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May 19, 2023 11:31 am  #1


92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

The CRTC renewed the licences of a host of Ontario radio stations on Friday, normally a pretty routine endeavor. 

This isn't really a surprise, but I found it kind of interesting nonetheless. According to the Commission, 92.9 The Grand near Hamilton was supposed to have a 40% mandate to play Canadian selections. But because they're an oldies format, they get that reduced to 30% - which is probably what it should be in the first place.

The cutoff date, for some reason, is anything released before Jan. 1, 1981. (That seems a long time after Canadian artists were given the boost, but I'm positive the station is not complaining.)

I'm sure this is common practice, I just don't recall seeing that before. 

CRTC Decision

CKLO-FM in London, meanwhile, is stuck with a 40% Canadian requirement. How does that happen? (Meanwhile, some MyFM stations have a 38% mandate. Why the difference?) Did the station, owned by Blackburn, feel forced to agree to the number in order to impress the Commission and get its licence in the first place? I always thought the number was 30% How did that extra 10% get tacked on?

I also love the CRTC reminding all the stations involved that they have to play CanCon tunes "in their entirety," as if they were going to somehow fade them out halfway through.

 

May 19, 2023 11:42 am  #2


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

RadioActive wrote:

I'm sure this is common practice, I just don't recall seeing that before. 

It isn't that common as there are very few stations that play enough pre-1981 music to qualify

RadioActive wrote:

=12pxCKLO-FM in London, meanwhile, is stuck with a 40% Canadian requirement.=12px How does that happen? (Meanwhile, some MyFM stations=12px have a 38% mandate. Why the difference?) Did the station, owned by Blackburn, feel forced to agree to the number in order to impress the Commission and get its licence in the first place? I always thought the number was 30% How did that extra 10% get tacked on?

It's 5% (standard is 35%) but yes; in the licensing boom of the late 90s/early 00s, promising the extra 5% was done so often that it became standard practice.

 

May 19, 2023 2:00 pm  #3


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

Although I'm normally not one to defend the CRTC when it comes to Cancon, I can understand them stating that Canadian songs must be broadcast in their entirety. It would be because of radio stations editing Canadian songs to remove verses and choruses in the 1970s. On CHUM, I think that such versions were only played on weekends between 6 am and 9 am, when they'd stack them to the point that they probably got in around 30 each hour. That allowed them to play more 1950s and 1960s non-Cancon hits during the rest of the day on their "Million Dollar Weekends".
As for the pre-1981 reference, I think that it reflects the shifting of the oldies era over time. On the Oldies Music Bulletin Board that preceded the one I administer now, I think I recall seeing the moderator (the late Chicago area broadcaster Ron Smith) say that he considered the era to go from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s -- but he allowed messages about music from the 1950s to the 1970s in general. I think that it also makes sense to have it go up to 1980 here to allow stations to have much more in the way of Cancon hits to choose from. 

 

May 19, 2023 4:58 pm  #4


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

I think this editing and speeding up of songs in the early 70's is way exaggerated and didn't happen that much. The CRTC also said in the early 70's that songs had to be played in their entirety after some stations attempted to skirt around the rules. 

Weekends between 6 and 9 CHUM no way played 30 songs per hour.  Saturday morning had reasonably good ratings and would often have a full log of commercials along with news and sports. There may have been some editing of songs at some stations early in cancon, but it was not wide spread and didn't last long.

If it were true, there should be airchecks floating around and I have never heard any. Also artists and record companies would have complained and gone to the CRTC or possibly threatened lawsuits if it was widespread on stations and over a long term. 

I  was in radio in the 70's, and it never happened anywhere I worked and we only heard some  rumours of this happening but very little if any proof.   

 

May 19, 2023 5:22 pm  #5


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

paterson1 wrote:

I think this editing and speeding up of songs in the early 70's is way exaggerated and didn't happen that much. The CRTC also said in the early 70's that songs had to be played in their entirety after some stations attempted to skirt around the rules. 

Weekends between 6 and 9 CHUM no way played 30 songs per hour.  Saturday morning had reasonably good ratings and would often have a full log of commercials along with news and sports. There may have been some editing of songs at some stations early in cancon, but it was not wide spread and didn't last long.

If it were true, there should be airchecks floating around and I have never heard any. Also artists and record companies would have complained and gone to the CRTC or possibly threatened lawsuits if it was widespread on stations and over a long term. 

I  was in radio in the 70's, and it never happened anywhere I worked and we only heard some  rumours of this happening but very little if any proof.   

I wasn't working in radio at the time but as a listener I can confidently say CHUM was stacking Can-Con during the early morning  hours on weekends. At one point I did notice some edited versions being played but that practice didn't last too long. 
CFTR was rumoured at one time in their history to slightly speed upthe songs. This allowed them to fit an extra tune or two into each hour allowing them to claim that they played more music per hour than anyone else. Clever idea if it happened.
 

 

May 19, 2023 5:56 pm  #6


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

Not disputing that CHUM would stack cancon in the early 70's weekend mornings.  This was likely more 6am to 7 or 7:30.  Saturday morning ratings were pretty good in the 70's and a major shopping day, and CHUM would still have news sports and lots of commercials. I was really commenting about the editing of songs being so wide spread.  Sunday they would have stacked to help Canadian Graffiti on Sunday evening. 

In terms of speeding up songs, if they did it was likely more than just cancon. However any airchecks from that era on CHUM or even CKLW, I can't say the music sounds speeded up. We do need to take into account that some of the airchecks have been redubbed many times.   Stations even today are accused, and possibly, do speed up songs on their playlists. This happens on US radio, WRIF in Detroit is  criticized for speeding up music on some of the radio boards in that city.

