The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Whatever Happened To Exclusivity? Sauga960 Is Other Stns.' "Catch-All"

RadioActive · March 8, 2026 10:25 am

I remember the day when if you were on one radio station, you could never be on another, unless you were fired or quit. And even then, there was a non-compete clause that made you wait before you could appear on a competitor.

What, then, to make of Sauga960AM, which seems to have the voices of so many other stations on its airwaves. The latest example is 680 newscaster Julia Vellucci, who is heard overnights on the Rogers-owned channel. But on Sundays, she hosts a Peel Crimestoppers show on the Mississauga station.

And she's not the only example. Ed The Sock does an overnight show on Oshawa's 94.9 The Rock. But he also turns up with his wife on CKNT every Saturday.

Then there's Greg Carrasco, a newcomer to CFRB with an auto show on Saturdays. But if you hit 960 the next day, you'll hear him there, doing a religious themed show.

And let's not forget Lex Tan, who turned up on several stations doing traffic for CTN. He fronts a wrestling show on Sauga every Sunday.

And that's just what I could find. I understand the concept of freelancing, and none of these people are exactly household names. But when did the idea that you could only be on one station in a market disappear? It's like Sauga960 has become the de facto spot for side hustles. I can't ever remember a station that absorbed talent from so many others. I suppose it's not seen as a threat by management at the bigger stations, but why do they allow it?

Hansa · March 8, 2026 11:09 am

Ontario banned non-compete agreements in 2001 so perhaps it has something to do with that or just the fact that there are fewer staff broadcasters and more freelancers. Also I thought most shows on CKNT were time-buys.

RadioActive · March 8, 2026 11:11 am

Hansa wrote:
Ontario banned non-compete agreements in 2001 so perhaps it has something to do with that or just the fact that there are fewer staff broadcasters and more freelancers. Also I thought most shows on CKNT were time-buys.

I don't think that station could survive without time buys. But if you're CFRB or 680, do you really want your talent appearing on someone else's airwaves - even as insignificant a player as CKNT?

Jonathan W · March 8, 2026 11:18 am

I remember in the 90s noticing Bob Callahan have DJ shifts in the same week on three separately owned Toronto stations (Mix 99.9, CISS-FM, and as Tank Sherman on Q107).

RadioAaron · March 8, 2026 12:01 pm

As for these examples....

-CKNT just doesn't matter. More people would hear the hosts if they were having a conversation on the subway. No exageration.

-Paid-time hosts like Carasso: They're not there to be known as a voice of the station, and the paid shows have basically zero listenership.

-The useable signals of 94.9 and 960 don't overlap.

Fitz · March 8, 2026 12:15 pm

Easily Amused wrote:
Jonathan W wrote:
I remember in the 90s noticing Bob Callahan have DJ shifts in the same week on three separately owned Toronto stations (Mix 99.9, CISS-FM, and as Tank Sherman on Q107).
Tank Sherman. 🤔🙄

Quite possibly the worst name heard since Jethro Bodine's alter ego 'Beef Jerky'. 🤨

Yes but one of the best and one that you will hear on zero legacy media outlets but I have heard on a few new or alt media sites:

Operation Epstein Fury

RadioActive · March 8, 2026 12:27 pm

I guess none of this is surprising, in a market where Vassy Kapelos' best-of weekend show appears on two competitors (CFRB & AM640) almost at the same time. (One starts at 1 PM on one, while the same show starts at 2 PM on the other.)

Paul Jeffries · March 8, 2026 12:53 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
But if you're CFRB or 680, do you really want your talent appearing on someone else's airwaves - even as insignificant a player as CKNT?
Those days are long gone. I could start up my own platform via socials and my employer probably couldn't do much about it unless I was their top morning personality working under a contract with specific clauses built in to address this issue.

Management these days is too busy worrying about their own future to be concerned with what a freelancer or part-timer is doing in their off-hours. Generally, it's not a problem until it becomes one, ie: they don't come running when the big outlet calls them for emergency fill in.

I think it's also because a lot of stations consider swing shift/freelance announcers as interchangeable and don't associate "star power" with them. Most of them are there just to get the job done by reading station liners and promos at the end of music stop sets. Outside of morning personalities, I think the days where people associate an announcer with a specific station are pretty much gone, if there's even that much recognizability attached to said announcers to begin with. It might be slightly different with talk show hosts, but probably not by much.

PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (March 8, 2026 12:55 pm)

RadioAaron · March 8, 2026 4:50 pm

There’s still a little bit of “star”power left in radio. I see Roz from KiSS out-and-about sometimes, and never without someone approaching him to say they love the show.

