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"Idols" are the same song and dance... almost
Wednesday, October 6, 2004, 06:28 p.m. ET
So Kalan Porter's first single, "Awake In A Dream", went into regular rotation today on myFM. After listening closely to the song during my show this afternoon, I noticed that the debut songs from most of the American and Canadian Idols are very similar in lyrics and sound, among other things. In the case of "Awake In A Dream", I found it a lot like Ryan Malcolm's "Something More" - same key, same length (4:04, give or take a couple of seconds), but thankfully, not the same production. "Dream" was much more intense and radio-friendly than "Something More". But will Malcolm's forthcoming sophomore release make as much of a mark as his first CD, "Home", did? Kalan's getting far more positive buzz right now, so many would say that it won't get very far, except of course in Ryan's native K-Town. Watch for copies coming to CFRC (101.9) and CKVI (91.9)... on second thought, scratch out CFRC.
I want my (M)TV
Sunday, September 26, 2004, 02:37 p.m. ET
It's rather unusual that a radio jock like me doesn't watch television. Regular broadcast TV, i.e. the four channels my rabbit ears pick up, doesn't offer anything of interest to me, except maybe "The Amazing Race", which is a big thing to one of my colleagues at the radio station. But anything that I will watch is only available on cable or satellite. Whether it's "Win Ben Stein's Money" (Comedy Network) or "Alternate Routes" (OLN) or even the few produced episodes of "Undergrads" (Teletoon), withdrawal is setting in, particularly with the installation of a TV in myFM master control... although it's usually set to TVCogeco or The Weather Network, or The Score when Bob's on the air. When I finally break down and get hooked up at home, I'll likely take the Star Choice route, because of the many Canadian radio stations carried on the system. Bell runs some, but nowhere near as many as Star Choice. I'll consider all my options, and if I do take the trip over to Noron (local Star Choice dealer), you'll hear about it first on BMac's Blog. Stay tuned!
Some good news, and some bad news
Wednesday, September 15, 2004, 08:09 p.m. ET
I'll start with the good news. College pal and new father Paul Herriot has once again returned to commercial radio, this time as an operator at Kitchener's 570News (CKGL). Until now, Paul was doing another series of "Advanced Warning", his indie rock show on Waterloo's CKMS (100.3). During college, Paul & I took several radio-related road trips around southern Ontario... read up on those in the blog's archives by clicking "Archives" near the top-right of this page. | The bad news comes from Lindsay, where Milkman UnLimited reports that long-time CKLY (910 AM, now 91.9 FM) announcer Don Blakely has passed away at age 60. I met Don in 1997 during a day-long visit to CKLY... at the time, he was the morning news anchor, but took over the morning show when 'LY moved to FM the following year. Shortly after CHUM purchased the station, Don sort of "disappeared" from radio. Sadly, he's no longer with us. I do have some Don Blakely airchecks among the many cassettes that fill a shoe box in my bedroom... I'll give those a listen tonight, and I may post one or two for you to hear, so stay tuned. My condolences.
Jack Orillia goes live (online)
Monday, September 13, 2004, 11:12 p.m. ET
After one year of playing what they want, 105.9 JACK FM (CICX-FM Orillia) has a website! Definitely worth a look (love the movie characters' pics in the jock bios!), and the site doesn't look as "cookie-cutter" as some other big-five stations' sites out there. Click this entry's title to meet Jack in Central Ontario.
Radio DX and advertising in the capital
Saturday, September 4, 2004, 07:55 p.m. ET
Another month, another day trip to Ottawa for yours truly... kudos to Peter H for the lift. While he made a couple of shopping stops in Kanata, I scanned through the FM dial, and couldn't believe how much was coming in from outside the City of Ottawa, whether tropo was in this morning, or better-than-average FM reception is common in Kanata. Brockville's JRfm (CFJR-FM 104.9) was loud & clear, as was BOB FM (CJPT-FM 103.7), and at times, Kingston's FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3). I also pulled in Cornwall's Variety 104 (CFLG-FM 104.5), and there's a slim chance that I caught Lindsay's Y92 (CKLY-FM 91.9)... sounded like it, and that's really the only AC station on 91.9 in southern Ontario, but the signal faded out just before the song ended, so I couldn't confirm it. | With fall ratings starting Tuesday, Ottawa's commercial radio stations have once again beefed up their outdoor ad campaigns. Hot AC Kiss FM (CISS-FM 105.3) appears to be the most advertised, with 93.9 BOB FM (CKKL-FM) coming in second. No sign, though (no pun intended) of classic rock also-ran The Fox (WRCD-FM 101.5 Canton NY).
