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ROCK 101.9
Saturday, August 9, 2003, 07:12 p.m. ET
Yesterday at 4:00 p.m., CJSS-FM Cornwall (my home base) became "Rock 101.9", with a mainly classic rock format. The first song was supposed to be Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll", but the Scott system lost the song, and the CD went missing, so we settled for the Stones' "Start Me Up", which was the second song on the original playlist. I've been too busy to get on here and add stuff, but everything you need to know about us is online... click this entry's title to hit our site. Mike Rose has been working endlessly getting the music mix just right... don't know how long it'll be before things settle down around here. But it'll be fun, and I'll keep you updated on any other happenings around Corus Cornwall, or at least those that aren't restricted by non-disclosure.
BMac's first additions to the Cornwall reception log
Wednesday, August 6, 2003, 07:29 p.m. ET
Before I came to Cornwall, I wasn't sure what radio & TV reception would be like. I flipped around the dials today from my third floor pad near the International Bridge, and most of Ottawa & Montreal's big FMs come in pretty well, as do a couple from Plattsburgh NY & Burlington, Vermont. My cheap little 5" B&W TV pulled in two of Montreal's VHF stations: TVA flagship CFTM (10), and CTV's CFCF (12). CBC's two stations, CBFT (2) and CBMT (6) were just barely coming in. No doubt the list will grow significantly before summer's end.
A first peek at Belleville's 102.3 FM
Wednesday, August 6, 2003, 07:20 p.m. ET
On the way up to Cornwall yesterday with Loyalist radio prof John Henderson, we dropped by the studios of CHUM Brockville (CJPT-FM 103.7, CFJR-FM 104.9) to pay a surprise visit to part-time producer Leslie Scott. Quite a surprise for us when we swung into the parking lot: six FM antenna bays sitting on the pavement outside the garage. Turns out they will be used for United Christian Broadcasters Canada's new station (102.3 FM Belleville). GM Gary Hoogvliet and one or two CHUM engineers were there, likely getting transmission gear ready to be installed on the CBC Tower in Read. I've got photos, but they won't be online until this weekend, as the computer I'm currently using at the Blaze doesn't have a CD-ROM drive, and my home Net connection, along with my phone line, won't be connected in Cornwall until Friday morning.
Blazin' BMac
Friday, August 1, 2003, 01:27 p.m. ET
After a good three months of searching, yours truly now has a REAL radio job! Starting Thursday, August 7, I can be heard on Blaze Country 101.9 (CJSS-FM Cornwall). I know I kind of kept you in the dark about this through the whole application process, but this was the gig I was really working hard to get, and I've got it! Big thank-yous to the following people: Mike Rose, The Blaze PD; Dan Mellon, MD/APD @ Mix 97 Belleville; the Loyalist College radio faculty & class of '03; and of course, my family. How will this new job affect the blog? It'll start to focus on not just Cornwall & the Seaway Valley, but also Ottawa & Montreal. If you're in the area, tune in Blaze Country 101.9!
CHUM Changes in London & Kingston
Saturday, July 26, 2003, 09:43 a.m. ET
Friday morning at 3 a.m., CHST-FM 102.3 London flipped from Hot AC "Star 102.3" to classic hits "BOB FM". Hints came the evening before, as the old imaging disappeared, and was replaced with teasers saying "turn your knob to BOB!" The Star website has been torn down, replaced with a temp page offering a link to the station's Shoutcast feed. Like in Ottawa & Brockville, slipping ratings were the big reason for the switch... Star 102.3 was fourth or fifth 12+ in the London books, hovering around an 8 share. | Next stop today is Kingston, where ex-MD Dave Deodato has returned to FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3) as a swing jock. Don't know if he's reclaimed music duties. Also at CHUM K-Town, Scott Studios computers may have already taken over for the DCS rigs, especially with BOB making his debut in Brockville... listening to FLY FM this morning, the music sounded a lot better than before, and this can usually be attributed to a new Scott system, or in the major markets, playing CDs live. At first, I thought that one of Dave's talk breaks this morning was a "better than live" Scott voice track, even though he walked on a Rod Stewart song, but when weather rolled around, time & temp, and a rushed sponsor tag. However, if it hasn't already happened, Scott systems will be replacing DCS dinosaurs at CHUM & Rogers radio, and in the process, the crew at Pippin Technical (Scott Studios' exclusive Canadian distributor) will be getting pretty hefty bonuses just in time for the holidays.
Stratford's new FM taking shape
Thursday, July 24, 2003, 03:21 p.m. ET
To the readers in southwestern Ontario, you may already know that Raedio Inc., owner of CJCS (1240 Stratford), is launching an FM station in the Shakespeare city very soon... Mix 107.7 (CHGK-FM). They'll be pumping out a directional 2.8 kW (6 kW peak) signal from an antenna right across the road from CJCS' site, and most likely protecting Buffalo's WNSA (107.7 Wethersfield) and Cambridge's new DAVE FM (CJDV-FM 107.5). CJCS' website has some photos of the Romeo Street studios under construction... click this entry's title to take a peek.
More on 95.5's move
Thursday, July 17, 2003, 06:09 p.m. ET
It's official... just heard Mr. Voice announce that "Classic Hits 95.5 has moved to a new location...", and gave the usual required info. Here are the specs on CJOJ's new signal, as provided by Industry Canada's broadcasting databases: 95.5 MHz, 42 kW avg ERP, 64 kW peak ERP, with their antenna 152.5 metres above average terrain, 75.6 m up the Seaway tower, from the same antenna as sister Q100. As soon as both STL antennas atop 354 Pinnacle Street are pointing northwest, or the one pointing northeast is removed, we'll know that CJOJ's Read installation has been completely pulled out. Turns out CHUM Toronto engineer David Haydu (better known as former CHUM-FM & CFNY morning co-host Geets Romo) has taken over Starboard Communications' transmitter work from Pineridge Broadcasting CE John Ton, and was in charge of moving CJOJ to Oak Hills from Read.
