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August 1, 2022 9:21 am  #1


CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Long time lurker here.   Just wondering if this has been talked about before but I find it very strange what CFRB 1010 is doing now.   Rather than have actual radio talk or their own news broadcasters, they resort to piping in CP24 or CTV News broadcasts.   I think that's sad.   I've listened to 1010 for 50 plus years.   Grew up with the likes of Gordon Sinclair, Ted Woloshyn, Wally Crouter and Betty Kennedy to name a few of the great broadcasters.  It was always good to listen to their commentary.  Now it's just approved santized garble that I could watch on TV.   Now its not all the time they pipe in these feeds.  I enjoy John Moore and the Rush but its a sad shadow of a great station.  To see CFRB's history see https://broadcasting-history.com/listing_and_histories/radio/cfrb-am   which must have known something because now there are no more updates on this website.  

 

August 1, 2022 9:28 am  #2


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Someone should take this to the CRTC and argue that radio is a service to the blind, not a TV repeater.


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

August 1, 2022 9:51 am  #3


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

WarningU2 wrote:

Long time lurker here.   Just wondering if this has been talked about before but I find it very strange what CFRB 1010 is doing now.   Rather than have actual radio talk or their own news broadcasters, they resort to piping in CP24 or CTV News broadcasts.   I think that's sad.   I've listened to 1010 for 50 plus years.   Grew up with the likes of Gordon Sinclair, Ted Woloshyn, Wally Crouter and Betty Kennedy to name a few of the great broadcasters.  It was always good to listen to their commentary.  Now it's just approved santized garble that I could watch on TV.   Now its not all the time they pipe in these feeds.  I enjoy John Moore and the Rush but its a sad shadow of a great station.  To see CFRB's history see https://broadcasting-history.com/listing_and_histories/radio/cfrb-am   which must have known something because now there are no more updates on this website.  

The main answer, I fear, can be summed in one four letter word - Bell.

They have systematically cut the heart (iHeart?) out of all the radio stations they own since they bought out real broadcasters like Standard and CHUM. Hey, I worked for one of Allan Waters' stations. He was hardly a spendthrift and the employees used to joke about having to sign out pens from the supply cupboard, before you could get one. (I never did figure out how you were supposed to sign for a pen when you didn't have one. But I digress.)

Mr. Waters did know something, though, that Bell doesn't seem to. When you need to spend money on something important, you do it. It makes your station better and the workplace, too and hopefully, the audience will reward you by Julius Caesar-like lending you their ears.

You don't penny-pinch your organization into the ground so your shareholders can make an extra $10. But that's where we are. What Bell did to CFRB's storied newsroom is one of the great tragedies of Toronto radio IMHO. 

They have been airing CP24 audio on the weekends for a while now, right after Dave Trafford retired from the weekend morning show. Why bother to replace him when you can air an existing audio feed from another source you own and it won't cost you anything - except maybe some listeners and your reputation? And who can get over the thrill of hearing a TV reporter on the scene of a breaking story tell you on the radio, "As you can see..." - especially when you can't see. (I heard it again on Monday.)

I can only wonder if they would have summarily tossed the Gordon Sinclairs, the Bob Heskeths and the other big names (and big earners) to the curb if they'd still been there. I think we know what the answer is. 

As for the Canadian Radio History site you mention, its demise has nothing to do with Bell. The people running it got tired of the constant updates and stopped adding to it several years ago. It's still a great place to go for Canadian radio history, but it just got to be too time consuming and they unfortunately decided to shut it down. At least it's still online and though the latest changes are no longer posted, what is up there remains an invaluable resource. I look at it frequently and appreciate that it's still there. 

 

August 1, 2022 10:11 am  #4


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

So very, very sad.  But; hey, nobody cares.  There is no one left to care.  Hasn't been for some time.

