Goodbye Z103, Hello KISS 92.5

Imagine having the rug pulled right from under you without any warning. In a matter of seconds you hit the floor in a daze, not realising what happened.

The routine you were accustomed to has now halted, your life has been torn apart. Now what? That’s what happened to Dave Blezard, a Toronto-based radio personality.

For nine years he was part of the Z103.5 morning show team, which included DJs Scott Fox and Ashley Greco. That was, until he was shown the door - fired without warning.
“It was back in January, right after a show on a Tuesday morning, my ex-boss called me in and said, ‘We’re making some changes and it includes continuing the morning show without you’,” says Blezard.

“I was really surprised, shocked - I didn’t quite understand. To me, the reason I was given wasn’t satisfactory,” he continues. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, I kind of had no choice, but to accept it. And that was it.”

Blezard was locked out of his email and taken off the Z103 website before he even left the office. All traces of Blezard had been erased. Fox and Greco were left to continue the morning show one man down, with no direction and no explanation for their listeners.

Not happy with his sudden uprooting, Blezard took matters into his own hands. He posted a message on Facebook telling people he was let go and not happy about it. It created such an outrage, that someone created a Bring Back Dave Blezard Morning Show group on Facebook, which attracted 2,000 members. People were posting messages of anger and disapproval everywhere, including on Z103’s Facebook page.

“It’s like wait a second, I didn’t quit, you fired me - it’s not like I walked out and got to leave with my head held high,” he says. “I was never written up, I was never in trouble - they said it was the performance of the morning show. So why is it that only one person (was) being let go?”

But the shuffle at Z103 did not end there. In May, Fox was given his pink slip, and Greco was switched to the midday show.

A few hours after Blezard was let-go, every radio station was calling him, emailing him or sending him a text message offering support. That also included a call from the national program director from Rogers, who owns KISS 92.5.

The following week, Blezard was interviewing at Kiss 92.5 and five other radio stations. At the end of it, he was unemployed for about 24 days before being hired at KISS.

“The connection you make with people is sometimes bigger than what you’re doing, and it’s incredibly flattering that people have gone on to the next step with me,” he says. “We’re all going to a new place, we’re all going on together, and our new home is KISS.” 

And through all the surprises, Dave took control and made it back to
where he belongs, entertaining millions on the radio - on Kiss 92.5