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December 20, 2022 8:25 am  #1


An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

The Christmas season on radio, as most here know, is usually programmed with endless filler and a lot of music. But this one promises to be different - and not for a good reason. A rare pre-Xmas storm is brewing and according to all predictions, this is going to be one of the worst of the year.

It's scheduled to start with heavy rain on Thursday afternoon, rage and turn to serious snow into Friday, continue into Saturday and leave Dec. 25th as a clean-up day. Meteorologists are saying there could be blizzard conditions on the weekend, when holiday travel is heaviest, and the streets and sidewalks could be sheets of ice - along with possible power outages. 

So the question: will any of the usual radio stations have a host on standby to come in and do a show if the worst hits on Dec. 24th, or will we be hearing endless versions of "Let It Snow" while they let it snow with no one on air?

I hate winter and this weather shows you why, but it should be interesting to hear what stations like CFRB do on what would normally be 48 hours or more of pre-recorded programs - at the time they may be needed to go live the most. 

 

December 20, 2022 10:24 am  #2


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

RadioActive wrote:

    it should be interesting to hear what stations like CFRB do on what would normally be 48 hours or more of pre-recorded programs 

After years of tuning in to "48 hours or more of pre-recorded programs", expectations aren't likely to be high (unless the army is called in)
 

 

December 20, 2022 11:00 am  #3


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

A lot depends on when this happens and how bad it is, but they should probably have someone on standby just in case. If you're sitting in the dark with no heat on Xmas Eve, I wouldn't want to turn on my radio for information and just hear Christmas music. I'd want updates from Hydro when my power was coming back and how bad it is in the rest of the city. 

     Thread Starter
 

December 20, 2022 11:31 am  #4


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

Great points.  But having a live body on stand by or in the newsroom costs money. 
To hell with the public, but great for the shareholders.

 

December 20, 2022 11:42 am  #5


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

If my power goes out I won't have access to radio at home, and I'd bet that goes for the majority of people. I'll find out all I need on Twitter within minutes.

 

December 20, 2022 12:05 pm  #6


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

RadioAaron wrote:

If my power goes out I won't have access to radio at home, and I'd bet that goes for the majority of people. I'll find out all I need on Twitter within minutes.

Only one flaw to this logic...  should it be a major outage or blackout you will find the cell towers are down OR the ones that are up with backup power are so overloaded your twitter feed will not load.  Texts will fail as will calls.

This happened the last time and will again.    One thing will be there is radio.  But people need a reminder when their mobile stops working.

 

December 20, 2022 3:03 pm  #7


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

radiokid wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

If my power goes out I won't have access to radio at home, and I'd bet that goes for the majority of people. I'll find out all I need on Twitter within minutes.

Only one flaw to this logic...  should it be a major outage or blackout you will find the cell towers are down OR the ones that are up with backup power are so overloaded your twitter feed will not load.  Texts will fail as will calls.

This happened the last time and will again.    One thing will be there is radio.  But people need a reminder when their mobile stops working.

I can't remember the last time I knew anyone who owned a battery operated (non-car) radio. In terms of availability during a power outage, it's been cell over radio every time for me.

 

December 20, 2022 3:23 pm  #8


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

RadioAaron wrote:

I can't remember the last time I knew anyone who owned a battery operated (non-car) radio. In terms of availability during a power outage, it's been cell over radio every time for me.

I had a Walkman-type device with radio during the great blackout of August 14, 2003. I was working in downtown Toronto at the time and the radio came in handy as nobody knew what was going on as the building was being evacuated.  It kept me company while I made my trek from York & Wellington to Yonge & Sheppard where someone picked me up.

I do have one that I still use everyday.  It's a Sangean HDR-14.  I use it to listen to HD Radio for NT1010 & 640 Toronto.  There's too much interference where I live with AM radio...  It also came in handy with the Rogers outage back in July this year.
 

 

December 20, 2022 4:17 pm  #9


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

chrishch wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

I can't remember the last time I knew anyone who owned a battery operated (non-car) radio. In terms of availability during a power outage, it's been cell over radio every time for me.

