McCown made his broadcast debut in 1975 as host of a nightly sports talk show on Foster Hewitt's CKFH, where he had been working in its sales department since being hired the previous year. He would add to his resume in 1977, assuming adjunct employment as the public address announcer at Toronto Blue Jays' home games during their inaugural season. In 1981, Telemedia purchased CKFH, rebranded it as CJCL, and switched to an adult contemporary format. McCown left that same year for Global TV in Toronto where in November 1981 he would launch and anchor "Sportsline", before moving on later in the decade to host TSN's "The Business of Sports".