The Sandman does radio
Friday, September 3, 2004, 09:02 p.m. ET
A little break from my telemarketing rants, for another radio dream or two... I told you some time ago about one in which I was inside the famous WLW (700 Cincinnati OH) transmitter site. Check the archives for that one. Last night's dream may have been influenced by recent correspondence with RadioTakeout.com's Bill Cosworth and Paul Richards, formerly of CHAY (93.1 Barrie). Only a radio nut like myself would have a dream like this at night... the early easy listening days of CHAY, from the original studios in Midhurst. In my childhood years, not only did my relatives (most of them Collingwood natives) play CHAY, we'd frequently drive from Barrie to Collingwood along Bayfield Street/Highway 26, passing CHAY along the way. I haven't seen the little blue (post-1992 or so) CHAY building in about five years... all I know is that in 2000, it expanded to accommodate B101 (CIQB-FM 101.1) after Corus Entertainment purchased Power Broadcasting's eleven Ontario radio stations. Back to the dream... I guess the focus became something like a television station signing off at night. A view of the full moon, eventually fading to black. Don't know where that came from... either way, I need more sleep, and I need to think about something other than radio before I hit the sack. Travel? Mountain biking? Snowboarding?
Gotcha
Thursday, September 2, 2004, 07:05 p.m. ET
So last night, I actually had the balls to answer the phone the one time that the ICT Group dolts got me at home. 8:37 last night. I didn't pay attention to the broad's spiel, other than the names "ICT Group" and "Capital One". I DO NOT NEED OR WANT ANOTHER CREDIT CARD!!! In short, I politely asked her to please remove my number from their call list(s), she said it'll take up to six weeks for that to happen. Good. I'm still royally pissed off, though. I have not knowingly given my home phone number to any of ICT's clients, and I have told Bell, Telus, and my bank not to solicit to me. Bell definitely won't call me (I've got a telemarketing exclusion code on my line), I have a no-call note on my bank account, and the best part... I thought maybe Telus had leaked my number, so in my "investigation", I fired off an e-mail yesterday to Telus' privacy people, from whom I received a kind reply this morning, explaining that 1) they aren't an ICT Group client, 2) Telus has put my home and cell numbers on their do-not-call lists, and 3) they have told ICT and the Canadian Direct Marketing Association's members not to call me. Plain and simple - I will not purchase or apply for anything via telephone solicitation. Same goes for junk mail and spam. How would you feel if I called you up during your favourite TV show, or your sleep, and started pitching my radio show? You'd be just as livid as I was when I realized what the ICT crooks were trying to hawk. Telemarketing companies: leave us alone. Telemarketers: get a real job. Chances are your city or town is home to an employment agency like Drake or Adecco... talk to them. Or if you've got nerves of steel, and could handle people screaming obscenities at you because you interrupted their personal/family time, get in touch with the Armed Forces. Protect your country instead of annoying it.
Look who's come (calling) back...
Tuesday, August 31, 2004, 09:18 p.m. ET
Okay, maybe I was wrong. Or perhaps a telemarketer saw yesterday's entries and decided "hey, let's call Ben's number and get him worked up again". The ICT Group's monkeys/computer tried calling me this evening, after a roughly one-week break. But they called about forty-five minutes too early to reach me. Good luck trying to get through to me, you bastards... either I'm not home, or I'm letting the machine take your call. Also, I've logged the date and time of every one of your calls, and if you keep calling anytime after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, September 3, I'll send that call log to the CRTC. For now though, I'll get in touch with Telus and my bank to see if they've somehow leaked my number.
They surrender
Monday, August 30, 2004, 10:38 p.m. ET
So the white flag has finally been raised... after *several dozen attempts* over the past month, the telemarketing bastards at the ICT Group (1-866-559-1027) have given up on getting through to me live on my home phone. Thank goodness for long workdays and a "greeting" on my message machine. Quick warning if you try calling the above number: you won't get through to a live person; they'll just give you a recording saying that you have to tell them, in writing, at your expense (snail mail to Pennsylvania), to remove your number from their calling lists. Once they receive your request, it could take up to six weeks before they stop calling you. How long will it be before Canada gets a national do-not-call registry like the one currently in place in the U.S.? Considering the rules of broadcasting and telecom in Canada are dictated by the highest bidder(s), I doubt we'll have one anytime soon. At the same time, with a population of just over 30 million, telemarketing isn't as much of a problem in Canada as it is in the States. But even one cold call is one cold call too many for Canadians (and Americans, too). We'd be much happier if businesses simply gave up on the practice of telemarketing, and hung up their headsets once and for all.
Coming soon to a computer near you...
