Hmmmmmm ... Gone but not totally forgotten. Thanks Geo and Peterson1 for your kind words. It made this old man  smile. But what is happening at CFRB today makes me sad!

Thanks to Bell Media, CFRB has lost it's way by abandoning it's committment to listeners to keep them informed of what is going on in the GTA!  Can't be done with a two minute newscast at the top of the hour. No longer is there the excitement of breaking news on CFRB, when it interrupted programming with live coverage of major news conferences. That is no longer part of CFRB's DNA. 

It should no longer call itself a "newstalk" radio station when it has NO NEWSROOM. No one believes CFRB is where you get answers. It's a talk station. Full stop! Period!  

And that's OK. There are great talk show hosts on CFRB.  Bell should rebrand the radio station as a talk radio station where you share your opinions and debate major issues of the day.

That's my two cents worth. Now I'm going back to hiding under the bed so Covid can't find me.
 

So today, I am breaking my silence to speak from experience about the live COVID-19 press conferences on radio by Trudeau and Ford. 

I was PD of CFRB in Toronto when SARS hit and I insisted we carry the daily press conferences of the doctors and politicians on CFRB. On air staff thought I was nuts. ("How many times are we going to carry these press conferences telling people to wash their hands?") asked the announcers whose shows were pre-empted and who then had to continue the coverage by taking calls from listeners about what was said at the press conferences.

I also insisted that the morning shows and afternoon drive shows have Dr. Mitch on to discuss SARS. When the PPM ratings came out after SARS, The time slots where we aired the press conferences and Dr. Mitch jumped a few share points. The ratings went up because listeners made a point to tune in to the press conferences, the talk shows taking calls about SARS and Dr. Mitch's regular time slot.

I was in Montreal when H1N1 hit and told the on air staff at CJAD I wanted Dr. Mitch on the morning show and in the afternoon every day at the same time. Hosts are all the same. It doesn't matter what radio station they work for. Tell them they have to surrender time from their show EVERY DAY and they rebel. But I was able to convince them by telling them how SARS increased the ratings on CFRB when we had Dr. Mitch on or when we carried the SARS press conferences.

The problem with the H1N1 press conference in Montreal was that most of the comments were in French. So I assigned one reporter to monitor the daily 3pm press conference to lift the English tape and record a 10-15 minute package that aired in afternoon drive. Included in the H1N1 package was Dr. Mitch and a CJAD reporter asking a question at the press conference. When the PPM ratings came out, CJAD was up THREE share points!

It was interesting that with SARS it was about washing your hands and with H1N1 it was about getting the flu shot. Today with COVI

It's time to move on and let go of the past. I had a great media career and for the past 10 years a media consultant, part time college professor and author. As of Monday, March 11th, kowchmedia.com shuts down. Time to retire and let the next generation of broadcasters chase their dream. Thanks for all your support.

Click here to read my final blog.

I'm shocked at the news of Mike's passing. Like many here, I followed his regular updates on social media about his health battles. It sounded like he was putting up the good fight to overcome all odds.

Growing up in Montreal I was unaware of his news career at CHUM. But when I came to Toronto I heard his newscasts on CHUM-FM and recognized how big a talent he was, Then while Ops Manager at CFRB, Gary Slaight asked what I thought about Mike Cleaver and if I thought his anchoring style would fit in with our news sound. 

I thought we could use a different sound at night.  He had a flare no one else had on CFRB. His writing was tight, his delivery upbeat and his voice was awesome. He was a radio legend, a true original who marched to his own beat and was never afraid to speak his mind - especially to management types like me. 

With his passing, Canada has lost one of its better radio newsmen. RIP Mike Cleaver and condolences to his partner, his family and extended radio family and all his fans. 

Very sad to hear
that broadcaster Nils (AKA Mark Elliot) has died. Nils understood the power of radio to reach out to people to entertain, inform and help them. I   saw this firsthand as the PD at CFRB when we hired him to host People Helping People, a show that reached out to addicts, alcoholics or people with mental health issues.

His deep compassion for callers was rooted in his been there done that history of an abused gay teenager, alcoholic, drug addict and sufferer of depression. All this while being one of the top broadcasters in Ottawa.

By the time I worked with him at CFRB, he was established as the guy on the radio who helped people most of us would ignore if we crossed paths with them on the street. But not Mark (he’ll always be Mark Elliot to me) who would take their calls and give them a voice long before Bell Media’s annual Let’s Talk campaign.

During the Christmas period he would be on air 14 days in a row taking calls from the lonely, the depressed and his stable of regular callers. For many of them, he was the only friend they had or the only person who cared. Mark treated them on air like family.

