The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » CKNT Reveals Live Programming Date. No, Really. This Time They Mean It

RadioActive · August 21, 2018 11:50 am

I just got off the phone with the number CKNT issues for reception reports or any "concerns." The woman on the end of the line tells me they're aiming for a debut date of September 4th - the day after the Labour Day weekend and the same day kids go back to school.

On air start time is supposed to be 6 AM, with their morning show.

I'll believe it when I hear it but that's the latest. (Of course, this same woman told me they planned to be on air with regular programming on July 1st, so don't be surprised if it doesn't happen.) Still no website, though.

tvguy · August 21, 2018 12:47 pm

Oh yeh? Well they got a licence renewal today. They are good to go till 2023. Any bets whether they will still be on the air in 2023?

https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-294.htm
Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2018-294PDF version
Reference: Part 1 licence renewal application posted on 27 June 2018
Ottawa, 21 August 2018
8159203 Canada Limited
Mississauga, Ontario
Public record for this application: 2017-0780-4CKNT Mississauga – Licence renewal
[list=1]
[*]The Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial AM radio programming undertaking CKNT Mississauga, Ontario, from 1 September 2018 to 31 August 2023. The Commission did not receive any interventions in connection with this application. The terms and conditions of licence are set out in the appendix to this decision.
[*]In English-language AM radio station in Mississauga, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-722, 22 November 2011, the Commission approved an application for a broadcasting licence to operate this radio station. However, Commission records indicate that the station was not in operation for the majority of the current licence term. This short-term renewal will allow for an earlier review of the licensee’s compliance with regulatory requirements over the course of the next licence term.
[/list]
Reminder
[list=1]
[*]Pursuant to section 22 of the Broadcasting Act, the broadcasting licence renewed in this decision will cease to have any force or effect if the broadcasting certificate issued by the Department of Industry lapses.
[/list]
Secretary General
This decision is to be appended to the licence.Appendix to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2018-294Terms, conditions of licence, expectations and encouragement for the English-language commercial AM radio programming undertaking CKNT MississaugaTermsThe licence will expire 31 August 2023.Conditions of licence
[list=1]
[*]The licensee shall adhere to the conditions of licence set out in Conditions of licence for commercial AM and FM radio stations, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-62, 11 February 2009, as well as to the conditions set out in the broadcasting licence for the undertaking.
[*]In order to fulfil its commitments to Canadian content development (CCD) set out in English-language AM radio station in Mississauga, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-722, 22 November 2011, in addition to the required basic annual contributions to CCD set out in section 15 of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations), as amended from time to time, the licensee shall make annual CCD contributions of $2,434 in the 2018-2019 broadcast year, $2,147 in the 2019-2020 broadcast year, $3,694 in the 2020-2021 broadcast year, $16,250 in the 2021-2022 broadcast year, $23,583 in the 2022-2023 broadcast year, $41,667 in the 2023-2024 broadcast year and, in the 2024-2025 broadcast year, any remaining amounts from pro-rated amounts paid in the 2017-2018 broadcast year for the total owing of $5,000. These annual CCD contributions must be paid by no later than 31 August of each broadcast year.
[/list]
Each broadcast year, the licensee shall allocate at least 20% of the above-noted CCD contributions to FACTOR or MUSICACTION. The remaining amounts of these additional CCD contributions shall be allocated to parties and initiatives fulfilling the definition of eligible initiatives set out in paragraph 108 of Commercial Radio Policy 2006, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-158, 15 December 2006. ExpectationsThe Commission expects the licensee to reflect the cultural diversity of Canada in its programming and employment practices.
The Commission expects the licensee to adhere to its commitment to not direct marketing activities to Toronto, Brampton or Oakville.Encouragement In accordance with Implementation of an employment equity policy, Public Notice CRTC 1992-59, 1 September 1992, the Commission encourages the licensee to consider employment equity issues in its hiring practices and in all other aspects of its management of human resources.