Monday, August 30, 2004, 09:57 p.m. ET
Another side project of mine. First there was this blog (less-frequently updated, since I devote most of my time and energy to my job), and very soon, I'm hoping there will be a little online radio station. If you remember such former Power Broadcasting stations as Magic @ 94.9 (CKGE-FM Oshawa) or The Zone @ 92.9 (CIZN-FM Cambridge), or if you're familiar with Niagara Falls' 105.1 The River (CFLZ-FM), then you know which way this project will go musically. AAA/modern AC, with some emphasis on Canadian music. Core international artists will include U2, Matchbox Twenty, No Doubt, Goo Goo Dolls, and the Dave Matthews Band, while core Canadian artists will include Sarah McLachlan, the Barenaked Ladies, Alanis Morissette, and Nelly Furtado, among many others. When will this thing get rolling? As soon as I 1) dig up enough music and put it onto a computer, and 2) get a faster Net connection than the "DSL basic" that I'm currently using. My goal is to have it up and running by Christmas, so as always, stay tuned!
Classic Hits, Cool now online
Wednesday, August 18, 2004, 02:08 p.m. ET
For the first time, Starboard Communications' Belleville radio stations, Classic Hits 95.5 (CJOJ-FM) and Cool 100.1 (CHCQ-FM) just recently launched complete and very nice websites! Go to Classic Hits' site by clicking on this entry's title... Cool's is at www.cool100.fm.
Turn on the "lite" in Belleville/Trenton
Monday, August 16, 2004, 12:57 p.m. ET
It's official... CJTN (1270 Trenton) has relaunched at 107.1 FM as "Lite 107 - Quinte's Lite Rock", with a brand new jock lineup. Former CHAY (93.1 Barrie) jocks Bob Wallace and Diana Meder make up the "Lite 107 Breakfast Club", while Mike Hill & Steve Marlin come down the hall from sister CJBQ (800 Belleville) for middays & afternoons respectively. The John Tesh Radio Show has been picked up for evenings, with weekends being handled by long-time Kingston (CKLC/CFLY) morning man Greg Hunter, as well as recent Loyalist radio grads Shay Edison and Breana Morgan.
As for ex-CJTN jocks Mark "Bundy" Kennedy and Rick Kevan, there's no sign of them, or at least not online. Best of luck to Lite 107, and I'll definitely be listening next time I'm in the area!
And even more outraged (but for a different reason)
Saturday, August 7, 2004, 03:47 p.m. ET
I've been in Renfrew for three months now, and already, I've got telemarketers on my ass. I lived in Cornwall for nearly nine months, cautiously gave out both my home and work numbers, and didn't get any telemarketing calls, so why am I now? Call Display says these bastards are calling from the number 866-559-1027. So I Google the number, and lo and behold, I'm not the only one who's been called (always when I'm not home) by the idiots at "The ICT Group". A student in Halifax has been getting calls from them... on his cell phone! Click this entry's title to read up on his ordeal. Back to my situation... I pay Bell a little extra every month to have a "telemarketing exclusion code" put on my line, but to whom have I given my home phone number, besides family, friends and co-workers? Let's see... Telus, my bank, and the provincial & federal governments. Most likely the bank... governments know better than to take the telemarketing route, and when I was in Cornwall, Telus didn't ever call my home number. Next time any telemarketing morons decide to call me, they'll get a real "greeting" from my machine.
Still outraged, unfortunately
Saturday, August 7, 2004, 02:24 p.m. ET
This time, at one of this blog's regular visitors. He's been a real pest lately, and based on his many e-mails/message board posts, I'm guessing he has an attention deficit disorder, or is on the autism spectrum. He decides to e-mail me *and* post on more than one message board, his ridiculous notion that a class A FM 75+ km west of Ottawa will turn the capital's radio dial upside down... not going to happen. Martz thought all hell would break loose on Canadian radio when he cranked up the power on a bunch of northern New York FMs. B.S. No format changes or frequency swaps in Ottawa or Montreal were the result of American "border blasters" positioning themselves as Canadian stations, so a station that doesn't cover Ottawa isn't going to change the market. Going back to that super-geek who indirectly insulted me, I've got three words for him: GET A LIFE. My day starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. I'm busy enough as it is, being a jock/tech/music director, and I certainly don't have time to put up with autistic/hyperactive/whatever radio geeks fantasizing about format changes & frequency swaps without proving that such moves are actually feasible. Before you send another related e-mail or post on a message board, do your homework. Every format change that's ever happened in Canadian commercial radio has been the result of countless hours of research. Your fantasies are based on next to no research! Oh yeah, and I know I'm a bit of a radio geek, but unlike "passdatdutch" or "Clear/Cheap Chunnel" or whatever his real name is, 1) I keep it within reason, 2) I'm employed full-time in the radio industry, and 3) I have many other non-radio interests. E-mail me if you want to know more.
