It’s easy to go voice tracked if you’re a music station on Labour Day. It’s a lot more obvious you’re into reruns if you're doing a talk format. Which brings me to something I’ve often wondered about. On stat holidays, the major yakkers in Toronto, CFRB and CFMJ, always go into total re-roll mode.
 
I guess there’s nothing really wrong with that – it may not pay to bring in a producer, a screener and a host – likely at overtime rates - when it’s perceived that no one is listening. And everyone deserves a day off now and then.
 
But then there’s CKTB in St. Catharines. Although they also have “best of” shows during the day, I’ve noticed over the years that they always have a live morning show on statutory holidays, often even managing to have a few guests on the line. Why would a station in such a small market go live when the bigger guns go silent?
 
Are these decisions, in the case of Bell Media, which owns both RB and TB, made individually or is there a company-wide policy that as many workers as possible get the day off and the places essentially run on automation? And if so, why is CKTB, of all places, always the exception to the rule?
 
It’s not a criticism of either method but I’d love to know why a small market outlet can go live on a holiday morning, while the bigger markets can't.