The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Bell, Rogers, Corus & Stingray Joining For June 30th Indigenous Event

RadioActive · June 21, 2021 7:11 am

John Moore briefly mentioned on Monday that every major radio ownership company in Canada - Bell, Rogers, Corus & Stringray - will be joining together on June 30th for some kind of radio event that will apparently be broadcast on many of their stations at the same time. There may be some kind of Gord Downie related tie-in, as well.

I've tried searching for anything about this but can't find a single press release or bit of info confirming this is happening, what it will consist of or what time it may take place. Anyone here know?

I can't recall a time, beyond maybe Remembrance Day, when nearly every station pauses to air the same thing simultaneously - if, in fact, that's what's being planned

Calhame · June 21, 2021 7:47 am

https://downiewenjack.ca/a-day-to-listen/

RadioActive · June 21, 2021 8:14 am

Thanks for the info. I knew someone here would be able to find it. That's quite a list of participating broadcasters. Not sure I've ever seen that many join for a single issue. But it still doesn't say exactly what they'll be doing. I guess we'll have to wait and see not only the what and the when but the where.

For example, while I can see 680 News airing spoken word segments, would Rogers do the same and continually interrupt the music for segments on CHFI? Or Kiss 92? (Unless these are short one minute spot-like inserts.) The site says all formats are involved. I guess the answer will come next week.

RadioActive · June 21, 2021 8:28 am

Looks like this was embargoed until 8am, which is when all the press releases were launched simultaneously online. I guess John Moore spilled the beans a bit early.

But there's still no detail about exactly what form this will take. I'm guessing they'll be short spot-like segments and air at different times on different stations for 12 hours, which means no simulcast - something that would be difficult to co-ordinate, given all the stations and formats involved. In all, more than 400 stations taking part, with is pretty unprecedented.

It's also the first time I've ever seen a Bell Media release that also includes extensive information about Corus, Stingray and Rogers.

"A DAY TO LISTEN is dedicated to sharing stories from Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors, elders, musicians, and teachers throughout the day from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. (local time)."

Forward Power · June 21, 2021 9:22 am

What a waste of money, time and resources.

cash · June 21, 2021 7:18 pm

i will take a pass.

Tomas Barlow · June 21, 2021 10:17 pm

Forward Power wrote:
What a waste of money, time and resources.

What a great use of money, time and resources. Inclusiveness and education are things our medium doesn't often do. I applaud this initiative.

mace · June 22, 2021 8:13 am

Tomas Barlow wrote:
Forward Power wrote:
What a waste of money, time and resources.
What a great use of money, time and resources. Inclusiveness and education are things our medium doesn't often do. I applaud this initiative.

Your assessment is probably quite accurate. That doesn't change the fact that I have no interest in it. I will pass as well.

Bristol · June 22, 2021 9:09 am

Forward Power wrote:
What a waste of money, time and resources.

A sad endorsement on why Canadians need to do exactly this. Listen to the people whose land we occupy. A one day effort by a goodly number of radio operators is a great start. Congratulations to them for spending the time, effort and talent to remind us that the country needs to heal these wounds. Raising consciousness is a rarely used asset of radio.

betaylored · June 22, 2021 3:17 pm

Curious to see how it's handled, and how well it's written and researched, and if the people running the broadcast get down in the weeds or gloss things over with politically correct PR terminology and sentiments (a la Bell Let's Talk pablum) and if there is any action planned.

Undrinkable water might be a good thing to finally sort out and solve, once the talking points are talked over and we've "listened"....😔

Last edited by betaylored (June 22, 2021 3:21 pm)

RadioAaron · June 22, 2021 6:12 pm

RadioActive wrote:
For example, while I can see 680 News airing spoken word segments, would Rogers do the same and continually interrupt the music for segments on CHFI? Or Kiss 92? (Unless these are short one minute spot-like inserts.) The site says all formats are involved. I guess the answer will come next week.

It's two major content segments per hour, 6am to 6pm. They will be significantly longer than one minute. All participating stations will run the same segments at the same time. It's pretty significant.

RadioActive · June 22, 2021 7:17 pm

That is quite the co-ordination challenge doing it at the same time, given there are more than 400 stations involved. (Here's the entire list, including call letters.) Will it be based on what time zone they're in? I can't see the point of airing something like this at say, 7 AM our time if it's 4 in the morning in B.C.

By the way, while many of the Evanov stations are on the list, at least one is missing - CKDX, 88.5 in Newmarket, the "Jewel" in their crown. I wonder why, unless it's just an oversight in the list.

paterson1 · June 22, 2021 7:36 pm

Impressive list of major, medium, small markets, community stations and broadcast radio chains. Don't think CKSL will be running the broadcast though.

RadioAaron · June 22, 2021 8:49 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Impressive list of major, medium, small markets, community stations and broadcast radio chains. Don't think CKSL will be running the broadcast though.

Good catch.

RadioAaron · June 22, 2021 8:50 pm

RadioActive wrote:
That is quite the co-ordination challenge doing it at the same time, given there are more than 400 stations involved. (Here's the entire list, including call letters.) Will it be based on what time zone they're in? I can't see the point of airing something like this at say, 7 AM our time if it's 4 in the morning in B.C.

By the way, while many of the Evanov stations are on the list, at least one is missing - CKDX, 88.5 in Newmarket, the "Jewel" in their crown. I wonder why, unless it's just an oversight in the list.

Also missing is the real Jewel in their crown, Z103.

