AM is dead.

Most electric cars for one don't even have it as it doesn't make cost effective sense to shield them from interference from the motors.

1050chum TSN would do a lot better if it were on FM in Toronto/GTA.  Years ago ESPN bought WRKS 98.7(R&B) NYC to make it sports on FM.

I was in Grade 12 in 1991 in Barrie.

My GF who had just moved up to Barrie with her family from Brampton complained that she couldn't hear her favorite stations anymore (98.5 and Majic 102).

Determined and in teenage Love, I strived to tune them in from North end of Barrie and was successful on many nights (perhaps with the right 'DX' environment) and recorded probably ten or more 60minute tapes of each station to play in the car as if we were listening live as we drove around in my parent's Buick.  

I remember thinking how cool these stations were and especially that they were on 'FM'; way more interesting than listening to AM640 or CFTR at the time.  Majic 102 had fun jingles too.  I remember a few in particular (which I can't find a soundbite for on youtube unfortunately) that went like this:

'Buffalo's 100,000 Watt MONSTER station'
'The station that Shakes the Lakes and Rocks the Docks .. Majic 102-5'

There was also another jingle or perhaps the top of the hour marker that always mentioned Toronto.

'Buffalo, Rochester, Toronto'.. Majic 102'

As for CFNY, plenty of my friends enjoyed it back in high school days and I enjoyed the weekend club 102 shows as I worked midnights/cleaning shift for extra money at the local Bayfield McD's

Great stations!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2VJuRwXyEo

mace wrote:

And that 102.5 signal. Travelling to Montreal in March 1979 to visit some high school friends I could listen to the station quite clearly in Kingston and only disappeared further east when the Ottawa Radio-Canada station on the same frequency began interfering.

It says here that WBEN (102.5) 'Rock 102' actually got a measurable audience in Toronto at the time.  Who was measuring it?  Was the local ratings at the time actually reporting on it (and does anyone have a sample of ratings from that era in Toronto that shows it in the list?

RadioActive wrote:

I came across this article about the day one of the city's most important radio stations was just about to begin - CHIC-FM was a small nothing station in Brampton operating at 857 watts. You could hear it across the street and that was about it. But in 1977, the station got a power increase and then some - to an amazing 100,000 watts, which instantly made it a contender in the Toronto market. 

It also caused some interference in places with nearby WBEN-FM, which had been attracting an increasing number of local listeners. 

This story is about the newcomer, although no one knew at the time how it would shake-up the radio dial in Toronto, on its way to legendary status.

CBC would merge with PBS perhaps.


Generally speaking on the subject of becoming USA's 51rst state; I would be okay with it since it would end the facade that we are Sovern and make our own decisions.  It would also mean that instead of competing with the economies of the american states, we'd work with them towards the same goals.

RadioActive wrote:

tdotwriter wrote:

Fybush would indeed be an excellent commenter on this subject. I actually didn't give thought at first to the effects this would have on TV. The networks, the individual stations which are mostly O&O'd (owned & operated) in Canada, the retransmitters, whether new ones would be built, whether the companies that own the affiliates in the U.S would have any interest in our broadcast properties, etc.

Clearly things would change drastically. If you think of the line-ups of most Canadian networks, they buy shows that get offered up on the U.S. networks. Some are from CBS, others ABC, Fox or NBC. 

That wouldn't work in the U.S.

CFTO, for example, would almost certainly have to affiliate with one of the networks and show only their programming. Same for Global and City TV. And there's no way of knowing what would happen to the CBC!

Thank you for your kind words.  

Of-course this basic survey while interesting has no foundation on demographics nor does it consider that people may have voted numerous times instead of once only.  Still was interesting to see the results.

Since google sheets (docs) is free and open source, I was thinking of perhaps doing a simple spreadsheet to track over time the Numeris (etc) results and have a tracking chart available to all similar to what's available widely in USA such as this type of site from Radio Online.

I presume this board is searchable for previous results.

link:
https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb037
 

…thanks to last nights’s software update 2024.44.25.2 V12

Internet audio from the cars browser now enabled while driving‼️

(Requires connectivity package or wifi)

Screenshots:

https://ibb.co/cNtS61p
https://ibb.co/H40pLdV

I've created a basic survey for anyone who wants to do it (one page, multiple choice) and if enough people do it, then after a month, I'll post the results.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7R65Z86

Skywave wrote:

The Numeris ratings for the GTA are statistically flawed because there are too many stations with tiny shares in a very large universe.  Several years ago, I had a meeting at Numeris with a small struggling GTA broadcaster.  I asked what the PPM sample size was, and they said 600.
In round numbers, the GTA universe is 5,000,000 population.  If we want 95% confidence in our survey results, and a margin of error of 1% (they claim they are measuring shares like 0.3), you need a sample size of 9585.  You can play with a calculator here, using your own assumptions:
https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/calculating-sample-size/
Conversely, a sample size of 601 gives you a margin of error of 4%, so at least half the stations surveyed have meaningless statistics.
The challenge is the Numeris is controlled by the biggies (on the top half of the list), so why would they vote for change (and extra expense)?  As the Brits would say f*** you, I'm all right Jack.
 

What an outdated way of measuring market conditions.

An online survey with a simple questionnaire for your top four stations would gather a Lot more data.  

Send the survey across standard social media and then publish the results.

markow202 wrote:

will CKDX 88.5 newmarket make it anywhere?  Bring back Jewel!

No way man.

Dancin ' Oldies needs to come back

 

I disagree. It’s technology and radios inability to adapt to our ‘Always connected’ world with on-demand.

I have a connection package with my car for about ten bucks a month and I get unlimited audio, web access and streaming plus access to to Tune-in and Spotify.

I never tune to any morning show anymore which we as a lot of talk if I’m in the mood for music; much of it ad-free

OTA ‘free to receive’ signals are going to disappear if this trend continues.

I also suggest that the recent advent of low-cost subscription streaming on (TV) with ads will fail.

That’s amazing!
Yes I’m aware that perhaps for the lake bounce there super signals do seem to re-strengthen towards Orillia often

98.5 coming in crystal clear in Barrie this afternoon.
K-Love superstation 102.5 also very clear

(On my car radio)

Weirdly also picked up the ‘Rob and Holly’ show while attempting 92.5fm.  That’s a country station in Detroit and at 99.5