Back in my days of C band satellite there were vendors that also sold SCA receivers. They had nothing to do with C band, it just seemed the same folks sold both technologies. The SCA units were relatively expensive and I never pursued that part of the radio hobby.

I would be interested in how many if any Southern Ontario stations transmitted SCA content.

 

tvguy:

Thank you for that information and detailed analysis.

Let's dump the 35% or what ever it is can-con requirement and replace it with 35% locally generated content.

I remember a long time ago many AM / FM combination or sister stations would simulcast overnight from midnight to 6:00 am or so. At some point this mostly stopped. Not sure why. Was there a limit to how much time this was allowed. Did the CRTC step in to end it?

These days we have programming in mid-size markets essentially doing the same. CFCA Kitchener and CIQM London have mostly the same programming in the afternoon maybe most of the day.
 

The 14 foot drop in antenna height will not effect the signal coverage in any significant way.

With respect to FM stations there is rarely only one antenna that broadcasts the signal. Several antennas often called 'bays' are combined to create an array that concentrates the signal toward the horizon as opposed to radiating it in all directions especially straight up. This increases the range as the signal travels further along the horizon and extends the signal coverage. The space between each bay is important as they interact together. Many stations use 4 - 10 bays. Again, generally, each bay increases the efficiency of the array. Often these bays are mounted to a boom that is attached to the side of the tower. The antenna changes and / or the bay spacing and how to attach the boom may be behind the height changes.  

I doubt most listeners will notice any changes.

RadioActive wrote:

This article contains audio excerpts from Jon Pole about what he sees as happening to the stations involved and how he hopes to boost its local content. And then there's the question about what happens to those currently working there. 

MBC bringing local radio back to Tillsonburg

Interesting story RA. The article makes it sound like the Tillsonburg studios were closed. I presume the station is now programmed from London?
 

I heard these record players existed but have never actually seen much less heard one. I bet they were hard on the records with tracking force and I bet they were expensive.

I believe most of the younger demographic hardly even listens to the radio. So programming aimed at them is mostly wasted.

Much of this demographic also has a lot of debt and live pay day to pay day. But they do have the latest and most expensive cell phone (on monthly payments of course) and a Spotify subscription. Heck many of these folks could not scrape up a grand without borrowing it. Geeze, why are these such a coveted group? Many don't listen to the radio period; and many don't have any disposable income to spend.

I am not suggesting CKOT adopt a beautiful music format, just replace the crap they play now with more traditional easy listening music, some live announcers and maybe news. Currently there is nothing on the FM dial in this region that is worth tuning in to. I bet they could be very successful. It will be interesting to see if the station stays non-relevant or takes advantage of the opportunity to rebuild its audience.

RadioAaron wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Someone told me on the Digital Home forum that all of the "Move" radio stations including CHRE 105.7 Niagara will flip to All Christmas music Friday morning. But still no word if Easy 101.3 will do the same thing.

I think Rogers may have forgotten that they bought it.

Ha.

They remembered they bought it long enough to sell it.

https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=13392

 

When it was locally owned I used to listen to CKOT all the time. No longer since the new owners changed the programming.

It has a fairly new tower, I wonder why Rogers sold it.

Now will 101.3 become a My FM repeater?

Many, many Motown artists put out Christmas albums. It will be great to see some of these performers again. Thanks for letting us know about this.

It will depend on what the stations sell for and cost to run.

Below is a fictional example please feel free to correct me and offer feedback. It may be far too simplistic.

You own a combination AM / FM outlet in a small market with an audience of 25,000. You purchased or started the stations 30 years ago. Including yourself there are 4 employees who do on air work and sales. Together both stations bill 400K / year and you make a modest profit after paying the other 3 employees about 50K / year. Over the years you have paid off the debt on the transmitter site where you own the land and kept the technical side of things in good repair. You also own the modest studio building.

After many years you want to retire. What is the station worth?