Testing... testing...
Wednesday, July 16, 2003, 05:10 p.m. ET
That's what Classic Hits 95.5 is up to this week, as they begin sending out test signals from the Seaway Communications tower in Oak Hills. They're currently sending out a slightly directional 50/100 kW signal from the CBC tower way out in Read, while the Oak Hills configuration will cover roughly the same area with less power (42/64 kW), but much more height. The only noticeable differences will be in the east & west fringes... it'll be clearer in Peterborough, and maybe a bit fuzzy in Kingston. Why did previous owner Tony Zwig apply for this move? CJOJ's signal is sometimes spotty on lesser-quality receivers in Belleville & Trenton. In fact, when I dropped by the station in February, PD Mark Philbin's boom box was having some difficulty pulling in 95.5 with its little 1-foot whip antenna. Just around the corner, at my old Front Street pad, it was quite fadey on my digitally-tuned walkman.
Bob III
Tuesday, July 15, 2003, 11:30 a.m. ET
Kudos to CHUM Brockville part-timer Leslie Scott for (sort of) tipping me off on this one before it happened, but yesterday at 12 noon, CJPT-FM 103.7 Brockville switched from Hot AC/CHR "The Point" to classic hits "103.7 BOB FM". At the same time, sister CFJR (830) officially launched its FM successor, CFJR-FM "104.9 JRfm", pumping out 5600 watts (7700 peak) from one of the AM towers west of Brockville. Not sure, though, when CFJR(AM) will shut down for good, but it'll likely happen at 8:30 a.m., while veteran Bruce Wylie is on-air.
Battle of the Bus Boards
Tuesday, July 15, 2003, 11:19 a.m. ET
This past weekend, just in time for Waterfront, Mix 97 (CIGL-FM 97.1 Belleville) bought a bunch of ads on Belleville's buses, one plugging morning crew Sean & Ingrid, the other with the station logo over a collage of artist photos. And today (or maybe yesterday), Starboard Communications answered with bus boards for Classic Hits 95.5 (CJOJ-FM) and Q100 (CHCQ-FM 100.1). Surprisingly, we haven't seen bus boards for CJBQ. Then again, they're behind the Waterfront Festival shore passes, plus they've been on the air since 1946. If Trenton had a public bus service, we'd probably see CJTN all over them, just like in Peterborough, with pre-Team CKPT (1420). Oh yes, "What do you like most about Light Rock CKPT?"
More Mix/Cogeco cross-promos
Sunday, July 13, 2003, 06:25 p.m. ET
Hope everyone had a good time at this year's Belleville Waterfront & Ethnic Festival, despite how cold it was yesterday. Not a lot going on in the local media, other than Classic Hits 95.5 (CJOJ-FM Belleville) being off the air until about 10:00 this morning. Did they make the move to Oak Hills? Don't know. Secondly, more Mix 97 (CIGL-FM 97.1 Belleville) personalities are making appearances on Cogeco 4. Todd Smith did play-by-play for a football game at Quinte Secondary School not too long ago, and morning co-host Ingrid Moore did the Waterfront parade on Friday with local kayak guru Bernie Gray. And then this afternoon, PD/morning host Sean Kelly was hosting a golf feature. Kudos to the Cogeco crew for leaving in a clip of Sean teeing off, and cursing (bleeped out, of course) at his shot. Where was Jodie "On The Links" Jenkins when this was taped? Probably doing the midday show on the Mix, while Dan Mellon did PM drive.
From today's commish docket...
Tuesday, July 8, 2003, 12:14 p.m. ET
Yet another app to reduce the amount of Cancon on oldies stations, this one by Standard Radio, for CKOC (1150 Hamilton), CKSL (1410 London), CKMX (1060 Calgary AB), and CISL (650 Richmond BC). Like CHUM did for most of its oldies & standards stations, Standard wants to bring the Cancon quotas down to 30% on those stations. Also on today's release, Hot AC "CD 106.7 FM" (CHCD-FM Simcoe ON) is asking for a freq & power change. Right now, they're putting out a directional signal at 106.7 with 3420 watts, but they wish to move to 98.9 with about 14.3 kW. Also on the topic of technical modifications (I should have mentioned this long ago), Y92 (CKLY-FM 91.9 Lindsay) has pulled its power increase/tx site change application, so for now, they'll still be pumping out 14 kW from their old AM site.
New set for CJOH News
Wednesday, July 2, 2003, 06:46 p.m. ET
Not sure how new this is, considering how little TV news I watch, but CTV's CJOH (Ch. 13 Ottawa) has updated its news set. Pretty small compared to that of CFTO (Ch. 9 Toronto), but CFTO has a lot more space at Studio 6 in Agincourt than CJOH does at 1500 Merivale Road in Nepean. CTV could have also invested in a) a virtual set a la CH (CHCH-TV Ch. 11 Hamilton), or b) another goofy rotating desk, like NewsNet had when they were called "CTV News 1".
Your mission, should you choose to accept it...
Thursday, June 26, 2003, 05:32 p.m. ET
It's arrived at my pad... the old CJLX console, a Ward-Beck R1200. You should have seen it when Tim Rorabeck & I dragged it out of storage: dust all over the meter bridge (I still have to clean out the nooks & crannies below), half the input modules out of the frame but sitting nearby, So far, I know it powers up, and all three mic modules work. Some of the faders are a bit stiff, just like Mix 97's board (pretty much the same as this one). To the best of my knowledge, at least one line module might not work, but I can't really do much until Tim digs out the manual & schematics... there's nothing online, except for audio wiring notes in general. Let's hope this works!
