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Less Cancon on CKLC
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 | The only broadcasting decision from the CRTC today is the approval of an application by CHUM Limited, to reduce the Canadian content quota for adult standards CKLC (1380 Kingston) to 30% from the nationwide standard 35%. Check out the full decision by clicking this entry's title.
My condolences
Monday, February 24, 2003 | Shocking news from Milkman UnLimited... Karen Rose, former midday jock at Barrie's EnergyFM93.1 (CHAY-FM) and the Wolf in Peterborough (CKWF-FM 101.5), passed away on Saturday. Karen was also known for her announcing work for Leon's Furniture in Peterborough. I met her in November 1997 when she was hosting the midday show on 910 CKLY in Lindsay. A memorial fund has been set up to help her children, and all the details are available on Milkman's Tuned In page... click this entry's title to help.
Stuff you don't normally hear on commercial radio today...
Monday, February 24, 2003 | But you can hear them all on at least one station: Classical 96.3 FM (CFMX-FM-1 Toronto, CFMX-FM 103.1 Cobourg). For starters, they play O Canada every morning at about 5:30. Then, dial surfing yesterday afternoon, I heard them giving full station info, i.e. call letters, frequency, power, ownership, and licence info - for both stations! You're probably wondering why I listen to classical music radio. I keep a radio on at night, but I have very picky musical tastes, and non-vocal formats (classical, jazz, instrumental easy listening) won't make me tune out after every song... except on Jazz.FM91 (CJRT-FM 91.1 Toronto), when they play that liner with the Humber *jazz studies* prof begging for pledges. If I had a big enough hard drive on my computer, and a faster Net connection, I'd download as much as I can remember of CHAY FM's pre-AC music library. Or, I can save bandwidth/hard drive space, and download MIDI versions of popular instrumentals. Thank goodness for wavetable synthesis...
Louder buzz in Barrie
Thursday, February 20, 2003 | Okay, they haven't used the bee mascot since they moved in with CHAY in the fall of 2000, but Barrie's B101 (CIQB-FM 101.1) was granted a power increase today. They'll be moving up to 2600 watts from 795, still halfway up the CKVR tower. Although B101 is the least powerful station in town, their signal reaches past Lindsay on a good day, on a car radio or a half-decent home receiver. 2600 watts non-directional will likely produce a more reliable signal in the rest of Simcoe County, including Midland-Penetanguishene, Alliston, as well as Collingwood/Wasaga Beach, but B101 has a sister station in Collingwood, The Peak FM (CKCB-FM 95.1).
Also, the latest edition of the Broadcast Dialogue newsletter says CHUM hopes to have CFJR-FM (104.9 Brockville) on the air by Canada Day, replacing CFJR (830 AM). CFJR-FM will transmit a directional signal with 5600 watts ERP (7700 W peak), from the AM site northwest of Brockville.
A couple o'rants
Sunday, February 16, 2003 | I thought Clear Channel's Mix 100.5 (WVOR-FM Rochester) was bad for running as many as 20 minutes of commercials every hour, now it seems like Infinity's Warm 101.3 (WRMM-FM) is a close second to that. Every other time I tune in, Warm's in a break, and over the past few occasions that I've tuned in, I've heard more spots than songs. Maybe before I start jumping to conclusions, I should listen for a couple of hours and see how many minutes of spots they run in a typical hour. In fact, I've heard way less spots on Warm's sister station 98PXY (WPXY-FM 97.9). | Today's other rant goes to whoever is in charge of the music system at Food Basics in Belleville. Almost every time I've gone in there since the beginning of January, John Rzeznik's "I'm Still Here" plays. On top of that, I've heard them playing stuff like Hoobastank, Lifehouse, and Sugar Ray - in a supermarket?! Unless it's just the time that I go in - after 6 p.m., when the younger crew takes over.