For argument let's say a million dollars. Is this realistic? What are the assets worth? Is it viable for a new owner to purchase it with borrowed money? Can they operate it in such a way as to keep up with daily costs and make the loan payment?

The original owner is able to wring a modest profit out of the business because the operating costs and debt is low, a new owner will not be able to do so given the cost of repaying the money used to buy the station. So I would argue that this is not a viable business. What is the transmitter site and studio property worth?

These big conglomerates are not going to give these stations away. They probably paid a premium for them and will not likely sell them at discount prices especially if they have other stations in the same market and would have to compete. I'd be interested in comments from folks here who are much wiser than I.
 

I can't comment on Bell, but where we live (near Grand Bend Ontario) the phone company also provides internet and cable service. They seem to have given up on maintaining copper lines (thin copper twisted pairs of wire) which is the way phone service was delivered since it came to be. A few years ago we were getting noise, hum and static through the phone. Solution: we were switched to a voice over IP system. There is a phone modem connected to a coaxial cable. A phone jack cable connects to the wall phone jack and the phones connect to the wall jacks.

It works okay until the power goes out and the internet stops which takes the phone service with it. We now have a cell phone as a back up. With the old copper system the phone continued to work during power failures. I always considered a traditional 'landline' to be more reliable than cell service. This is no longer the case with us.


 

Last time I was in Ottawa 98.5 The Jewel sounded muck like CKPC FM Brantford. I believe they ran an evening show called the Lounge. It was quite good and they included significant French language songs content. 

Given the size of Ottawa and area and despite the rather lackluster signal there are many car dealerships, restaurants, appliance vendors, funeral homes etc. that fit in the target demo of the station. Given the large number of retired public servants with decent pensions these old folks have money to spend. Ignoring this demo especially in this market is unfortunate. Perhaps the station could have been more aggressive courting potential advertisers.

No back up generators?

mace wrote:

Marc1178 wrote:

It's starting to look like HD could become the next AM Stereo (not in a good way). In the U.S. they are now testing radio over ATSC 3.0 UHF signals. 

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/guest-commentaries/atsc-3-0-audio-services-the-how-and-why

On paper it appears that the coverage of the Michigan test beats all of the HD signals. WOMC-HD-1 and 2 breaks up in Sarnia as you drive. I have heard WOMC's standard FM broadcast in the London area many times. 

At 190,000 watts, I can see why WOMC could be heard in London.

If band conditions are favorable it is not unusual to receive WOMC in London, unfortunately their 190 kw is on a relatively short tower which limits the signal's distant range. You can to some extent increase power to make up for a shorter tower but height still gives you the long distance range.
 

We can lament the loss of these great AM stations. I believe one of the reasons for their demise is the loss of listeners to CBC Radio 1 and its local regional shows. How can / could CJBK, CHML, CKPC, and CFPL compete against the CBC with no commercials, an arguably better FM signal and no fiscal realities that private broadcasters face? In the London market which I am most familiar with, how can a city that size support three news / talk stations; that being CJBK, CFPL and CBC 1? It obviously could not. Could it support two? Perhaps. Could it have supported two if they were CFPL 980 and CJBK 1290? We will never know. I am aware of a couple of posters on this board from the London area and have mentioned they listen to the CBC radio 1. If it were not available would they have listened to 980 or 1290 instead?

What the hell is the CBC even doing in this business? It bugs me that the CBC is able to confiscate $25 or $50 bucks a year with no accountability to me. What a great scam. Then it takes those $ and uses it to put private broadcasters out of business. What a great scam. We  need the government in the broadcasting business like a fish needs a tricycle. TVO included. Those who say CBC is a public broadcaster are either disingenuous or naive; the CBC follows in lockstep with the federal government. I personally find their content to be banal and uninteresting; why someone would want to listen to them is beyond me, but a lot of people do. Each CBC listener is one less for the private stations.

CBC lovers I hear you now - like a relative of mine would say the private stations would just have to have the same commercial free content and he would listen...

Sure the big corporate owners have some blame too but at the end of the process how can they compete with commercial free?