Skippin' in (and out)
Tuesday, June 24, 2003, 12:30 a.m. ET
Is it the hot sticky weather? Since Friday night, skip's been in like crazy on FM... and probably TV, but I haven't checked TV, since I'm on cable only. The only new addition to my DX log in the past 24 hours was Syracuse rocker 95X (WAQX-FM 95.7 Manlius NY), thanks to a brief dinner-hour outage of CJOJ (95.5 Belleville). At midnight, I managed to grab Y92 (CKLY-FM 91.9 Lindsay) through the hash from southwestern Ontario skip, including Spirit 91.7 (CHOW-FM Welland). EnergyFM 93.1 (CHAY-FM Barrie) was coming in like a local, in stereo... since when did Jeff Woods become Energy's imaging voice? But tonight, it sounds like the skip's giving us stuff from south & west. Somebody please give me a full-size outdoor TV/FM antenna!
Grace returns to Quinte Broadcasting newsroom
Sunday, June 22, 2003, 02:40 p.m. ET
He was at Quinte Broadcasting several years ago, then took news jobs in Pembroke & Ottawa, and now he's back in Belleville... Tony Grace is once again doing news on CJBQ. Former 'BQ jock Bill Dulmage's website says Grace did news on 'BQ starting in June 1999, and left for Pembroke's Star 96.7 (CHVR-FM) two years later, with Melanie Adams coming in from Corus Peterborough (CKWF/CKRU) to take his place. Grace reportedly also did some TV work with The New RO (CHRO-TV 5 Pembroke). But two years after he left Belleville, Tony has returned. Did Todd Nyznik leave?
Ben MacMurchy, P.Eng?
Friday, June 20, 2003, 06:21 p.m. ET
Could happen eventually, if I have the patience. CJLX engineer Tim Rorabeck has issued a challenge to me, since I've begged him (as well as prof John Henderson and Media dean Geoff Cudmore) for a partly-fuctional, 1975-vintage Ward-Beck on-air console, last used at CJLX in 2000. It's been in storage since some rebel radio student decided to bring a sugary beverage into the control room then, and spilled it on several input modules - while his board was on the air! Anyway, back to the challenge. Six or seven input modules still work on this board, and most likely everything else on it. If I can get this thing going again (or at least part of it), Tim will write a letter of reference for me if I apply for an assistant engineering or technical position somewhere. Should I earn one, I'll also be doing on-the-job correspondence courses in electronics. FYI, there's a huge shortage in broadcast engineers. Not necessarily studio techs, but engineers who can work with RF... transmitters, antennas, towers, STLs. I'll definitely do FM, but AM's still a bit beyond me, especially if I end up having to change lights on a tower. I'll call Larry or Mike at Quinte Broadcasting, and see if they're off to CJBQ or CJTN's tx sites anytime soon.
Pomp & circumstance
Friday, June 13, 2003, 02:04 p.m. ET
I am now officially an award-winning graduate of Loyalist College's radio broadcasting program! Convocation for the School of Media Studies (and the School of Health Sciences) was yesterday morning. I am the 2003 recipient of the Marianne Wall Memorial Award, which is awarded to a radio grad who (this is the best I can explain it in plain English) shows extreme devotion to radio, the college's radio program, and campus station CJLX. John & Steve, correct me if I'm wrong. Thank goodness dad & my sisters came down for the ceremony, even though the girls missed a day of school, and Kate's exams are just around the corner. I'll miss a lot of my classmates, even though we're keeping in touch through a class message board.
Also, yesterday saw some changes at CKGE-FM 94.9 Oshawa. At 7:00 a.m., Durham Radio launched a rock format, as "94.9 The Rock", picking up, among others, former Q107 jock Al Joynes for mornings, and 40-year radio vet Dave Marsden for Thursday & Friday evenings. On the AM side, however, not sure what'll happen on CKDO (1350). Is it doomed, or can Durham Radio keep 1350 afloat?
Cogeco 4 updates its look
Tuesday, June 10, 2003, 07:46 a.m. ET
It's about time this happened... Cogeco 4 in Belleville has revamped its "bulletin board" graphics shown when they're not running full-length shows. The layout & colour scheme is identical to that of Cogeco 10 in Peterborough & Lindsay, but with different cross-promos (I'll talk about those shortly). Noticed the new graphics this morning, but had a good feeling that they had started using more CG when I saw a Cogeco logo bug in the corner of the screen during last night's rebroadcast of the Belleville city council proceedings. Here's how the bulletin board screen is laid out: community events in the top-left, photos of local people, places & things in the top-right, with the next day's program schedule occasionally popping up; and two bars at the bottom: time, date, weather & lotto numbers at the very bottom, with local news (from Mix 97) and Cogeco Cable promos above. Not surprising that Mix is providing the news headlines, considering Cogeco 4's new website is contained within Mix's site, and the Morton family used to own the cable system in Belleville & Trenton, formerly known as Cablevue Quinte. In Peterborough & Lindsay, the Examiner (Ptbo.) & Post (Lindsay) newspapers offer the news headlines.
Scanning, tower hunting, and old AMs
Friday, June 6, 2003, 01:51 a.m. ET
Industry Canada's Spectrum Management branch has a little something for anybody into scanning, and possibly also tower hunting: TAFL, or Technical and Administrative Frequency Lists. They have listings of just about every non-AM/FM/TV radio signal on the spectrum in Canada, from zero hertz all the way up to forty gigahertz. Among the signals listed in the TAFLs are radio stations' studio-transmitter links, or at least those that use a UHF/microwave link, as opposed to a Bell line. Also listed are paging sites, emergency services, and various forms of 2-way communications. There are even frequencies for restaurant drive-thru speakers! So download these lists (text files) by clicking on this entry's title, fire up your scanner, and get listening! These lists are also good for tower hunting, as the coordinates of each "station" are listed. Using these lists, I found out that the other major Barrie-area transmitter site, at Horseshoe Valley, belongs to Telequip Systems Ltd., a Barrie-based radiocommunications company. Four FM stations broadcast from the Telequip tower: Rock 95 (CFJB-FM 95.7), hot AC Star 107.5 (CKMB-FM 107.5), christian Life 100.3 (CJLF-FM), and country Kicx 104 (CICZ-FM 104.1 Midland). Barrie's other two FMs, Corus' AC B101 (CIQB-FM 101.1) and CHR EnergyFM (CHAY-FM 93.1), are both on the CKVR tower at Hwy. 400 & Essa Road. Ten years ago, the Barrie area would have been a great spot for tower hunting, as there were four AMs, all of which moved to FM in the mid-90's: CKBB (950 Barrie) and its three towers at Molson Park; CFOR (1570 Orillia) and its two-tower Atherley site, now occupied by a Casino Rama shuttle bus terminal; non-directional CKMP (1230 Midland) across Highway 12 from its Cranston Crescent studios; and last but not least, CKBB non-directional semi-satellite CKCB (1400 Collingwood), with its transmitter site near MacMurchy Settlement (yes, it's the same clan as yours truly!). CKBB became B101 in November '94; CFOR became CICX-FM 105.9 in September '93, that frequency previously used by CBCO-FM, now on 91.5; CKMP became Kicx 104 in fall '93; and CKCB moved to 95.1 as "The Peak" (CKCB-FM) in August '94. Wow, it's late... no big deal, I don't have to be at the college until 5:30 this afternoon.
