The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Shouldn't Local Radio Stns. Be Going Live To Cover This Major Storm?

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 10:44 am

I just came in from taking my first pass at my driveway and found it was a totally useless effort. By the time I finished cleaning even the front walk, it was all back - and more.

It may be too early to gauge this, but this storm looks like it could be disastrous for the city if 40 cm (!) wind up falling by midnight. Yet almost every radio station with the exception of 680 is on auto pilot, with endless rerolls and news from The Canadian Press - which is anything but local.

I know it would be expensive for the overtime, but I wonder if the price of a broadcast licence might not be bringing in a crew to do a live show so the city can be continually informed about the dangers of this storm, including updates on the roads from drivers calling in, city officials giving the latest on snow clearing efforts, cancellations for both Sunday and Monday, Environment Canada meteorologists providing continuous info on what's coming and how much has already fallen, and just letting listeners from all over the area phone in about what things are like in their neck of the woods.

Instead, we're getting Ben O'Hara-Byrne on AM640 interviewing a B-level star, CFRB with its trivia and financial - or make that finance shill - shows and reruns of dated programs from last week. These kinds of generational storms don't happen often. Shouldn't local radio be there to cover it live as a one-off, even if it is a Sunday?

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 10:57 am

Just as a follow-up to this, I still remember a huge snowfall from decades ago, when I was working the morning shift at my TV station and had to be in early - something that with the storm we were getting that day was never going to happen.

I was listening to a pocket radio with headphones on as I tried in vain to move every inch of the flakes, which weighed a ton, off my driveway. The show I was hearing was Larry Solway, of all people, on AM 640 doing nothing but storm coverage. People were updating highway conditions and what things were like in their areas, warnings about what was still to come, along with live news and weather from across the GTA.

It has been years and years, but I still remember that show as being exactly what I needed to hear that day. I've never forgotten it and radio sadly does not do that kind of thing anymore, especially on weekends. But perhaps it should.

Shorty Wave · January 25, 2026 10:59 am

When the weather is the news, which it is today/tomorrow, people have a tendency to turn to radio for updates and potential warnings, so if they want to keep that reputation of being the “go to”, radio should step up their game and get the staff in for storm coverage like they once did, cheap buggers!

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 11:03 am

I'm expect CP24 will have great coverage of this all day, but that doesn't really help much if you're outside shoveling for the 10th time in 24 hours or in your car inching along without trying to slide into another vehicle. It really also has to be on the radio. I'm sure 680 will be the go-to for those with little other choice.

RadioAaron · January 25, 2026 11:08 am

Realistically, one station is enough. Everyone who would use radio for such a thing knows which one, and they will do a good job. Despite taglines, 640 and 1010 are not news stations; they're political talk stations.

And since most people will avoid driving today if they can, radio listening is going to be very small. 640 and 1010 will likely show a 'nil' regardless of what they air.

67GreenRambler · January 25, 2026 11:09 am

Anthony Farnell mentioned he is working today so perhaps he'll make an appearance on the radio this afternoon.

I will add; don't trust Google. This is 'Toronto weather'

paterson1 · January 25, 2026 11:19 am

CP24 has it covered. Why would you check your radio for updates as you are shovelling? You check for an update before you go out to shovel, then decide. Your phone and Environment Canada or the Weather Network would be a good way to get the latest.

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 11:26 am

paterson1 wrote:
CP24 has it covered. Why would you check your radio for updates as you are shovelling? You check for an update before you go out to shovel, then decide. Your phone and Environment Canada or the Weather Network would be a good way to get the latest.

It's simply this - shoveling snow is one of the most boring activities possible and a little distraction in your ear - along with helpful updates - makes it a little less onerous. At least for me. My phone is not much use to me in the middle of a snowstorm when I'm dealing with other things. Plus, that's something you have to actively operate and pay attention to. Radio brings it to me with no effort on my part while I'm while busy with a chore I'd rather not be doing.

As that Larry Solway broadcast proved to me way back when, it's nice to know you're not alone in trying to cope with this. I'm not suggesting it should be done every time it snows. But 25-to possibly 50 cm., depending on your location, is not just an average snowfall in the GTA. It's a potentially paralyzing emergency, as I presume we'll find out during Monday's rush hour.

paterson1 · January 25, 2026 11:44 am

Well very few people if any would be listening to AM radio while shovelling show in these very cold temperatures. Besides 680 News has been doing a bang up job, what's wrong with them? As Aaron mentioned one station should be enough if that is what you are looking for.

torontostan · January 25, 2026 12:43 pm

What are you smoking? You think people carry around portable radios in 2026, and use them to listen to talk radio, whilst shovelling? You are, without any hesitation, the only person doing this in the city haha. 680 is more than enough, and frankly you should be grateful you have a radio option at all on a Sunday.....

