ED1 wrote:

Another one to add to the list...

Subject "weighed in" regarding a topic/controversy.....

Does anyone in the real world actually use this phrase in that context?

Especially when they "weighed in" to help "unpack" all the aspects of the story in order to determine some of the "takeaways".
 

Shorty Wave wrote:

Their longest commercial breaks are on the half hour. I timed one break at 7 minutes a few weeks back during Jim Richards’ show.

This is far from being unique to one or two stations. All across the dial you can hear lengthy commercial breaks and usually all around the same time. Somehow the consultants have determined that two lengthy breaks per hour are less of a tune out than more frequent shorter breaks. 
In the case of talk radio it may also be that they don't want too many interruptions to the flow of conversation but it can also interrupt the flow if they don't return for more than 5 minutes.
Several years ago Q-107 went with multiple 2-minute breaks per hour and it seemed to work for quite some time. In the case of music stations this could still be a viable option. That said, there is no easy resolution to it.

The Rock in Oshawa is promoting a new weekly 6-hour show with Jeff Woods starting July 23. It will be called Classic Rock Sunday and it sounds as though it will be what we've come to expect from him over the years. Lots of the big tunes along with stories and interviews. There are still many who enjoy his style and fascinating behind-the-scenes insights. 
It also marks what might be a slight shift for 94.9. For the last dozen years or so the core of their music was from the last 30 years but as of late there seem to have been just a few more "oldies" in the mix.
Then there was the all-Canadian July 1 where they also mixed in a number of older tracks not often heard on the station. 
At any rate, I think Woods' program will be a welcome addition to the lineup.

RadioActive wrote:

Just to try to reassure those working for Rogers, the article says it will be rolled out in April, but nothing is confirmed. And I'm guessing like many here that the first uses will be something like a weekend overnight on a station that's already automated and just playing music, liners and commercials. So by adding a "phony host" it won't really change anything. 

It's what happens if this thing becomes even better in terms of improvement that it gets really scary. But it may not be ready for primetime just yet. We'll see/hear what happens in April. 

I also wonder how the audience will react if it gets out that they're listening to a machine, especially if they aren't told about it and find out later. I know I would feel hoodwinked and lied to - not the best way to keep people tuned in. Rogers should be honest and smart about doing this and perhaps by telling the world this is an experiment, the audience might tune in out of curiosity if nothing else.

But trying to sneak this by them? That, to me, is a recipe for a PR nightmare. But maybe that's just how I would feel. Others may not care as much.

This kind f sneaking is but a mere walk from how stations have been using out-of-town recorded voices for a couple decades and most listeners still believe what they hear is live. It will be the same approach - as long as they don't know, why tell them?
 

unclefester wrote:

As stated in the "parts company" newspaper article Burns was an American.

I believe Burns came to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam war. One of a handful who ended up in broadcasting

Bob Karsten was another American who came north to avoid military service. Karsten anchored the CBC 11 p.m. television national newscast one night years back as a last minute fill-in. I had worked with him earlier in his career & was floored to see him at the anchor desk. I made a call to the CBC studios that night after he signed off and managed to reach him. Told him he had done a great job!   

Andy Barrie was also in that group of migrants. He arrived at CJAD around 1970. He built up a popular following in middays before eventually moving to Toronto where he enjoyed a long and successful run at places like CFRB, Global TV and finally mornings at CBC. prior to retirement.

 

RadioActive wrote:

I even heard a promo telling people to tune in to sister CKNW for talk, when they were finished listening! Who runs an announcement encouraging you to tune out? What a bizarre station and how sad, considering the old inhabitant of that frequency, CKLG, was once a pioneer B.C. Top 40 outlet.

Very common for stations to plug their brother outlets in a market to try to keep listeners within the fold when they want something different. It's sound marketing strategy.

RadioActive wrote:

In a major coup, CityNews has jumped in to hire fired CTV anchor Lisa LaFlamme to helm its coverage of the Queen's passing. She will be reporting live from London for City stations across the country. 

"Acting as a special correspondent to CityNews, renowned Canadian journalist Lisa LaFlamme will be in London leading the CityNews coverage. She will provide daily reporting for all newscasts on television and radio as well as make regular appearances on Breakfast Television.

It's kind of an in-your-face move aimed at CTV, and it will be fascinating to see if it causes a viewership spike for City TV. It's also slightly ironic, considering City TV newscasts no longer have an actual anchor. 

Lisa LaFlamme to join CityNews as lead correspondent following Queen's death

Paul Jeffries wrote:

I remember the first time I heard a station go from a music set to a station ID to a commercial set. It was back in the late 1990's. My initial reaction was, "Did the DJ call in sick and they weren't able to find somebody to fill in the shift?" Later I would learn that would become the norm for many stations from then on.