Kiss Jack
Wednesday, June 4, 2003, 06:18 p.m. ET
As of 4:00 this afternoon, Toronto rhythmic CHR "Kiss 92.5" (CISS-FM) has become classic hits "92.5 Jack FM". This leaves the T-Dot with only one station anywhere close to CHR: Z103.5 (CIDC-FM Orangeville). Flow 93.5 (CFXJ-FM Toronto) is next closest, with urban. The Mad Dog & Billie morning show will stay for the time being. Reports say that Jay "Mad Dog" Michaels was in favour of the format change, so he could be staying with the station TFN.
New name - same stuff
Wednesday, June 4, 2003, 03:34 p.m. ET
I've changed this blog's title a bit, so it's now known as "BMac's Blog". Can't really change the address, or Pitas.com will nail me for mooching multiple accounts. Anyway, the content will stay the same, and I'll be here for some time. Also, if a format change comes along anywhere in southern Ontario, or upstate New York (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown), e-mail me at the address above. Watch for an archiving of this page's current content sometime later this month. To see older editions of this blog, click on "Archives" at the top of the page.
Longer days
Sunday, June 1, 2003, 09:06 p.m. ET
Welcome to the year's longest month... at least on AM radio. In June, day operations for AM stations in the Eastern time zone last from about 6:00 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. Curiosity hit me as I was flipping through the dial shortly before 9:00 this evening, and was still hearing Peterborough's 980 Kruz (CKRU), as well as Cobourg's CHUC (1450). Usually by now, co-channel interference from other graveyarders on 1450 drowns out CHUC's thousand-watt night signal, but as of 9:10 p.m., CHUC was still slightly listenable, and Kruz was clear as day until a few minutes ago. | On an unrelated note, I don't know if Rick or Neil made any mention of this on-air, but today was Mix 97's eighth birthday. Eight years ago today at 12 noon, the "seagull", CIGL-FM 97.1 Belleville dropped the KalaMusic easy listening in favour of Hot AC. No doubt Sean & Ingrid will bring it up tomorrow morning, considering all the hype last year over Mix's 7th anniversary.
TVO enters the reality television craze
Saturday, May 31, 2003, 04:27 p.m. ET
If you've got kids between about 10 & 15 years old, and they've been addicted to "reality" shows like Survivor or American Idol since day one, steer them towards our favourite provincial public broadcaster, TVO, for a TRUE reality show, minus the commercials... "Swap TV" (Fridays @ 6 p.m. & Saturdays @ 10 a.m.). It's currently a 39-episode, half-hour offering from the Toronto-based Breakthrough Films & Television, and they're looking for kids to "swap" for the next season (click this entry's title to hit Swap TV's website). Not sure when it made its debut, but I first caught it this past fall. The show's name pretty much speaks for itself: two kids with exceptional talents "swap", or spend a weekend learning each other's talents, then entering a challenge towards the end. Example from the first episode I saw (late September 2002): 13-year-old wheelchair athlete & Easter Seals poster boy Karl Ludwig swaps with Aiden the magician. Aiden plays wheelchair hoops & sledge hockey, while Karl appears in the Toronto International Buskerfest. (Is this the same Aiden who cut his sister in half in a Concerned Children's Advertisers PSA?) Other kids that have swapped include dancers, models, cadets, and cooks, among other talents. Some time ago, I talked about TVO's early educational offerings, but Swap TV is one of TVO's better shows of its kind in recent years. Swap TV: reality television your child's teacher will love.
Wipeout
Saturday, May 31, 2003, 04:05 p.m. ET
We knew this was inevitable, but it's happened... Milkman UnLimited reports that just about everybody but four full-timers lost their jobs at Oshawa's AM 1350 (CKDO) & Magic @ 94.9 (CKGE-FM), as Durham Radio officially took over the two radio stations from Corus Entertainment this weekend. Let the speculation begin: will KX 96 (CJKX-FM 95.9 Ajax) move its studios & offices into the ex-Corus digs at 1200 Airport Boulevard, or will CKDO & CKGE move to KX's Westney Road studios? Who will do on-air work for the Oshawa stations, or will they be entirely automated, and voice tracked by out-of-market jocks? Will 94.9 become a clone of now co-owned smooth jazz The Wave 94.7 (CIWV-FM Hamilton/Burlington)? What about AM 1350's morning show simulcast on CHEX TV Durham (CHEX-TV-2 Ch. 22 Oshawa)? Speculate as you may, we'll find out soon enough what management decides to do.
CHUM Ottawa loses its Kool
Friday, May 30, 2003, 01:50 p.m. ET
The things that happen when you don't fire up your Net connection before 12 noon... it's just before 2 p.m. as I type this, and CKKL-FM 93.9 Ottawa has just changed formats. They were Hot AC/CHR as "Kool FM", but are now classic hits "93.9 Bob FM", pretty much the same as "99.9 Bob FM" in Winnipeg. It's understandable why CKKL flipped: they took a massive ratings blow from newbie NewCap CHR "Hot 89.9" (CIHT-FM Ottawa-Hull), dropping from 9.8 in the fall, to 6.6 this spring. I'd like to tune in online, but my five-year-old Pentium 200 won't run the non-standard player that CHUM uses. I'll wait until Monday, when I'm at the college, and I can pull it up on a Pentium IV box & T1 line.
