This was Mark Dailey .... Everywhere

ON SCREEN:
MARK DAILEY; 1953 - 2010

ONLINE:
citytv.com

BOTTOM LINE:
CITYTV JUST WON'T BE THE SAME
WITHOUT 'THE VOICE.'

This was Mark Dailey .... Everywhere

Citytv's famous fixture will surely be missed by many.

By Eric Kohanik

I can't believe it. Over the 100 years that I've covered TV (actually, it just seems that long), I never did a story on Mark Dailey.

I never did it during the 13 years that I was the Senior Writer and TV Critic and, eventually, the Editor of TV Times.

I never did it during the nine years before that, either, when I was the daily TV columnist for The Hamilton Spectator.

That's particularly bothersome because, much like it is in the world of regular blogging now, a TV columnist for a daily newspaper back then would always be grasping for something -- anything -- to write about in order to fill each day's pages.

And yet, Mark Dailey never made it to my story list. Somehow, it was always just taken for granted that Dailey would be there.

Everywhere.

The much-loved and respected fixture at Toronto's Citytv lost his battle with cancer on Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. As well as bringing his wit and wisdom to the station's newscasts, Dailey was known as "The Voice" whose dulcet tones regularly reminded viewers that: "This is Citytv ..... Everywhere."

Dailey was an inspiration to many, on various levels. One of his most touching personal calls to action came during a Toronto Sun golf tournament I played in at Glen Abbey Golf Club a few years ago. At the reception/dinner afterward, Dailey took to the microphone and talked about his impending battle with prostate cancer and his desire to raise awareness of the disease.

The speech would prompt many in attendance (including The Watcher) to begin having regular medical exams and PSA blood screenings.

Although Dailey did conquer prostate cancer, his on-air revelation a relatively short while ago that kidney cancer would be his next great personal battle did sound hopeful. Yet, his words had an overwhelmingly ominous undertone that suggested this might be quite a tough fight.

Somehow, though, it didn't seem possible that Mark Dailey would lose the battle. And that he just wouldn't be "Everywhere" for much longer.

There have been many tributes to Mark Dailey on the air, in print and online over the past couple of days. For a look at his life and work, check out the tribute's at Citytv's website:
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/102653--a-legend-lost-toronto-mourns-the-death-of-mark-dailey

The TCA Press Tour

Wow.

I can't recall a Television Critics Association Press Tour so newsworthy in years.

At least not so early in the proceedings.

I should know. This is the 43rd time I've attended the semi-annual Hollywood gathering of TV critics and columnists from across the U.S. and Canada.

The news has certainly been coming fast and furious out of the grand ballroom at the posh Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa in stately Pasadena, Calif.

Well, the buzz hasn't all taken place at the Langham.

There was CBS's huge Survivor reunion party on Saturday night, for instance. Geared to mark the upcoming 2oth season / 10th anniversary of the reality show, the event was the biggest collection of the longrunning show's contestants ever in one place, filling a massive soundstage at CBS's famed Television City complex with a rockin' case of jungle fever.

Back at the ballroom, though, there was NBC's confirmation announcement on Sunday about its upcoming plans for Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien once the Winter Olympics have finished their run next month. That caused a media frenzy that made it to the front page of USA Today and countless other papers.

On Monday, it was Fox's turn to do the big reveal. The announcement: That Simon Cowell will leave American Idol at the end of this season in order to focus on the Fall 2011 arrival of Cowell's own pet TV project, The X Factor.

As Cowell signed the deal on the ballroom stage at the Langham, there was an almost-deafening cacophony of chattering keyboards as reporters raced to blog, tweet and otherwise get stories transmitted to their assorted media outlets.

All of which means ABC, which is up next on Tuesday, will really have its work cut out for it.

That is, if it hopes to come anywhere close to the buzz that its network rivals have already been generating at the TCA Press Tour.