And while I may have thought Mark was a one trick poney broadcaster, I discovered he was more than that. When Toronto and most of Ontario was in the dark from a massive power failure, it was Mark Elliot who helped listeners stay calm, be informed and shared their stories on air.

Mark became my go to guy at night and weekends to host breaking news events. He co-hosted with Michael Coren an extraordinary and highly emotional radio town hall meeting on same sex marriage when the country was deciding to make it legal. Coren against and Mark in favour.

Mark helped CFRB win news awards with his coverage. But for him, that wasn’t why he was on the radio. He just wanted to help people. So much so, when CFRB wanted to cancel the show because of budget cuts, Mark did it for FREE until he could no longer afford to put gas in the car to drive in

Hmmmm ..... it is this time of year when I have to figure out when to post my Santa photo with my book online .... when Santa Parade happens, should I post it when CHFI goes 24/7, wait until December 1st or never again?



 

betaylored wrote:

It took a listener to remind John Moore that last Friday was the ninth year anniversary of the 'Moore In The Morning' radio show. 

WOW... nine years already ... congrats John Moore and your entire team for doing a great job keeping us informed with your newsmaker interviews,  giving us a laugh and great commercial FREE panels. 

So my client, Drex sent me an email this evening about his coverage of the Danforth shooting starting at 1am when his network show starts on AM640. 

"We were on the Toronto story LIVE all night as soon as we got on, I had live journalists there all night, 2 from global, they were feeding us new info every 15 minutes .... I was wall to wall on this, more than 1010 was."

​I didn't hear any Toronto radio coverage of the shooting (that's what happens  when binge watching shows on PVR - you have no idea what's happening in your own city.). So all I know is what I learned from reading posts here.  From what I gather, 640 was in taped programming at midnight so its listeners were informed as much as I was while watching my PVR. CFRB, according to posts here, did live coverage until midnight and then returned to regular taped or syndicated programming.

So while Drex covered the shooting on his network show starting at 1am ... the audience had moved elsewhere - probably TV - so no one on this board even knew Drex was the only radio host talking about and updating listeners every 15 minutes with Global Toronto TV reporters,

This is not the first time Drex did wall to wall overage of breaking news from Toronto overnight .... When Patrick Brown resigned, Drex carried his press conference live in the middle of the night.

So here is what I think. I know how Drex loves breaking news and how he covers it on his show. So next time the shit hits the fan in Toronto and you're up at 1am, give his show a listen on 640 overnight. If you had done that Monday morning at 1am, I'm sure you would have been impressed and posted about his wall to wall coverage.

If you want to know more about Drex ... here is a link to a blog I wrote on kowchmedia.com when he launched his network radio show:  http://kowchmedia.com/meet-drex-host-of-canadas-new-national-late-night-talk-radio-show/
OK ... going back to my PVR ....




 

Iain ... you were a great moderator but now with your freeedom to speak your mind, I look forward to your comments on the Yellow Board. Enjoy being a spectator ... it's more fun and less stressful. 

[size=150]I am probably one of the few on this board who as a journalist knocked on doors or telephoned next of kin of accident, fire and murder victims to build a profile of the victims for my assigned story. The calls included asking for a photo of the victim (pre Facebook days). This is why I want to weigh in on an earlier thread about police asking media to stop harrassing families for an interview.

I write extensively in my book 99 Things You Wish You Knew About Making It BIG In Media about interviewing family members, when and how to conduct those interviews, what to ask family members during the interview and how to get photos of the victims.

It is the most difficult assignment for newsaper reporters and equally difficult for radio and TV reporters.

In a recent blog http://kowchmedia.com/on-the-kowch-twinkles-love-story/ I write about the experience:

"From where I sit On the Kowch, I have too many memories of dead people I never knew. As a Montreal newspaper reporter in the late ’60s, ’70s and part of the ’80s, I wrote human interest stories about victims of crime, accidents, fires and disasters. For twenty years I knocked on doors of family and friends to talk to them about the loss of a child, sibling, spouse or parent.

"Each interview was a challenge because you never knew what to expect when someone responded to that knocking on the door. I remember my heart racing each time I approached the door and wondering what  would I do or say if it was me on the other side of that door. Sometimes, they would politely ask to be left alone. But more times than not, I was invited to sit in the living room or at the kitchen table to talk with family members and friends gathered at the house about the person who died.Once the story was published, I rarely had contact with the families again. They were left to mourn and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives in private. I never found out how those tragedies impacted their lives, un

12+ is in many contracts as a morale booster .... x number of dollars per each share point over a set target. It isn't a lot of money but something to shoot for. The bigger rating bonuses are reserved for hitting 25-54 and 18-34 demos. Sometimes the bonus structure pays for both female and male listeners - or just one of them that targets a certain demo like males for Rock and femails for EZ listening.