All the best to Bob FM Ottawa!
Radio Web Wows
Wednesday, May 28, 2003, 05:52 p.m. ET
Seems the online presence of Southern Ontario radio stations is starting to rebound. For starters, Cobourg's Star 93.3 (CKSG-FM) finally has at least something of a website... click this entry's title to check out what's there. Not much more than the logo, the words "coming soon!" plus photos & links to some of the artists they play. There's supposedly a bit of Flash on there, but it wouldn't come up in either of my browsers. chuc1450.com still belongs to Pineridge Broadcasting, but it doesn't look like they've registered anything to reflect CHUC's upcoming move to 1580. Also, a bunch of whois checks have revealed that Belleville's Starboard Communications has registered q100fm.ca for Q100 (CHCQ-FM 100.1)... punching that into your browser will pull up the old "OJ 95.5 FM" home page. They already have classichits955.fm, and PD Mark Philbin is already plugging his e-mail address (markp@classichits955.fm) on-air for requests on the "Culligan Classic Lunch Hour". Corus still owns magic949.com, but the address doesn't go anywhere... Durham Radio might reactivate it once they officially take ownership of AM 1350 (CKDO) & Magic @ 94.9 (CKGE-FM). CHUM Kawarthas must still be busy finding a new host for their stations' websites. Going to y92.ca redirects to Trytel's page, while y92.net and country105.fm redirect to "under construction" or "unavailable" messages. ckpt.com is still registered to CHUM, but there's nothing there either. Finally, rumours of a format change (or some kind of change) at Toronto's CHFI (98.1) are flying as their website is down, and references to other Rogers AC stations, including The Ocean 98.5 (CIOC-FM Victoria BC) and CHYM FM (96.7 Kitchener) are appearing. Seems CHFI morning co-host Erin Davis started the rumour mill on her own personal site, mentioning some changes. Haven't heard anything unusual yet on CHFI.
Slow but steady
Monday, May 26, 2003, 02:56 p.m. ET
Although ratings came out last week, I didn't keep the updates coming, simply because I haven't yet seen the Belleville numbers. My guesses: Mix 97 down slightly but still tops; CJBQ steady; nowhere but up for Classic Hits; Q100 & CJTN up a bit; out-of-market listening down a few points. | Also in this post, I should mention that I've finally tracked down the ever-elusive freelance announcer & former Barrie radio jock Bill Cosworth. His Web presence includes an all-Flash site (click this entry's title to check it out), and an MP3 demo at thevoicedepot.com, among the ranks of Gord James, Charlie O'Brien, Rob Wreford, and Marc Chambers. To any PDs looking for a new station voice, I highly recommend Bill Cosworth. This plug was not paid for in any way, it's just my personal opinion, based on what I'd heard of him on Rogers Television Simcoe-Grey, The New VR, and pre-Energy CHAY FM.
Landing on your feet
Tuesday, May 20, 2003, 08:03 a.m. ET
Since Laura McGugan quit the morning show on Classic Hits 95.5 (CJOJ-FM Belleville) to be the Belleville correspondent for CKWS-TV Newswatch, her replacement has been found in Kathleen Rankine. Kathleen's last radio job was with The Team, but she's probably best known for her news work in Toronto at Westcom/WIC/Shaw/Corus Radio's Q107 (CILQ-FM 107.1) and what is now Mojo Radio (CFMJ 640 Richmond Hill), formerly "Talk 640", "AM 640", and "The Hog". Dave Bussiere continues to do morning news on Classic Hits.
A station on every notch...
Wednesday, May 14, 2003, 11:47 a.m. ET
The Kitchener-Waterloo radio dial is about to get much more crowded. This morning, the CRTC announced the approval of four new FM stations in K-W. Global is getting a rhythmic CHR at 91.5, Larche Communications (CICZ-FM 104.1 Midland) is putting country on 99.5 (and in the process, forcing low-power Christian CFWC-FM Brantford off that frequency), Sound of Faith Broadcasting gets a low-power Christian outlet on 94.3, and Aboriginal Voices Radio will run a native station on 102.5. The commission denied other apps for 91.5 (Rogers, Evanov, and Telephone City Broadcast), and 99.5 (Doug Kirk, Ed Bauman/Rae Roe, and Trust Communications Ministries). Larche & AVR will have to watch out when tropo's in, because Buffalo's grandfathered WDCX (99.5) and WTSS (102.5) will probably blast right through them like WBUF (92.9) has done to The Zone (CIZN-FM 92.9 Cambridge), forcing the latter to move to 107.5.
A little bit of AM DX
Tuesday, May 13, 2003, 04:00 p.m. ET
Even with the rain we've had the past few days, FM DX hasn't been all that spectacular, other than the usual big FMs from Syracuse: CHR "93Q" (WNTQ-FM 93.1), as well as Clear Channel's AC "Y94FM" (WYYY-FM 94.5), country "B104.7" (WBBS-FM Fulton), and urban "Power 106.9 Jamz" (WPHR-FM Auburn). However, a couple of southwestern Ontario AMs have made it onto my nighttime DX log: CFPL (980 London), CJBK (1290 London), and CHSC (1220 St. Catharines). Also worth noting: around 5:00 yesterday afternoon, I pulled in multicultural daytimer WTOR (770 Youngstown NY).