RadioActive · June 30, 2021 6:55 am

Wednesday is the so-called "Day To Listen" event on nearly every radio station in the GTA. But I wonder how many will actually listen when these pieces come on. Or will they treat them more like a spot break and simply tune out after they've heard more than a couple of them? If so, with so many stations participating - where, exactly, will they tune to? The importance of the issue aside, it should be an interesting experiment.

paterson1 · June 30, 2021 10:09 am

Most listeners don't bounce around the dial like some of us on SOWNY, or those of us that were in broadcasting. I have always noticed with family and friends who are not in the business, that they tend to leave the radio alone a lot more and aren't constantly changing the station when commercials, some songs or news comes on. So many people will listen or take in some of the vignettes that are being presented today. And that is the point and purpose of a Day to Listen.

I have heard five so far, and three of the segments were very touching and the presenters were excellent. The other two were fine, but didn't really come across to me as well. So even if people catch a couple of the pieces today and are moved or it makes them think, then the purpose of the day has been a success.

And no doubt in addition to the produced segments, talk stations, and maybe others will augment with their own local , call in or text comments, for listeners to weigh in.

Radiowiz · June 30, 2021 10:20 am

paterson1 wrote:
Most listeners don't bounce around the dial

Who are these "most listeners" you speak of?
While I am finding it hard to find people who literally scan the dial, I have no problem finding those who press the pre sets when they see fit. It could also be because they simply don't like the song also.

boom boy · June 30, 2021 10:58 am

Over 600 radio stations across Canada including "other" broadcasters and some grocery stores are all in for "A Day To Listen" all the participating radio stations have been airing ads and posting on socials about it for over 2 weeks now. I for one and am EXTREMELY proud of the industry for pulling together to address this shocking and terrible part of our history. Together we make sure our indigenous brothers, sisters, elders... voices ARE heard. Yes, it's uncomfortable to hear for some but good. It needs to be addressed and not swept under the rug. We confront it together and make sure it literally IS, "A Day To Listen".

paterson1 · June 30, 2021 12:20 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
Most listeners don't bounce around the dial
Who are these "most listeners" you speak of?
While I am finding it hard to find people who literally scan the dial, I have no problem finding those who press the pre sets when they see fit. It could also be because they simply don't like the song also.

This has just been my experience over the years. I have noticed that people who aren't connected to broadcasting in anyway tend to not jump around the dial nearly as much as I do and many of my radio colleagues over the years. This would be mostly in car or on line. Judging by some of the posts here, also seems that there are SOWNY members who are station flippers, and likely listen to radio more than the average. This is understandable since we wouldn't be here if we weren't interested in radio. Not a hard and fast rule I am sure but rather an observation.

Totally agree with the comments made by boom boy.

RadioActive · June 30, 2021 2:50 pm

After listening to "A Day To Listen" the past few hours, here's my initial take: it was a nice idea but I'm not sure about the way it was executed. On the stations I heard, they played the special features more like a commercial, and when the host came back on, quickly moved over to another topic, barely referring to what we just heard. Kind of like what they do out of a spot break.

That made it seem all too often more like an interruption before getting back to regular programming than a specific cause.

Most on-air types seemed to mostly ignore the story once it ended, with perhaps a tag here and there. Evan Solomon was the only one I heard who gave it a lot more time. The rest seemed in a hurry to move on to "regular programming." I'm not sure how it could be handled better, but there has to be a way if they really want it to stand out.

Some of the produced pieces seemed a mite too long, as well, which I'll admit is a subjective judgment. If the story was compelling, it was fine. When it was more routine, it seemed overly lengthy. That's just the nature of the medium.

None of which dulls the importance of the subject. I just wish it had been handled better - like the staff I heard really thought it mattered. Overall, a worthwhile effort that perhaps should have been given more on-air weight.

ckg927 · June 30, 2021 4:30 pm

I caught bits and pieces of the effort on Boom 97.3; Stu Jeffries-leading into the 6:25am break-did a brief explanation of what the Downie Wenjack Foundation aims to do. (Stu is known for doing longer-form stuff when the mood hits, and if ever there was a day to do this...this was it.) Some of the music choices leading out of those interviews were VERY fitting(Tragically Hip's Courage and David Bowie's Changes being the two that I noticed).

RadioActive · June 30, 2021 4:37 pm

I was hearing it on talk radio, where they should have had even more time to chat about what we just heard. Some did, most didn't. Glad to hear at least a few music outlets are paying attention to detail. Not surprised to hear it's Boom. It seems to be a very well run and thought-out place.

paterson1 · June 30, 2021 5:15 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I was hearing it on talk radio, where they should have had even more time to chat about what we just heard. Some did, most didn't. Glad to hear at least a few music outlets are paying attention to detail. Not surprised to hear it's Boom. It seems to be a very well run and thought-out place.

I don't think the idea was to take over the day or the format of any stations. The segments were over 12 hours, and intended to be a prompt for listeners to think about the events of the last few weeks, our history, and to hear the thoughts of indigenous elders, leaders and individuals. The very people who have been hurt and ignored for decades but are now finding a voice, and now being heard and listened to. Personally what I observed today was the correct approach. Somewhat understated, but available to anyone who wants to take the time to listen and consider for a few minutes. A Day to Listen may have had more impact on music stations who don't run programming like this, with hosts who are not normally on these stations for their opinions or commentary.

It was well done in my opinion, perfect timing right before Canada Day. Congratulations to all who organized and participated in A Day to Listen. Now let's see if this will be the first of many steps to right a wrong and start to make lasting change, and maybe most important, to begin to heal a big, big hurt.