alangee · August 28, 2018 10:47 am

On the drive home from work yesterday afternoon I heard some actual conversation on the station. They were actually talking about how Canadian they want to make the station and how inclusive they are and so on and so on. I don't know if it was live or pretaped. I did notice a couple of glitches. One of the speakers microphone was not turned on. And it sounded like the hosts microphone was way too loud and was distorting quite a bit. That is one thing I have noticed quite often with Indian radio stations they tend to be very distorted or over modulated. I hope these guys can clean up their act by the time they get on the air

Holliday · August 28, 2018 2:47 pm

Looks like they’ll be called Sauga 960, and afternoon drive will be a gentleman named Avtar Rakhra.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmk4hNrHZT_/

cGrant · August 28, 2018 3:15 pm

Holliday wrote:
Looks like they’ll be called Sauga 960, and afternoon drive will be a gentleman named Avtar Rakhra.

Well, look out GNR640! This show will be fresh and new compared to what they have on in that time slot. I wonder if this station will be full-time or another weekday-only outlet like 640?

How long will it take for my pillow, Frank, Tom and the bevy of unemployment lawyers flock to this new venture and pollute it?

Speaking of... haven't heart Saul on air. Has he... well... you know.

RadioActive · August 28, 2018 4:43 pm

So far, this is the only real job posting I've noticed for CKNT. It went up about a month ago. Interesting that for a talk station that isn't supposed to be heavily ethnic, they're looking for people fluent in more than just English.

NW · August 28, 2018 8:13 pm

Avtar (Terry) appears to also be Century 21 sales rep. So will this end up being like a 3-hour real estate infomercial?

I wonder what he thinks of the station's call letters?

RadioActive · August 31, 2018 3:31 pm

Months after I alerted the Mississauga News about CKNT, they've finally done an article about the station, which debuts the day after Labour Day. They've also revealed the logo. But still no website.

According to the article, "there will be live programming from Monday to Friday, including main time slots of 6-10 a.m., 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12-3 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. There are plans to air Mississauga Steelheads games as well."

The Steelheads, Mississauga's OHL team, just happen to be owned by Elliott Kerr, who also owns CKNT.

So what happens on nights and weekends? I guess we'll find out next week.

Sauga 960 radio station aims to 'build the Mississauga brand'

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 9:41 am

I know I seem obsessed with this station, even though I’ll probably never listen to it. But I find the story behind its gestation fascinating, mainly because of how it’s unfolded.

So when my dog woke me up before 6 o’clock on Tuesday morning, I looked at the clock and figured, “Hey. This is the day CKNT promised to sign on with regular programming! Might as well listen, as long as I’m up.”

But when I tuned in at 6 AM, I heard Frank Sinatra and then Dean Martin. So unless they’ve changed from News/Talk to Music of Your Life, it seems they’re still not officially on the air. By 9 AM, they were continuing to air filler material.

My attempts to reach them at the phone number they’ve given out in the past were unsuccessful.

What interests me about CKNT is just how crazy the story behind “Sauga 960” has become.

Consider:

-It took seven years(!) since the day the license was awarded to get the signal on air.

-They spent forever trying to secure a transmitter/antenna site, creating delay after delay. But surely seven years is excessive, even if they did run into roadblocks.

-They’ve now been in testing mode for nearly 3 months (Another (!))

-They told me when I contacted them in June that they were aiming for a July 1st sign on but that never happened. Then they told the Mississauga News they’d be up and running with regular programming on Sept. 4th, the day after Labour Day. That’s today, but as of this posting, still nothing.

-To cap off this bizarre saga – er, Sauga – they even had their license renewed by the CRTC despite never having a single moment of actual real programming on the air!

It’s definitely the weirdest broadcasting story I can ever remember and it just goes on and on and on. They have the rest of the day to meet their own self-imposed deadline, of course, but mornings are the marquee time for radio, and they’ve missed that chance for a big splash. (Not that there were many listening, but symbolically, it would have been huge.)

I’d love to be a fly on the wall at that place just to see what’s going on over there. In the meantime, if they ever make a movie about CKNT, I’m pretty sure they could borrow a title from an existing flick:

“Failure to Launch.”

andysradio · September 4, 2018 9:49 am

The same sort of thing is going on in Montreal with 600 & 940. They have been on the air for 2-3 years with mainly music and the odd commercial. They both promised to be news talk stations but instead now want to broadcast 'health' programming - we know what that means.
And yet, they just got renewed by the commission!