Part of a radio personality's job
Saturday, February 15, 2003 | Co-hosting charity events, such as the Easter Seals telethon, on CHEX & CKWS TV Sunday, March 2. Chances are the K-Town end will be the who's who of radio there, considering the following showed up last year: Greg Hunter & Tara Clow of FLY FM & CKLC respectively; K-Rock morning co-host Taz & PM driver "G"; and we can't forget Classic Hits 95.5/Q100 news director Paul Martin, who is also in charge of communications for the Quinte region chapter of Easter Seals. The Peterborough end, however, won't be complete without the usual Corus cross-promotion... for some time now, a handful of Wolf/Kruz jocks have worked the phones. A related charity event airs on Belleville's Cogeco 4 on an annual basis: the Rotary Club TV auction. Last year's show was co-hosted by 95.5's Mark Philbin & Laura McGugan, as well as CJTN's Rick Kevan. We'll have to wait & see how many Belleville broadcasters make it to this year's Easter Seals telethon on CKWS!
Spreading the word
Saturday, February 15, 2003 | It's been just over a week since CJOJ-FM became "Classic Hits 95.5", and Starboard Communications has gone pretty much all-out promoting it. Bus boards for both 95.5 & Q100 have returned to Belleville Transit, and 95.5 ran a nearly full-page ad in yesterday's edition of the Community Press. From what owner John Sherratt told us in the fall, they won't be running any TV spots, though, because of the growing number of satellite subscribers in this area. We'll have to stay tuned to either CKWS, CHEX, or one of the two ad-based channels on cable here (Quinte Life TV 14 and TV Guide 24) to see if Sherratt reconsiders television. Also, a Classic Hits website may be in the works; the domain name "classichits955.fm" is registered to Starboard. Right now, the address redirects to an old page for the Kingston Auto Fest. I'm not sure who their new ISP will be, since they'll be cancelling their oj955.com service with Golden Triangle.
Kudos...
Monday, February 10, 2003 | ...to Mix 97's Joey Martin for having me on his show this afternoon. I was on my way out from dropping off a tape & some internship forms with OM Peter Thompson, but I ran into Joey at the elevator, and considering the open invitation he gave us during his guest lecture the other week, I HAD to drop in on his show. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me, but at least I had a skimmer tape to record my 5 minutes of fame. I'm thinking about putting that clip on my Geocities page, but I've got to find a way to slim down an audio file... will it be MP3 or RealAudio? Anyway, thanks a bunch to Joey Martin and the gang at Quinte Broadcasting for a fabulous afternoon. See you around the end of March!
No more juice for Belleville
Friday, February 7, 2003 | As of 9:00 this morning (I didn't hear it happen), CJOJ-FM Belleville is "Classic Hits 95.5"... the name pretty much says it all. It's a classic rock/retro/modern AC mix, and they're running commercial- and probably jock-free all weekend. I doubt there have been any firings, since owner John Sherratt didn't intend to can anybody when he bought Belleville Radio Limited. Perhaps this format change is the reason PD Mark Philbin hasn't returned my recent phone calls regarding an internship at the station.
Various stuff
Thursday, February 6, 2003 | Firstly, a follow-up to the previous post... visions of Viacom's "Creepy V of Death" are still haunting me as of 9:30 this morning. Secondly, an update on Trust Communications Ministries' new Peterborough transmitter at 89.3: Milkman Unlimited says it'll be on the air by June.
TVlogophobia
Wednesday, February 5, 2003 | It does exist... a fear of the end logos on TV shows & movies. Click this entry's title to check out "Eric Hartman's Entertainment Logo Page", describing the studio/distributor logos seen at the end of TV shows and at the start of movies. This is one thorough site, documenting just about every end logo out there, past & present, and part of each description is the "Scare Factor", or how likely the logo/music/sound effects will scare the average viewer. For example, one logo I have been intensely afraid of since childhood is the Viacom logo from the late 70's/early 80's, where the name & stylized "V" zoom in very fast. After reading the descriptions, flashbacks & goosebumps hit me. Show me a videotape if you have one, and I'll have nightmares about it for a month! Believe it or not, the author considers the "Creepy V of Death" "one of the scariest logos ever created". The only time I ever remember seeing this horrid logo was during CKVR-TV's I Love Lucy/Andy Griffith hour in the 80's, and if the TV was on, I'd run halfway up the street as soon as the credits rolled. Leo the Lion (MGM) or Mimsie the Cat (MTM) will counter this any day.
