I listened on Saturday. Not fair to judge on the first one. My only real complaints - they should take more phone calls since they're in live, they should shorten some of the segments (there's no need to talk to some guests for 30 minutes through two commercial breaks) and they should cut out the reruns.

On that last one, they replayed a segment of Dani Stover replaying a segment of Alex Pierson. That's a rerun of a rerun that was running a rerun. That, I would suggest, is not only a bit much it may just defy the laws of physics!

But an OK showing otherwise for a first effort - and it was nice to hear local news instead of the Canadian Press national cast at the top of each hour.  

The show returns Sunday at 7 AM for its second installment. 

 

They did do one segment where they did take some calls. But it was very short and there was room for more. Still, it's a brand new show and listenership is low, so it's more than possible they didn't get a lot of them. I hope that changes. I like the idea of a live local talk show on Saturdays and Sundays. Whether this one lives up to my hopes is another story.   

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but I guess the live weekend morning radio experiment is over after months of having guest hosts (mostly Ben Mulroney).

640 is now airing "Toronto Today Weekend" with Grey Brady, and according to its web site, they will rerun John Oakley between 9 & 10 AM.  It will be reruns of Kelly Cutrara between 8 & 10 AM on Sunday.

 

There's a pretty low ceiling for what's possible for ratings in that time-slot on 640/1010.

Instead, you'd have to create something that has sponsor appeal, perhaps as part of a bigger package. Even then, you'd probably just break even.

While improving off-peak dayparts will certainly improve listener sentiment and loyalty and help the station in the long-run, that's not an option if you're working for a company that has to explain itself to shareholders every three months.

John D wrote:

I did 15 years of weekend morning radio for CFRB (New Talk 1010) and I enjoyed every minute of it.  According to program director Steve Kowch, I enjoyed great ratings over those years.  Very proud of that show and the many guests that joined me.

I was one of your Saturday morning listeners John. I did a overnight run in a tractor trailer delivering auto parts to company stores during that 15 years, then had a 90 minute drive home afterwards . Thanks for your years of service.