67GreenRambler · January 25, 2026 1:04 pm

CBC.ca using Greenwich Mean Time.

Binson Echorec · January 25, 2026 1:05 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
Despite taglines, 640 and 1010 are not news stations; they're political talk stations.

Good point.

If I were to use anything while shovelling, it'd certainly be 680News using the RadioPlayer App on my phone. But I don't necessarily need updates, I look outside my window to determine if I need to do another round of clearing or my neighbour has beaten me to it (the pros and cons of a shared driveway). If I live in Peel, Durham's accumulation matters little to me.

Then I just pop in my earbuds and put on some tunes. Whistle while you work.

I choose music because I know that local radio service has declined. I don't expect them to be there so I'm not going looking.

Last edited by Binson Echorec (January 25, 2026 1:07 pm)

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 1:12 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
I choose music because I know that local radio service has declined. I don't expect them to be there so I'm not going looking.

And that, I would suggest, is exactly what happens when you let a formerly important medium languish into almost obsolescence. This could be one small way to at least regain relevance - be there when the listeners need you, however few there may be. Otherwise, as the industry is discovering, they won't be there at all.

eladb · January 25, 2026 1:54 pm

640 and 1010 don't care about live and local on the weekends, and haven't for years. I'm surprised that you're still surprised by it.

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 2:03 pm

eladb wrote:
640 and 1010 don't care about live and local on the weekends, and haven't for years. I'm surprised that you're still surprised by it.

I suppose I'm really not. It would have been nice to know that along with the licence to use the public airwaves came a responsibility to serve that public on the very rare occasion when it's important. Like so much else in broadcasting, that is now a thing of the past.

But isn't it good to know that while you can't get out of your driveway and your roof may collapse from the weight of the snow, at least you can be shown how to sue your employer for disability benefits and invest in gold and silver. That will come in mighty handy on a day like this.

RadioAaron · January 25, 2026 2:16 pm

The public is well served, better than ever, on a mix of traditional and new media. No need for a bunch of redundancy.

torontostan · January 25, 2026 2:39 pm

eladb wrote:
I'm surprised that you're still surprised by it.

I'm continually surprised that people think radio is a charity service. Why isn't the outrage directed at taxpayer funded radio, not private radio stations that don't have the money....

turkeytop · January 25, 2026 2:44 pm

Growing up in the Owen Sound area, we had only one TV channel back then. CKNX ch 8 Wingham. I recall, during one paticularily bad winter storm, they pre-empted all of their programing for one evening, and just did nothing but storm coverage.

One detail I still remember was that a woman died after becoming lost between her house and the barn

BowmanvilleBob · January 25, 2026 2:53 pm

torontostan wrote:
eladb wrote:
I'm surprised that you're still surprised by it.
I'm continually surprised that people think radio is a charity service. Why isn't the outrage directed at taxpayer funded radio, not private radio stations that don't have the money....

Oh gosh, poor Bellmedia and Rogers, barely scraping by. Executives wearing ragged clothes and patchwork coats, all to keep the lights on and the transmitters functioning at their stations. How could anyone be so cruel as to expect them to invest their few remaining dollars in something as trivial as providing news coverage during a significant snowstorm?

Fitz · January 25, 2026 2:53 pm

I listen to SXM with ear buds occasionally when doing yard work. Don't remember doing the same while shovelling snow but today I did bc I think the Minnesota ICE shooting story is an important one ( and influenced by this thread) and I'm listening to the news channels on SXM. Just taking a break right now. The snow seems to have tapered off somewhat. Hope the slowdown continues. I checked the 72 hour forecast online and that was good enough for the weather for me.

Last edited by Fitz (January 25, 2026 2:57 pm)

torontostan · January 25, 2026 4:45 pm

BowmanvilleBob wrote:
Oh gosh, poor Bellmedia and Rogers, barely scraping by. Executives wearing ragged clothes and patchwork coats, all to keep the lights on and the transmitters functioning at their stations. How could anyone be so cruel as to expect them to invest their few remaining dollars in something as trivial as providing news coverage during a significant snowstorm?