 

May 19, 2023 6:16 pm  #7


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

kevjo wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

I think this editing and speeding up of songs in the early 70's is way exaggerated and didn't happen that much. The CRTC also said in the early 70's that songs had to be played in their entirety after some stations attempted to skirt around the rules. 

Weekends between 6 and 9 CHUM no way played 30 songs per hour.  Saturday morning had reasonably good ratings and would often have a full log of commercials along with news and sports. There may have been some editing of songs at some stations early in cancon, but it was not wide spread and didn't last long.

If it were true, there should be airchecks floating around and I have never heard any. Also artists and record companies would have complained and gone to the CRTC or possibly threatened lawsuits if it was widespread on stations and over a long term. 

I  was in radio in the 70's, and it never happened anywhere I worked and we only heard some  rumours of this happening but very little if any proof.   

I wasn't working in radio at the time but as a listener I can confidently say CHUM was stacking Can-Con during the early morning  hours on weekends. At one point I did notice some edited versions being played but that practice didn't last too long. 
CFTR was rumoured at one time in their history to slightly speed upthe songs. This allowed them to fit an extra tune or two into each hour allowing them to claim that they played more music per hour than anyone else. Clever idea if it happened. 

I remember hearing about CFTR doing that as well, and I felt that it was enough to be slightly noticeable -- but not enough to be problematic except for people who really wanted to hear songs the way that they were recorded. I was actually in that camp, but had to admit that the songs still sounded fine and that it was clever on their part.
Re CHUM, I based my estimate on how much the edited versions were shortened, and I recall hearing so many songs during those hours that I think they might have reduced their commercial load in the interest of getting in as much Cancon as possible. Guess I should confess that I actually liked to listen during these hours, because CHUM would play some more obscure Cancon songs that I liked and that they didn't play much at other times. And it certainly isn't just me who recalls how much they shortened songs. Here's what Toronto resident, CHUM listener, and longtime music journalist Roman Mitz posted about this three years ago at https://oldies.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=2445#p2445:
One thing the author didn't mention, likely because it doesn't fit with the story's positive slant, is the creative way some Canadian radio stations skirted around the Cancon regulations. We've talked about this before; sometimes in late evening/early morning hours, stations played seriously chopped down versions of Canadian singles, thereby allowing them to meet their quota without playing the entire tracks. I haven't heard the 70 second version of Devil You in a long time.

Last edited by Lorne (May 19, 2023 9:37 pm)

 

May 19, 2023 8:03 pm  #8


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

Songs chopped to 70 seconds?  Sorry don't buy it.  Also don't buy that CHUM or any station played 30 songs per hour with 70 or 90 second versions. Even if it ever did happen, it was brief and not the norm.  Stories like this tend to come from people who don't like cancon, don't like the government regs. and can't admit that cancon didn't hurt Canadian radio, revenues, or the ratings back in the 70's.

So when I read an article or quote from back in the day, I tend to to be very skeptical and really question this.  I was in radio in the 70's/80's and never saw this happen. And the many people I have worked with over the years from other stations across Canada, nobody ever talked about a former station chopping or speeding up Canadian songs.  If it did happen at some stations, shame on them on this foolish and pointless endeavour. 

Fifty two years later, I have never read any credible proof that cancon hurt radio at all and I have never heard any proof of widespread speeding up or chopping of songs. Not saying it didn't happen anywhere on any station, but it was not common and the claims tend to be very exaggerated.  

Time to move on folks ... 

 

May 19, 2023 8:12 pm  #9


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

 

     Thread Starter
 

May 19, 2023 8:50 pm  #10


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

This article has been posted before.  We were talking about editing and speeding up songs. Why CHML would be playing only 6.8% cancon when they weren't even a music based station is beyond me.  Yes CFTR and CHUM were stacking, never said they didn't back then.

This article does prove that the CRTC was not and still isn't that mean totalitarian government body that broadcasters or anyone else should fear.  All the stations in the article got renewed and were warned and given notice that they need to improve their performance.  Nothing unfair about that.  

However the stacking at this level from both CHUM and CFTR is sort of disappointing and somewhat immature from two important and otherwise great radio stations. Most stations did play by the rules so it is discouraging that two leading stations like CHUM and CFTR would set a poor example and go this route and attempt to undermine the intent of the ruling.  Could be this is why we still have the legislation today. 

Anyway it doesn't matter, it was 40-50 years ago and these stations have not played any music in many years. Sort of pointless to keep revisiting this subject and what happened or didn't happen half a century ago.  Cancon over the years has not hurt radio in this country at all in terms of ratings or revenue.

However as long as misinformation is passed along as fact, I will always question and point out any inaccuracies.   

Last edited by paterson1 (May 20, 2023 9:20 am)

 

May 20, 2023 1:03 pm  #11


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

The Grand has been at 30% since it requested a reprieve from 40% approved  in CRTC decision 2016-400. This is consistent with the policy outlined in Public Notice 1998-132, in which it stated that, in the case of stations with formats based on the presentation of older music (“oldies” stations), it will be disposed to give favourable consideration to applications of this nature requesting flexibility to broadcast a lower level of Canadian popular music than required of other commercial radio licensees by regulation. This lower level takes into account the relatively limited supply of Canadian music appropriate for the format of these stations.

 

May 20, 2023 2:02 pm  #12


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

Yes, my recollection is that it was when the general minimum was raised to 35%, that the CRTC made provision for stations broadcasting mostly pre-1981 music to apply for a minimum of 30% instead.  

 

May 20, 2023 2:12 pm  #13


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

Yes, for AM's, didn't realize it carried over to FM's

 

May 20, 2023 2:41 pm  #14


Re: 92.9 The Grand Gets A Slight CanCon Exception Due To Oldies

Stacking still occurs  Boom does it on weekend mornings.  It's a Cancon wasteland.