I had a Walkman-type device with radio during the great blackout of August 14, 2003. I was working in downtown Toronto at the time and the radio came in handy as nobody knew what was going on as the building was being evacuated.  It kept me company while I made my trek from York & Wellington to Yonge & Sheppard where someone picked me up.

I do have one that I still use everyday.  It's a Sangean HDR-14.  I use it to listen to HD Radio for NT1010 & 640 Toronto.  There's too much interference where I live with AM radio...  It also came in handy with the Rogers outage back in July this year.
 

Another obvious thing, when the batteries run out in your radio you can easily replace them during a power outage. With a cell phone, you're toast until the power comes back on.


PJ
 


ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
 

December 20, 2022 5:20 pm  #10


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

It's somewhat ironic but true - it's in the dark of a blackout where radio shines brightest. Ask the folks who rode out Hurricane Katrina for days on end in New Orleans.

But there has to be someone there to host it. Voice tracking or pre-recorded shows won't cut it. Which is why this could be an unusual Christmas on the air. It would be great if they could make a last-minute decision, depending on the conditions, to call in say, a Dave Trafford for an emergency stint. 

This kind of radio can be very memorable. I still recall a show on AM 640 maybe 20 years ago. Larry Solway - yes, he once did a show on 640 - was doing a live talk program in the midst of a huge snowstorm, taking calls from listeners all over the city, updating everyone on the conditions where they were. 

I was outside cleaning off my driveway at the time, listening to the show in headphones. It was exactly what I needed to hear that day as I grumbled my way through the thick flakes, trying to get the pavement clean enough so I could get my car out and head downtown to work.

It's been years and there was admittedly nothing special about that particular show, but for some reason I still remember it clearly. Maybe because so many of us were in the same boat and it helped to know we were still afloat. That's when radio serves its audience the best. 

Last edited by RadioActive (December 20, 2022 5:30 pm)

     Thread Starter
 

December 20, 2022 6:44 pm  #11


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

Paul Jeffries wrote:

chrishch wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

I can't remember the last time I knew anyone who owned a battery operated (non-car) radio. In terms of availability during a power outage, it's been cell over radio every time for me.

I had a Walkman-type device with radio during the great blackout of August 14, 2003. I was working in downtown Toronto at the time and the radio came in handy as nobody knew what was going on as the building was being evacuated.  It kept me company while I made my trek from York & Wellington to Yonge & Sheppard where someone picked me up.

I do have one that I still use everyday.  It's a Sangean HDR-14.  I use it to listen to HD Radio for NT1010 & 640 Toronto.  There's too much interference where I live with AM radio...  It also came in handy with the Rogers outage back in July this year.
 

Another obvious thing, when the batteries run out in your radio you can easily replace them during a power outage. With a cell phone, you're toast until the power comes back on.


PJ
 

These are all true, but not representative of reality for most people. It all becomes irrelevant if people don't have radios.

My in-laws in Ottawa were without power for 7 days this summer and never lost cell service. They sat in their car every evening to listen to The World at 6 and charge their phones - and they're in their 70s!

Last edited by RadioAaron (December 20, 2022 6:55 pm)

 

December 20, 2022 8:21 pm  #12


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

I don't doubt what you say, but I have to add I find that surprising. I can't think of a single person or family I know that doesn't have at least one radio in the house. I probably have more than I can count, if you need to borrow one! (Batteries not included!)

     Thread Starter
 

December 20, 2022 9:03 pm  #13


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

RadioAaron wrote:

These are all true, but not representative of reality for most people. It all becomes irrelevant if people don't have radios.

My in-laws in Ottawa were without power for 7 days this summer and never lost cell service. They sat in their car every evening to listen to The World at 6 and charge their phones - and they're in their 70s!

I suspect another reason that radios are no longer considered an important component in peoples' "survival kits" is because terrestrial radio has dropped the ball far too many times for it to be considered useful. Why bother having something around if it's not fulfilling its intended purpose?

I remember a time not too long ago, back in the 1980s (okay, I guess that IS a long time ago! LOL!), it was considered unthinkable for ANY radio station, including music stations, not to have news at the top of the hour. Even if it was just the jock spinning records reading the printout ripped off the newswire, there was usually somebody around to keep the audience informed.

