Yes, but somebody could fold and want out .  Wouldn't be surprised if Stingray, Bell, Pattison and or Corus have stations for sale right now, or would consider selling.  Because broadcasters are so secretive and try to control all the information, it could be quick, out of the blue and surprising.  Or revenues may need to slide some more, but somebody will sell off some stations and or clusters, and they may not get what was hoped for.  Depends how bad they want out.  

Sorry, I disagree.  Radio in the major markets out west tend to be superior to Toronto from what I have heard. They seem more willing to try new things.  Eg. Q107 moving to talk with no CRTC approval, or experimenting with the talk/music engagement.  Part of this is because they have more competition or at least more variety with Pattison and a few smaller players in the mix.

If everything that Pattison fails as you claim, odd that they have so many stations and seem to claim that they are #1 or top 3 in many of their markets. I like the fact that they seem to be able to program both small market and major markets well.  

So, poo poo them all you want, I don't buy it.  They would be a welcome addition to the radio mix here and would make the others sharpen up and give the boring and somewhat lifeless big guys in Toronto a kick in the butt.  However Jim is long in the tooth, and who knows what the plan is when he moves on.

Anything can happen.. 

You seem overly defensive about this for some reason. Must be something else going on here that you haven't shared.  Again seems odd that if Pattison was a failed broadcaster and not successful, that they would actually own 48 stations, and have such a long history in the business. 

If they decided to get out of the radio business, it likely would have more to do with the owner's personal situation rather than them being a "failed/failing" radio company.
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You listed 3 failed/failing stations out of 48 that they own.  JR FM Vancouver was also number one a few books ago,  In fact you were remarking about the huge share the morning show had.  JR FM has been in the top 3 much more than at #10 over the past five years. Could the last book be a one off?

And some of the current failing stations you sight are also new formats, so a bit early to write them off.  102.7 only changed a year ago.  And their two Edmonton stations do quite well, leading in key demographics. 

Nice that a large company like Pattison isn't afraid to experiment, and that's what makes radio interesting.
Notice in the western markets this also forces companies like Rogers and others to be more daring with their formats.  Something that they don't do in Ontario. 

 

RadioAaron wrote:

To repeat, all of the major market stations they have that are successful are somebody else's work, with the exception of JR. Everything they've launched has failed.

Failing/failed any worse than Toronto's Today radio?

Jim Pattison is today's guest on Bloomberg.     He's on now; it is SOWNY's opportunity to advise him on how to succeed in the radio business.    

g. 

Last edited by georgio1 (August 11, 2023 1:11 pm)