It entails a pretty great logo, at least.

Don't tell me the station that has never played a single paid commercial, done even one weather forecast or had any real announcers on its airwaves for over three years is finally going to actually do it properly. Is Pinocchio finally becoming a real boy?

I'll believe it once I hear it and not a moment sooner. 

And by the way, why wouldn't you sign on the day after Labour Day, the traditional symbolic time when everything gets back to normal? It's the perfect date for that.

Who wants their first broadcast day to be associated with September 11th, one of the most infamous days in modern history? Somebody over there isn't thinking. 

Update to my update:

Apparently Danny Zzzz is a professional escape artist who appeared on America's Got Talent in the past. His work is somewhat inspired by the tragic death of his son in 2020. 

In a Toronto Sun column from March 2022, Joe Warmington described him as a "magician, hypnotist and escape artist," who once worked as a DJ for Giant-FM in Welland.

Escape artist Danny Zzzz risks it all in tribute to son Mason

Still not sure yet who "Stef" is, although I suspect it may be Stef Vivier, who used to do part-time afternoons on CKTB. I see her name and references have been removed from all the 610 pages and there's no longer any sign of her on their website.

Thanks for that update. I've heard of Zzzz (according to the video above, it's pronounced "Zeez") but I'm not at all familiar with her. I wonder if they're planning on doing a morning and afternoon drive crew - and everything else is simply canned automated programming. 

It will be interesting to see if there's an actual line-up for a full day. After all those years of zero spots (and no income) where are they getting the money to hire anyone? Still, any new jobs in broadcasting are better than none. So I wish them luck. As a newcomer playing music on AM, they're going to need it. 

Last edited by RadioActive (September 6, 2023 7:02 am)

Brad wrote:

Stef Mizzi and Danny Zzzz (not sure how it's pronounced).
Most recently they co-hosted the Giant FM morning show. I noticed last week they were no longer on the website.
 

Giant FM (I think it's out of Welland, ON?) has a monstrous signal and decent classic rock playlist but their morning and afternoon shows have always been really bad...been listening to it off and on for about a decade now...not sure where they're going with their morning show now...I heard they were making a 'major' announcement this past Tues Sept 4 but no clue what it was?....anyone know?...and I see KK finally got the boot last year...I'm guessing management could only take so much of her sad puppy stories among other things...

Last edited by Johnny B (September 6, 2023 1:57 pm)

RadioActive wrote:

Whoever else they're hiring (and there are promises of a news and sports team), they claim all of them work and live in the St. Catharines/Niagara area. Why, then, is their listed phone number in the 416 area code

I don't think area codes matter much anymore. Most carriers offer Canada wide calling as part of their plans. I have a friend living in VIctoria who kept her 416 number.
 

Leslieville Bill wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Whoever else they're hiring (and there are promises of a news and sports team), they claim all of them work and live in the St. Catharines/Niagara area. Why, then, is their listed phone number in the 416 area code

I don't think area codes matter much anymore. Most carriers offer Canada wide calling as part of their plans. I have a friend living in VIctoria who kept her 416 number.
 

Yep. And if they're using a cloud-based service, sometimes they have limited area codes available. My colleagues and contacts all have a variety of area codes from wherever they moved here from. My wife's area code is from another province.

RadioActive wrote:

I actually think the reason is a lot different. I believe their H.Q. is in an office building somewhere in Toronto and that's why they have the 416 area code. I could be wrong, but I don't think they were originally based in St. Catharines. Maybe it will change once they "sign on."

Very likely true, but the overall point is it doesn't really matter. I'd probably want a 905 for the studio line, if they have one, but other numbers don't matter.

RadioAaron wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

I actually think the reason is a lot different. I believe their H.Q. is in an office building somewhere in Toronto and that's why they have the 416 area code. I could be wrong, but I don't think they were originally based in St. Catharines. Maybe it will change once they "sign on."

Very likely true, but the overall point is it doesn't really matter. I'd probably want a 905 for the studio line, if they have one, but other numbers don't matter.