While you can't take a rating bonus to the bank as potential revenue to secure a loan, management uses them to entice talent to the radio station when they can't afford to pay them big bucks.  Bonuses are usually limited to Fall and Spring rating periods. Summer and winter books are too prone to lost listeners because of vacations and Christmas. Snow Birds who migrate down south for months also impact oldies and talk stations. 

As I write this I'm thinking rating bonuses might make a great On The Kowch blog ....

Thanks Boom Boy for your question that sparked this response.

So if you have a ratings story ... post it here or email me at skowch@gmail.com ... Names and radio stations confidential ... but I would want to use the format.  Program Directors, General Managers and Owners are encouraged to participate.to answer questions like:

Did you EVER get a ratings bonus?
How much?
How often?
For what demo?
Which demos were your bonus target?
What was your biggest ratings bonus cheque?
What did you do with the money?
Does (did) your PD ever show you the actual ratings for your show? Or NEVER?
If you asked, did they show you or not?
Why should PDs share ratings with individual on air staff?
Did a ratngs bonus seal the deal for a new job?
If not, was that reason to not switch jobs,
Did a rating bonus try to make up for a smaller salary offer? Did it work?

If you are a PD, GM or owner ,,... do you show the ratings to on air staff?
If yes, why?
If no, why?
Do you offer a ratings bonus when recruiting on air staff?
Is it a way to offer more money when th

The PPM Winter ratings conducted November 27, 2017 to February 25, 2018 are released tomorrow morning (Wednesday March 7) for Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The easy prediction is that CHFI will see a rating's increase because of its 24-hour Christmas music play list.

Who will be up, down or hold the Fall 2017 rankings A12+

Let the fun start before the results are released around 10am Wednesday.

kowchmedia will post results sometime between Wednesday and Thursday. 

Drex on his new national overnight talk show did a great job on the Patrick Brown scandal between 1am and 1:30am. Especially liked how he read Brown's resignation letter live on air as soon as it was released.

This was probably a first for the three Ontario affiliates, including AM640. Normally at 1:30am the stations were in syndicated U.S. programming. But three days after the Shift With Drex launched, it was probably the only radio show live in Ontario where the host read Brown's resignation letter and took calls at 1am. 

Drex did exactly what he promised on his first show and in my On The Kowch blog profile of the host. If you were sleeping like me and missed it ... go to his website  and listen to the audio.
 

I know there is another thread about The Shift With Drex that starts Monday on Toronto's AM640, 900 CHML in Hamilton and 980 CFPL in London. But there was little information about the guy.

Full disclosure; Justin Wilcomes (AKA Drex), has been one of my kowchmedia talk radio clients since he started hosting an evening show on CKNW in Vancouver three years ago.  My first air check with Drex, I told him he was a star. On par with the likes of John Moore, Bill Carroll and Charles Adler. 

Here is what I hear when I listen to Drex on the radio:

Drex is fearless! He speaks his mind. Asks the tough questions. He is compassionate, funny, engaging, entertaining and never boring.  He also has one of the rare qualities that many talk show hosts lack – he is a good listener. He lets his callers have their say. He is opinionated but not over the top. Drex holds his own with politicians, newsmakers and community ativists. He is a news junkie, likes sports, is a fan of pop culture and X-File issues.  Which makes him an all around broadcaster and not a one trick pony.

At 38-years-old, Drex was born in Australia at the tail end of the GenX generation and the 1980 start of the Millennial generation. This gives him a foot in both generations which could explain why he increased ratings at CKNW in those two younger demos. Drex shares the optimism of a Millennial and thinks like a GenXer.

Drex isn’t worried about criticism dealing with the show being hosted from Vancouver.

“This isn’t a Vancouver show being heard across Canada. This is a show talking about things on a national level. We’ll talk about things in different parts of Canada that is of interest to a national audience,” Drex told his CKNW afternoon drive audience when explaining why he was leaving the show.

The show will

This FREE kowchmedia eBook is your seven-step guide to chase your dream to be a star on the radio. The secrets are the same for music DJs, talk show hosts, news anchors, reporters, traffic reporters, weather forecasters, sports anchors or play by play announcers.  It doesn’t matter what you do in radio or what format you perform in. This eBook is MUST reading for emerging radio talent.

Herre is the Table of Contents

Secret #1 It is all about talent - Page 3

Secret #2 How to be a great story teller - Page 5

Secret #3 It’s not about the radio format - Page 7

Secret #4 Chase your dream to succeed in radio - Page 9

Secret #5 How attitude can make or break your career - Page 11

Secret #6 The importance of air checks – Page 13

Secret #7 Should I go or should I stay – Page 15

It's an easy read with good advice.

Want a copy? Send an email to skowch@gmail.com In the subject line write 7 Secrets.