Rick's Rewinds
Saturday, May 10, 2003, 04:04 p.m. ET
No, this entry isn't about Rick Kevan's noon-hour oldies show on CJTN (1270 Trenton), but rather, a rerun of Rick Dees' top hits of the 90's on Mix 97 (CIGL-FM 97.1 Belleville). Boy Krazy's "That's What Love Can Do" is airing as I type this, but down the dial at Star 93.3 (CKSG-FM Cobourg), also playing Dees right now, I hear R. Kelly's "Ignition". Mix probably didn't get this week's set of Dees CDs, because I heard the top hits show on Mix in January or February. Just wait 'til we hear Dees beg for his listeners to "go to rick.com, that's r-i-c-k dot com" to find info that likely isn't there.
Guest hosts on the Open Line
Thursday, May 8, 2003, 09:35 a.m. ET
Peter Thompson was right... before he went on holidays, he mentioned that there would be some great guest hosts, and he was absolutely right! Mix 97's Joey Martin and Loyalist radio prof/hockey dad Steve Bolton were on this morning talking about the state of minor hockey in Canada. For some time, Joey's wanted to do talk radio, and he's taken the opportunity... no doubt he's rolling tape, as I was. FYI, CJBQ "Newsmaker Sunday" host Mary Thomas was hosting yesterday with Belleville mayor George Zegouras. Not sure about Monday & Tuesday, though.
The first response...
Monday, May 5, 2003, 12:18 p.m. ET
I've received a response regarding my one and only radio job application so far, sent to CKSY (94.3 Chatham): I have a phone interview with assistant GM Walter Ploegman this Wednesday morning. Let's hope for the best.
Return to CJLX
Saturday, May 3, 2003, 12:46 p.m. ET
While I wait for the radio job offers to come in, I can be heard once again on CJLX (92.3 Belleville), not just hosting regular shifts, but I will be temporarily taking over the currently automated "Nightcap" jazz show on Tuesday & Sunday nights. My debut on Nightcap is scheduled for Mother's Day (Sunday, May 11) at 11 pm. Tune in!
The (very) best of me
Wednesday, April 30, 2003, 02:24 a.m. ET
One down, two to go... now on my career-related site is my Hot AC/CHR demo from Mix 97. Give it a listen and take a peek at my resume by clicking this entry's title.
Durham Radio gets Oshawa stations
Wednesday, April 23, 2003, 05:06 p.m. ET
Once again, Oshawa's two radio stations are independently owned. The sale of Corus' oldies/full service "AM 1350" (CKDO) and hot AC "Magic @ 94.9" (CKGE-FM) to Doug Kirk's Durham Radio Inc. has been approved by the CRTC today. But here's the million-dollar question from radio geeks: what will happen to the unprofitable 94.9? Rumour has it that, given a bunch of possible job losses, Kirk will drop the hot AC format and turn CKGE into a full-time rebroadcaster of smooth jazz "The Wave 94.7" (CIWV-FM Hamilton/Burlington). Only time will tell. If you're curious about the previous ownership of Oshawa's 1350 & 94.9, George Grant owned the stations (then known as CKQT-FM & CKAR AM) until Power Broadcasting bought them in 1993, then Corus bought all of Power's radio & TV stations in 2000.
MacBlog on the road this summer?
Tuesday, April 22, 2003, 01:36 a.m. ET
I've thought about this for the past week or so... a radio road trip this summer - to Barrie. Okay, I know Barrie only has five radio stations, and none on AM, but hey, they've got The New VR (CKVR-TV Ch. 3) and their trademark thousand-foot stick. Barrie also has three radio studio sites: the Kozlov Centre shopping mall studios of Rock 95 (CFJB-FM 95.7) and Star 107.5 (CKMB-FM); the Midhurst home of Corus stations B101 (CIQB-FM 101.1) & EnergyFM (CHAY-FM 93.1); as well as Life 100.3's High Street digs. As soon as I find out what my situation's like in the next little while, I'll keep you updated.
MacBlog turns 1
Saturday, April 19, 2003, 02:33 a.m. ET
I can't believe I missed this, but Thursday (April 17) was MacBlog's first birthday! The blog itself hasn't changed all that much, and only recently have the hits gone up, thanks to a couple of message board postings by a Loyalist radio alum from 1984. I think Google is also responsible, considering the referrers that come up... people looking for, among other things, Alan Almond's "Pillow Talk", and the non-existent website of Belleville's Q100. This past week, there were some users wanting to know more about Laura McGugan leaving Classic Hits 95.5 for CKWS TV. She's already had some local TV experience, having hosted "Update" on Cogeco 4. Anyway, back to MacBlog's first birthday... MacBlog will likely remain a smallish radio/TV rant & news site, unless one or both of us (the blog and/or yours truly) become famous. Happy first birthday to MacBlog, and hopefully many more! Stay tuned!
What went wrong?
Thursday, April 17, 2003, 02:17 p.m. ET
So what was making CJLX go on & off the air all night? The reply from Greg Schatzmann explained that a cooling fan in the studio end of the 950 MHz STL had failed, making the unit overheat and shut down, taking 92.3 off the air in the process, then turn on again when it cooled down. Why? CJLX's STL doubles as a remote control for the FM transmitter. If the transmitter end doesn't receive a signal from the studio, it shuts down the FM rig. The fan has since been replaced.
'LX TX problems
Tuesday, April 15, 2003, 10:08 p.m. ET
Sounds like CJLX (92.3 Belleville) has been having some transmitter problems recently. I tuned in last night on their cable feed (99.9), and heard country music rather than "Quinte's Alternative". My first thought was that Q100's signal was drifting onto 99.9, but it wouldn't be as clear as it was. Turns out it was actually Country 92 (CJET-FM 92.3 Smiths Falls). CJLX's signal was on & off for about five minutes at a time. While 'LX was out, I tried taping some Country 92 IDs, but the former returned before the chance came about. I e-mailed CJLX GM Greg Schatzmann about the outages, and there's a problem with either the FM transmitter, or the STL, because if the STL goes out, so does the FM signal. I'll keep you posted on any updates.
BMac's photo gallery
Thursday, April 10, 2003, 03:53 p.m. ET
Take a look at what I've been up to since the summer... check out the new photo gallery at my personal site. Click this entry's title to go there.