Otherwise; Marilyn; Stu, Lana Gay in some circles…and that’s probably it.

newsguy1 · March 8, 2026 6:12 pm

Also I'm sure I've heard boring tech guy Carmi Levi, or Karmy Levy, or however he spells it on both 1010 and 640, even at almost the same times.
Quite frankly I tune him out where ever he is along with doppleganger Mark Saltsman, another equally tedious tech bro.
I guess some people have a lot of interest in tech stuff, but it really has little effect on my life, and hearing repeated interviews about stuff that means little to me just leaves me cold.

Hansa · March 8, 2026 8:42 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
But if you're CFRB or 680, do you really want your talent appearing on someone else's airwaves - even as insignificant a player as CKNT?
Those days are long gone. I could start up my own platform via socials and my employer probably couldn't do much about it unless I was their top morning personality working under a contract with specific clauses built in to address this issue.

Management these days is too busy worrying about their own future to be concerned with what a freelancer or part-timer is doing in their off-hours. Generally, it's not a problem until it becomes one, ie: they don't come running when the big outlet calls them for emergency fill in.

And there would be an issue in labour law if a station didn't allow freelancers to work at other stations since under labour law, if an employer exercises that sort of control over someone they are an employee and no longer a freelancer/contractor, regardless of how the station classifies them - which means they would be entitled to various benefits and protections under the Employment Standards Act.

Shorty Wave · March 9, 2026 6:59 am

newsguy1 wrote:
Also I'm sure I've heard boring tech guy Carmi Levi, or Karmy Levy, or however he spells it on both 1010 and 640, even at almost the same times.
Quite frankly I tune him out where ever he is along with doppleganger Mark Saltsman, another equally tedious tech bro.
I guess some people have a lot of interest in tech stuff, but it really has little effect on my life, and hearing repeated interviews about stuff that means little to me just leaves me cold.

Carmi Levy is also a pundit on AM740 of late, he gets around!

RadioActive · March 9, 2026 2:36 pm

newsguy1 wrote:
Also I'm sure I've heard boring tech guy Carmi Levi, or Karmy Levy, or however he spells it on both 1010 and 640, even at almost the same times.
Quite frankly I tune him out where ever he is along with doppleganger Mark Saltsman, another equally tedious tech bro.
I guess some people have a lot of interest in tech stuff, but it really has little effect on my life, and hearing repeated interviews about stuff that means little to me just leaves me cold.

There is a bit of a difference in my mind. Carmi Levy is a total freelancer. He's not employed as a permanent staffer at any radio station. He's a guest expert. So he can appear wherever he wants whenever he wants. I suppose it's the same with Greg Carrasco.

But Julia Vellucci of 680 News has a fulltime gig as a newscaster and thus turning up on another station doing a show there seems a conflict of interest to me.

Aytononline · March 9, 2026 3:27 pm

For me it depends on what stations you are talking about. If you already on staff with a 2 or 3 hour show on CFRB, 680 News, AM640 ot CBC Radio 1, then you should stick with the station you are on, but if your secondary gig is on a much smaller station that will most likely never really compete with your main employer, I don't see this as being an issue.

Evuguy · March 10, 2026 9:42 pm

Marc Saltzman also appears Saturday afternoons, on everyone's favourate Buffalo conservative chat station: https://1270thepatriot.com/schedule

RadioActive · March 11, 2026 6:12 am

Evuguy wrote:
Marc Saltzman also appears Saturday afternoons, on everyone's favourate Buffalo conservative chat station: https://1270thepatriot.com/schedule

Didn't know that, because it's not a station I listen to. But I would argue the difference with the other examples is it's a totally different market, so it's not quite the same as appearing in or near a Toronto radio station. Plus Saltzman isn't a CFRB employee, so he's free (and freelance) to go wherever he wants.

Fjiri · March 12, 2026 2:42 pm

Hansa wrote:
Ontario banned non-compete agreements in 2001 so perhaps it has something to do with that or just the fact that there are fewer staff broadcasters and more freelancers. Also I thought most shows on CKNT were time-buys.

The ban hit in late 2021. The reality, though, is that non-compete clauses are unenforceable nearly 100% of the time in Canada, ban or no ban. A company legally can't prevent someone from trying to earn a living. Now, employers will play the jerk card and threaten to enforce that worthless clause in your contract, which is a bluff that many acquiesce to - but business owners know that if it ever ended up in court, a judge would tear up that contract AND make the employer pay the employee's legal costs.

Last edited by Fjiri (March 12, 2026 2:43 pm)