I'm sorry they don't teach Business 101 in Bowmanville, but media and telecom are two completely separated businesses bawd.... why should internet & cell services subsidize AM radio? They have nothing to do with each other. That's how you run a business into the ground. It's not one big chequing account. If each individual subsidiary of a major public company doesn't make money, Bay Street will rip you a new one. That's why both companies have phased out home phones, and they will soon phase out AM radio in the next twelve months judging by the other topics on this forum....

These stations would have the same problems if they were owned by someone else. Are CKTB or CFZM doing wall-to-wall snowstorm coverage? No sir, in fact they're all probably going off-air in the next two years or so which will prove my point that they're money losers and you need to start lowering your expectations of what a radio station can provide in this day & age. It's not a charity. 680 News already does what it needs to do, and other stations don't need to cover a storm and lose money in the process so one 75 year old guy shovelling his driveway can hear something that's not relevant to his retired lifestyle anyways....

RadioActive · January 25, 2026 4:56 pm

Nothing replaces real human analysis on days like this.

“Weather apps are really bad at storms that have multiple types of precipitation and it really makes messaging hard,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd, a past president of the American Meteorological Society. “Apps don’t understand the details of why snow, sleet or freezing rain happens.”

University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado and other experts said humans are important in these cases, especially those with local expertise.

“For extreme weather events, it is especially important to know there are human forecasters interpreting the data and making the best localized forecasts for your area,” Furtado said. “Unfortunately, many of the weather forecast apps use AI methods to either make the forecast or ‘interpolate’ from larger grids to your hometown, introducing the potential for significant errors.”

What weather apps sometimes miss about dangerous winter storm conditions

BowmanvilleBob · January 25, 2026 5:06 pm

torontostan wrote:
BowmanvilleBob wrote:
Oh gosh, poor Bellmedia and Rogers, barely scraping by. Executives wearing ragged clothes and patchwork coats, all to keep the lights on and the transmitters functioning at their stations. How could anyone be so cruel as to expect them to invest their few remaining dollars in something as trivial as providing news coverage during a significant snowstorm?
I'm sorry they don't teach Business 101 in Bowmanville, but media and telecom are two completely separated businesses bawd.... why should internet & cell services subsidize AM radio? They have nothing to do with each other. That's how you run a business into the ground. It's not one big chequing account. If each individual subsidiary of a major public company doesn't make money, Bay Street will rip you a new one. That's why both companies have phased out home phones, and they will soon phase out AM radio in the next twelve months judging by the other topics on this forum....

These stations would have the same problems if they were owned by someone else. Are CKTB or CFZM doing wall-to-wall snowstorm coverage? No sir, in fact they're all probably going off-air in the next two years or so which will prove my point that they're money losers and you need to start lowering your expectations of what a radio station can provide in this day & age. It's not a charity. 680 News already does what it needs to do, and other stations don't need to cover a storm and lose money in the process so one 75 year old guy shovelling his driveway can hear something that's not relevant to his retired lifestyle anyways....

Many companies are not heartless money machines and recognize the need to provide a level of public service to the customers they serve. I don’t know which business school you went to, but most companies recognize the concept of reputational risk, which involves maintaining a degree of public confidence that they operate in an ethical manner. All this is above and beyond the small amount of money that would need to be spent in comparison to the billions of dollars in profits these companies make in Canada’s largely monopolistic regulatory environment. Not every station has to provide wall-to-wall coverage, but I sure as heck think that bringing in a few live bodies to provide some semblance of a topical presence during a major weather event won’t exactly cause Bay Street to panic to the bottom of its well- heeled boots.

Danny Petty · January 25, 2026 5:20 pm

I’m sorry, this repetitive obsession with the same (increasingly) niche topic is grounds for a diagnosis. This board is really starting to lose its hold on reality. If listening to AM stations on a physical radio is your primary source of information, no matter the circumstances, you may as well be dead. Apologies for the bluntness, but enough’s enough. Your expectations do not reflect the state of play in 2026. You don’t need to like it, but you do need to accept it. Instead of rinsing and repeating the same gripes, perhaps we could broaden our horizons? I feel like I’ve been extremely well served about the storm today. CP24/CTV, CBC, BlogTO, 680/CITY have been all over it. Numerous push alerts, websites consistently updated with livestreams of their TV/radio offerings. If I want information, my media diet is diverse enough and I know where to turn. I’d suggest others also peruse the menu.

