SportsLit (Season 6, Episode 11) - John Shannon (Hockey Night in Canada / Analyst and Insider) -Evolve or Die

SportsLit

In 2019, veteran live sports producer John Shannon was — no need for an euphemism — fired by Sportsnet.

As he has learned across nearly a half century in sports media, one has to evolve or die. In this memoir, Shannon writes of how he has absorbed and applied lessons that are wrapped as mortal blows in order not merely survive, but thrive in an often cutthroat field.

In “Evolve or Die,” he writes of how he had a vision, from his early life in the British Columbia interior, to be a storyteller. That aspiration led him to Toronto in the 1970s right at the inflection point for a sports broadcasting boom in Canada.

Shannon quickly became well-regarded as a producer with Hockey Night in Canada while in his early 20s. Later, he became executive producer (1994-2000) when that crown jewel of live sports production instituted the now familiar Saturday doubleheader and Satellite Hot Stove intermission panel.

Since 2009, Shannon has created a seemingly unprecedented second act in front of the camera as an analyst and insider.

Currently he is a regular panelist on Edmonton Oilers broadcasts and continues to co-host the Bob McCowan Podcast on Sirius XM Radio.