"The long-time voice of Toronto Maple Leafs reporting for the FAN 590 (Howard Berger) saw the writing on the wall before the radio station he called home for 23 years cut him loose on June 1, 2011. He planned to reinvent himself as an independent hockey blogger. But a false start on the money-making side of his venture left him defending his tax-loss claims in federal court.
"Mr. Berger, 56, covered the Leafs as a radio reporter and self-declared fan for 17 years. Yet his effort to craft a small business from his expertise and reputation serves as a cautionary tale about the challenges of turning content and clicks into a paycheque, even as digital media expands rapidly. He claimed business losses of $26,540 in 2011 and $37,866 in 2012, according to court documents; his gross income from the blog in that span was $7,500.
"On June 19, Mr. Berger won his tax appeal – the amounts he claimed were not at issue, but rather whether his blog, titled Berger Bytes, should be considered a business or a personal hobby."
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