11.02.2012 01:25 PM

Laura DiBattista

Huge mistake by CBC. She was an awesome broadcaster. Very surprised by this move.

39 Comments

  1. Justin says:

    It’s too bad, I enjoyed her while she was at City TV. But then Rogers turned it into another coookie cutter media outlet, and fired most of the greats at City. I’m sure she will find something, good luck to her.

  2. Kelly says:

    Maybe they’ll offer the job to Ezra Levant.

  3. Derek Pearce says:

    Hmmm, mixed feelings. She was great on City, I thought they were dumb for axing her. On “Here & Now,” her warm personality and sense of humour definitely came through, but she wasn’t the best interviewer. Her interviews more than occasionally seemed awkward/stilted or like she wasn’t entirely listening to what the subject was saying.

  4. Iris Mclean says:

    Out in the boonies we’re stuck with Ontario Morning hosted by Wei Chen. It just doesn’t get any worse than that.

    • J.W. says:

      Hey I Iike Wei Chen; she’s a bright spot in the morning; maybe she laughs too much and too loud and can be a bit silly but she can do an interview and be a personality.
      Look out TO. It could be Wei in the afternoon. She’s in line.

      • Iris Mclean says:

        Please take her! I’m sure she is a very nice and bright person, but there’s no way I can listen to that irritating noise.

        • VC says:

          Oh, Please! Not her. I know nothing about the lady and have nothing against her but her voice and mannerism over the air is very difficult to listen to. I would truly have to stop listening to the show all together.

          Laura, I believe, was an experienced broadcaster but she was the wrong person for the pm show. She had no interviewing skills. Wish her well.

  5. Elena says:

    Lara was always able to pronounce those difficult names! Her interviews sounded like she was reading the questions, not knowing how to be interactive. BUT her personality came across and her comfort zone was music and all things music. Please don’t hire Karen Gordon to replace her!
    I wish Lara – and that’s her name – all the best!!

  6. J.W. says:

    News and traffic reporters both away today. All subs.

  7. james Smith says:

    She was out of her element. This show has always been the week sister, even when Ian Brown was doing it. Mat Galloway was the best host on the programme. They should move the morning host back where he belongs on the afternoon show & find a news reporter / interviewer to do the morning show.

    For the record I don’t care about a radio host’s personal life, I don’t want a MORNING ZOO format, & I’d the interviewer to ask a question not give a speech. Mr Galloway sometimes takes 4 1/2 minutes of a 5 minute interview asking a question. As a result since Andy Barrie left I listen to a lot more NPR & Bob McCowan – sorry CBC

    • Iris Mclean says:

      Yup. I listen more and more to NPR these days, just to get away from the godam promo guy (Canada Lives Here) and the endless sports babble.

      • james Smith says:

        I turn the dial every time the news reader starts her phoney larffing. Be a professional! Don’t tell me about the latest murder then guffaw about some nonsense 3 seconds later.

  8. Lynn says:

    If they are cleaning house, please get that pompous, greedy windbag Kevin O’Leary off the air. I run to switch the channel when he is on. I suspect that he is being paid more than many of the veteran broadcasters on tv or radio and IMO he is not worth a penny.

  9. wendy says:

    Not a mistake at all, getting rid of Di Battista. She was hard to listen to and had poor rapport with the others on the show, at least some of whom sounded like they didn’t like her much. She talks off the cuff like a loose cannon and reads script like an automaton.

  10. Duckworth says:

    She was hard to listen to and had a penchant for being inflammatory and sensationalist. Not CBC material. Too Beach-centric for my taste.

  11. carole says:

    Laura DiBattista (and it is Laura, Elena – just pronounced properly Italian) was out of her element on CBC. Her grasp of articulate expression is weak, and her interviews are superficial – she does not have the depth of knowledge to draw out new ideas from interesting guests. She might be better in a different context. Frankly I am relieved.

  12. carly says:

    I am really happy about this. I agree she would be better suited somewhere else. I found here extremely shallow and so irritating to listen to.

  13. Suki Edgecombe says:

    I am very happy to hear that the CBC has axed this bimbo. She was inarticulate at best, irritating daily, and incapable at interviews. I am not “gonna” miss her, nor will I miss or inability to properly pronounce “going to.” CBC listeners deserve to hear correct English spoken on the air. Remember, many of those listeners are learning English as a second language.

  14. michelle Duncan says:

    It all sounds like cbc snobbery! How disgusting to call a women a bimbo. Get with Toronto, Laura was a great asset to our city and part of what makes our city so great.

  15. Mike Angelo says:

    Thank god she’s gone, and very disappointing to think Kinsella was so smitten with her. If I never hear her name again I’d be thankful

  16. JohnT says:

    Ms. DiBattista was a disaster.

    She had no depth when it came to anything related to politics or current affairs.

    One lengthy segment was devoted entirely to the virtues of Rob Ford as a football coach! Even while there was a controversy about his use of public resources to improve his team’s chances of success.