Day one
Monday, August 2, 2004, 04:28 p.m. ET
Today was the official launch of 96.1 myFM (CHMY-FM Renfrew)! CJOH TV and The New RO were both on hand this morning, so chances are you'll see us on the news tonight. I'm on the air as I type this entry... my first live air shift since late November. Who will you hear on myFM? Bob Rose mornings, Julie Larocque middays, and yours truly afternoons. About twenty years ago, Bob was the morning man on Renfrew's first radio station, CKOB (1400), but later went down east. He came to us from New Brunswick, most recently doing some freelance announcing and DJing. Local singer/musician and expecting mother Julie Larocque is also our traffic manager. When she's not on the air, she'll greet you with a smile when you visit the myFM studios. And then there's me, myFM's afternoon jock, music man, and techie. I came here from stints in Cornwall, Belleville, and Peterborough. Find out more about my story by checking this blog's archives. Just a quick note... the blog won't become the myFM station news site. Go to myfmradio.ca for any info about the station.
Being a part of the community
Thursday, July 22, 2004, 10:41 p.m. ET
...the biggest reason for the near lack of updates on BMac's Blog. I've been taking in some Renfrew events, including the Colossal Charity Chili Cook-Off at the Renfrew Inn earlier this week, and Valleyfest, which began today and runs through Saturday. However, I won't be able to take in a whole lot of Valleyfest 2004, as I'll be very busy, which I am on a regular basis these days (music, tech, and on-air stuff, among many other responsibilities)... I'll be at the controls as myFM (CHMY-FM 96.1) is live on location at the station staff's favourite eatery/watering hole, Coco Jarry's in downtown Renfrew tomorrow 3-7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. I'll try to enjoy the weekend, so tune in Monday for more!
BMac and Ma Bell don't mix
Monday, July 12, 2004, 07:49 p.m. ET
First, there were people who hated (and still hate) Rogers Communications. Now, there's an anti-Bell Canada bandwagon, and one more person has jumped onto it: me. Don't ever get me to call Bell for "customer service" again, especially after the B.S. I went through today over our high-speed Internet service being disrupted. I called the number listed in the manual, and after putting up with the usual spiel(s) from the Bell voice whore, I got transferred to probably the worst "customer service representative" ever... sounded like the wanker was on his first or second day on the job, so nervous and inexperienced that I could tell he was reading a scripted greeting. As I was jumping through hoops trying to explain the circumstances to him (all the physical connections were fine and the bills were paid), he started coughing and hacking away, with no apologies whatsoever! Then, as he contacted somebody else to attempt to help me, I got cut off! Thanks a lot, you dolt! Because of this "service" disruption, and your horrible phone skills (or apparent lack thereof), your company's about to lose at least two customers, one of which is me... I'm switching to Magma for high-speed Net when the radio station does. As for other services, I'm with Telus for my cell phone, and if I don't go with Cogeco cable, I'll take the Star Choice route for TV. Anything but Bell or Rogers.
96.1 myFM on the air (unofficially)!
Friday, July 9, 2004, 12:32 p.m. ET
About half an hour ago, Renfrew's 96.1 myFM (CHMY-FM) unofficially signed on! We're still technically in test mode, but we've started with five thousand songs in a row, the first being "This Love" by Maroon Five. Through the eleven o'clock hour, we aired a loop of the first few notes of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll", with our imaging voice (Bill Cosworth for those keeping track) periodically teasing the "launch". Reports say our 1,660 watt signal from the Pinnacle is reaching parts of Ottawa, including Baseline & Merivale. We're also getting into Pembroke quite well, and possibly even as far as Petawawa! Stay tuned!
Bigtime FM DX
Tuesday, July 6, 2004, 07:59 p.m. ET
Is there any better/worse time to be testing a new FM signal than during a major DX event? Today and tomorrow appear to be the peak of "sporadic E" skip... or, in plain English, the skies are bringing us TV & FM radio signals from the other end of the continent! In Renfrew, FMs from the southeastern U.S., mainly Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, are coming in & out like AMs normally do at night. This evening, many Ottawa stations are unlistenable, even though they're normally loud & clear. I've heard two or three different stations on a single frequency, and in one case, an Alabama new rocker on 97.7 overpowering Bancroft's MooseFM (CHMS-FM). And I know for sure that it was not St. Catharines' HTZ FM (CHTZ-FM 97.7) or Montreal's CHOM. Among my 1000+ kilometre catches today are Atlanta classic rocker "Z93" (WZGC 92.9) and Alabama FM talker WRJM (93.7 Geneva). Those absolutely shattered my previous record of CBCN 96.1 North Bay... see the post further down this page. On the TV side, though, I haven't had much luck with the rabbit ears, and the folks who own the house only have cable.
Testing 1, 2, 3
Monday, July 5, 2004, 10:25 a.m. ET
As of 8:05 this morning, Renfrew's 96.1 myFM (CHMY-FM) is on-air, testing! Yours truly flipped the switch on the Bext transmitter, and roughly 1600 watts are currently radiating over Renfrew and the Ottawa Valley. Industry Canada was on the Pinnacle with us as we began transmitting... they checked for any interference in the aeronautical bands, and we're clean there. Jon & Andrew are now on the road, looking for our limits, which so far look the same as they do on the coverage map found on our website... go there by clicking this entry's title. If you know anybody in the Ottawa Valley, let them know we're on the air (or at least testing). Regular programming begins around the end of the month.
