UPDATE (Nov. 25): Finnerty finally confirmed the news, saying he plans to go back to London. On his last show, Finnerty announed Sean Henry will be his replacement. Audio of Finnerty’s goodbye is below.
Mike Finnerty ad from a previous Daybreak stint
Despite his professed love for Montreal and his work as host of CBC’s radio morning show Daybreak, Mike Finnerty has already left it twice to go to the U.K., first in 2009 to work for The Guardian (he was replaced by Nancy Wood, but within a year she was dropped and he came back), and again last year on a seven-month leave to be a cheesemonger.
So maybe it’s not too surprising that CBC has posted his job again. But this time it’s a 12-month renewable contract, which is what you’d expect from a permanent host. Is he leaving for good (again)?
In a brief response when I asked him if he’s taking another leave of absence, Finnerty said: “Nope, nothing to announce for now, and no other comment.”
CBC Montreal also had no comment on the matter.
UPDATE (Nov. 27): Finnerty’s on-air goodbye was short and sweet. After a show about how the city has changed in the past 10 years (since he first started as host), he interviewed Henry and gave a brief goodbye, less than a minute long, crediting his team, thanking his listeners, and paying tribute to the city.
He concluded that “my wish for Montreal and for Montrealers is that we continue to live, love and laugh together. I’ll see you soon.”
I really enjoyed Nancy Wood when she hosted and setup a Facebook page to support her when they didn’t retain her. She has my vote if she wants to return to that.
CBC continues down the road of trying to offer the most anonymous on air lineup possible
Looks like Finnerty is officially off Daybreak
https://twitter.com/brodiefenlon/status/1318269116164329478
Nancy Wood is smart, she has a great voice and she knows how to pronounce French names with accuracy and ease. It’s too bad they pushed her aside for Mike, who has a very low key on air style. Jamie Orchard would also be a great choice.
Agree re Nancy Wood. Never a fan of Finnerty
I stopped listening to Daybreak when he came back–and I have not listened to it since.
It was a shame they ditched Nancy for him to return.
Well there is a tie-in to the replacement for Mike Finnerty to Nancy Wood. Sean Henry replaced Nancy Wood as the host of the late-night CBC Montreal newscast. I like Sean Henry so I will stay tuned in.
Good choice.
Given that the Canadian public funds CBC for the most part, I feel that local listeners should be able to vote for talk show hosts. The giggling goose that currently hosts Daybreak in Montreal forces me to often change to radio stations that talk less about tripe and more about actual news (Like VPRN or NPR), less the goofy giggling. Mike Finnerty wasn’t much better. This week (1 Feb 2021) our regular sports commentator has disappeared, replaced by someone who sounds like a bot. Really sucks that public funds are used for this; defund the CBC and give some of that money to new, no-commercial radio stations!