The latest from the Quinte Broadcasting newsroom...
Wednesday, April 9, 2003, 10:55 p.m. ET
Melanie Adams' replacement has been found. Loyalist broadcast journalism grad-to-be Todd Nyznik will be joining the CJBQ/CJTN/Mix 97 news department April 22. If you haven't read previous posts here, Melanie Adams will be heading up to CHUM Ottawa (CFRA/Team 1200/Kool FM/Majic 100 in about a week and a half. Nyznik was the morning news anchor on CJLX this past summer, and Quinte Broadcasting has made a very good choice. Congrats, Niz!
News from Quinte Broadcasting
Saturday, April 5, 2003, 05:39 p.m. ET
Starting in the newsroom, reporter Melanie Adams is leaving Quinte Broadcasting in about two weeks... she's on her way to the CHUM Ottawa (CFRA/Team 1200/Kool FM/Majic 100) newsroom. Across the hall we go to CJTN, where last night's show was filled with weather-related local event cancellations, including the postponement of game one of the Wellington-Aurora series. Finally, the first two hours or so of my lone Mix shift this week involve running a Juno Awards special from the CHUM Radio Network.
Q-Country twang
Thursday, April 3, 2003, 07:57 a.m. ET
Pretty much my duty next week as an intern at Quinte Broadcasting... the updated sked has been released, and I'm doing the evening show on CJBQ (800) Monday to Thursday. During the day, though, it's a totally different thing. High school co-op students in the afternoon, and a very bustling 4th floor at 10 South Front. Came in yesterday morning to learn the 'BQ board (a little more complex than the Mix & CJTN boards), and going into & out of delay for the Open Line show still gets me... 'BQ's board was customized with OL in mind. I'll show up early this morning to watch producer Al Baker pull it off.
First night
Monday, March 31, 2003, 12:25 p.m. ET
My first night on the Mix was pretty good for a first solo show. I shouldn't really bring up the problems, but I will. Firstly, Audiovault will take a little getting used to, especially when going between CDs and the computer. Also, take Dan Mellon's advice: leave down pots that you're not using... I learned that lesson the hard way by accidentally firing the Mix Touch Tone towards the end of a song... I took qualifiers anyway. Finally, PD Sean Kelly called me up after I made a brutal scheduling mistake: THREE of the same promos back-to-back. Oh well, it was only my first show, I'm new here, it likely won't happen again. Tune in midnight to 5 tonight/tomorrow!
Schedule changes
Friday, March 28, 2003, 11:00 a.m. ET
Was talking to fellow Quinte Broadcasting intern Will Alexander last night, and there's been a bit of a change to the sked. I can be heard Sunday night starting at 6 p.m. on Mix 97. As far as I know, I'm still on Tuesday morning midnight-5 on the Mix, and Friday night 6-midnight on CJTN.
Miscellaneous ramblings
Monday, March 24, 2003, 10:53 p.m. ET
Not a whole lot going on in radio right now, with just about everybody following Mr. Bush's Oil War or whatever two-word title the news channels decided to give it. Anyway, Friday night was sort of a goodbye party for Chuck, Shilo & I. Our internships start next week, and Shilo's heading out east to Moncton, where he'll be heard on rocker C103 (CJMO-FM 103.1) and country XL96 (CJXL-FM 96.9). Surprisingly, Shilo, being blind, will have to run his show himself, but that might not be a problem for him, as the stations' playout systems are driven by a "next event" button. Chuck, though, is still awaiting word from K-Town as to whether K-Rock (CIKR-FM 105.7) or Country 96 (CFMK-FM 96.3) will take him. Wednesday or Thursday, I'll be getting final internship details from Dan Mellon.
CJTN drops Jays
Monday, March 17, 2003, 09:22 p.m. ET
Listening to game six of the Trenton Sting/Wellington Dukes series on CJTN (1270 Trenton) reminded me to let you know about this: CJTN will not be carrying the Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts this year. I had a chat with music director & afternoon host Rick Kevan this past Thursday, and one of the reasons 'TN is not running the Jays is because of a recent upgrade of the station's automation system. Until the end of last year's season, CJTN was using the antiquated CORE system, the predecessor to Audiovault. CORE was set up to properly accept relays from the Jays' network, but right now, CJTN's Audiovault system isn't set to receive control tones. The only satellite feeds that CJTN can carry are the hourly Broadcast News reports in the evenings and overnights, as they are based on timings as opposed to tones. But the big reason why is because it just wasn't worth it... CJTN wasn't profiting from carrying the games.
Interview & internship news
Wednesday, March 12, 2003, 03:37 p.m. ET
How did the interview with Steve Fawcett go today? Very well, and not as formal as I had expected. What was there to be nervous about? Nothing. Afrer the interview, I dropped in on Mix 97 MD/APD Dan Mellon, who is in charge of the five interns (including myself) that will be on air at Quinte Broadcasting (Mix 97/CJBQ/CJTN). The schedule has been made up for us, and here's where I'll be. Starting March 31, I can be heard on Mix 97 Monday & Tuesday mornings from midnight to 5:00 a.m., and Friday evenings from 6-10 p.m. on 1270 CJTN. I'll also be in the building during office hours on Wednesdays & Thursdays, exact tasks TBA. Tomorrow, though, I'm learning the ropes at the Mix.
Job Interview Jitters
Tuesday, March 11, 2003, 11:33 p.m. ET
It's the night before a radio job interview, and I am NERVOUS (who isn't?). Even though I'm familiar with my interviewer and his company - Steve Fawcett, GM of CHUM Kawarthas (CKPT 1420/CKQM-FM 105.1 Peterborough, CKLY-FM 91.9 Lindsay), I'm still worried about the usual things - attire, tough questions, stupid (thoughtless) answers, and talking without thinking. All night, I've been running around my lair like an obsessive-compulsive, making sure that everything is ready to go before I go in - cover letter, resume, demo CD, and clothes. Best case scenario tomorrow - the interview is less formal than I expect. Stay tuned in the next 24 hours or so for the results.
