1 of 1- RadioActive
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Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
If there was one radio station I thought could never have pre-taped programming, it would be an all news outlet. But I guess I was wrong based on the few times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night, can’t get back to sleep and turned on 680 News to fill the silence.
The station appears to be live, with a news reader and the latest headlines from the top and bottom of the hour for 15 minutes. Then after sports at :15 and :45, a different voice comes on, presenting pre-packaged and undated stories that fills that quarter hour. It's clear everything in this segment is pre-recorded, including the newsreader.
My question is: why do they do this? They obviously have a live newscaster there, so why go to what is essentially taped programming for 30 minutes in a typical hour long segment? You can tell when it happens, not only by the times it occurs, but telltale “on tape” signs like never giving the current temperature after a pre-recorded weather forecast. If you have an actual live newscaster working the graveyard shift (although they also seem to do this on weekends, as well) why not just let him or her do their job? Is there a reason for this? What does that person do during that extra time they're not on the air?
- RadioAaron
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
Gather and write news, and prepare audio for the morning show.
- RadioActive
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
RadioAaron wrote:
Gather and write news, and prepare audio for the morning show.
So did they cut other staff who did that? They used to be live 24/7 all night with one newscaster on all the time. This is something relatively new.
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Thread Starter- RadioAaron
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
They used to have an editor on overnights.
- Aytononline
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
Rogers is always looking for ways to save money. Remember for a little while they tried a National over night program out of Vancouver with local weather and traffic for Toronto.
If there was an important event taking place I am glad they still have a live person available. But on a normal day, how much new news is happening at 2am.
I don't like what Rogers is doing, but I do understand why it is happening.
- radiokid
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
So you are complaining that they have LIVE local programming overnights at all? I rather have someone in the building and LIVE so when something breaks they can stop the pre-recorded 15 min instead of having no one overnights. It's actually thinking outside the box a little to keep programming intact AND actually never stopping live local reporting.
1010 doesn't have live overnights at all... and 640 ended live anything long before that... TV also shut up shop for anyone being around to break in. I will take what they came up with to keep things covered and updated. I would say Rogers actually did the right thing here... vs cutting live programming completely.
Last edited by radiokid (October 14, 2026 2:47 pm)
- TheWiz
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
My guess is you're probably looking at a single news anchor overnight, they can't talk for 5 hours straight.
Rogers had done this with some of their smaller market news stations in the past. Your main stories are always the first 15 minutes. From there you go into entertainment, lifestyle, technology type stories. Those stories wouldn't need updating every half hour. So it's easy to have those recorded earlier in the day and use them to fill out the rest of the newscast overnight.
- markow202
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
Traffic would be the most up to date I heard them once late at night and they reported the closure on the road right away
- RadioActive
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
Traffic would be the most up to date I heard them once late at night and they reported the closure on the road right away
Yes, no offence to anyone there, but their overnight traffic reports seem to go on forever. Every closed ramp, every minor construction project, everyone who drops a bubble gum wrapper on the street gets reported to fill in a lot of time in the darkness. They are endless in the middle of the night, ironic considering there are rarely any real traffic problems at 3 in the morning.
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Thread Starter- Chrisphen
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
Yes, no offence to anyone there, but their overnight traffic reports seem to go on forever. Every closed ramp, every minor construction project, everyone who drops a bubble gum wrapper on the street gets reported to fill in a lot of time in the darkness. They are endless in the middle of the night, ironic considering there are rarely any real traffic problems at 3 in the morning.
That's OK though, they cut all of the corners on the diurnal traffic reports (with special emphasis on ignoring east GTA traffic failures), so it balances out.
- turkeytop
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
[ironic considering there are rarely any real traffic problems at 3 in the morning.
No matter what hour of the day or night. when crossing Toronto on 401, there is always a traffic problem.
After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.
- mace
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
I live a football field away from the 401. There is the drone of traffic on it 24/7. At night it is merely white noise to me. There are sirens going off intermittently all night long. I never hear those but on the rare occasion I hear 10 of them simultaneously, I know there is a serious traffic issue in the area.
- markow202
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Re: Why Does 680 News Do This Overnights?
I live a football field away from the 401. There is the drone of traffic on it 24/7. At night it is merely white noise to me. There are sirens going off intermittently all night long. I never hear those but on the rare occasion I hear 10 of them simultaneously, I know there is a serious traffic issue in the area.
And that fresh rubbery smelling air.... ahh.