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You may remember the name Paul Cross. The veteran newscaster is well known for his stints at CFTR & CFRB, but especially from his years at the old 1050 CHUM. He's been a professor at Humber College for some years now, and has regularly been doing a podcast, mostly about Toronto radio (although he also looks at radio around the world, including the U.S.)
They're all pretty short - none of them lasts longer than 9 minutes, most are less than that - and they all feature generous amounts of audio. I've never been a huge podcast listener but I have to admit these caught my ear. Here's one I found pretty interesting. It uses the same on-air excerpts from several stations to demonstrate the difference between HD & regular AM & FM radio:
HD Vs. AM & FM
Others I checked out: the 100th anniversary of radio, the mass firings at Bell Media and the difference between baseball on the radio and on TV, after Rogers decided to simulcast all their Jays' games on The Fan.
If you like Cross' work, there's no shortage of it - he's been at it for a while. There are 5 seasons with as many as 19 separate episodes per season for your choosing if you'd like to explore it further. My only complaint - the page lists the episode number and not a cut line about the subject each one covers. That would be handy if you're interested in a particular topic.
Still, I found the ones I sampled well worthwhile and the short lengths make them easily digestible. There are a ton of podcasts out there on every conceivable subject. But outside of Toronto Mike's terrific collection, I'm not sure if there's another that concentrates on the industry, with an emphasis on the Toronto market.
Well done, Mr. Cross. You can find his entire output here:
Paul Cross' "Cross Talk"
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Not to age the late great Dick Smyth any, but Paul Cross sounds like he went to the school of Dick Smyth to learn how to be the best commentary.
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Paul was also at The Canadian Press for a few years. Excellent newscaster.
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I listened to the Podcast sample about HD and one small correction. The H in HD does not stand for HIGH Definition but rather HYBRID.
Last edited by Fitz (April 26, 2021 6:15 am)
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Fitz wrote:
I listened to the Podcast sample about HD and one small correction. The H in HD does not stand for HIGH Definition but rather HYBRID.
Technically, neither of you are right. According to Ubiquity, HD is simply "HD".
According to iBiquity Digital, holder of the HD Radio trademark, the "HD" in "HD Radio" does not stand for "High Definition" or "Hybrid Digital". It is simply part of their trademark, and does not have any meaning on its own.
Mind you, since it is a hybrid standard, I would have gone that route too. You learn something new every day.