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 9:54 am

grilled.cheese wrote:
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks about CKNT first thing in the morning.

Hey, what can I say? Radio is my life. (And quite possibly, my death, as well.)

The real question is: will I still be alive by the time CKNT finally signs on?

Radiowiz · September 4, 2018 11:22 am

RadioActive wrote:
grilled.cheese wrote:
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks about CKNT first thing in the morning.
Hey, what can I say? Radio is my life. (And quite possibly, my death, as well.)

The real question is: will I still be alive by the time CKNT finally signs on?

Sounds like this station is a deliberate placeholder. Find out when the next game is due to air on that station and watch that suddenly air so perfectly on time...

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 1:58 pm

Just spoke to one of the people at CKNT. Here's the "amazing" (and I use the term loosely) info they told me.

She said that they actually are on the air in what they're calling a "soft launch." When I told her I'd been listening in since 6 AM, she claimed they had "special programming on then." As noted above, I heard half the Rat Pack, but nothing like any programming at all. And certainly not news/talk.

She also insisted that they had programing on all day - including a woman's show, a religious show and science hour, something she says they'll be doing more of. But for the life of me it sounded exactly like the same filler they've been "testing" with for months.

She also said they're airing "jazz" right now (before 2 PM) but they'd be doing their afternoon drive home show starting at 4. I'll be curious to hear that if it happens. Not only that (and you can test this for yourself) she told me they were doing news updates at the top of every hour.

Finally, she admitted they're "working" on a website, but said they only have an Instagram presence for now, which I've been unable to find.

And then she dropped this wonderful final nugget on me: they won't be going full time until sometime in November! That means from June 18th until the near-winter, they'll be in test and/or half measures mode.

What a way to run a station they've had seven years to get ready for!

Stranger and stranger...

Lorne · September 4, 2018 2:57 pm

Here's their Instagram page -- and as a bonus, their Facebook page too. Great stuff if you like logos.
https://www.instagram.com/sauga960am/
https://www.facebook.com/Sauga960AM/

Lorne · September 4, 2018 3:00 pm

Just found a Twitter account too. Incredible social media presence.
https://twitter.com/sauga960

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 3:42 pm

grilled.cheese wrote:
The saga of CKNT is almost as riveting as bus cancellations on Northumberland community radio on a dark December morn.

Yes, I admit I have an overt and ridiculous fascination with this place, but it's been such a strange rollout that just keeps getting more bizarre.

That said, I listened at 2 & 3 and they did, indeed, do traffic, weather and a newscast. They even had a few spots. (I'd love to see that ratecard.)

But this is a closed circuit to Jody Thornton, and I swear to you this is what I heard. Although they had a slightly more thorough outline on the 3 o'clock update, their 2 PM traffic report consisted of these four words: "Traffic is moving fast."

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.

Dale Patterson · September 4, 2018 3:50 pm

RadioActive wrote:
grilled.cheese wrote:
The saga of CKNT is almost as riveting as bus cancellations on Northumberland community radio on a dark December morn.
Yes, I admit I have an overt and ridiculous fascination with this place, but it's been such a strange rollout that just keeps getting more bizarre.

That said, I listened at 2 & 3 and they did, indeed, do traffic, weather and a newscast. They even had a few spots. (I'd love to see that ratecard.)

But this is a closed circuit to Jody Thornton, and I swear to you this is what I heard. Although they had a slightly more thorough outline on the 3 o'clock update, their 2 PM traffic report consisted of these four words: "Traffic is moving fast."

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.

Sounds like something you'd hear on WKRP in Cincinnati. Hopefully they aren't planning to throw live turkeys out of airplanes.

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 4:12 pm

Chuck99 wrote:
I doubt the CRTC would tolerate this stuff on an FM frequency. The AM band has become the location for ethnic programming and broadcasting wannabes.

This is very L.A. -oriented, but a local newspaper there coincidentally published this story on Tuesday.

What would it take to get you to listen to AM radio?

