Brendan Connor

Birthplace
Sudbury, Ontario

First Media Job
CKSO Radio, Sudbury, Ontario

Photo Credit
CTV.ca


He’s been identified as the man who has followed in his father’s footsteps. Like his dad, Michael Connor, Brendan Connor found himself in the broadcast industry.

Attending Lockerby and Sudbury Secondary, Brendan excelled in football and basketball and earned a basketball scholarship to Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. He then went to Queen’s University in Kingston, and while there he returned home for the summers and worked at CKSO Radio. Upon graduation from Queen’s in 1980 Brendan then worked at CKLC in Kingston, then returned home to Sudbury taking on a position of news reporter for CKSO.

Regardless of an English Literature degree from Queen’s, teaching would take a back seat to broadcasting. He believed his degree would however, be a great asset due to the amount of writing he knew would be required in radio or television.

Next, he made a 1982 move to CFPL Radio in London. Two years later in ’84 it was on to CBC Radio in Toronto where he would remain for six years. In 1991 he landed in Winnipeg to host the CBC Radio morning program in that city, but within a year’s time, TSN had called!

Brendan anchored “TSN Sportsdesk”, a nightly program, for seven years. This was followed by a move to CBC TV in Toronto in 1999 anchoring newscasts and hosting interview programs on the network’s news channels. His last assignment for CBC was covering the Torino Winter Olympics in February of 2006.

With a strong interest in world news and international travel, Brendan took advantage of an opportunity in 2006 to travel overseas to work for a new global satellite channel, “Al Jazeera English”. He remained there for a period of four years, returning to Canada in 2011, where CTV Northern Ontario approached Brendan about anchoring and also contributing as a mentor.

Brendan’s broadcast career has been highlighted with several other opportunities. He has covered major sports events including The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games for the Olympic News Channel (IOC), the 2004 Olympics in Athens for CBC Newsworld, the 2000 Sydney Olympics on behalf of CBC.ca, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul for CBC Radio, the 1990 New Zealand Commonwealth Games, the Stanley Cup Finals, the World Series, the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals.

Brendan finally did find himself teaching at Sheridan College in the Toronto area from 2002 to 2005 where he taught a graduate course in broadcasting. He is also a published author with the release of two books, “The Broadview Book of Sports Anecdotes”, October of 1989, and “Slam Dunk: The Raptors and the NBA in Canada”, January of 1995.

Since 2017, Brendan has been in Sudbury anchoring “CTV News for the North”.