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The dust is still clearing from the sudden demise of TSN 1040, but Rob Fai is on to something new.

Fai — who was the late-night host on the all-sports station that was shut down by parent company Bell Media without warning midway through their morning show last Tuesday — has joined forces with Hubcast Media to do a post-game Vancouver Canucks show on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook Live and Vimeo.

The Nation with Rob Fai debuted on Monday, after the Canucks’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames. The second show was set to run Wednesday after Vancouver’s visit to Calgary, with Jeff Paterson, who had been TSN 1040’s Canucks reporter, slated to be Fai’s guest.

Fai says he wanted to react quickly and get back into the sports media game, trying to take advantage of a growing Facebook Live following that he had begun to create for his TSN 1040 show.

“I felt like I was on the mat, looking up at the referee, and he was in the middle of giving me a 10-count,” Fai said. “I wasn’t going to just lay there and wait for that.”

Fai had left his longtime gig as the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadians to start this latest incarnation of his show at TSN 1040. In 2019, the C’s had a six-game TV deal with Sportsnet, and Hubcast produced those broadcasts. Fai reached out to Hubcast and they teamed up quickly recently to go from concept to finished product.

They were cheeky from the very get-go. The first moments of that very first show included a rendition of the Green Day song Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),the tune that Bell Media — despite the title — opted to play on the TSN 1040 airwaves immediately after an announcement that the station would no longer be all-sports.

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Fai was a freelancer at TSN 1040. He’ll once again need sponsors to help make things work with Hubcast. Fai did say that he had heard from four different companies after Monday’s show that had interest in advertising. And Scott Ackles, who’s the chief revenue officer for Hubcast, says there are plans in the works to take The Nation on location.

The son of the late Bob Ackles of B.C. Lions fame, Scott himself was the general manager of the 2005 and 2011 Grey Cups in Vancouver.He does have a media background, having studied broadcast at BCIT and having worked as a freelance TV camera operator for a time, and he’s been at Hubcast since September.

Peter Young is Hubcast’s founder and president. Other names of note include senior creative producer Fiona Forbes, the former host of Urban Rush on Shaw Cable.

Hubcast’s tag line is that “we create virtual events for today’s world.”

Fai’s show is shot out of Hubcast’s studios in Port Kells, which the company lists as a 5,000-square-foot facility and fully equipped for recording, filming and live broadcasting.

“We want to make sure that Rob’s show is fully supported and fully interactive,” Ackles said.

Fai’s forte with his TSN 1040 show was kibitzing with fans who would phone in. Ackles says that kind of direct connection is a goal for the new venture, although Monday’s show only featured Fai responding to comments on YouTube.

“We’re working to deliver that very quickly,” Ackles said.

TSN 1040 was again winning the head-to-head ratings battle with Sportsnet 650, and there have been assorted suggestions on social media about the possibility of Sportsnet 650 adding former TSN 1040 stalwarts to bolster their roster.That premise became a little more complicated Tuesday, though, when Sportsnet 650’s sister station, Sportsnet 590 in Toronto, cut ties with programming director Dave Cadeau. Cadeau was also the national director of programming for Sportsnet radio, so he had influence with the Vancouver product.

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Meanwhile, the play-by-play broadcasts for the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps are both up in the air. The Lions signed a five-year deal with TSN 1040 in January 2018. Leos president Rick LeLacheur told season-ticket holders on a Tuesday Zoom call that “we’re still not sure what’s going to happen. We still have to have conversations with Bell Media.”

LeLacheur said the football club has spoken to play-by-play man Bob Marjanovich, analyst Giulio Caravatta and sideline reporter Karen Surman, and “they’re very hopeful that we can find something going forward that they’ll still be able to be involved (with) because they’re Lions at heart.”

The Whitecaps had been a part of the TSN 1040 stable since the club’s move to MLS in 2011.

Caps chief communications officer Tom Plasteras explained via text message: “We are exploring a number of options and will be able to provide an update in the coming weeks.”

CKNW 980 has a history in Vancouver of sports play-by-play broadcasting, holding the rights to Canucks and Lions games before both teams switched to TSN 1040. The Canucks moved to Sportsnet 650 for the 2017-18 season.

Asked about Corus’s interest in returning to sports play-by-play in the market, Corus Radio communications associate Jamie Jensen explained via email: “Unfortunately we are unable to comment at this time but will let you know if and when that changes in the future.”

sewen@postmedia.com

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