Important announcement
Friday, July 2, 2004, 02:43 p.m. ET
Stay tuned Monday morning.
A vote for anybody is a vote for a f---ed up Canada
Monday, June 28, 2004, 08:15 p.m. ET
It's true, and that's exactly why this time around, I did not exercise my democratic right to vote: we're screwed, regardless of who wins. Whoever wins won't satisfy his/her constituents, they'll just fulfill the demands of the highest bidder(s) and say "f-you" to everybody else, namely anybody whose gross annual income is less than six figures. The Liberals will screw us even more, the NDP & Bloc don't stand a chance in hell, and my biggest beef - the Conservatives will, among other things, nearly deregulate Canadian broadcasting. One of their plans for the CRTC is to relax foreign ownership rules. It's bad enough when BCE, Canwest & Rogers dominate every print & electronic medium in Canada... we don't need the Clear Channels, the Viacoms (creepy V of death!), and the AOL Time Warners of the world getting bigger than they are by buying up Canadian broadcasters. What we need in Canadian commercial broadcasting is 100% Canadian ownership, lower Cancon (25% for commercial FMs, 20% for AMs and any stations in select "border markets" like Cornwall), no hit/non-hit regs for FMs, and lower French music quotas (50.1%) for French-language stations. Regs for campus, community, and other non-commercial broadcasters would remain the same. We also need stronger ownership limits, such as two radio & one TV per market, with a nationwide limit much like the FCC once had. And last but not least, we need to do something about those pesky pseudo-Canadian stations in northern New York state. Perhaps some unlicensed adjacent-channel transmitters around Ottawa & Montreal sending out sawtooth tones? Increase the power of CHIP (101.7 Fort Coulonge QC) and build a directional antenna aimed at the capital? No... the CRTC & Industry Canada wouldn't do anything like that. They won't protect Canadian broadcasters that are getting slaughtered by American stations, in the ratings and on the bottom line. The CRTC won't let Canadian broadcasters be the best. And Harper figures opening up our broadcasting industry to the international market will help? I think not. Nobody has my vote in the 2004 federal election. And unless there's a candidate who will actually keep ALL of his/her key promises throughout their term in office, I may not cast my ballot in the next election either, be it federal, provincial, or municipal.
Swap radio in Rochester
Wednesday, June 23, 2004, 05:57 p.m. ET
A loyal BMac's Blog reader and tipster contributed this little tidbit, which may interest anybody along the north shore of Lake Ontario between about Cobourg and Picton... Clear Channel Rochester NY has set Independence Day, July 4, as the date for a frequency swap involving active rocker/ex-Howard Stern affiliate "The Nerve" (WNVE 95.1) and classic hits "The Fox" (WFXF 107.3). The Fox's website (click this entry's title to go there) doesn't list a specific time, but it will happen at some point on the 4th of July. The 107.3 signal isn't as good as the 50,000 watt 95.1 signal coming from the site of sister hot AC Mix 100.5 (WVOR) on Baker Hill. So now, it looks like any new rock fans in Belleville who don't like CJLX (92.3) but like The Nerve will have to go to Kingston's K-Rock 105.7 (CIKR-FM) for their fix, especially when CJTN (1270 Trenton) begins testing at 107.1 FM.
What a JOEke
Tuesday, June 22, 2004, 09:43 p.m. ET
They've got to be kidding... Milkman Unlimited reports that 96.3 JOE FM (CFMK-FM Kingston) will hold parades in several communities in their listening area. Why? To introduce a new morning co-host! It's just one dumb move after another at CFMK, isn't it? First the format change that pissed off country fans everywhere and brought the station's ratings down by more than 50%... now this, especially for somebody who shouldn't be doing mornings at all, let alone in Kingston! I can only picture the look on the jocks' faces as they're marching down Princess Street, possibly with K-Town cops on their tail. Keep an eye on the court dockets, because very soon, it might be JOE on the news (in more ways than one) instead of the news on JOE.
Great night for FM DX
Thursday, June 17, 2004, 07:34 a.m. ET
Testimonial: Bill Hepburn's tropospheric ducting forecasts are very accurate... click this entry's title to see them. His forecast for yesterday showed that some distant VHF/UHF signals would be receivable in parts of southern Ontario, and they came in, breaking my initial FM distance records. Unfortunately, I didn't try TV, even though I'm currently using rabbit ears on a 1986-vintage 13-inch Panasonic. 11:15 last night, I nabbed CBC Radio One transmitter CBCN (96.1 North Bay) from 233 km away. That catch likely won't happen again once we're on the air. Five minutes later, I pulled in Belleville's Classic Hits 95.5 (CJOJ-FM), whose Oak Hills tx site is 150 km from Renfrew. Thinking that I might also get Mix 97 (CIGL-FM 97.1), I scanned down that way, instead being greeted by a closer new entry to my reception log: Ottawa's French-language classical/jazz outlet "Couleur FM" (CHLX-FM 97.1). Next time North Bay booms in, my goal is EZ Rock (CHUR-FM 100.5) under the hash from Ottawa's Majic 100 (CJMJ-FM 100.3). Today might be good as well.
