Interestingly, only two of the Big 3 major OTA networks interrupted programming for the announcement. Both CBS and ABC had coverage. NBC, after being forced to shunt a major car race over to cable last week, stuck with a NASCAR event on Sunday. The Fox Network continued with basketball. 

Update: This article claims the race has been moved to one of NBC's cable networks, but when I last looked, it was still on NBC. 

Last edited by RadioActive (July 21, 2024 2:45 pm)

CFRB did really good work last Saturday, calling in Jim Richards to do a long show about the attempted assassination.

On Sunday? The paid stuff continued unabated. I'm not even sure whether they interrupted programming to bring the headline to listeners. If so, it was very brief. 

I realize this is an "American" story more than ours, but it's very consequential for Canadians - not to mention another astounding moment that will go down in world history. It deserves more than a mention. But alas, it would seem there's no one to even do that. 

RadioActive wrote:

CFRB did really good work last Saturday, calling in Jim Richards to do a long show about the attempted assassination.

On Sunday? The paid stuff continued unabated. I'm not even sure whether they interrupted programming to bring the headline to listeners. If so, it was very brief. 

I realize this is an "American" story more than ours, but it's very consequential for Canadians - not to mention another astounding moment that will go down in world history. It deserves more than a mention. But alas, it would seem there's no one to even do that. 

Well, I partially take it back. In the category of "Better Late Than Never," NT1010 rousted John Moore (isn't he on vacation?) to do a live special show on the resignation after 4 PM, some two hours after the story broke. So good marks for that given it's a Sunday. This one is apparently gonig across the iHeart Radio Talk Network, so it's not just on in Toronto. 

Moore was later joined by both Jerry Agar and CFRA and ex-Toronto host Bill Carroll (who was called while on vacation in Boston). It was only two hours, but at least they aired something. 

And 640? Still an old Roy Green. What a weekend to be off! (Although I hope it's not for medical reasons.)

[Update:] To my surprise, CBC's "Cross Country Check-Up" wasted the first hour and a bit on what's it's like to be single. The show switched at 5:15 PM to the Biden story, but I was very surprised they didn't scrap their planned show (with an admittedly pretty lame topic) to go full coverage on the U.S. story.

Southern Ontario is shamefully under-serviced by radio on weekends, but on the bright side, I heard the skyrocketing value of fancy coloured diamonds from some pompous European dork,  and how I can sue my employer if I fall in a toilet off my wheelchair, and some idiot on a trivia show who didn't know who starred as The Godfather.  That's something, right?

That explains it. I figured if they could roust Bill Carroll to comment while he's in the U.S., they could do the same for Moore. Either way, Monday's morning shows will be very interesting! Can't wait to hear Ben Mulroney in for Oakley on 640 give his take on it. 

Why, exactly, does a Toronto radio station need to be covering this live?

It's not an ongoing story the details of which affect us at all today. It's absolutely a big story worthy of conversation, but that need is not urgent, and it would be best to schedule it at a time where there will be an actual critical mass of listeners.

RadioAaron wrote:

Why, exactly, does a Toronto radio station need to be covering this live?

It's not an ongoing story the details of which affect us at all today. It's absolutely a big story worthy of conversation, but that need is not urgent, and it would be best to schedule it at a time where there will be an actual critical mass of listeners.

I noted that it's not a Canadian story, but it IS a historic one. And as a NewsTalk station, that's their mandate, especially when it comes to breaking news. So it could easily be argued a yarn that's this significant, as far as its place in world history, should be covered by a station that claims it's their format. So I'm glad they actually did this. (And they just reran it after 7 PM.) 

I suppose it depends on your background in the business. I've been in news most of my life, so ignoring a story like this because it comes at an inconvenient time just doesn't cut it for me. I think anyone in news would say the same thing. You simply have to have some presence when it's fresh and still happening. 

I well recall waking up early one Saturday morning after a very long week, turning on the radio and hearing that the space shuttle had blown up. I let out a very loud sigh, because I knew my much needed weekend was blown and that I'd have to go in to help cover it, even before work called me.

Same thing the night John Lennon got shot. I was up listening to it on WCBS-AM until three in the morning in those pre-Internet days. My news director at CFTR, Robert Holiday, called me at 6 AM and told me to get my you-know-what down there. I was in by 7:30 AM and didn't leave until sometime after 11 PM that night. 

9/11 was the same. I don't even remember that day it was so busy. It started early and ended very late. 

But that's the price you pay when you work in news. There's no way to know when something major is going to happen and if it's big enough, it has to be all hands on deck. Doesn't get much bigger than a U.S. President announcing he's no longer running. 

And yet, to their credit, they did it anyway. That's twice in two weeks they had special programming. I think it speaks well of them in the long run. 

RadioAaron wrote:

Depends. Does Moore get another day off in lieu? If so, having him on today to talk to nobody isn't worth a schedule disruption when it matters.

I doubt working two hours on a Sunday gets him or Agar a day off in lieu. Usually, it requires a full shift. Maybe some overtime? I can't say whether they were ordered to do this or felt an obligation, but either way, they had something on local radio no one else had.

Agreed, the audience was likely small. But for those who heard it, it made an impression about 1010 being a place to go when there's important breaking news. 

That's the kind of thing all the ads and promos they could air can't buy.