I was going to say that having an actual radio in the house might be an "old peoples'" thing, but given the fact that your in-laws are in their 70s and I'm 55, I guess not! Perhaps it's more of a "security blanket" kind of thing, where you're so used to having something around, you can't fathom being without it.


PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (December 21, 2022 7:43 am)


ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
 

December 20, 2022 9:13 pm  #14


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

RadioActive wrote:

I don't doubt what you say, but I have to add I find that surprising. I can't think of a single person or family I know that doesn't have at least one radio in the house. I probably have more than I can count, if you need to borrow one! (Batteries not included!)

During the recent Rogers outage, me and one of my coworkers, who's 11 years younger than me, were texting back and forth and she was miffed that she couldn't listen to CHFI on her tablet. I asked her, "Don't you have an actual radio in your house?"

The answer to that was no. If we weren't working remotely, she probably would've looked at me like I had three heads. 


PJ
 


ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
 

December 21, 2022 8:33 am  #15


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

Back around 2004, my parents gave my sister and I Grundig FR-200 AM/FM/SW crank radios for Christmas. My sisters was red, mine blue. Mom and dad had a yellow version. For such a small radio, the AM was extremely reliable for DXing. I think if you cranked for about 60 seconds, you would get about an hour of listening time.

 

December 21, 2022 7:24 pm  #16


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

There are still a good number of radios in residences, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a battery-operated one. Slim pickings if you want to try to buy one offline, too.

I moved last year and looked at over a dozen condos in Toronto. I didn't see a single radio (and I was looking)

Last edited by RadioAaron (December 21, 2022 7:24 pm)

 

December 21, 2022 7:27 pm  #17


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

Paul Jeffries wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

These are all true, but not representative of reality for most people. It all becomes irrelevant if people don't have radios.

My in-laws in Ottawa were without power for 7 days this summer and never lost cell service. They sat in their car every evening to listen to The World at 6 and charge their phones - and they're in their 70s!

I suspect another reason that radios are no longer considered an important component in peoples' "survival kits" is because terrestrial radio has dropped the ball far too many times for it to be considered useful. Why bother having something around if it's not fulfilling its intended purpose?

I remember a time not too long ago, back in the 1980s (okay, I guess that IS a long time ago! LOL!), it was considered unthinkable for ANY radio station, including music stations, not to have news at the top of the hour. Even if it was just the jock spinning records reading the printout ripped off the newswire, there was usually somebody around to keep the audience informed.

I was going to say that having an actual radio in the house might be an "old peoples'" thing, but given the fact that your in-laws are in their 70s and I'm 55, I guess not! Perhaps it's more of a "security blanket" kind of thing, where you're so used to having something around, you can't fathom being without it.


PJ

This board is also not a representative sample. We're older and obviously more into the medium than the average person. 

And I completely agree; there's a "chicken or the egg" situation here. People don't have them because the service wasn't there, and the service is now not there because people don't have them.

 

December 21, 2022 10:36 pm  #18


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

The '03 blackout moved a lot of radios.

 

December 22, 2022 12:10 am  #19


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

Looking forward to the snowmageddon coverage and hearing lots of good advice from talk radio hosts over the next few days about the safe way to use a generator and barbeque, and how it's a smart idea to keep the gas tank topped up if you do have to go out in case you get stuck in traffic or a snowbank etc.

I am definitely buying a battery operated Sony am/fm transistor radio during the January sales.

Cue up Styx and "Snowblind"
Icehouse and "Icehouse"
and ...

 

December 22, 2022 2:03 pm  #20


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

Paul Jeffries wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

These are all true, but not representative of reality for most people. It all becomes irrelevant if people don't have radios.

My in-laws in Ottawa were without power for 7 days this summer and never lost cell service. They sat in their car every evening to listen to The World at 6 and charge their phones - and they're in their 70s!

I suspect another reason that radios are no longer considered an important component in peoples' "survival kits" is because terrestrial radio has dropped the ball far too many times for it to be considered useful. Why bother having something around if it's not fulfilling its intended purpose?

