RadioActive wrote:

It's on the docket for sometime this coming week - the CRTC officially gives its stamp of approval for six radio stations in Ontario to change hands. According to the itinerary, they are:

• Torres Media Ottawa Inc.
Ottawa, Ontario
CITM-FM (Previously CJWL-FM) Ottawa – Change in ownership and effective control


• My Broadcasting Corporation
Tillsonburg and Smiths Falls, Ontario
Three radio stations in Ontario – Change in ownership and effective control


• 1001012762 Ontario Inc.
Clarence-Rockland, Ontario
CHRC-FM Clarence-Rockland – Change in ownership and effective control


• 1001012762 Ontario Inc.
Hawkesbury, Ontario
CKHK-FM Hawkesbury – Change in ownership and effective control

The three My Broadcasting stations are CKOT-FM Tillsonburg, CJDL-FM Tillsonburg and CJET-FM Smiths Falls.

So how much did each pay for the privilege of owning their new toys?

Here's the list:

CITM-FM (Previously CJWL-FM) Ottawa: $1,200,000

My Broadcasting's 3 stations: $1,095,000

CHRC-FM Clarence-Rockland: $270,000

CKHK-FM Hawkesbury: $207,600

CRTC Decisions 

darcyh wrote:

Perhaps we will hear some improvement in the content from CKOT. I tuned in a week or so to see if there had been any changes to the music they played. None noted.

 

When I was young, CKOT  was one of the last stations to have the "Beautiful Music" format. 94.9, 95.3, 96.1, 98.1, 105.3, and 106.1 had all started to drift into A/C territory. When Rogers took over, CKOT probably went in that direction as well.

Any truth to the rumour that CKOT-FM will rebrand to CAPG-FM?  'All Patsy Gallant, All The Time'.
😳

The Rogers stations are all in formats that make sense and are compatible with existing MBC brands.

CKOT is interesting in that it puts a good signal into the London market, but MBC don't seem to do the "rimshot the bigger market" thing. (Except WLYK, but that's an entirely different scenario.)

When CKOT was locally owned it was a unique station that had live announcers from 6:00 am to midnight with automation overnight. There was news every hour. They had a wide playlist and supposedly catered to the older crowd. I began listening when I was in my 20's to get a break from the rock / adult contemporary stuff on many other stations. CKOT must have garnered decent ratings as they had a diverse group of advertisers from several cities; car dealerships from London, Ingersol, Woodstock, Tillsonburg and Aylmer, furniture stores, travel agencies, insurance companies, shoe stores, funeral homes, transport companies, local stores, RV sales, denturists, appliance stores, resturants as well as national ads. The local ownership was apparent in the quality of the station - you could tell the folks that owned and ran the station cared about it and the community. At times it might not have sounded as 'polished' as a big city station, CKOT made up for this in its great content and reliable news and weather reports. Where else at 10:00 pm on a Sunday night could you get an accurate winter road report.  

The station delivers a good signal into London, Woodstock and Kitchener. When CFCA (Kitchener) ditched its easy listening format many listeners moved their dials to 101.3. Given its large signal coverage with a population of over a million the station offered a format / content that was no where else on the dial.

Even though is still calls itself Easy 101, for me there is nothing easy about listening to it. I'm in my 60's - none of the programming appeals to me. Some will say so what. And they're right. But I have lots of money to spend on shoes, appliances, vehicles, entertainment, travel etc. Advertisers should value that. The station now competes with 96.7 and 105.3 in Kitchener, 104.7 in Woodstock, Fresh FM and 97.5 London among others. There is nothing special, unique or interesting in its content to distinguish itself from the others. I wonder what kind of ratings it gets compared to competitors? How do the ratings compare to the "old" CKOT?

In Southwestern Ontario AM 740 can be interesting, but its signal suffers from the noise on the AM band. Same for 1590 WHLX from Marine City Michigan that plays folk, country and rock. There is really no FM radio in this area that offers anything other than classic rock, new country, crappy adult contemporary (that really all sounds the same) and what passes as modern rock. News? Other than CFPL 980 forget it. Live announcers? Few and far between.

Perhaps the new operators will see an opportunity in bringing back some of the things that made CKOT interesting and unique. I think the effort will be rewarded. The station is licensed to Tillsonburg and should have its studios / offices there too.

Just my two cents worth.


 

Last edited by darcyh (Yesterday 5:29 pm)

My first on-air radio gig was at CKOT back in the '80s. The commercial mix was about 75% local, 25% national. We did a lot of local remotes. The AM station had religious programming for a hour a day, but was Top 40 music and farm reports the rest of the day. (And off air at sunset!) The FM station was easy listening, but the announcers chose their own music with no real restrictions. It was also a very "traditional" workplace: no jeans, 6-day work week, federal minimum wage.

At the time I thought the station and the town were quite backward for a boy who had grown up in the big city of Hamilton, and I didn't stay long.

Today, in a radio world awash with automated generic music formats programmed from some distant conglomerate headquarters, going "local" will, I think, be the key to success. A station with local announcers and local commercials can offer something that no generic station, nor music streaming service, can provide--a connection to where you live. 1980's CKOT could probably do quite well in today's world.

The down side, of course, is that a local radio station is very expensive to operate. All those announcers, production people, commercial writers, etc. have to be paid! So the question is, while a local station will likely have a good audience, will it be viable financially? I hope so.

Best of luck with your new acquisitions, Jon!