I'm surprised at some of the responses and I'm not sure I believe them all, but the one that caught my eye was this one:

“AM has nothing that would interest anyone my age. My friends don’t even listen to FM stations, either. We get our music online. If an AM station played new songs and new bands, I’d definitely tune in.”

Chuck99 wrote:
Curiously, CJMR 1320 was originally an English language station licensed to serve Mississauga when it broadcast on 1190 in the 1970s. With the permission of the CRTC, it gradually morphed into an ethnic station in the 80s and 90s.

I remember CJMR very well and I used to listen to it all the time when it was still at 1190. They played a ton of Top 40 with almost no commercials. Back in the early-mid 70s, that was fantastic. Unfortunately, they used to have to sign off at sundown, to protect WOWO in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

I'm pretty sure if they were still on that frequency today and doing the same thing, the CRTC would have come down on them hard for having little to no coverage about Mississauga.

LOSat · September 4, 2018 4:12 pm

Lorne wrote:
Just found a Twitter account too. Incredible social media presence.
https://twitter.com/sauga960

If it was their official twitter handle it's gone now. Someone thought it was or found it briefly because they tweeted at them. In any case @sauga960 doesn't exist at the moment.

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 4:15 pm

LOSat wrote:
Lorne wrote:
Just found a Twitter account too. Incredible social media presence.
https://twitter.com/sauga960
If it was their official twitter handle it's gone now. Someone thought it was or found it briefly because they tweeted at them. In any case @sauga960 doesn't exist at the moment.

It WAS there about a half hour ago. I saw it - there were no tweets at all and somehow they had 9 followers! (Probably station personnel.)

LOSat · September 4, 2018 4:18 pm

I'm not sure what is worse their call letters or their moniker "sauga960". Their launch is most certainly a saga though.

Lorne · September 4, 2018 5:05 pm

RadioActive wrote:
LOSat wrote:
Lorne wrote:
Just found a Twitter account too. Incredible social media presence.
https://twitter.com/sauga960
If it was their official twitter handle it's gone now. Someone thought it was or found it briefly because they tweeted at them. In any case @sauga960 doesn't exist at the moment.
It WAS there about a half hour ago. I saw it - there were no tweets at all and somehow they had 9 followers! (Probably station personnel.)

It does seem that they changed it. Here's the new handle.
https://twitter.com/sauga960am

Media Observer · September 4, 2018 5:31 pm

Dale Patterson wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
grilled.cheese wrote:
The saga of CKNT is almost as riveting as bus cancellations on Northumberland community radio on a dark December morn.
Yes, I admit I have an overt and ridiculous fascination with this place, but it's been such a strange rollout that just keeps getting more bizarre.

That said, I listened at 2 & 3 and they did, indeed, do traffic, weather and a newscast. They even had a few spots. (I'd love to see that ratecard.)

But this is a closed circuit to Jody Thornton, and I swear to you this is what I heard. Although they had a slightly more thorough outline on the 3 o'clock update, their 2 PM traffic report consisted of these four words: "Traffic is moving fast."

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.
Sounds like something you'd hear on WKRP in Cincinnati. Hopefully they aren't planning to throw live turkeys out of airplanes.

I think RA should do a field trip and see if they have tape on the floor to indicate where the news director's office is.

RadioActive · September 4, 2018 5:45 pm

More importantly, do they have a Silver Sow Award?

NW · September 4, 2018 9:49 pm

I did catch their 3 pm sportscast, which consisted of one item about the Blue jays and one item on the OHL Mississauga Steelheads.

I can't imagine anybody without an interest in radio suddenly thinking this afternoon....."I should tune in to 960 (CKNT) to find out the score of last night's Steelheads game against Guelph!".

Glen Warren · September 7, 2018 9:54 am

Have they had any type of marketing / promotion campaign to let residents know they are on the air? Billboards, "Bus banners" on transit, newspapers ads, or even article about them in local newspapers?

RadioActive · September 9, 2018 11:14 am

Aytononline wrote:
Sunday morning at 9:30 and all I'm getting is static. I think it's off the air again.

Checked it at 11 AM. Still nothing.

Well, I guess that answers the question about what they'll be airing on the weekend!