Let me say right off the bat that I have no problem with giving radio hosts a day off. As someone who worked every single Christmas in a newsroom for 23 years straight before I finally got one off, I can attest to how tiresome it can be. (Especially when there's no news beyond the Pope's sermon, and the Queen and the Prime Minister's Christmas greetings! Boring as it gets and it gets that way every single year.)
 
It’s easier to hide it on an all music format, but none of the three major talk stations in this area (CFRB, AM 640 and CKTB) has anyone doing their afternoon drive live on Labour Day Monday. Why should they? I would argue there are potentially thousands of people on their way home from cottage country, from the airport, from across the border or just from other destinations that are in their cars and likely searching for some audio company as they make what could be a very long journey back.
 
Rewarding them with canned interviews from days or worse, weeks and months ago, isn’t serving them very well. I have no issue with rerolls on the earlier shifts (although I think CKTB did a live morning show if I’m not mistaken) but it seems to me it’s a disservice to not at least bring a live fill-in for a time when traffic flowing back into the GTA is of paramount concern.
 
Yes, they have traffic reports as always, but it’s not quite the same as being able to talk about an accident or a traffic jam on one of the major highways as it happens. I guess it’s not worth the overtime, and the days of doing stats live are pretty much long gone.
 
But what a service it would be to the listeners. You remember them – the people radio used to be about.