Perhaps. But remember this is an oldies station on AM, likely to appeal to a much older demo who may have a landline and perhaps no cell phone. If that's the case, they're telling part of their audience it will potentially cost them money to call them if they ever want to. But then again, why would they want to? I get the impression this isn't a place that will take requests. 

They've been working on the website for the last 24 hours. There is now a 905 number at the top of the page, and a 3-7 host Peet Dictor. Never heard of him, and all I get on google are pet doctors :D

This is kind of getting off topic, but I was searching other Niagara stations and I noticed Darlene was gone from the 105.1 The River morning show. I think she'd only been there a year. So I assumed she would end up here. But then google found her Linkedin, and she just became the new morning co-host on Giant FM. So far, the morning show is not shown on Giant's website.

I chatted with a buddy -

The building is for sale.  They want a new facility that is not in the middle of no where


Kk is not accurate.   She quit because they asked her to play nice with the rest of the staff.   2 people did retire because they were the age to retire.  Nothing else.

Stef and Danny hated KK.  They took over before the new owners.  Never bought in. Left when the ratings dropped.

On the good side Al Joynes is handling weekends and has been an positive addition.

Should be fun to watch.   I remain convinced AM 1220 will generate nothing other than a huge hydro bill.

Brad wrote:

Well KK quit around last November. A co-worker always listened to her, and when I told her she quit a few weeks earlier, she started listening to Christmas music, so I believe it was around November. She had a post on her Facebook page about how all the women at the station have quit, been replaced, or otherwise.

I am not an insider, but it sounds like things aren't good since they got the new owners.

Their building on Forks Road in Welland is for sale, so that's another unknown situation.

Chuck LeFleur and Brian Salmon were the longtime Giant FM hosts. Chuck retired, although I still saw his name on news stories on their website, but there was recently a job posting for a news person so maybe he's gone now.

Brian then got paired with a girl named Katie, but that team didn't last long. Katie joined Giant FM from sister station Country 89. Brian then got moved to Country doing middays, and Katie was gone. Then suddenly Stef moved from Country 89 to Giant and Danny Zzzz who was doing evenings got paired with her. They weren't there long. I'm going to say less than a year, now Stef and Danny have moved to Classic 1220.

Leslieville Bill wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Whoever else they're hiring (and there are promises of a news and sports team), they claim all of them work and live in the St. Catharines/Niagara area. Why, then, is their listed phone number in the 416 area code

I don't think area codes matter much anymore. Most carriers offer Canada wide calling as part of their plans. I have a friend living in VIctoria who kept her 416 number.
 

In business, many are STILL paying crazy money to get a 416 number to make their business appear as if it has been around a long time. (in Toronto) 
Not everyone wants a 647 number on their signage out front, even though everyone knows 647 is a Toronto exchange.

As for 905, the sales department looks a lot more professional with a 905 number. 
Always have an area code that reflects the exact area that you are doing business in. 
It shows that you KNOW your surroundings and you are NOT in a Toronto office or some other place, clueless as to what goes on locally. 
 

I wrote the St. Catharines Standard last week about the imminent debut of the station and whether it was my letter or not, they finally published a story on CFAJ.

The G.M.'s interview about how listeners would prefer hearing "Hotel California" by the Eagles in AM mono on a lousy signal rather than on the Giant-FM because of the on-air personalities doesn't really stand the smell test. But they believe there's an untapped audience for the place. 

General manager Praveen Amirtharaj promised everything from “Paul Anka to Led Zeppelin” on the playlist...“We’re targeting essentially 45-plus,” he said.

“We’re not about Taylor Swift, we’re not about the hottest band that’s out there right now. One of the taglines we’ll be using is ‘We’ll be the soundtrack of your life.’”

It sounds like only morning and afternoon drive will be actually staffed, since no new names for middays or evenings (when the signal gets vastly reduced to protect Cleveland) are mentioned in the article. And yes, it appears they will have at least one news person, as the owners raid the Giant-FM vault yet again.  

"More original content is planned for the weekends, with another former GIANT-FM broadcaster, Chuck Lafleur, heading up the news department."

New Niagara AM station launching Monday

I am not here to criticize but to wish them well and state in this time of declining radio related jobs, at least some people have new employment.