Jim Van Horne

Radio

Melnyk began his broadcasting career on CKMP in Midland, Ontario, in 1971. Believing his birth name wasn't "hard rock" enough, the station made him select a new one to go by on the air; from the variety of suggestions he was given, he chose Jim Van Horne.

From 1972 to 1980, Van Horne was one of the top disc jockeys in Canada at 1050 CHUM in Toronto. He was named Billboard Magazine's Disc Jockey of the year in 1972, the only Canadian to ever claim the honour.

Switch to television

From 1980 to 1984, he was the late night sports anchor for CFAC television in Calgary, while hosting the Calgary Flames' NHL broadcasts. Van Horne became one of the most trusted and recognizable sports personalities in Canada, sporting his trademark walrus-size moustache and easy-going on air personality.

He moved on to a long tenure with TSN where he was the primetime sports-anchor from the beginning of that sports network's history in 1984 until 2001. During his time on TSN, he covered numerous events including NHL hockey, alpine skiing, boxing, tennis, swimming, bowling, golf, and equestrian.

Van Horne has broadcast from four Olympic games, including 1988 in Calgary, covering alpine skiing, 2000 in Sydney covering tennis, 2008 in Beijing, assigned to baseball and softball, and 2010 Vancouver, mentoring the commentators from APTN, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. .

Current Projects

Currently Van Horne is pursuing freelance opportunities that include the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, and Rogers Cup women's tennis in Toronto for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Van Horne is also the television co-ordinator at the College of Sports Media. He also hosts Champions of Conservation and Nature Bites on Oasis HD channel. In baseball, provides described video for Toronto Blue Jays games on AMI TV.

Quotes

While on SportsDesk, Van Horne used two sayings to start the telecast on Wednesdays and Fridays: