by Bell Media. CHUM's studios are co-located with TSN at 9 Channel Nine Court in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough, with its transmitter array located in the Clarkson neighbourhood of Mississauga. TSN 1050 is simulcast on Bell Satellite TV channel 989, and on Shaw Direct channel 867. The station is also carried on the 3rd HD digital subchannel of CKFM-FM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Williams (sportscaster)</span> Canadian sportscaster

Brian James Williams is a Canadian sportscaster who is best known for his coverage of the Olympic Games.

Mark Elliot was the professional name of Nils Fleming Johanson, a former late night talk radio host on radio station CFRB 1010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and an addictions counsellor in private practice. Earlier in his career, he was a popular disk jockey at Top 40 stations in various Canadian cities including Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Windsor, Ontario.

John Sanford Moore, better known as John Moore, is a Canadian radio and television broadcaster, film critic, voice actor and comedian. He works for the CFRB 1010 radio station in Toronto, Ontario.

Andrew Krystal was a Canadian news reporter who worked for CityNews on Citytv Toronto. He had previously been a radio talk show host, his most recent stints being on the Rogers Communications news talk network in The Maritimes, and sports talk radio station The Fan 590 in Toronto. Krystal was also a writer and occasional TV current affairs panelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJAD</span> News/talk radio station in Montreal

CJAD is a commercial radio station operating in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The station has an English language news/talk radio format and identifies itself on-air as CJAD 800. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it has a daytime power of 50,000 watts but reduces power to 10,000 watts at night to avoid interfering with other stations on AM 800. The transmitter is located near Saint-Edouard, while studios and offices are located on Rene-Levesque Boulevard East in Downtown Montreal. CJAD can be heard across Canada on Bell Satellite TV channel 953.

Jim Richards is a Canadian radio personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Hodge</span> Canadian sports announcer (born 1945)

Dave Hodge is a Canadian sports announcer. Hodge worked for TSN, the CBC and CFRB 1010 radio in Toronto.

Ken Daniels is a Canadian sportscaster. Currently the play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL on Bally Sports Detroit, entering his 25th season as the voice of the Red Wings, he is best known as a sportscaster with CBC Sports, having worked for the network from 1985 until 1997, the year he joined the Red Wings. Daniels now lives in Birmingham, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Roberts</span> Canadian broadcaster

Leslie Roberts is a Canadian television and radio personality, who recently left Ottawa as the host of CTV Morning Live and his talkshow 9-noon on CFRA in Ottawa. He was previously the host of The Leslie Roberts Show on CJAD in Montreal. From 2001-2015 he was anchor and senior editor at Global Toronto.

Bell Media Radio, G.P., operating as iHeartRadio Canada, is the radio broadcasting and music events subsidiary of Canadian media conglomerate Bell Media. The company has its origins in CHUM Limited, which was acquired by CTVglobemedia in 2006. Through subsequent acquisitions, it also subsumed the radio properties of Astral Media in 2013; many of these were former Standard Radio stations that were acquired by Astral in 2007.

Paul Romanuk is a Toronto sportscaster and writer. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

Chris Robinson is a Canadian broadcaster known for his content concerning travel and vacations. He is sometimes consulted by Canadian media and travel organizations for his views on development in the travel industry, both in Canada and internationally. He has hosted weekly radio shows on "The Chris Robinson Travel Show", initially on Newstalk 1010 CFRB and then on AM 740 in Ontario and CJAD 800 in Montreal, Quebec. The shows air at 11 AM on Saturdays and Sundays in Ontario and on Saturdays in Quebec. Robinson maintains a travel blog with details about his travels in association with the radio programs, as well as Facebook, Pinterest and podcasts of the Travel Shows. He is also a travel writer, contributing to several publications.

The National Hockey League (NHL), a professional ice hockey league active in the United States and Canada, is broadcast over the radio mainly in its participating countries.

John Allan Slaight was a Canadian rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist. His career began as an amateur magician before moving to radio. He was the founder of Slaight Communications, and the president and CEO of Standard Broadcasting Corporation Limited, which was Canada's largest privately owned multimedia company. He was an active philanthropist and founder of the Slaight Family Foundation. On September 19, 2021, he died at his home in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 90.

References

  1. ↑ Warmington, Joe. "Don Cherry, Brian Williams signing off". Toronto Sun.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.