BowmanvilleBob · January 25, 2026 5:24 pm

Danny Petty wrote:
I’m sorry, this repetitive obsession with the same (increasingly) niche topic is grounds for a diagnosis. This board is really starting to lose its hold on reality. If listening to AM stations on a physical radio is your primary source of information, no matter the circumstances, you may as well be dead. Apologies for the bluntness, but enough’s enough. Your expectations do not reflect the state of play in 2026. You don’t need to like it, but you do need to accept it. Instead of rinsing and repeating the same gripes, perhaps we could broaden our horizons? I feel like I’ve been extremely well served about the storm today. CP24/CTV, CBC, BlogTO, 680/CITY have been all over it. Numerous push alerts, websites consistently updated with livestreams of their TV/radio offerings. If I want information, my media diet is diverse enough and I know where to turn. I’d suggest others also peruse the menu.

What about if you don’t live in Toronto?

torontostan · January 25, 2026 5:58 pm

BowmanvilleBob wrote:
most companies recognize the concept of reputational risk, which involves maintaining a degree of public confidence that they operate in an ethical manner.

You're probably right, those big companies would be well aware that leaving their AM radio stations "understaffed" on a Sunday snowstorm results in near-zero reputational risk to their core business. Only a couple hundred people would be listening to CFRB or CFIQ today, and the only people to notice the lack of coverage are the handful on this forum that are industry expats

torontostan · January 25, 2026 5:59 pm

BowmanvilleBob wrote:
What about if you don’t live in Toronto?

You have several local radio stations to choose from in Bowmanville (Kx, CKDO, Rock, and so on.....)

Saul · January 25, 2026 6:01 pm

Danny Petty wrote:
I’m sorry, this repetitive obsession with the same (increasingly) niche topic is grounds for a diagnosis. This board is really starting to lose its hold on reality. If listening to AM stations on a physical radio is your primary source of information, no matter the circumstances, you may as well be dead. Apologies for the bluntness, but enough’s enough. Your expectations do not reflect the state of play in 2026. You don’t need to like it, but you do need to accept it. Instead of rinsing and repeating the same gripes, perhaps we could broaden our horizons? I feel like I’ve been extremely well served about the storm today. CP24/CTV, CBC, BlogTO, 680/CITY have been all over it. Numerous push alerts, websites consistently updated with livestreams of their TV/radio offerings. If I want information, my media diet is diverse enough and I know where to turn. I’d suggest others also peruse the menu.

Well, we used to talk politics on the board, but given that AM radio is dying all we got left to talk about is the weather.

Fitz · January 25, 2026 6:03 pm

BowmanvilleBob wrote:
Danny Petty wrote:
I’m sorry, this repetitive obsession with the same (increasingly) niche topic is grounds for a diagnosis. This board is really starting to lose its hold on reality. If listening to AM stations on a physical radio is your primary source of information, no matter the circumstances, you may as well be dead. Apologies for the bluntness, but enough’s enough. Your expectations do not reflect the state of play in 2026. You don’t need to like it, but you do need to accept it. Instead of rinsing and repeating the same gripes, perhaps we could broaden our horizons? I feel like I’ve been extremely well served about the storm today. CP24/CTV, CBC, BlogTO, 680/CITY have been all over it. Numerous push alerts, websites consistently updated with livestreams of their TV/radio offerings. If I want information, my media diet is diverse enough and I know where to turn. I’d suggest others also peruse the menu.
What about if you don’t live in Toronto?

Not sure what the Canadian stations are doing today but on the national American TV news stations the storm has been one of two stories covered today. Granted that does not include micro local coverage but the major impact zones are being covered.

BowmanvilleBob · January 25, 2026 6:43 pm

Fitz wrote:
BowmanvilleBob wrote:
Danny Petty wrote:
I’m sorry, this repetitive obsession with the same (increasingly) niche topic is grounds for a diagnosis. This board is really starting to lose its hold on reality. If listening to AM stations on a physical radio is your primary source of information, no matter the circumstances, you may as well be dead. Apologies for the bluntness, but enough’s enough. Your expectations do not reflect the state of play in 2026. You don’t need to like it, but you do need to accept it. Instead of rinsing and repeating the same gripes, perhaps we could broaden our horizons? I feel like I’ve been extremely well served about the storm today. CP24/CTV, CBC, BlogTO, 680/CITY have been all over it. Numerous push alerts, websites consistently updated with livestreams of their TV/radio offerings. If I want information, my media diet is diverse enough and I know where to turn. I’d suggest others also peruse the menu.
What about if you don’t live in Toronto?
Not sure what the Canadian stations are doing today but on the national American TV news stations the storm has been one of two stories covered today. Granted that does not include micro local coverage but the major impact zones are being covered.

So how does that help me if I live in Owen Sound, St. Thomas, Gravenhurst or Bracebridge?