Had to do obits at my first job in Mid Western Ontario, and it was bad.  But even worse was the daily farm market report.  About a 2-3 minute straight rip and read detailing the prices of the day for many different types of cattle and hogs, as well as wheat and other crops.  Just awful but I was told that the local farmers made sure it was considered must listening.  BTW having never been on a farm in my life I did not have a clue what I was talking about. 

Both CFOS AM in Owen Sound and CKNX AM in Wingham both do funeral announcements daily.  CFOS normally has notices twice per day right before the 12 noon and at the 5pm newscasts.  CKNX is at 12:30 pm. 

Ratings did take a bump for the funerals especially in the rural areas surrounding both stations.  The funerals for CFOS are pre recorded, I believe the same for CKNX.
 
Occasionally on some days there would be no announcements.  The funeral homes in the area were responsible for writing the notices to a certain format and delivering them in to the station by a deadline.  CFOS in particular had a fairly strict format that funeral homes would follow.  Overly dramatic or flowery adjectives and copy were not allowed.   Funderal homes would pay for the announcements to air on the radio. 

I would think because of the internet radio funeral announcements would be on the decline even in smaller more isolated markets.  Back in the late 70's CKPR 580 in Thunder Bay also had announcements before 12noon, I don't know when these were dropped. However at CKPR the notices were read live, which was a real challenge for the on air announcer.  

A friend of mine spent several years in the BC Interior where reading and carting up the daily obits was part of his pre-production work before his mid-day on-air shift. One day, after he'd come in late and didn't have time to prep, he decided to read them live on air. Unfortunately, earlier in the day, another staff member told him a joke with a punchline that left him in tears of laughter. He had forgotten about the joke as he hit the funeral music and began to read the first obituary.
As he told me himself, about halfway through the first sentence, the punchline of the joke came back to him and he began to choke up with supressed laughter. He cut the mic while the music played on and after a few seconds, tried to start up again. No matter what he tried to do, he could stop thinking of the punchline and kept swtiching his mic off and on while he struggled to get through his copy. Finally, after about two-and-a-half minutes of giggling and wheezing, he made it to the end of the first obit, chucked the rest of copy and started playing music and spots until he got himself under control.
About five minutes later, the request line phone started blinking and he answered it.
"This is Mrs.(wife of the guy who's obit he butchered live on the air). Are you the person who just read the announcement about my husband's funeral?"
"Yes," our hero replied, bracing for a blast of anger followed by threats to have him fired etc.
"That was the most moving thing I think I've ever heard in my life. I could tell my husband's passing really affected you. Did you know him? He never mentioned you." the wife said sadly.
My friend silently thanked whatever radio gods were watching over him that day. He chatted briefly with the woman and after finishing the rest of his shift, he went to a local pub and had a beer to toast the memory of the man who had almost gotten him into so much trouble.
I know this sounds like one of those radio urban myths, but my friend Gord, who has himself been gathered to celestial heights, was a trustworthy guy who spent much of his life in radio. And, if it didn't happen exactly as he told it, it probably happened to someone else, somewhere else at some time.


 

Last edited by BowmanvilleBob (July 21, 2024 8:52 am)

Terrible to say but another example of radio being "first". Back in the day my late Mother never missed the Death notices on radio...otherwise you had to wait for the weekly paper to come out to inform you that so- and -so had passed away. As we get older, how many of us check the Obituaries every day !? As I like to say , it is a good day when your name isn't there ! ( By the way , I rely on the Yellow board ,as well, to keep me updated on passings within the industry. )

Last edited by fyshtalk (July 21, 2024 12:54 pm)

   This brings back a few memories from my early days in radio at CJET Smiths Falls.  Read the notices in the late fifties and early sixties, when available each day.   In my mind it was just another part of the job.  When I look at other postings, it reminds me that I may be one of the older posters.   Left broadcasting in 1971 after times at CJET, CFCO and CHOW....memories that still remain in old age.

Death notices at 4 of the 5 stations I worked at. Lindsay also had the farm report. In Midland my first day started at 6 pm and right after the news I had to read the "Deads" live. The only time I had a problem reading them live was a Saturday afternoon shift in Midland. There was a name that was impossible to get right. I called the funeral home and the local newspaper and couldn't get anyone to answer. I went on live, did the best I could and went to a record. Not long after the "bat phone" rang. On the other end was a sobbing woman who finally managed to let me know she was the widow and gave me the correct pronunciation. I asked if she would like me to read the announcement again on-air and she said she did, which I did.

There was one incident in Lindsay when I was there with pre-recorded death notices at the noon news, fortunately not involving me.

The only place I experienced this was my first full time gig -- CJAT in Trail B.C.
I do not remember it being an unpleasant task at all.
For one thing the obits had already appeared in local papers so they were no surprise.
People already knew a loved or friend had died.
The scripts usually contained some tribute to the deceased, like, "the avid outdoorsman and father of ten will be missed." etc.
I actually never had to read them, someone else always did.
But what I did have to read -- and I loathed it -- were horse racing results.
This was at Jim Pattison's CJOR in Vancouver.
The billionaire was really into horse racing so it was a must.
We even had a direct teletype to the jockey club.
I hate and always have hated gambling, and having to read these enraged me.
I also had no idea what all the terms means -- trifecta etc.
I was so glad when this was finally cancelled as the world began to realize it was not the job of a radio newsroom to assist people in their gambling addictions.






 

turkeytop wrote:

I grew up in the Owen Sound area, within sight of the CFOS towers. The hog reports and the funeral reports were the high point of the day for many people

 

Death notices, a.k.a. "another one bites the dust" are read on CFOS in a somber tone, daily just before the noon news.    "Dial a Deal" follows the news; clever timing to try to convert grandma's junk into cash to pay for her funeral.   

 

Dicky Doo wrote:

Death notices, a.k.a. "another one bites the dust" are read on CFOS in a somber tone, daily just before the noon news.    "Dial a Deal" follows the news; clever timing to try to convert grandma's junk into cash to pay for her funeral.   

 

Sombre tone now. When I was a kid, not only was it read in a sombre tone, it was also accompanied by creepy organ music.
 

turkeytop wrote:

A few years ago, NPR played an interview with writer, Stephen King. King said when he was growing up, in a small town in Maine, he used to read the obits in the local newspaper every day. Then he would get the phone book and cross out the names of the deceased.

Neat insight turkeytop.

Stephen King's memoir On Writing is a fascinating must own if you're a writer, and a good read even if you're not a writer or a fan of his books.

Apparently he used to be in a pickup rock band of friends who were also authors and their name was typical King in that they called themselves "Raymond Burr's Legs."

In the memoir King also speaks about the serious abuse he was put through as a child. It's very hard to read and goes a long way to explain why he writes what he does and may also have contributed to the crossing out of the recently deceased quirky habit described by turkeytop.

P.S. It would be a challenge to come up with a suitable sombre voice in order to read the death notices on-air.

Last edited by betaylored (July 21, 2024 9:27 pm)

betaylored wrote:

P.S. It would be a challenge to come up with a suitable sombre voice in order to read the death notices on-air.

Lorne Greene. The Voice of Doom.