I have never heard that before and I have trouble believing it's true. But benefit of the doubt, say you're correct.

Either way, she was not on a station in France or Quebec and that is not how it's pronounced here. Vladimir Poutine is wrong on an English radio station. It's that simple and since she's working for an all news station, she should know that.  

This sounds a lot like another league I recall that also didn't get far past its first down. This is from 1983. (And by the way, Donald Trump owned the New Jersey Generals of this league and then sued the NFL - what else?- to try to force a merger. He technically "won" but the league folded anyway. But with Trump's involvement, no wonder the USFL didn't prove USeFuL. The man seems to have a gift for destroying anything he's involved in.)

Not quite the thread topic, but interesting nonetheless, especially because it involves Under The Influence host Terry O'Reilly. (Have to say the IKEA & HP Sauce spots are the only ones I'm familiar with, but then I skip 99.9% of all TV ads by DVRing everything and I don't record a lot off of Canadian TV.)

Remember these iconic Canadian ads?

I never watch soccer - to me, it's like watching paint dry - but when a former CRTC Vice-Chair cites both his former government body and Rogers for helping to kill the "beautiful game" in Canada, it's definitely worth a read.

Peter Menzies accuses both the Commission and the cable giant of suppressing an important upcoming match that might have otherwise had national implications for the country and if nothing else, a source of Canuck pride at a time when that feeling is at an all time high. 

See what you think.

How Rogers And The CRTC Are Sidelining Canadian Soccer

We've had several threads here about the lack of knowledge from some current news folks as they mangle names of streets, places and other things they should probably know. But very early Sunday morning, I heard one that simply defies description. 

It happened on Kitchener's 570 News of all places, and I only heard it because the dog woke me up at 4:55 AM. When I couldn't get back to sleep, I do what I often do - turn on the radio. They simulcast the Infinity Sports feed with the Fan590, but there's a brief two minute break where an anchor comes on and does a very quick review of the headlines. 

This woman, whose name I was far too sleepy to catch, came on and ran down the top stories. She had a very bizarre accent that I couldn't quite pin down, and she badly mangled a lot of the copy she read. But the one that stood out to me came when she talked about the Ukraine-Russia truce talks and referred to the president of Russia as  - and I'm not making this up - Vladimir Poutine. 

Yes, Poutine, the Quebec food made up of cheese curds, French fries and gravy. I don't know what Vlad the Impaler (or his food taster) eats, but I'm assuming it's not that - and in either event, that is not his last name. 

Fortunately, it was very early on a weekend morning, so I'm assuming no one but me even heard it. But this has to be one of the worst ones yet. 

With Lester Holt leaving at the end of this month, Tom Llamas not only has big shoes to fill but an entire broadcasting genre to try and hold on to. 

Network evening news has somehow managed to keep at least some of its audience, despite the onslaught from streaming and the Internet. The change at one network presages what could be yet another shift in a programming genre that's been with us since the 1950s. 

The network evening news is in flux: Why an American TV institution is under pressure

It wasn't a long absence. Just a week after morning man Greg Brady returned, the ex-BT host will be filling in for Davelle Morrison on the weekend show on Sunday, along with next week. She's going on a long planned vacation and he's subbing for the days she'll be gone.

I have a feeling this won't be the last time we'll hear him on the Corus frequency. And it's probably a good thing. Next to Anthony Furey, they really don't have a back-up person for illnesses and vacations. This might solve a lot of problems for them, especially with the summer approaching. 

I'm not sure exactly what the rules are on this, but doesn't WHLD also have to be careful not to interfere with CJTM, the Metropolitan Toronto University (i.e. the former-Ryerson) radio station at 1280 AM? It's all of 99 watts, so you can barely get it out of the downtown core, but I suppose another stronger signal on 1270, even if it's a weak one from a distance might possibly be a problem. 

I'd almost forgotten about this, but it's great. It's from an old Sunday Sunday piece we did back at CFTR in the 80s. Correspondent Melanie Reffes flew down to her old hometown of New York to interview Steve Karmen, then known as King Of The Jingles. 

You may not know his name, but you certainly know his work. Among his famous commercials: 

When You Say Budweiser, You've Said It All
Sooner or Later, You'll Own General,
At Beneficial (Boop Boop) You're Good For More
Nationwide Is On Your Side
and perhaps his most famous:
I Love New York.

He talks about all of these and more in this great piece which sounds as great today as it did back then. One thing you won't hear is how he was coming on to her during the interview, but you can sense it if you listen closely. If you're curious, you can hear the feature here. 

It's now a somewhat decrepit and run down building, but the former home of the legendary WKBW-AM radio still stands. In a video put up by Buffalo Broadcasters, former KB morning man Danny Neaverth went back to the place on Main St. where so much magic happened over a killer 50KW signal. 

Joey Reynolds and Sandy Beach aren't there, but both are very much a part of the tour. It's only 7 minutes, but what a great memory blaster.

Maybe they could call themselves The Beat-Less.

I didn't think it could still happen in this day of ad skipping, but a TV commercial airing in the U.S. has spawned a hit video. The company, called Total Wine & More, issued a catchy jingle almost two years ago as part of a TV ad, and it became very popular - so much so that it was released as a full music video called "Find What You Love." (You can see it here.)

It made me wonder about other television spots that morphed into actual hit records. The first one I recall came from a one-hit wonder called The T-Bones, who released an instrumental called "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In" in 1966. It was based on the background music from an Alka Seltzer commercial that was running at the time. (The T-Bones, by the way, were actually members of the legendary Wrecking Crew, who appeared on hundreds of hit records over the years.)

Maybe the most famous was a song by the New Seekers, who turned a commercial about buying the world a Coke into a huge smash called I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing in 1971. 

Not sure how many people know that the Carpenters' smash "We've Only Just Begun" started life as a commercial for an American bank in 1971. It reached #2 on Billboard and became one of the brother-and-sister group's biggest hits. 

I'm not sure if there were others that went from pitch to hits, but this latest example shows it can still happen. 

I would never buy a car without AM in it. FM & HD are great, but I want access to everything. 

So I would never likely have an EV called "Slate" in my garage. The auto newcomer is designed for the budget conscious car buyer and leaves out any kind of radio at all in its dashboard. So how do you get any infotainment while you're driving it?

"[It] includes a universal phone mount with USB power and recommends drivers bring their own portable playback devices. Self-installable speakers are an optional accessory for the Slate, as is a Bluetooth speaker mount."

So would you buy one for the proposed price of just $20,000 U.S.? We'll see how well it sells if they can meet their production deadline to start turning them out in late 2026. 

It’s Not Just AM, This Buzzy New EV Leaves Out Radio Entirely

He was a MuchMusic VJ, a talk show host and a Hockey Night In Canada regular. But while George Stroumboulopoulos seemed to have it all, he's been suffering for many years from what he calls "post concussion syndrome," an ailment that has left him to fear for his mental future. 

His issues have already shown themselves in one incident he recalls from his past that could have turned out a lot worse. 

"There was one instance he reflected on where he said he woke up in a parking lot in the California desert wearing only his boxers and a T-shirt. He recalled previously checking into a motel under a fake name using cash, eventually thinking he was going to die and then stumbling out into a parking lot in fear no one would find his body."

Canadian TV host George Stroumboulopoulos, 52, reflects on having post-concussion syndrome: 'My concussions have changed my brain chemistry'

Evuguy wrote:

Yikes, that party doll must have cost half a week's wages back then! 

And that's not accounting for "inflation."