Current radio headlines
Wednesday, June 16, 2004, 07:43 p.m. ET
From Industry Canada's broadcasting databases, Corus Entertainment has plans to move Kingston's "Oldies 960" (CFFX) to 93.7 FM, most likely with a different format due to the current hit/non-hit regulations that don't allow for oldies formats on FM in Canada. Also from IC, Christian Hit Radio's proposed Cornwall station at 88.1 will be a rebroadcaster of CHRI (99.1 Ottawa), with the call letters CHRI-FM-1. - A Google search for CJTN 107.1 revealed that the Trenton/Belleville AC about to leave 1270 AM will be picking up the John Tesh Radio Show weeknights starting in mid-August, making it Tesh's fourteenth Canadian affiliate. - Reports from the Southern Ontario/Western NY Radio-TV Forum say that, according to a company memo, Amy Simmons (Loyalist radio class of '02) is no longer at 92.5 JACK FM (CJAQ-FM Toronto).
Another commentary on the art & science of persuasion
Tuesday, June 15, 2004, 09:36 p.m. ET
I know this blog has taken a bit of a lean towards the Net, but there isn't a whole lot to say, since the Ottawa Valley radio scene will be rather quiet until we sign on, and the boss says to keep almost any news about the radio station's progress "on the down-lo". Anyway, today's two-part rant once again relates to advertising. Earlier today, my aunt e-mailed me an entry form for a contest Pizza Pizza is running. Two reasons I didn't enter: 1) Renfrew doesn't have a Pizza Pizza franchise, and 2) it says right on the entry form that the personal information will be used for future marketing purposes. Sorry Mags... although I did read the message, I didn't fill out the ballot due to above reason #1, and because I'm a privacy freak... I don't make my vital stats public unless I know who's using them and why. And I certainly won't allow anybody to use my vitals for marketing purposes. Part two: yesterday's mail was all junk crap - election pamphlets (I may not vote this time around - we've learned our lesson from "Premier" McGuinty... but I digress), and, of all things, a CD from Bell Sympatico hawking - get this - dial-up Internet access. I've been a Sympatico DSL customer for nearly two years now, we're getting a high-speed biz line at the radio station, and Ma Bell's trying to sell me dialup?! Thing is the CD (read: AOL-esque beverage coaster) was just a bulk mailing, and didn't have a postal address on it. It might be more appropriate to send those CDs to locations outside of Renfrew... perhaps anywhere around here where cellular service is not available.
I'M OUTRAGED!!! (sorry, Tony)
Sunday, June 13, 2004, 02:21 p.m. ET
None of my websites are listed on Google anymore! What a load of crap! Well that explains why none of the referrers on my user logs came from Google... to hell with Google! Go ahead and pepper my search results with more SEO, porn, and shopping sites. Thank goodness for Yahoo, Sympatico and MSN, even though I'm not very fond of their advertisers. Google, you'd better add my sites again (permanently), or I'm switching back to Yahoo or Altavista for searching.
Another day, another hearing at the CRTC
Tuesday, June 8, 2004, 06:15 p.m. ET
Yet another broadcasting hearing has been scheduled by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, set for August 9th at CRTC HQ in Gatineau. The key item, at least for yours truly, is Loyalist College Radio's application for technical changes to campus-instructional CJLX (92.3 Belleville). As reported earlier and on CJLX's website (cjlx.fm), the plan is to move down the dial to 91.3, and increase power to 3400 watts, non-directional, 164 m above average terrain, from the T.A.S. Communications tower in Oak Hills. The proposed coverage area is comparable to those of the city's commercial FMs, running anywhere from 20 to 65 kW ERP. Since they signed on in 1992, CJLX has run 50 watts ERP, non-directional, 36 m EHAAT, from the roof of the old Queen Mary School on Isabel Street. Also on the list of items is former CKLY Lindsay owner Andy McNabb, who is once again applying to open a Christian music station in Lindsay, this time at 96.7 FM. A different frequency might be a better choice, in order to protect Kitchener's CHYM FM (96.7). After all, there's a Class A allotment for 106.7 in Lindsay, for which McNabb once applied.
