The radio apocalypse is coming... have you picked a side? With the debut of TSN radio this week the Toronto sports radio scene is about to get crowded. For some time now the two combatants, Rogers and Bell, have been massing their armies of on air personalities in anticipation of the upcoming war for the airwaves.

Much like the NHL, which is the bread and butter of sports talk radio north of the 49th; the Canadian sports talk radio scene has primarily remained an old boys network. Recycled hosts, re-tread coaches turned analyst (many who fail to excel in either venture) and veteran newspaper reporters turned radio personalities. Don't get me wrong, some of these people do a bang up job, but other times they just seem like more of the same. People competing for air time who think the louder their voice is, the more valuable their opinion becomes. (We call this the "Around The Horn" theory)

Since TSN announced their foray to the airwaves they've gone in the opposite direction of the Fan, acquiring young up and coming talent with a very small established national footprint. The first shot across the bow of Roger's media was plucking Mike Richards from The Fan 960 in Calgary. For TSN the thinking appears to be the easiest way to hurt your competition is to go after that which they covet most. It was no secret that Richards was targeted by The Fan 590 prior to their on air overhaul late in 2010 but the rumour mill suggested neither side was able to agree upon compensation. Cue TSN with deep pockets and a promise of creative control and Richards was on board.

It appears TSN's strategy to compete with the Fan isn't to do it on the same battlefield. Instead of getting established personalities TSN is going after a younger, more social media savvy roster that seems to be in touch with pop culture.

The afternoon drive slot is shaping up to be an interesting competition. In one corner you have the long established king of afternoon drive time, Bob McCown. Bob's been a staple on the Toronto radio scene for as long as I can remember (he started out as the Blue Jays game day announcer back in their inaugural season) and his no holds barred "my way or the highway", "put that in your pipe and smoke it" attitude has, for the most part, endeared him to the listenership. Bob has shown no willingness to pander to listeners or the local sports team and he calls it exactly as he sees it. (one advertising spot has even trumpeted this virtue of animosity inviting angry listeners to complain at a local sports venue except for the fact it ONLY holds 50,000 people).

With the recent shuffling of the deck at the Fan and presumably with supplementary guest talent being gobbled up by the competition they also decided to give Bob back a former co-host, Damien Cox. So now you have the guy content to continue playing the "get off my lawn" curmudgeon, happy to rest on his laurels of radio success and they've supplemented him with an old boy network, newspaper reporter who loosely uses social media (though he demonstrates a complete lack of understanding how engagement works) and frequently engages in the baiting of readership and will castigate anyone who dares fire a critical thought in his direction.

Meanwhile on the opposite end of the spectrum you have TSN who seem to be embracing the up and comer status and are reaching out to their young, social media savvy target audience. They've tabbed former Sportscentre reporter James Cybulski as the host of their afternoon drive show and paired him up with National Post columnist Bruce Arthur.

Full disclosure, I'm a Bruce Arthur fan boy. He was the first "celebrity" follower I had on twitter. The first person who I already knew existed before I saw him in my followers list. I think his willingness to engage with the reader/listener is what makes him popular and will continue to serve him well in his foray in to radio.

Cybulski has been a reporter with TSN covering such events such as the World Junior Hockey Championships where he's shown a penchant to endear himself to the younger generation. No surprise that he also has a presence on twitter. Bruce built himself a solid reputation with his writing at the Natty Po, frequent guest appearances as a panellist on McCown's own Primetime Sports and with his frequent musings on twitter. Both understands how the new media machine works and will most likely use it to their advantage. TSN understands the tools at their disposal to know what the audience is saying and feeling and they will tap into that, rather than ignore it. Unlike the Fan, and specifically McCown, a man who treats new technology (like wireless devices) as a fad and users of social media are viewed for the most part, as a punch line.

Twice before Bob has taken on competition for the afternoon drive time slot and succeeded. His success in the market might be the reason for his cavalier attitude when it comes to competition. First came The Team Network, with Toronto flagship 1050. Eventually they returned 1050 back to the oldies format and packed up The Team keeping the format in only a few localized markets outside the reach of GTA airwaves. Next up was "Mojo Radio, Talk radio for guys". Again the competition eventually gave in. This time rebranding to AM640, talk radio where the only real sports talk remaining is the Leafs lunch segment as well as Maple Leaf broadcasts. So far Bob's batting 1.000 but his attitude towards his listeners which might finally catch up with him in the new media landscape.

It's no secret in radio, TV or print, the most coveted demographic is male 20 to 30 something’s with high disposable income, and everyone wants their attention. What it appears that Bob, the FAN 590, and Rogers are missing is that this demographic is getting younger. Judging by his stable regular guests and contributors, Bob's core listener is starting to shift out of this age group. People in their 20's and now entering their 30's are more tech savvy. They've come of age in an era where they've always had access to the internet. They aren't buying newspapers and the names of the voices shouting at them on the radio are becoming less and less familiar each day. They're a group who understand they have many alternatives for sports opinion and if they don't like what they hear on the radio their short attention spans can be focused elsewhere with the endless selection provided to them by satellite radio, podcasts and blogs. The strategy of ignoring new media users on PTS could slowly start to backfire.

Without the threat of any real competition, the personalities at the FAN and most notably on PTS have treated airtime as a chance to play catch-up with their circle of sports industry friends. They make inside jokes, the occasional insightful comment and the rest of the time Bob drums up as much animosity as he can with the most contrarian point of view he can think of. (In his defence, Bob usually has a well formed argument) Basically it's the equivalent of being a drive-by asshole. The formula has proven so popular up until now; The FAN saw fit to hire another man in the same ilk as McCown when they brought on Andrew Krystal in the morning. It took less than 6 months for that experiment to fail miserably. Krystal relied on the same formula as Bob, be abrasive, dismissive and rile up the listenership, but he lacked two essential components which have made McCown successful. A solid reputation in the market, and having a defensive standpoint.

With a shuffle of the decks moving Sportsnet's Jim Lang and former AM640 personality Greg Brady (two of the better personnel additions Rogers and The Fan has made recently) we've seen what might be an admission by The Fan that the status quo might not get the job done anymore. They've seen fit to have Krystal back on the radio in the afternoon but he's been noticeably softer and less abrasive than when he started in the mornings.

The Toronto radio apocalypse is coming and it has been for some time. The Fan saw it coming when they shuffled the deck in late 2010 and moved PTS from four, to three, and just this week back to four. On one side you have a network happy to shuffle the deck chairs thinking it will save the ship. An organization which thinks it can reach out to the young demographic by continuing to put a microphone in front of decaying personalities like Don Cherry. On the other side you have a combatant who is fresh thinking that knows the audience isn't necessarily happy with more of the same. A station which will utilize its own stable established talent and complement them with the next generation. For what seems like a long time the Toronto Sports Radio landscape has been shaped by the hosts and not the listeners. Hopefully a new era of competition will serve to improve the product and both outlets can thrive while offering the listener a choice that has been absent for quite some time.