Tag Archives: Rob Kemp

Rob Kemp to host weekend mornings on The Beat

Rob Kemp

Half a year after being let go from CHOM as part of a larger bloodletting at Bell Media, Rob Kemp has landed at Cogeco’s 92.5 The Beat, where he’ll be in the company of many others he used to work in the same building with.

The Beat made the announcement Friday morning, saying he’ll be hosting the weekend morning show, 6-9am, “throughout the summer.” No specific start date is mentioned, but it’s “soon.”

Shaun McMahon, who hosts that show now, will be filling in on other parts of the schedule as everyone takes vacation.

But what about after the summer, when there’s less need for vacation fill-in? No word on that. Promotions Director Stéphanie Lagacé says they’re just focused on summer right now.

Then again, since they don’t know who the program director is going to be this fall, it makes sense not to think too far ahead.

Kemp is hardly the first person to leave Bell Media Radio’s home of 1717 René-Lévesque Blvd. (or Astral’s 1410 Fort St. before it) to move to Cogeco’s HQ in Place Bonaventure. The station has a habit, it seems, of stealing or picking up people from the other guy (particularly people at Virgin Radio). Among them:

  • Morning host Cat Spencer (poached from Virgin)
  • Afternoon drive host Cousin Vinny Barrucco (poached from Virgin)
  • Evening host Kim Sullivan (Virgin alum hired by The Beat after stints in Winnipeg and Ottawa)
  • Weekend host Nat Lauzon (poached from Virgin as she transitioned to part-time work)
  • Pete Marier (took on weekend work at The Beat after a contract dispute with CHOM, now works at Boom FM in Ottawa)
  • Murray Sherriffs (hired by The Beat after CJFM let him go as part of the Mix 96/Virgin Radio transition, let go three years later)
  • Interim Program Director Martin Tremblay (was formerly executive producer with NRJ/Rouge FM in Montreal)
  • General Manager Wayne Bews (former TSN 690 GM shuffled into CTV job when that position was eliminated, hired by The Beat until that position was eliminated as well)

CHOM’s new schedule adds Terry DiMonte, Heather Backman in mornings

UPDATE (Jan. 13): Read more about DiMonte’s first day here. Updates below with more coverage of DiMonte’s return and comments from Chantal Desjardins about her new job at CJAD.

Terry DiMonte does his first show back at CHOM on Jan. 9.

The news that Terry DiMonte was coming back to CHOM came out all the way back in June. The date was set and publicized in November. But details on such things as who his cohosts would be and what happens to the rest of the schedule were kept under wraps until Monday when DiMonte started his first show.

Here’s the details of its new schedule:

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RoKo loves CoCo

Conan O’Brien, who isn’t allowed to “be funny on television” until the fall as a condition of his $45-million buyout from NBC, has launched a North American comedy tour to pass the summer until he’s inevitably picked up by Fox.

The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour has three stops in Canada: Vancouver (two shows April 13-14), Enoch, Alta.(just west of Edmonton, April 17), and Toronto (May 22).

Sadly, Montreal isn’t on this list (though neither is Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax and a bunch of other cities). People have been pleading on Twitter for him to come, hoping that the eight-day hole after his Toronto stop could be easily taken up with something at a Montreal venue.

Rob Kemp, the afternoon host at CHOM, has taken it a bit further, starring in a video in which he dons a wig and does Conan’s “string dance” in front of some local attractions.

(He even helpfully translates “Bell Centre” into the Americanese “Bell Center”)

Pete Marier replaces Rob Kemp on CHOM morning show

They’re billing it as “Something BAD is coming to CHOM”, and rumours are spreading about major changes at Montreal’s classic rock station.

The truth, however, is far less interesting. CHOM is simply shuffling their talent around.

The big news is that “Bad” Pete Marier and Rob Kemp will be switching slots on the schedule. Marier will join Kim Rossi and Ted Bird on the morning show, while Kemp will DJ in the afternoons.

The schedule tightens up the shows during weekdays, enough to add a new one: “Jo’s Garage” with Musique Plus VJ and CBC radio host Joanne Vrakas, in the late evenings.

