Start spreading the News Forum Network. A Canadian talk show favourite can be seen there now with her new series Trailblazing Talks with Dini Petty.
First, what’s a News Forum Network? It is a Canadian English language news channel that was formed about five years ago. Based in St. Catherines, Ont., its founder, Tore Stautland, previously worked at Zoomermedia’s Faith TV and Joytv. Stephen LeDrew and Tony Clement have landed there as show hosts. The CRTC granted it “Must Offer” status as a discretionary news service, and you can find it among the offerings at Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Telus.
The addition of Petty should appeal to fans of The Dini Petty Show, a daytime talk show that ran throughout the ‘90s on CFTO. She’s back at 80, talking to people who have impressed her with their achievements, including, on the premiere, former The Young and the Restless actress Tonya Williams and former Olympic gold medalist and senator Marnie McBean.
Aside from her gray hair, it is the same Dini who co-anchored newscasts on Citytv for years prior to her CFTO talk show gig. At the tender age of 22, Petty also broke ground with Toronto radio station CKEY as Canada’s first female traffic reporter to fly solo in a helicopter.
As a reporter on the TV beat I used to occasionally guest on The Dini Petty Show when it taped in Agincourt at the CTV studios. Back then shows would send not an uBer but a limo, so a nice midday break from typing back at TV Guide Canada.
Petty graciously guested recently on brioux.tv: the podcast and I asked her what she thought was the difference between interviewing people at 80 compared with, say, at 40. I thought she might say with age comes wisdom or at least a different perspective but Petty’s response was immediate: “There is no difference.” I think that may be true in her case, as she always was a curious person who didn’t tiptoe around subjects and came right to the point. In a way, she always seemed 80; somebody who didn’t have time to waste and wanted direct answers. That’s generally what viewers want as well.
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You can sample her new series now by streaming Trailblazing Talks with Dini Petty now on-line at the NFN web site. Or listen to her now by linking directly to out podcast conversation, where she described, among other things, cheated death. Link by clicking the white arrow in the blue dot, below.
