FAN boss Nelson Millman heads to Sportsnet, Mike English heads out

Wednesday marked a day of some big developments in the Rogers sports family.

Nelson Millman, the man who piloted The FAN 590 through its first 15 years of existence, is moving over to Rogers Sportsnet.

The sports channel confirmed Wednesday that Millman, who was a vice-president and general manager at the all-sports radio station, will be taking the title of executive producer of studio productions. That means he'll be overseeing everything that Sportsnet produces in-house, from Sportsnet Connected to hockey pre-game shows.

He will replace news director Mike English, who is now out of a job.

``We are all stunned," said one Sportsnet staff member.

Millman, who has spent 37 years on the radio side of the business, will be handling television for the first time. That sounds like a monumental task, but Millman says he's prepared for it.

``The platform for delivery is entirely different, but it's still about performance, presentation and entertainment," said Millman, who will also continue to run the CTV-Rogers Olympic consortium's radio operations. ``I'm facing a pretty big learning curve, but change is never a bad thing."

So what does this all mean? Like most of Rogers media properties, both the FAN and Sportsnet were hit hard by the recession. Millman says he wanted a change. It's possible he may have wanted that change to get away from the pressure of trying to make a business work in a tough economy.

As for English, most likely he was ousted for the same reason most people in his position lose their jobs: the ratings weren't good enough.

That's a problem Millman will now face, and one that English's predecessors faced. It won't be easy.

Millman takes over at Sportsnet on Dec. 7. His replacement hasn't been announced, but he or she will also have some big challenges.

Comments

[JGH]

I'm not surprised. While Mcowan's show is a good listen, the rest of the station is impossible to listen to. Mornings are terrible (Sorry, listeners, the Monday nighter goes too long..we can't stay up that late!..wait, not that we know anything about football anyway) and it gets worse from there.

[TC]

Agreed. The class of the Fan590 is Bobcat, Hogie and Roger Lajoie. Landry sounds like he is often bored and doesn't care anymore. Doug MacLean... after his display on Bob McCown's show afew months back shouldn't even be on The Fan's payroll, let alone getting any air-time.

Want to upgrade the station? Get Montreal's Team 990's Mitch Melnick to move to Toronto! And I know this was a Millman move, but what's with replaying segments over-night? Are things so bad that The Fan can't afford to pay for the ESPN feed over-night? A guaranteed rating increase to WGR550 in Buffalo, even with the lousy reception in most parts of the GTA!

[Cartan]

My advice to everyone is get Sirius Radio ASAP..but tune into Mcowan for the drive home.

[Rob C]

I don't like anything on the Fan. (HOGAN??!! Come on!) - I prefer Greg Brady and Watters to McCown. And John Oakley is far (far) better than Landry and Stellick - Jim Kelly chased me away fromt the Prime Time show most of all - What an embarrassment!
Millman better roll up his sleaves - The Fan is a juggernaut compared to Sportsnet - What a terrible network (or digital service...whatever - Seneca College radio is far more professional)...Darren Millard is