Erin Davis
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Erin Davis is the host of 98.1 CHFI's Morning Show with Mike Cooper, starting in late October 2005.
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[edit] Upbringing
Born in Edmonton, Alberta to a Canadian Air Force officer and his wife, Davis's childhood was spent in many different cities, as is typical of an Air Force family. She was raised in Ottawa and Trenton, Ontario, and England. Growing up, she was always interested in music and singing, regularly joining her grandfather's orchestra.
When she graduated from high school (Nicholson Catholic College), she decided to pursue her performing further by studying Radio Broadcasting at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario. While she was there, she also kept busy hosting a radio show on CIGL-FM in the afternoons and playing piano at a local restaurant in the evenings.
[edit] Radio career
After graduating from Loyalist College, she moved to Windsor, Ontario to work at CKLW Windsor (aka The Big Eight), where she has the distinction of being the first female co-host in the Detroit market. From there, she moved to Toronto, Ontario to co-host Good Morning Toronto at CKO Toronto, the flagship station of Canada's all-news radio network.[1] This job led to her big breakthrough, when in 1988 she she was asked to join popular morning show host Don Daynard on the CHFI morning show.
Shortly after Davis joined Don, theirs became the top rated morning show in the market and maintained high ratings through 1999, when Don Daynard retired and was replaced by Bob Magee as Davis's co-host in the mornings.[1] Together the new duo Bob and Davis continued to maintain the high ratings up until spring 2003, when CHFI station executives decided to take the station in a different direction and released Davis, moving Bob to the "afternoon drive" shift.[1]
While still doing the morning show with Don, and later Bob, Davis also had several appearances on TV. She made a number of guest host appearances at CFTO (now CTV Toronto) and Global. Following that, Davis wrote and performed a nightly commentary on CFTO News in 1998 and 1999 called "Just So You Know". Then for more than 200 episodes across two seasons, she hosted a nightly talk show on Rogers Television called "The Erin Davis Show". The lifestyle and wellness program received an award in its second season as Canada’s best cable talk show.
[edit] Off the air
After her sudden departure from radio, since the non-compete clause in her contract forbade her from being hired by another radio station for a year, Davis used her time to pursue other dreams. In the summer of 2003, the W Network offered her a chance to create her own daily live national television talk show. That fall she starred in W Live with Erin Davis, featuring guests and viewers discussing women's lifestyle, health and wellness issues.[2]
Also that summer, Davis was contacted by Ross Petty, a theatrical producer who was organizing his annual Christmas family pantomime in Toronto. He invited her to audition for and she made her live theatre debut as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at Toronto's Elgin Theatre in December for a month long run, concurrent with her daily television show.
[edit] Back on the air
On September 7th 2004, about 14 months after her abrupt departure from CHFI, Davis returned to Toronto radio. CHFI competitor EZ-Rock had an opening in their morning show when host Christine Cardoso left on maternity leave. After polling their listeners for ideas, Davis was an easy choice. On EZ-Rock, she joined Mike Cooper hosting the morning show.[3] While she was there, the station achieved number one ratings for the first time.
Davis's stint with EZ-Rock ended earlier than expected in April 2005, when it became known that she had agreed to return to CHFI the following September.[4] In addition, it was learned that Mike Cooper would be leaving EZ-Rock and joining her as co-host on the morning show at CHFI once his 6-month non-compete clause expired in late October.[4] Together the two reunited at CHFI and continued to go strong there, putting CHFI back at the top of the Toronto ratings and holding it there.[5][6]
[edit] Off-air work
While not on the radio doing the morning show, Davis regularly appears at various public events as both M.C. and Keynote Speaker. She is also an accomplished vocalist and fronted an oldies band for over 10 years. She was featured on three CD’s for the Toronto Blue Jays and Variety Club during the team’s pennant and World Series runs of the early 1990’s. Davis has also sung national anthems at many Blue Jays, Maple Leafs and Argonauts games, and boasts a winning record for the home team.
[edit] Charity work
Davis has participated in numerous charitable causes. Nearly every year she is one of the co-hosts on the Easter Seals Telethon on CBC television. She is also very active with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and has also worked for Sheena’s Place and the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, for which she raised over $160,000 in the summer of 1998, simply by shaving her head. Davis has been saluted by the Empire Club, Variety Club and Toastmasters International for her public service work.
[edit] Home life
Davis and Rob, her husband of 18 years, have a 15-year-old daughter, Lauren. Many longtime CHFI fans know Lauren well, as Davis returned to work mere days after giving birth, thanks to having a temporary studio setup in her home. Davis and her family live in Toronto with their two dogs, Pepper Jay and Molly Malone. All 5 also enjoy frequent trips to their cottage on the Trent Canal.
[edit] Honours and awards
- Named Chatelaine Woman Of Influence in 2002.
- Named 2006 Woman of the Year for the Greater Toronto Area after a public survey by the Consumers Choice Award.
- Acted as Grand Marshal of the 2006 Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade.
- Received the Paul Harris fellowship, a Rotary honour recognizing the highest public service.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Bray, David (July 9, 2003). "Davis' listeners hard hit by business of radio". Broadcaster Magazine
- ^ "Erin Davis turns to TV". (September 30, 2003). Broadcaster Magazine
- ^ Bray, David (August 31st, 2004) "Erin Davis back on Toronto airwaves". Broadcaster Magazine
- ^ a b Bray, David (April 27, 2005) "Erin Davis returns to CHFI-FM". Broadcaster Magazine
- ^ "Survey 4 2006 BBM Overview" (December 4th, 2006). Broadcaster Magazine.
- ^ Quill, Greg (December 5th, 2006) "CHFI-FM tops on local radio". Toronto Star. (retrieved December 7th, 2006)
[edit] External links
- Official website, where she writes a daily journal