Another reception log
Saturday, June 5, 2004, 11:46 a.m. ET
Now that I'm in Renfrew, you might be wondering what I pulled in on the radio & TV while I was in Cornwall. This morning, I added my Cornwall reception log to my personal site... click the title to see it. It's nothing spectacular compared to Belleville, but the Belleville log grew over a nearly two-year period, as opposed to nine months for the Cornwall log. Also, there's a lot more DXing potential in Belleville... Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and most of western & central New York state. If conditions are good this summer, FMs could drift into Renfrew from Kingston/Brockville, Belleville, Peterborough, and possibly Barrie/Orillia, Muskoka or North Bay. Now does anybody have an outdoor VHF TV/FM antenna they could part with? On the AM side, if any station engineers are reading this, would you be able to 1) verify my reception reports (QSL me), and 2) send me some swag? Please e-mail me for my postal address.
Ratings failures
Thursday, May 27, 2004, 12:41 p.m. ET
It was a bad first ratings period for many new stations across southern Ontario. Rogers' 105.3 Kiss FM (CISS-FM Ottawa) checked in with only a 3 share 12+. Staying in the capital, border blaster The Fox (WRCD-FM 101.5 Canton NY) failed miserably in its first Ottawa book with only a 0.4 share... try to spin that! However, there were some very good showings elsewhere in the province... for cume, Belleville's Classic Hits 95.5 (CJOJ-FM) bumped country/full service CJBQ (800) out of the number 2 spot behind perennial ratings leader Mix 97 (CIGL-FM 97.1). Actual numbers were not available at press time. In Barrie, only two of the six rated stations were up overall from fall 2003. Market leader Rock 95 (CFJB-FM 95.7) remains on top with a 17.3 share (14.3 in the fall), and The New CHAY (93.1) went from a 6 share last fall to 8.1 this spring. But that wasn't quite enough to take the number three position from country Kicx 104 (CICZ-FM 104.1 Midland)... they were down from 8.9 last fall to 8.2 this spring.
Kix website alive and kicking
Saturday, May 22, 2004, 01:25 p.m. ET
Roughly two and a half months after the launch of Kix 102.7 (WBDR-FM Cape Vincent NY), their website is now up and running. Click this entry's title to check it out.
MORE new stations for Ottawa?
Tuesday, May 18, 2004, 09:38 p.m. ET
It's amazing what one can find in Industry Canada's broadcasting databases... in some cases, things you otherwise wouldn't know about! Today's edition shows, deep inside one file, that Ottawa's Christian Hit Radio is applying for a Cornwall station at 88.1 FM. Will this be a brand new station for the seaway city, or just a rebroadcaster of CHRI (99.1 Ottawa)? Also, at least one new FM outlet could be coming to Canada's capital in the not-too-distant future. One of the hot frequencies is 96.3, and there are three companies after it, one of which is Global Communications. In fact, a new addition to my broadcasting library is a technical brief submitted to Jon Pole by engineering firm Teknyx Limited on behalf of Global, as their proposed station at 96.3 is short-spaced to our 96.1 signal in Renfrew, and may interfere with us in a very small area between Carp and part of Gatineau Park. However, there's a much larger first-adjacent interference zone to the southeast, towards Massena's WVLF (96.1 Norwood), as well as a co-channel zone from Kingston's CFMK (96.3) through Kanata, Stittsville, and much of the southern portions of the City of Ottawa municipality. But I digress... other applicants for new stations in Ottawa include the Evanov Radio Group (98.5 and/or 99.7), MetroMedia CMR/Corus Entertainment (88.5), and Genex Communications. For all the applicants, this will be a long, tough battle, much like the events several years ago that brought at least three new stations to Kitchener-Waterloo. It'll be interesting...
Search this! (a slightly non-radio beef)
Sunday, May 16, 2004, 08:22 p.m. ET
I've had it with search sites on the Web... it's at the point where I think I'll have a brain aneurysm or a heart attack the next time I do a Web search. Contrary to slogans like MSN's "more useful everyday" or Sympatico Search's "find what you're looking for", search sites are becoming LESS useful everyday, and with loads of irrelevant ads/sponsored links and thousands of equally irrelevant and misleading sites begging for my attention, it's damn near impossible to find exactly what I'm looking for. I know it's ironic that I'm a Sympatico DSL customer and I'm fed up with their search site. I usually swear by Google, but I'm drawn to MSN & Sympatico's search results because that's where a lot of this blog's visitors come from. Another major search annoyance is any fill-in-the-blank sponsored link... an example comes from Sympatico. A visitor to this blog was searching for "Barrie's B 101.1 radio station" (that's how the searcher typed it in), but the fill-in-the-blank sponsored link comes up "Buy and Sell Barrie's B 101.1 radio station on [some auction site]". Do you really think that Corus Entertainment would auction off their highest-rated Barrie station (#2 12+ fall '03) online? Three problems with that "ad": 1) Corus likely won't be selling B101 (CIQB-FM 101.1) anytime soon, 2) they would never sell a multi-million-dollar radio station through an online auction, and 3) I don't think the CRTC would approve of such a sale. Just like some of the searches people punch up for Cobourg's Star 93.3 (CKSG-FM). By the way, Star's website is at star933.com. MSN's fill-in-the-blank sponsored links came up as 'Buy and Sell "star 93.3" From $1' (same auction site) and 'Buy Books "star 93.3" Search [famous shopping site]'. Don Conway would never, in his right mind, sell his nearly two-year-old FM operation online for a dollar, especially when it's doing very well in Peterborough. Also, I doubt any book about Star, if one is in print and readily available, would be sold through a major shopping site. You'd have to get them from either the radio station, the CRTC, Industry Canada, BBM, or anybody else associated with Pineridge Broadcasting. Geez... if search results and sponsored links were more relevant, i.e. less/no shopping sites, or pages with misleading content/keywords unrelated to the content, I'd be a little more patient with search engines.