Actually, I oftentimes hear stations go from a music set right into a commercial block without an ID, and I think that sounds awful.
PJ

I'm not completely sure of the exact ins and outs behind the thinking, but this has become the norm , particularly for the corporately-owned music stations. The practice of having an announcer do a talk break followed by several minutes of commercials proved to be too much for the average listener to sit through. So now they spread it out. At one time it was considered a cardinal sin to stop down, talk a bit then restart the music. It's now the rule. Announcers get to show a little bit of personality, the music flow goes on and now they never talk immediately before or immediately following a commercial break. This creates the perception in the listener's mind that there are fewer interruptions. It must work because it's been template for a lot of stations for quite a few years now.
As an aside, the one thing I have noticed is the personalities are detached from the music they're playing. Often times they don't even acknowledge the tune they just played or are about to play. With some formats this may be okay but with stations that feature a lot of newer music there should be some sort of buzz created by the announcer. I still think that would give radio stations an edge over Spotify but maybe I'm just from another planet :-))

Bristol wrote:

Playing the "Hits"  was never CHOM's mantra.   

That applies to the rock format in general which is not largely hit driven. But, unlike most stations nowadays, CHOM actively solicits listener requests which sometimes takes the sound in an interesting direction and as was mentioned, they play artists and tracks that they made popular in Montreal. When is the last time Q-107 honoured some of the GTA artists they used to play? Names such as Lee Aaron and Goddo come to mind. CHOM goes the extra mile because they are doing what most stations should - being unique to their market. 
 

Charlie wrote:

But the current self-promotion on 1010 promises loyal listeners that they are the go-to source for all the latest news, investigative excellence and in-depth analysis.  Surely they wouldn't exaggerate.

Perhaps bring those questions to their newsroom. After all  they say that's "where Toronto gets answers".
 

Ted Bird hit it right on the money. If you want to find creative, locally-focused radio go to community stations or those owned by the smaller companies. they still understand what makes a winner in the long run.

RadioAaron wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

But how then to explain the popularity of WBEN-FM, aka Rock 102, which became a sensation in Southern Ontario when it started playing automated chart hits? I wish someone in Toronto had tried it. It would have been fascinating to see how it might have fared. 

Regulation would have made it impossible. In addition to the aforementioned hit/non-hit ratio, at the time the CRTC dictated talk time, foreground programming, library size, and even whether or not a radio station was allowed to use computer software to schedule music. 

In addition to that there was  a rule limiting plays of non-Canadian songs to 18 times a week which goes right to the heart of what Top 40 radio was all about -  constant repetition of the day's hottest hits. As a result at that time no FM station in Canada could run a true hits only format. Hybrids happened which allowed for playing album cuts by big name artists or adding in non-charting rock tracks to uphold the non-hit rule.

As someone who has worked with various types of automation software I can confidently say that while technology can and does screw up at times it's more often than not the result of human laziness or lack of proper training. Most software will work quite well as long as it has been properly configured upon installation and daily correct data input by the user.
Stations that are content with continual technical foulups are symptomatic of the current state of the business in that many owners don't know and don't care about radio. As long as they can save bucks and ad dollars roll in, life is good.
There are still independent owners who still have a passion for radio and the difference is evident in the end product.

The one thing that really set him apart from the pack was he was about as everyday-average-person in his manner. Unlike many rock radio morning hosts, he never went for outrageous stunts or go for the lowest common denominator topics. He never tried to demean listeners or talk down to them. He may not be the most exciting personality to grace morning airwaves but he didn't need to be. Just being real was more than enough for a couple generations of listeners.

paterson1 wrote:

Thanks for correcting me Lorne.  Didn't know all this time that Percy Faith A Summer Place wasn't cancon.  As I mentioned previously, every station that I worked at had this as cancon, even though it was very rarely played.
 
I can't say I remember or ever heard CHUM playing three hours of cancon on Saturday and Sunday mornings and significantly shorting some songs. I actually only heard a rumour about CKLW doing this to any extent and that it didn't last very long since the CRTC came down on them,

It sounds like you are saying that CHUM did this for quite some time.   It makes sense when they had special programming later in the day on the weekend, which they often did, but not as regular weekend morning programming.  And editing songs or speeding them up absolutely 100% wrong.  

Odd that they weren't hauled in on the carpet for this,  especially when other competing stations in the market weren't doing this. Find it hard to believe that other competitors wouldn't complain to the commission.  And purposely shortening and editing songs on a continuing basis could have opened CHUM up for a lawsuit from record companies, music unions or artists.  Finally weekend mornings with full news and sports on AM radio in the early 70's, especially Saturday 7 to 9am, or Sunday 8 to 9am was not exactly a dead part of the day, so these might not be the best hours to stack up or bury cancon  if that was the intent. 

Yes, it's true. I don't know exactly how many years they did it but it was a good chunk of the 70's and into the early 80's. As for a slap on the wrist, it was partly due to this practice that the CRTC introduced non-stacking rules for Can-Con and also stipulated that if a can-con song was not played in its entirety it is disqualified from the count. One can't lay the blame solely at CHUM's feet, however. Almost since the introduction of Can-Con,  a number of stations came up with creative ways to manipulate the rules to their ad