AND, here I go, disagreeing but NOT for disagreeing sake... GOOD ON THEM!! Finally! A station with balls. Again, let's think like a listener and not like a, well, you know. Their target demo does NOT give a moist shit about news. When I was a kid and listened to my local Top 40 station while getting ready to go to school, I absolutely HATED the news interruption. Hated it.

If their target demo actually wants to stay informed, they have, say it with me, their phone or another station.  Chum is competing with the likes of satellite and the closer they sound, the more likelihood they'll retain the ears. That said, I doubt this experiment will last long.

Another reason why Rog and his side piece needs to consider retirement. The format is passing them by. Sorry.

Agree that not every listener cares about news.   But...

For those who might, when something like last night's shooting happens, would it kill them to do a quick announce in between songs that there is "breaking news" and for more information they can tune into whatever station is in their stable?  (NT1010 or 680news for Bell/Rogers)
 

Last edited by Peter the K (July 23, 2018 12:56 pm)

cGrant wrote:

You're assuming there is a physical live human in master control at that time? Granted, station personnel can log-in remotely and insert an element to that effect.

In the case of CHUM, there would be someone in the building in a newsroom that could do a quick 10 second blurb that could be inserted into their automation.  Actually, it could even be a generic blurb that someone could remotely insert.  Once again, not to interrupt anything, but just in between songs.

cGrant wrote:

That said, AGAIN, think like one of their target demos: they don't care about news. Period. Endstop. Chances are, they might have a pop-up appear on their mobiles from whatever source app they might have. Or, they'll be advised via their social media feeds. Yes, it's sad that this is the way the young 'uns get their news, but it is reality.

To further generalize, I highly doubt that many on this Board of the Inner Plateau of the Illuminati are actually in the new Chum's target demo.
 

True.  Full service radio is a thing of the past.  A quaint anachronism from days gone by.  If I want news, I tune to one of the news channels.  Then again, if I want music, my phone has about 5,500 songs that I like loaded and ready to go.
 

There was a time when radio really was a part of our lives. Radio was part of our community. Now I’m going back a long time for this example, but the night John Lennon was shot I was listening to CHUM, CHUM-FM and other stations near and far, pretty much all night as were probably millions more. Radio brought us together as we shared our grief on the air and off.
 
Now most of the young ones today get their headlines from Twitter and Facebook. That’s also where they share their thoughts and feelings – on social media.
 
I do miss the fact that radio is no longer a major part of my life. But it’s a different world now.  So if CHUM FM doesn't want to do the news, it makes sense to me.

Last edited by alangee (July 23, 2018 7:49 pm)

NW wrote:

In light of today's arrest of Jacob Hoggard, CHUM-fm may wish to de-emphasize the Hedley in their clam "hits from Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Pink, Justin Timberlake and Hedley to name a few".[/size]

Yeah. The "world famous" Rog and the Broad will get right on it.
 

In a major market...there isn't really much reason to do formal newscasts anymore.  24-7 general news outlets are rolling on radio, on TV, and I'd like to say on-line...if you know where to go.  Most internet news is twaddle.

Still  CHUM eff-emm should continue to fill in the blanks regarding the  compelling info which affects most everyone.  If it's not safe to go out the front door...people need to know that. 

In a small[er] market...where the commute is 30-35 minutes tops...I don't think it's necessary to roll with nearly as many newscasts.  7:00-8:00 AM?  6:00 PM maybe?  Enough.  BUT...if you're gonna do that...you better not be voice tracked for 60 hours straight.  A LOT of reasons not to venture out of the front door can happen in 60 hours.

Radio used to own the whole 'thing' .  Immediacy was the leg up.  They gave that away.  Dependability was also a factor.  And reliability.  Nowadays?  Not so much.  Yet...will Facebook get the info to you before they allow untoward 'types' access to all of you personal information first?  Hard to say.  Probably not.

I'm Old Codger.  My S.I.N. is 5

I get my news from reputable sources, CBC etc on Twitter, and I'm middle aged. I also follow the Toronto Police and Fire on Twitter because when there was a report of a person with a gun on the Danforth around 3pm this afternoon, I read about it within minutes.

I don't have to rely on a media outlet spinning and timing something to their advantage to get the news on a possible situation, and I don't have to sit through a commercial or ten to learn that the incident has been resolved, or is still ongoing. Yes, the first responders will judge whether or not to release certain information, and time it according to their guidelines, but it's still available to me faster.

I do listen to radio to help me process the news, from people like John Moore, Stafford, and the "3 men and a newscast" with Ryan and Jay and Dave at 6pm.

Last edited by betaylored (July 24, 2018 7:13 pm)

Lets not forget the government alerts that interrupt every tv and radio station at the same time regardless of their choice.  If something like "dont go out of your house" situation happens, im sure that will be used a long with that super creepy siren tone.

I don't think two or three quick relevant headlines cause listeners to tune out in droves.