Is AM 740 The Only Station That Still Does This?

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Posted by RadioActive
October 28, 2024 11:17 am
#1

I was listening to AM 740 over the weekend, admittedly something I don't do a lot. I noticed that when they were giving the forecast, they always reported the temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

I remember when the metric system first came to Canada around April 1975. Every radio and TV station was careful to give the current conditions in both scales, because it was brand new. But gradually, it stopped until no one was doing it any more.

Or so I thought. I know 740's audience skews older but really - it's been almost 50 years and they still use both? 

Is there any other radio outlet in Canada that still reports the temps. this way? Maybe stations in Windsor? I was never a huge fan of the conversion but it's here and after half a century, I'm not sure they need to do this any more.

 
Posted by andysradio
October 28, 2024 11:55 am
#2

RadioActive wrote:

it's been almost 50 years and they still use both?

Can you talk to my parents about this?
Last l was able to listen, AM 580 Windsor was 'bilingual' too.

 
Posted by mace
October 28, 2024 11:57 am
#3

If you really want to see how much we are getting ripped off at the gas pump divide the pump price by 22 to get the gallon price. $1.54/L=$7.00/gal.

 
Posted by RadioAaron
October 28, 2024 12:08 pm
#4

mace wrote:

If you really want to see how much we are getting ripped off at the gas pump divide the pump price by 22 to get the gallon price. $1.54/L=$7.00/gal.

*offer not valid for those under 65

 
Posted by Easily Amused
October 28, 2024 12:46 pm
#5

AM 740 for quite a while trumpeted their signal reaching well into the U.S., as well as programming for more aged listeners.  I Imagine it's not unlike WNED and WBFO aiming to cater to their Canadian audience.

 
Posted by RadioActive
October 28, 2024 12:55 pm
#6

Easily Amused wrote:

AM 740 for quite a while trumpeted their signal reaching well into the U.S., as well as programming for more aged listeners. I Imagine it's not unlike WNED and WBFO aiming to cater to their Canadian audience.

I suppose that could be true and it's a fair point. Although why anybody in the States would care about the Toronto weather forecast or the city's temperatures, isn't clear to me. 

 
Posted by turkeytop
October 28, 2024 1:06 pm
#7

We have a neighbour who changes the settings in his car to show his speed in MPH, his odometer in miles and the outdoor temp in farenheit.

To him, the metric system is a left wing conspiracy.


After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.
 
Posted by newsguy1
October 28, 2024 2:05 pm
#8

And by "left wing" he means the whole rest of the world. Except the USA.  And, -- trivia -- The Cayman Islands and Liberia.

 

 
Posted by mace
October 28, 2024 2:08 pm
#9

Easily Amused wrote:

AM 740 for quite a while trumpeted their signal reaching well into the U.S., as well as programming for more aged listeners. I Imagine it's not unlike WNED and WBFO aiming to cater to their Canadian audience.

Since 740 is a Canadian priority clear channel frequency, CFZM gets the 750 miles from Toronto night signal protection. Same with 860.

 
Posted by paterson1
October 28, 2024 2:14 pm
#10

RadioActive wrote:

Easily Amused wrote:

AM 740 for quite a while trumpeted their signal reaching well into the U.S., as well as programming for more aged listeners. I Imagine it's not unlike WNED and WBFO aiming to cater to their Canadian audience.

I suppose that could be true and it's a fair point. Although why anybody in the States would care about the Toronto weather forecast or the city's temperatures, isn't clear to me. 

Anyone listening outside of the GTA is not listening to AM 740 for the weather.  

 
Posted by Radiowiz
October 28, 2024 2:38 pm
#11

CFTR's 68 second news break right up until they went all news ended their news with weather in both temps just before going to music.

Any radio station near a border today should do both temps. It's the smart thing to do.
As for AM 740, well, it is targeting an older audience, I suppose...


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 
Posted by RadioActive
October 28, 2024 3:20 pm
#12

I don't think CKTB does this. They're practically sitting right on the U.S.' doorstep. And I know they come in very well across the border, because the late talk show host John Michael used to get a ton of calls from Buffalo and the Western New York area. 

 
Posted by RadioAaron
October 28, 2024 3:23 pm
#13

If the station isn't actually courting the neighbouring country of the 65+ audience, the extra temp is just clutter.

 
Posted by fybush
October 28, 2024 3:53 pm
#14

mace wrote:

If you really want to see how much we are getting ripped off at the gas pump divide the pump price by 22 to get the gallon price. $1.54/L=$7.00/gal.

As someone who does this mental math a lot when crossing the border, this isn't the right equation. It's 3.8 L to the gallon, so $1.54/L would be $5.85/gal. (But that's also about the highest price I see anywhere in the GTA, with $1.44 easy to find around town. That's $5.47/gal, which is US$3.94/gal. By comparison, we're averaging around US$3.25/gal here in Rochester, which translates to about C$1.19/L.)

 
Posted by Binson Echorec
October 28, 2024 5:38 pm
#15

RadioActive wrote:

I don't think CKTB does this. They're practically sitting right on the U.S.' doorstep. And I know they come in very well across the border, because the late talk show host John Michael used to get a ton of calls from Buffalo and the Western New York area. 

I know for a fact CKTB used to mention bridge crossing wait times (mostly during summer holidays and long weekends) but I can't recall them ever doing dual temperatures.

 
Posted by RadioAaron
October 28, 2024 5:41 pm
#16
Posted by RadioActive
October 28, 2024 7:44 pm
#17

Gas price predictions from the usually reliable Dan McTeague:

Gas Wizard Prices For Toronto

 
Posted by kevjo
October 28, 2024 7:45 pm
#18

Radiowiz wrote:

CFTR's 68 second news break right up until they went all news ended their news with weather in both temps just before going to music.

Any radio station near a border today should do both temps. It's the smart thing to do.
As for AM 740, well, it is targeting an older audience, I suppose...

Even into the 80's CHYR in Leamington was still giving temperatures in Fahrenheit. Only when mentioning the current temp did they give the Celsius figure and only after the Fahrenheit reading. I was told then that, due to their close proximity to the U.S. , people in the area still related more to Fahrenheit.

 
Posted by turkeytop
October 28, 2024 7:58 pm
#19

The late George Jonescu, who did the BBSN show on AM 740 and, before that, on CHAY used to give the celsius temp and then in fahrenheit which he called "the real numbers."


After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.
 
Posted by paterson1
October 28, 2024 8:02 pm
#20

RadioActive wrote:

Gas price predictions from the usually reliable Dan McTeague:

Gas Wizard Prices For Toronto

Gas Buddy is showing much lower in Toronto.
https://www.gasbuddy.com/gasprices/ontario/toronto

 
Posted by mace
October 28, 2024 8:15 pm
#21

I use the Gasbuddy app to check local gas prices. Sometimes I will check prices across Canada just to compare. I have found the consistently most expensive gas in North America and it isn't in Canada. A small hamlet called Fenner in California about 30 miles west of the Arizona border has one station selling regular gas for 8.09/gal. Of course heading west into the desert, one wouldn't want to risk running out of fuel. Furnace Creek in Death Valley is a more reasonable $4.89/gal.

 


 
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