 

August 1, 2022 11:04 am  #5


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

This time it's not Bell but the Evanov group and their station in Tillsonburg.  Every holiday they kick everyone out of the studios and the format is music all day, no live voice just the odd recorded spot/promo.  Their promo heard periodically is "We've given our announcers the day off."  First question:  Do they get paid?  If there is no change in salary, why the move?  Corporate "broadcasters" are not that generous.  Back in BC radio (before computers) when I was doing mornings, not only did we work holidays, but the week was six days and once a month you did a Sunday shift.  There was no extra pay, and I might add that was announce-op!  How times have changed.

 

August 1, 2022 11:36 am  #6


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Interesting as well that the smallest TV station today was the only one with a live morning show.  CHCH was live and local from 6-10am on Simcoe Day.  Global and CTV rerun morning programs, and CP24 while they were live eventually didn't start programming until 7am. City tv had reruns of Cityline. 

Last edited by paterson1 (August 1, 2022 11:38 am)

 

August 1, 2022 12:03 pm  #7


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Not unusual, but worth noting that there was no noon news on either Global or CTV Toronto Monday. I guess nothing happened in the GTA because it's a holiday! CBC showed its usual CBC News Network cut in. But no local shows on any of the usual suspects.

 

August 1, 2022 2:41 pm  #8


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

There will be no news tonight on CTV London, On holidays they always substitute E Talk, which will pull in an audience of zero. They may as well just shut down early and save hydro.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

August 1, 2022 3:22 pm  #9


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

paterson1 wrote:

Interesting as well that the smallest TV station today was the only one with a live morning show.  CHCH was live and local from 6-10am on Simcoe Day.  Global and CTV rerun morning programs, and CP24 while they were live eventually didn't start programming until 7am. City tv had reruns of Cityline. 

A bit off topic, but today is called Simcoe Day only in Toronto. In Hamilton it’s called George Hamilton Day, and there are other names throughout the province - or no name at all as is the case in London.

There was at one point an attempt to call the day Simcoe Day throughout the province decades ago, but it failed.

 

August 1, 2022 3:28 pm  #10


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Simulcasting TV news on radio has become commonplace in Canada, and it’s not just a Bell Media thing. Corus does the same on CKNW Vancouver - they carry the first half of the News Hour from Global BC live, followed by a rebroadcast of Global National.

No idea if Corus does this in Alberta, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

 

August 1, 2022 4:26 pm  #11


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

MJ Vancouver wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

Interesting as well that the smallest TV station today was the only one with a live morning show.  CHCH was live and local from 6-10am on Simcoe Day.  Global and CTV rerun morning programs, and CP24 while they were live eventually didn't start programming until 7am. City tv had reruns of Cityline. 

A bit off topic, but today is called Simcoe Day only in Toronto. In Hamilton it’s called George Hamilton Day, and there are other names throughout the province - or no name at all as is the case in London.

There was at one point an attempt to call the day Simcoe Day throughout the province decades ago, but it failed.

Since it was CHCH,  Happy George Hamilton Day!  Not to be confused with the country singer, who was number four....

Last edited by paterson1 (August 1, 2022 4:30 pm)

 

August 1, 2022 7:56 pm  #12


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Such a sad ending for what once was one of Canada's great radio stations.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

August 4, 2022 9:47 am  #13


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

laffin wrote:

This time it's not Bell but the Evanov group and their station in Tillsonburg.  Every holiday they kick everyone out of the studios and the format is music all day, no live voice just the odd recorded spot/promo.  Their promo heard periodically is "We've given our announcers the day off."  First question:  Do they get paid?  If there is no change in salary, why the move?  Corporate "broadcasters" are not that generous.  Back in BC radio (before computers) when I was doing mornings, not only did we work holidays, but the week was six days and once a month you did a Sunday shift.  There was no extra pay, and I might add that was announce-op!  How times have changed.

Evanov doesn't own anything in Tillsonburg... Are you sure you are not thinking of Brantford?

