John Gilbert (14 September 1930 – 14 September 1998)
indicated a conflicting date of death, the previous day (13 September). was a Canadian radio broadcaster.

Early life, family and education

Gilbert was raised in the Cabbagetown section of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

before running away from home to join a carnival when he was 13 years old.

Career

He began his broadcasting career in

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the U.S. state of New York (state), New York converge. It is Ontario's easternmost city. Although it is the seat of the United ...

at age 17 and hosted his first talk show in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

, around 1966. Gilbert was a broadcaster with CJCH Halifax, which was acquired by

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM (AM), CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in ...

in 1970. In February 1971, Toronto's 1050 CHUM announced that he would succeed

Larry Solway Lawrence S. "Larry" Solway (13 August 1928 – 9 January 2012) was a Canadian actor and broadcaster. Career During the 1960s he hosted radio programmes at CHUM in Toronto such as the early Canadian talk show ''Speak Your Mind''. He left th ...

as host of the talk show ''Speak Your Mind''. In 1973, he became the most successful radio talk show host in Canada with 120 000 measured listeners, more than Vancouver media legend Jack Webster. In 1976, Gilbert recorded "

No Charge "No Charge" is a country music song, written by songwriter Harlan Howard. It was first recorded by country singer Melba Montgomery, whose 1974 version was a #1 country hit in both the US and Canada, as well as making #39 on the US pop charts ...

", a cover version of a song also recorded by

Melba Montgomery Melba Joyce Montgomery (October 14, 1938 – January 15, 2025) was an American country music singer and songwriter. She was known for a series of duet recordings made with George Jones, Gene Pitney, and Charlie Louvin. She was also a solo artis ...

and J. J. Barrie, which charted nationally. Gilbert's term with CHUM ended in 1977. In 1980, Gilbert hosted ''Night Talk'', a weekday late night program planned as a national talk show. However, the

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

ordered that the network of stations broadcasting the program be cut back from 13 to the six stations then owned by

Maclean-Hunter Maclean-Hunter (M-H) was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution. History The company began in 1887, when brothers John Bayne Maclean and H ...

: CKEY Toronto (host station), CFCN Calgary,

CFCO CFCO (630 kHz) is a news, sports, and country music AM radio station located in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. The station, owned by London, Ontario-based Blackburn Radio, features a heavy local news commitment. CFCO is one of the few dedicated country ...

Chatham, CHNS Halifax, CKGL-FM Kitchener, and CKOY Ottawa. A year after it launched, it was also broadcast by CJJD Hamilton,

CJBQ CJBQ is a Canadian radio station licensed at Belleville, Ontario. It is owned by Quinte Broadcasting along with CIGL-FM and CJTN-FM. CJBQ broadcasts on 800 kHz at a power of 10 kW. The transmitter is located in Prince Edward County. The ante ...

Belleville, CJNH Bancroft, CHSC St. Catharines, and

CHEX Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally known as Shredded Ralston, first produced in 1936 and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, then later renamed Chex in 1950. T ...

Peterborough. The show ran until 1982, when Gilbert re-joined ''Night Talk'' co-creator Taylor Parnaby, who had become station manager of

CKO CKO was a Canadian radio news network which operated from 1977 to 1989. The CKO call sign was shared by twelve network-owned stations, as listed below. The network was owned by Canada All-News Radio Ltd. AGRA Industries was originally a 45 per ...

Career

* years unknown:

CKSF CJSS-FM (101.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Cornwall, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic hits format branded as '' Boom 101.9''. CJSS is owned by Corus Entertainment, which acquired the station, along with CFLG-FM, in 2001. CJSS- ...

* 1962:

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

* years unknown:

CFBC CFBC (930 AM) is a commercial radio station in Saint John, New Brunswick. The station plays a radio format mixing current and recent Country music hits blended with Classic Country. CFBC is owned and operated by the Maritime Broadcasting Sys ...

* ???-1971: CJCH, Halifax * 1971-1977: CHUM,

* 1978-1980:

CKFH CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor an ...

, Toronto * 1980-1982: CKEY Toronto * 1982-1986:

, Toronto (national radio network) * 1990s:

CKTB CKTB (610 AM, "610 CKTB") is a radio station licensed to St. Catharines, Ontario. Owned by Whiteoaks Communications Group, it broadcasts a talk radio format serving the Niagara Region. Its studios are on Yates Street in downtown St. Catharin ...

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

Discography

References

External links

University of British Columbia: Public Affairs Office fonds - #3305 - references 1987 interviews with John Gilbert on CKO

CBSC Decision CBSC Decision 92/93-0179: CKTB-AM re the John Gilbert Show
26 October 1993

1930 births 1998 deaths Canadian radio personalities {{Canada-radio-bio-stub