Radio in the 'frew, and beyond
Tuesday, May 11, 2004, 09:03 p.m. ET
So I've been in Renfrew for about a week and a half now, but I've only had my radios here since Saturday, when I moved all my belongings from Cornwall. As you've probably guessed, there isn't a lot on the radio other than the Ottawa & Pembroke stations. Across the river in Fort Coulonge, Quebec, is a bilingual community station, CHIP FM (101.7), noted for its classic country programming on weekends. AM DX around here is pretty good, despite this old house's electrical system which interferes with some of the lower AM channels. During the day, you'll only pick up Ottawa and the odd Montreal flamethrower. Nighttime, however, sounds more promising, as there are no AM signals in the immediate area... the closest is Ottawa's Oldies 1310 (CIWW), whose Fallowfield transmitter site is 75 km from Renfrew. While scanning the AM band last night, several Toronto AMs were booming in, including CFRB (1010) and CHUM (1050), as well as christian rimshotter Joy 1250 (CJYE Oakville). Belleville's CJBQ (800) was there, along with Windsor's CKLW and/or Montreal's CJAD at the same spot. My initial FM distance records were set on Sunday, with Kingston's FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3, 100 kW) being my most distant FM catch so far, at 115 km. FYI, FLY FM's transmitter site is far north of K-Town, near Harrowsmith. Not far behind, at 110 km, was Bancroft's MooseFM (CHMS-FM 97.7, 50 kW). Nothing significant on the TV side, though... I have rabbit ears, but all they'll pull in are the Pembroke signals, Global's big Bancroft station (Ch. 2) near Denbigh, and the stronger Ottawa-Gatineau channels on the Camp Fortune tower. This summer might be good for FM/TV DX, although I doubt it'll be much more than the smaller Ottawa signals, and if I'm lucky, Peterborough, Belleville, Kingston, Montreal, or North Bay. Stay tuned!
Not necessarily the boondocks, but...
Wednesday, May 5, 2004, 06:10 p.m. ET
Okay, I'll speak up, now that I'm pretty much settled in. I've been picked up by Jon Pole & Andrew Dickson, the duo about to launch a brand new FM in Renfrew. I've had a few people ask me "where is Renfrew?" It's roughly an hour's drive west-northwest of Ottawa, towards Pembroke, just off Highway 17 (the 417's coming soon!) at Hwy. 60. About the station, I won't divulge any programming details, but the new station will be transmitting on 96.1 FM with 1,660 watts, from the Time-MCI tower on Pinnacle Hill. We'll be covering not only Renfrew, but also Arnprior, Calabogie, Eganville, and Shawville QC, among other area communities. Chances are the signal will also reach Pembroke on a good day. A little history lesson: Jon's father, Jamie Pole, bought the radio station in Renfrew (CKOB 1400) in the 80's and later launched CKOA (1490 Arnprior). In the early 90's, these were sold to the owners of CHVR (1350 Pembroke), they became semi-satellites of CHVR, and later went dark as 'VR switched from three one-kilowatt AM signals to one big hundred-kilowatt FM in Pembroke, now country "Star 96 FM" (CHVR-FM 96.7). CHVR is now in Standard Radio's hands. Back to our new station in the 'Frew... we've picked up a couple of Algonquin radio students to do the dirty work, and we're getting things ready in temporary offices downtown. But when they're ready, we'll be moving down the street into what was once CKOB's home, and we hope to be officially on the air by August 1st. Stay tuned if you're in the area!
Back in the saddle
Saturday, May 1, 2004, 09:26 a.m. ET
After just over five months of unemployment, I have landed on my feet, in radio! While a couple of regular readers already know where I'm off to, you'll have to stay tuned to find out. This new gig's in "the boondocks" (in Ontario), unlike Cornwall and Belleville, so blog updates may be a little less frequent. Either way, keep an eye on this blog, as I'll tell you where I am now working! And if you're wondering what happened to all the entries from the last three months or so, they've been archived... click this entry's title or the "Archives" link on the right to read my earlier ramblings.
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