 

August 4, 2022 9:54 am  #14


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

radiokid wrote:

laffin wrote:

This time it's not Bell but the Evanov group and their station in Tillsonburg.  Every holiday they kick everyone out of the studios and the format is music all day, no live voice just the odd recorded spot/promo.  Their promo heard periodically is "We've given our announcers the day off."  First question:  Do they get paid?  If there is no change in salary, why the move?  Corporate "broadcasters" are not that generous.  Back in BC radio (before computers) when I was doing mornings, not only did we work holidays, but the week was six days and once a month you did a Sunday shift.  There was no extra pay, and I might add that was announce-op!  How times have changed.

Evanov doesn't own anything in Tillsonburg... Are you sure you are not thinking of Brantford?

Either that or they’re referring to Rogers, which owns the pair of Tillsonburg stations

 

August 4, 2022 9:55 am  #15


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

turkeytop wrote:

There will be no news tonight on CTV London, On holidays they always substitute E Talk, which will pull in an audience of zero. They may as well just shut down early and save hydro.

I'm not a fan of E-Talk but care to share your proof of the ratings other than your personal opinion?    It likely scores about as high as CTV News on a long weekend in that time slot, making it hard to justify the extra expense to produce a local newscast.   The lack of budget shows in some of these local markets, which is why more people just don't tune into the newscast as often.   Less local news on the local newscast has been going on since the flip of Bell ownership on CTV London.   

I don't agree with their approach, as it does kill off a local stations relevance, but sadly it's where we are.  

 

August 4, 2022 9:57 am  #16


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

MJ Vancouver wrote:

radiokid wrote:

laffin wrote:

This time it's not Bell but the Evanov group and their station in Tillsonburg.  Every holiday they kick everyone out of the studios and the format is music all day, no live voice just the odd recorded spot/promo.  Their promo heard periodically is "We've given our announcers the day off."  First question:  Do they get paid?  If there is no change in salary, why the move?  Corporate "broadcasters" are not that generous.  Back in BC radio (before computers) when I was doing mornings, not only did we work holidays, but the week was six days and once a month you did a Sunday shift.  There was no extra pay, and I might add that was announce-op!  How times have changed.

Evanov doesn't own anything in Tillsonburg... Are you sure you are not thinking of Brantford?

Either that or they’re referring to Rogers, which owns the pair of Tillsonburg stations

Perhaps.. but before throwing any owners under the bus on a radio board, I think double checking info before posting is important..  When in doubt, leave it out rule applies. 

 

August 4, 2022 6:30 pm  #17


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

radiokid wrote:

turkeytop wrote:

There will be no news tonight on CTV London, On holidays they always substitute E Talk, which will pull in an audience of zero. They may as well just shut down early and save hydro.

I'm not a fan of E-Talk but care to share your proof of the ratings other than your personal opinion?    It likely scores about as high as CTV News on a long weekend in that time slot, making it hard to justify the extra expense to produce a local newscast.   The lack of budget shows in some of these local markets, which is why more people just don't tune into the newscast as often.   Less local news on the local newscast has been going on since the flip of Bell ownership on CTV London.   

I don't agree with their approach, as it does kill off a local stations relevance, but sadly it's where we are.  

So, maybe zero is an exageration. There may be six or eight people watching.

My wife watches the most mind numbing shows on TV. Game shows, Reality shows, Dateline, American Idol. Even she doesn't watch E Talk.
 


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

August 6, 2022 1:51 pm  #18


Re: CFRB News Talk Radio ... not radio anymore?

Well ... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one upset.   Thanks for the discussion.   And as for CHCH TV ...  once a great local news source but now a shadow of itself.   Mostly shows from 60s to 70s now.  On occassion I've been flipping stations and found the munsters, petticoat junction and others from my childhood.  I'm assuming its dirt cheap to broadcast these shows.   Oddly many of the shows must have had high standards because the color has not deteriorated.   I'm glad to see many of the reporters from CHCH found a home on CTV news.  

Last edited by WarningU2 (August 6, 2022 1:51 pm)

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