The old schedule

Weekdays:

  • Ted, Kim and Kemp in the Morning: 5:30 am to 10:00 am
  • Sharon Hyland Show: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
  • Pete Marier Show: 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm
  • Evenings with Bilal: 7:00 pm to 12:00 am
  • Overnight Rock w/ Brandon: 12:00 am to 5:30 am

Saturdays:

  • Best of Ted, Kim & Kemp: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
  • Tootall Weekend Show: 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
  • Randy Renaud Show: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
  • CHOM’s That 80’s Show: 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
  • Randy Renaud Show: 11:00 pm to 12:00 am
  • Jimmy Spencer Show: 12:00 am to 6:00 am

Sundays:

  • CHOM Rocks Your Weekend Mornings: 6:00 am to 9:00 am
  • The Deep End with Nick Michaels: 9:00 am to 11:00 am
  • Electric Brunch with Tootall: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
  • Tootall Weekend Show: 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
  • Randy Renaud Show: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
  • CHOM’s Black Cat Alley Show: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
  • Little Steven’s Underground Garage: 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm
  • Off The Record: 11:00 pm to 12:00 am
  • Overnight Rock w/ Brandon: 12:00 am to 5:30 am

The new schedule

Weekdays

  • Ted, Kim and Bad Pete in the Morning: 5:30 am to 9:00 am
  • Sharon Hyland Show: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
  • The Electric Lunch Hour: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
  • Rob Kemp Show: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
  • Butt Show (Bilal): 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
  • Jo’s Garage with Joanne Vrakas: 8:00 pm to 12:00 am
  • Overnight Rock w/ Brandon: 12:00 am to 5:30 am

Saturdays and Sundays are unchanged. Tootall and Randy Renaud aren’t going anywhere.

Terry DiMonte leaving CHOM for better offer in Calgary

Terry DiMonte Rumours that longtime Montreal radio personality and CHOM-FM morningman Terry DiMonte was considering an offer to move to another radio station were verified today when CHOM announced he was leaving in an email to listeners.

Strangely, the announcement doesn’t mention where he’s going, calling it only “a new opportunity in Western Canada.” But he has accepted a five-year contract at Calgary’s Q107 classic rock station, where he will begin a show in January.

DiMonte’s last day is this Friday.

Through two stints at CHOM (separated by five years at Mix 96 and four years at CJAD), DiMonte has spent 14 years at the classic rock station, becoming one of its most recognizable names. He’s been a perennial favourite among anglo Montrealers, and won the Mirror’s No. 1 choice for best radio host in its 2005 Best of Montreal poll.

Metroblogging Montreal has already declared war. Adrian’s a bit more sombre about it.

Rob Kemp DiMonte’s replacement on the Terry Ted and Kim morning show is Rob Kemp, who currently hosts the Rob Kemp show on weekday afternoons on Mix 96. He starts Monday, when the show will become the Ted, Kim and Kemp show (a name which sounds cooler than “Ted Kim and Rob” but makes no sense logically).

As for Kemp’s old slot, Mix 96 is currently hiring to fill it. So if you have a sunny disposition and at least three years of on-air experience in the format, feel free to apply.

UPDATE: The Gazette (after talking with DiMonte) confirms what’s been pretty obvious to everyone, that DiMonte’s move was about contract negotiations. Talks to re-sign him weren’t going well, giving him the distinct impression that CHOM didn’t really want him back. (Classy man that he is though, he doesn’t blame management for the deal going sour, lamenting only that he and Bird don’t have the star power they used to.)

Q107 gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. So Montreal loses another star to free agency.

UPDATE (Nov. 23): On the morning of his last day, a tribute cartoon from Aislin, and a column from Mike Boone. And, of course, the obligatory Facebook group that misspells his name.

UPDATE (Nov. 24): In this morning’s Gazette, a recounting of DiMonte’s final day on the air.

There’s also an article in the Calgary Herald about how DiMonte’s arrival will affect the radio landscape there. It notes how DiMonte’s departure is “front-page news” here, though with the exception of The Gazette and CTV News I find this story vastly under-covered in the Montreal media. A brief Presse Canadienne piece, a couple of sentences at CJAD (where he spent a few years). Not a peep from CBC, Global, or any of the French media.

The news item is already off CHOM’s front page, replaced by a Led Zeppelin promo. Hell, even Ted Bird’s blog is absent any mention of his best bud’s departure (what the hell is the point of these blogs if you’re not going to use them for things like this?). Kim Rossi mentions it briefly, though it sounds more like a press release than a heartfelt goodbye to a friend.

So I’ll leave you with this video from CTV News on YouTube (I would have linked to the one on CTV’s website, but all the links I found to it say the video is “no longer available”):

UPDATE (Dec. 12): The Gazette’s Bill Brownstein follows Terry around for his last week in Montreal, going to some of the places he’ll miss most.

UPDATE (Jan. 4): DiMonte has already begun his morning show at Q107, where he’s being partnered with former Montrealer “Peppermint” Patti MacNeil. The show can be heard online weekdays 7:30am-noon (5:30-10am in Calgary).