    On another segment about the report dealing with the revenue potential of a casino in Toronto, she and the reporter ( who should have also been shown the door) went on and on about the $100 plus million dollars that the casino would generate; all the while overlooking the fact that the authors of the report IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY wrote that only 30% of the revenues would be new money.

    So in my opinion and from my observations she either lacked the depth or the critical thinking ability to do her job. My guess is that she winds up on Rob Ford’s staff in some capacity.

  17. jaxi says:

    I think Kevin Sylvester would be stellar in this timeslot. He is quick and funny and actually seems to do some research before he does an interview. Laura…while I liked her….her voice wasn’t meant for radio

  18. constant listener says:

    Laura Di Battista gone is good news. She was often’ reaching’ in interviews. Nice is not enough. She was great for CITY TV. It just didn’t work.

  19. constant listener says:

    Robin Brown, who went to be a producer of online CBC Windsor, was excellent. Karen Gordon actually IS very smart and easy to listen too–esp. re local Toronto & entertainment news & comment. She does well in this show. Martina Fitzgerald, now on, is simply a real pro–one of the best informed to be on that show and a superb CBC newsreader. I believe she teaches or has taught broadcast jnlsm at Ryerson. But Laura was a mistake from the start. “Huh?!?” was the response when she started on that show.

  20. CBC Fan says:

    It must have been hard for Laura to have been so summarily dismissed.But I have to say I found her hard to listen to.
    I kept wishing she would give more emphasis to the end consonants of her words. I had the distinct impression she was dining, with relish, on her sentences. Her effusive attitude, although welcome, was not balanced by her listening skills. Her warm, outgoing style is better suited to TV, than the more cerebral demands of a CBC Radio host.

    • listener says:

      Scope–that’s what CBC listeners expect, and a wider scope of what’s going on–and has gone on–was not this previous host’s strength. Somebody above made a positive comment about sleep-inducing Ian Brown. That, sorry, REALLY did not work. For decades, this has been a tough slot for CBC radio. As I said above, Robin Brown, a very experienced producer & broadcaster, got it right. Maybe Martina Fitzgerald will stick here with CBC mgmt. Different audiences and purposes: being on TV at CITY was a whole news/cultural thing (whose time & money support appears to have passed). Laura was one of “the gang” there. It ain’t for nuthin’ that CBC Radio One and Metro Morning get over a million listeners/morning–and it’s not just the choice of host: production, production. Even when Joe Cote was host, the show was saved by superb, innovative assoc. producers, most at that time up-and-coming young women, one of whom went on to win the (internationally important) Peabody award for subsequent work. Clearly the afternoon CBC Radio One spot doesn’t have the resources of Metro Morning–all the more reason why choice of host matters so much. Enough for now. Long live the best of CBC Radio! And may CBC Radio 2 return to relevance, Stevey Harper in Ottawa notwithstanding.

  21. alyssa says:

    I’m not a longtime cbc listener, but I found her voice familiar and comforting on my drives home from work. The only thing that used to irritate me about her was her “hmmmm…” after every time the person she was interviewing spoke. Its almost like she wasn’t paying attention.

    I like Martina. I hope she stays!

    I like Matt in the mornings, but I’d replace the news reader woman there too (her name has escaped me), as someone mentioned above– she talks so forcably! It’s very irritating to hear her voice go up and down.

  22. Anna says:

    Found this when I googled to see if she was gone from the show. I have to say, the last few weeks when I get in my car to drive home I found myself holding my breath and then exhaling with relief when it wasn’t Laura hosting. I really wanted to like her, but her interviews regularly had me yelling at the radio to stop asking such stupid questions. She seems like a lovely person, so I feel badly that she got fired, but honestly the show is so much more listenable without her.

  23. Reg says:

    I agree that Kevin Sylvester would be an awsome host. He is very bright and easy to listen to.

  24. Morning Commute says:

    And this is why I listen to Classical 96.3 F.M. I originally liked Matt Galloway on the afternoon show and now cannot stand to hear his voice during my morning drive. I agree Laura was not meant for CBC radio but please let’s not call her a bimbo. That is degrading to women – period.
    I was hoping that Laura would help decrease the snobbery syndrome at the CBC but no such luck.

  25. Suki says:

    Oh, lighten up people. “Bimbo” is hardly offensive. I often refer to myself as a bimbo when I make a blunder. I’m able to laugh at myself. The fact that DiBattista did nothing BUT make daily verbal blunders qualifies her as a bimbo at best. But if you prefer, substitute in your own Politically Correct term for a person clearly out of their depth yet blithely unaware of their blunders. Perhaps we can coin a new PC term: “DiBattista”? Something like “doing a Homer.” Or is that being offensive to cartoon characters?

  26. Dan Clapton says:

    It would be good to have someone on Metro Morning as well as Here and Now who knows how to interview, asking real questions. I find myself yelling at the radio when I hear Matt Galloway during an interview say, “Talk a little bit about ….” whatever the subject is. Why can’t he come up with a real question? It sounds like he’s listening more to the producer in his headphones than to the guest. Or did he get a gentleman’s pass in J-School?

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