1 of 1- Storm
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Duplication
Lots of duplication in local area radio stations - much less variety or local input and imagination.
Bounce Hamilton and Bounce Kitchener play the same music almost simultaneously.
Likewise Guelph's Magic 106 and Hamilton's Energy 95.3.
Virgin Radio Kitchener and Virgin Radio London are now one station with all the same on-air staff and the exact same music - the same playlist as Virgin radio Toronto.
Hamilton's Y108 and London's FM96 also use the same playlist.
Probably most people don't do as much radio surfing as I do so won't notice how little real variety there is today. And because of the internet and streaming today there isn't as much market isolation as there was back in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
I have always been a predominantly Top 40/CHR listener and I got more variety back when there were only three stations I would listen to: CHUM-CKEY-CKOC; CHUM-CKFH-CKOC; CHUM-CFTR-CKOC. Today half of the Top 40/CHR stations in Canada are Virgin all playing basically the same playlist. Don't know why each station has its own designated Music Director when the music seems to be controlled by "head office" (probably Toronto).
- RadioAaron
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Re: Duplication
Storm wrote:
And because of the internet and streaming today there isn't as much market isolation as there was back in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The internet and lack of market isolation is one of the reason formats do end up being the same in different markets. The 'regional hit' for the most part is a thing of the past.
There's no point in comparing, say, Virgin Radio Toronto with Vancouver; they're not designed to compliment each other as the vast majority of the listening is local.
- Dave The OTA guy
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Re: Duplication
I gave up on radio in this country and don't listen to much locally but Boom 97.3 (only in small increments because it's the same 100 or so songs played again and again).
If you're into pop (top 40), dance and alternative (indie) rock download the BBC sounds app and listen to Radio 1. They play songs you're familiar with and artists that should be carried over here but aren't. It's free to listen to and there are no commercials.
- Radiowiz
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Re: Duplication
If you're into pop (top 40), dance and alternative (indie) rock download the BBC sounds app and listen to Radio 1. They play songs you're familiar with and artists that should be carried over here but aren't. It's free to listen to and there are no commercials.
Apples to Oranges. There's a major difference causing the sound to be different.
They don't have 35-40% Canadian Content rules to worry about.
10 out of 10 songs can be Brit music vs 4 out of 10 songs here having to be Canadian.
& Most importantly, (odd enough) the rule only dictates 35-40% Canadian. It does not dictate that a song can't repeat.
Playing the same Canadian songs over and over counts as Can Con.
It may also be part of the reason why a Canadian station sounds so repetitive.
Last edited by Radiowiz (June 23, 2024 3:33 pm)
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- paterson1
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Re: Duplication
The closest we had to anything musically to BBC1 was when stations in Ottawa and Montreal had to play half of their music as non hit. I thought the radio in those two cities for contemporary music sounded fantastic. Repetition wasn't a problem. For dance music, I am not sure how you could tell beyond a few artists what was cancon or not. Besides that a lot of the time a lot of announcers never say the name of the song or artist anyway.
A lot of what BBC plays is not hit music. But as mentioned these songs and artists are mixed in with more familiar tunes. BBC Radio is so powerful some of the non hit songs eventually become hits because of their airplay. British listeners seem more interested and accepting of unknown songs and artists than here.
If a station is repetitive that is on them, not the regulation.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Duplication
The UK is far less competitive.
London has all of 6 major commercial FMs, all owned by one of two companies.
The only BBC station targeting anyone under 40 (BBC1) comes in at #7 with a 3.5 share.
The top commercial station for adults, Heart-FM, plays almost entirely massive hits:
The UK, and BBC specifically, is not the place to look in terms of programming music to win. The idea that BBC is a "powerful force" for music discovery is decades out of date.
Last edited by RadioAaron (June 23, 2024 6:58 pm)
- mic'em
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Re: Duplication
Song repetition on Sudbury stations is so bad , especially the rock and country outlets, I have been forced to listen to CBC 1 in my work vehicle . Now that is saying something. 
- haydenmatthews14
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Re: Duplication
Magic 106.1 in Guelph and Fresh 103.1 in London play the same songs at the same time.