Radio news
Friday, March 7, 2003, 02:52 p.m. ET
Firstly, big shout out to Greg Hunter of FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3 Kingston) for the guest lecture yesterday. Secondly, there's a slim chance a job might be in order for me when I go for an interview this Wednesday with CHUM Kawarthas GM Steve Fawcett... the rest of us in the Loyalist radio program are being interviewed by others in the radio biz, including PD Mark Philbin of Starboard Communications (CJOJ-FM/CHCQ-FM Belleville), CJTN's Bob Rowbotham, and PD Brian Ellis of Corus Radio Peterborough. Finally, it's hard to believe that the week of St. Patrick's Day (March 17-21) will be my final week on the air at CJLX before I head off to my internship at Quinte Broadcasting. Other than what's already on the computer, no fanfare has been planned for Friday, March 21, my last day on air.
The who's who of southeastern Ontario radio (almost)
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 08:31 p.m. ET
Well, just about every station in Belleville, Kingston and Brockville was represented at this year's Easter Seals Telethon on CKWS-TV (Ch. 11 Kingston). Q100's Paul Martin & Classic Hits 95.5's Mark Philbin hosted a segment, as did K-Rock morning team Shadoe & Taz and PM driver "G"; also on hand were FLY FM's Laura Earl (too bad Greg Hunter couldn't make it this year), Oldies 960's Andy K, Country 96's Jim Elyot, and The Point's Dan Wylie. Quinte Broadcasting kept a slightly lower profile, but they were working the phones for about an hour. In Peterborough, however, no radio appearances, but Teresa Kaszuba's remote from Lansdowne Place was probably a first for CHEX. The only problem with CKWS' broadcast, aside from the frequent timing problems, was that we didn't get to see the final amount of money raised locally... the 'WS tower got knocked out 15 minutes before the end of the telethon. But if you really want to know, about 375,000 dollars was raised through the Kingston show, while the Peterborough show pulled in about 165,000 dollars.
Technical difficulties
Saturday, March 1, 2003, 12:17 a.m. ET
It's been only three weeks into the classic hits format on CJOJ-FM (95.5 Belleville), and they're already having some technical problems, specifically with the transmitter, and maybe the processing or STL. For the past day or two, something hasn't been working properly in the air chain. As of 12:20 this morning, they're broadcasting in mono, with a somewhat degraded sound, comparable to that of CBC Radio One's FM stations. This is what has been intermittently plaguing CJOJ's signal since probably Wednesday. Late Friday night, though, CJOJ was off the air for a little while. I don't think they've made the move to Oak Hills yet... Mark said that wouldn't happen until about mid-summer.
Christian radio IS coming to Belleville
Friday, February 28, 2003, 12:56 p.m. ET
United Christian Broadcasters' prayers have been answered. Today, the CRTC approved UCBC's app for a Christian station in Belleville, pumping out 45 kW at 102.3 FM. 924 interventions favoured the new stations, while one - from Quinte Broadcasting - opposed. QBC didn't quite agree with some of UCBC's financial figures, as well as their choice of frequency. Seems a move of CJTN to FM was being planned, but the number of available FM freqs has now gone down, with UCBC getting the class B allotment that CJOJ (95.5) would have used when they first signed on ten years ago. Well, there's still 104.3 in Belleville, and a couple of 88-92's allotted to Deseronto, but would a smallish Belleville or Trenton station really want to be licensed to Deseronto and broadcast from the CJOH-6 tower?
FM DX... in winter?
Thursday, February 27, 2003, 02:46 p.m. ET
Okay, this is weird... 2:45 this afternoon, I pulled in Toronto's Z103.5 (CIDC-FM Orangeville) in a basement, using a cheap, digitally-tuned boom box with a 3-foot whip antenna pointed straight up... and this is on a clear, cold, sunny day in late February. I'm dead serious. The signal was listenable - and in STEREO! For the record, Tony Monaco was talking about new headphones in the studio, and gave a plug for a DJ shop in Mississauga. Back to this unusual DX report. I think CIDC's always had a weird signal, be it from the 50 kW site west of Orangeville, or their current 31 kW rig at Mono Mills. In 1999, I pulled in CIDC on the Infinity sound system in my dad's minivan, during a camping trip in Marten River, about 60 km north of North Bay. This was when they were still running 50 kW from west of Orangeville. Don't know if it's the geography or what, but this is amazing!
More TVO tributes...
Wednesday, February 26, 2003, 06:24 p.m. ET
Continuing on the topic of old TVO shows (I couldn't add this link to the previous post), here's a fabulous site about everybody's all-time favourite, "Today's Special". Although it was done by an American who didn't see the show in its non-commercial entirety, it's very thorough, and even contains loads of info on the old downtown Toronto Simpson's store where most of the show was taped. If you were a big Today's Special fan, you'll be here for a while.
Retro TVO
Wednesday, February 26, 2003, 05:57 p.m. ET
I'm guessing that at least a few of the people who frequent this blog grew up with TVOntario. Oh, and to any American readers, TVOntario is similar to PBS, as are the public broadcasters in most other Canadian provinces & territories. Anyway, there's a site about some of the kids' shows seen on TVO in the late 1970's & early 80's. One look at this site (click this entry's title to visit), and I was brought back to age 2 or so, 1983/84/85. I wasn't sure if "Jeremy" was a real show, but I guess some of these vague 1980's TV memories I have are real. Others I sort of remember were "Readalong", "Dear Aunt Agnes", "Harriet's Magic Hats", and nobody can forget such standards as "Today's Special" or "Polka Dot Door". Even today, despite the many threats of privatization, TVO runs some good quality kids' programming, though not quite as enriching as their early offerings.
Retro MacBlog
Wednesday, February 26, 2003, 05:53 p.m. ET
I've archived what was posted on here anytime between yesterday and last September, but if you want to check out old, old entries, click on "MacBlog Archives".
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