RadioActive wrote:

"Our first quarter results were in line with our expectations..."

If at first you don't meet expectations, lower them.


PJ
 

paterson1 wrote:

In defense of Corus, you wouldn't notice that they were in financial trouble looking at Global or their specialty channels.  Even Global News doesn't show less quality even with their financial problems and layoffs.
 
In terms of radio, AM 640 in many ways seems superior to Newstalk 1010 and overall has a better on air  and news line up IMO.  I don't listen to Q or the Edge that much so I have no idea if there has been any noticeable change in the two stations since the financial woes began.  Locally where I live the four Corus stations sound about the same with AM CJOY still hanging in. 

I have watched their two new cable channels, the Home and Flavour Networks.  Corus did a much better job launching these two new channels than what Rogers did when they acquired the Food Network and HGTV.  And both of the new Corus channels also have a fair amount of original new programming, and have some good shows.  

Now all of this may be in vain and the company might fold, but at least so far their problems haven't shown on air to the viewer or listener.  And for this they deserve at least some credit. 

I'd agree when it comes to Toronto. Outside of here, it gets dicey. Ottawa, for example, has no local announcers on its FMs. Ditto Kingston, which doesn't even have studios anymore. Morning shows out west are down to single hosts. Websites are outdated messes. 
 

Radiowiz wrote:

Corus found the money to install an all new computer system for Q 107 and other radio stations that be. 
 

Computers are cheaper than people...

Corus seems to be acting as if it will always remain in business. I have heard the asks for some of the radio stations are insanely high. One person I know who was trying to negotiate to purchase certain stations was told it was basically all or nothing. Personally, if I were on a sinking ship and someone offered me X millions to bail me out by taking some of the radio stations off my hands, I would jump at it. What concerns me is that they have had offers and they won't sell, and by the time they get to the desperation point where paychecks bounce, or they have to shut things down, they will sell for dirt cheap, and it won't help in the long run. They make it seem like they do ok with TV, so sell the radio division, invest the money into TV, and maybe look to invest in other things to help the bottom line. 
Selling the radio division will eliminate those operating expenses, and it will allow the new buyers to program radio the right way. Look at all the former Bell stations and how they sound now. New operators, and the stations all sound better. Even the ones that had no significant format change still sound better. I actually quite like a lot of the Vista stations out west. They are programmed more locally and have a more local sound to them. Also, several stations hired new staff to fill the void of the national programming. It would be good for Corus to finally dump the radio division. Bring Edge back to the glory days under a new owner. 
Or Corus can keep running the stations the way they are and see how long they last. 

Radiowiz wrote:

Campaign Desk wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

Corus found the money to install an all new computer system for Q 107 and other radio stations that be. 
 

Computers are cheaper than people...

What does this new computer system do that the older one could not do? 
 

function

brian451 wrote:

Corus seems to be acting as if it will always remain in business. 
Selling the radio division will eliminate those operating expenses, and it will allow the new buyers to program radio the right way. Look at all the former Bell stations and how they sound now. New operators, and the stations all sound better. Even the ones that had no significant format change still sound better. I actually quite like a lot of the Vista stations out west. They are programmed more locally and have a more local sound to them. Also, several stations hired new staff to fill the void of the national programming. It would be good for Corus to finally dump the radio division. Bring Edge back to the glory days under a new owner. 
Or Corus can keep running the stations the way they are and see how long they last. 

I look at it from the perspective that they don't want to just sell a station here or there to a little guy. (like Bell did)
Instead, maybe they believe a larger company out there would love to have all their radio stations...
 

Clearly television division is the monetary problem.Why all the talk about radio.

Shorty Wave wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

In defense of Corus, you wouldn't notice that they were in financial trouble looking at Global or their specialty channels.  Even Global News doesn't show less quality even with their financial problems and layoffs.
 
I have watched their two new cable channels, the Home and Flavour Networks.  Corus did a much better job launching these two new channels than what Rogers did when they acquired the Food Network and HGTV.  And both of the new Corus channels also have a fair amount of original new programming, and have some good shows.  

Now all of this may be in vain and the company might fold, but at least so far their problems haven't shown on air to the viewer or listener.  And for this they deserve at least some credit. 

 
Full disclosure, I worked for Corus a few times over the years doing on-air promos. The one thing that I think Corus has that other broadcasters have seem to have lost is that Corus is proud of their channels, even with things being not so great for them.

They did an amazing job launching the Home and Flavour networks, plus they had to act fast as Rogers had poached Food and HGTV from them, which I still consider a real slime ball move. Rogers did a crap job launching their newly acquired channels mostly because they hadn’t negotiated carriage with Bell etc. You’d think that being in the cable biz, dumbass Rogers would know that type of thing, but they didn’t and really screwed up their launch.

I also worked for Rogers and I can tell you, they do not have them same pride in product that Corus has, it’s just too bad Corus didn’t have the same financial situation!

I have always liked many of their specialty channels and I like that Global shows some of their home improvement and older food programming during the day.  Makes up their cancon and the shows are well done, and better than infomercials or another endless rerun. However these shows also have a smaller potential audience since they are more specific and not general entertainment.  But if you are a homeowner looking to renovate or enjoy cooking they are of interest. 

A few former broadcast friends who worked for Corus were split on the company.  A couple didn't like the company and working for them, and a few others liked working for them just fine. 
 

I suppose this is the best they could hope for.

Corus receives court order to proceed with recapitalization transaction

The new date to watch for in the ongoing struggle for survival at Corus: April 10th, the day the company's second quarter results are released.

There’s some overlap, but definitely not duplicated playlists.

Chrisphen wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

There’s some overlap, but definitely not duplicated playlists.

Perhaps true, but still pathetic.

No it's not.

The stations have had demographics overlap, and therefore some music overlap, for decades. And it has worked brilliantly. Corus sold the "wall of men " (which included 640) while virtually every other music station was targeting women.

The challenge more recently is that Edge has had to move older (because it's a radio station) while Q has had to move younger (because of ad demos) so the overlap is greater. If you have two rock stations where the 90s are a big factor, there's going to be overlap, especially with Cancon.

The only way to avoid it is for one of them to change formats, and Corus can't really do that right now.

Saul wrote:

I wonder how many listeners are listening to more than one station so much that they notice... tracks like that serve both markets

Q and Edge have 28% audience overlap in 25-54.