I remember a time not too long ago, back in the 1980s (okay, I guess that IS a long time ago! LOL!), it was considered unthinkable for ANY radio station, including music stations, not to have news at the top of the hour. Even if it was just the jock spinning records reading the printout ripped off the newswire, there was usually somebody around to keep the audience informed.

I was going to say that having an actual radio in the house might be an "old peoples'" thing, but given the fact that your in-laws are in their 70s and I'm 55, I guess not! Perhaps it's more of a "security blanket" kind of thing, where you're so used to having something around, you can't fathom being without it.


PJ

I own a battery operated radio, which I actually bought when the Blue Jays were in the playoffs in 2015 and I didn’t have cable, so I could (legally) get the games (there was no Sportsnet Now back then). However I haven’t considered radio to be a reliable emergency source for a long time.

In March 2002 I was about 45 minutes south of North Bay, and the hydro went out for hours on a very cold Saturday afternoon - and we had electric heat where I was. Not one of the local radio stations in North Bay or Huntsville had any information, they were all playing music, and I wouldn’t have expected CBC to have info about a small town hydro situation in near-northern Ontario. It was that day I learned how unreliable radio can be in an emergency.

 

December 22, 2022 2:19 pm  #21


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

MJ Vancouver wrote:

In March 2002 I was about 45 minutes south of North Bay, and the hydro went out for hours on a very cold Saturday afternoon - and we had electric heat where I was. Not one of the local radio stations in North Bay or Huntsville had any information, they were all playing music, and I wouldn’t have expected CBC to have info about a small town hydro situation in near-northern Ontario. It was that day I learned how unreliable radio can be in an emergency.

I can understand how that might happen in a smaller market. I don't think you'd run into that in a place like Toronto. I'm pretty sure the coverage of the B.C. storm (a spokesman at YVR, the Vancouver airport, said there was two years worth of snow in several days!) was extensive and well provided by Vancouver radio stations. 

And I have no doubt it will be here, as well - if it weren't for the Christmas holiday getting in the way, when so many staffers are off. And it now appears some of them will be gone for a while. Alex Pierson finished her run for the year on AM640 Thursday morning. She told listeners she won't be back until Jan. 8!

That is a long break for a station that bases most of its programming on current events and breaking news. And if I recall, last year they aired nothing but filler for more than two weeks, prompting complaints and raised eyebrows here on the Big Yella fella. Looks like Corus may be at it again. 

     Thread Starter
 

December 23, 2022 12:58 am  #22


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

RadioAaron wrote:

I can't remember the last time I knew anyone who owned a battery operated (non-car) radio. In terms of availability during a power outage, it's been cell over radio every time for me.

There's a guy in Orillia who not only has a few radios, he has hundreds of them - most of them vintage from bygone eras. And he makes sure they all work. He even has a supply of tubes in case some of them burn out. 

All of the radios are ancient classics. But some are downright deadly. 

"There are two Canadian-made Dionne Quintuplet radios, and a glistening white radio that would hang above a hospital patient’s bed. Inserting ten cents would allow you to tune the dial to locate just the right station for comfort or sleep. A different shelf contains the rarest of American Catlin plastic radios. The Catlins, whose casings could collapse if left in the sun too long, were made with plastic containing formaldehyde, leading to the death of many workers on their production lines.

 "Chevy has the Mickey Mouse children’s radio dubbed the “curtain burner.” The radio’s resistors were built into its cloth-wrapped cord, which frequently heated up enough to catch fire, ignite nearby curtains, and burn your house down."


Vintage radios and a lesson in life

     Thread Starter
 

December 23, 2022 5:07 pm  #23


Re: An Unusual Dilemma For Talk & News Radio This Christmas

So back to the original point of the thread - given the way this storm has hit, will canned programming on Dec. 24th suffice or do you need a host guiding you through what's next, what's happened, hydro outages, traffic conditions, updates from the city, etc.?

I think they should bring in someone for as long as it lasts, but my guess is we'll be in full Xmas mode by Saturday. 

At least there's CityNews 680.

     Thread Starter