Christian radio good to go in Peterborough
Monday, February 3, 2003 | From today's CRTC releases, Trust Communications Ministries' application for a Peterborough rebroadcaster of Christian contemporary "Life 100.3" (CJLF-FM Barrie) has been approved, amid overwhelming support. The new transmitter, which will broadcast at 89.3 FM with 500 watts, will be Peterborough's 9th radio station, 13th if you count the Lindsay & Cobourg stations. Not too long ago, Trust got the OK to open a rebroadcaster in Owen Sound at 90.1 FM. As of this writing, CJLF-FM-1 isn't yet on the air. For now, jot down CJLF-FM-2 as the calls for 89.3 Peterborough.
Y92 visit
Sunday, February 2, 2003 | Big kudos to Dave Illman & the Y92 crew for having me up on Friday! If you'd like to take a peek at some pics of Y92's recently upgraded digs, click this entry's title.
Station Visit II
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 | In class, Prof. Steve Bolton's given us a "comprehensive market report" assignment, where we profile a specific radio market, and one of the stations in that market. In my case, I'll be doing Peterborough, and Y92 (CKLY-FM 91.9 Lindsay). This Friday, I'll be heading up to Y92's digs for not only the grand tour from PD Dave Illman, but also for a detailed profile of the station, by promotions director Julie Corlett. Besides the above pic, I'll have stills of the studios, which I think have been slightly re-arranged since my November 1997 visit when CKLY was still on 910 AM. Stay tuned!
Yet another TV annoyance
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 | Sorry about the delay between postings, but there's been very little to talk about in the radio/TV world, and hosting the CJLX morning show this week hasn't given me a lot of time to scribble something down on here. Now, on with this week's RANT: Somebody ought to get the TV out of my pad before I start firing off nasty correspondence to the networks, or begin cursing out loud at the idiot box! The latest addition to Macblog's list of TV annoyances comes from Discovery Channel (and possibly one or two other CTV/BCE-owned specialty channels). They've become so good at keeping a viewer tuned until at least the first second of the commercial break. How? 1) Leaving the translucent logo in the corner going into the break, 2) no gaps at all between the show & the spots, and 3) possibly chopping "bumpers" (short title sequences before & after breaks) from shows, with the spots beginning when the viewer least expects it. I'll admit, though, that I have mixed feelings about these procedures. As a broadcasting critic in general, it's great, considering the commercial breaks pay CTV's bills, and these techniques are even better if the first spot scheduled in any given break has the advertiser's brand name all over the screen at the very beginning. But as a viewer, it's irritated me to the point where I keep my finger on the remote's channel up/down buttons, and then rant about it on my blog.
OJ KO'd
Monday, January 20, 2003 | Was it the weather? OJ 95.5 FM was off the air last night, and came back on probably sometime early this morning, albeit with low power and a distorted mono signal. The cable feed at 89.3 doesn't sound as bad as 95.5 over-the-air from here at MacBlog HQ in Belleville's east end. I'm sure Mike Finch and/or John Ton (Starboard Communications' engineers) are working on the problem right now (8:30a). The same thing happened to them almost a year ago, during a freak thunderstorm. We'll stay tuned!
A weekend in the capital... from a radio geek's perspective
Monday, January 20, 2003 | This past weekend's trip was shortened somewhat, since I had to be back in Belleville for class today. If I could have stuck around in Ottawa today, I'd probably be touring the MarketMediaMall, as well as Rogers' cluster on Thurston Drive. I did a couple of band scans on this trip: one in Actinolite (a dot-on-the-map/bus stop about 50 km north of Belleville), and one at my old man's place on the north edge of Byward Market. Click this entry's title to see the results of both scans.
"Pillow Talk" to be syndicated
Friday, January 17, 2003 | The news broke in mid-November, but I didn't find out about this until today. Numerous sources in the Michigan media report that Alan Almond, long-time host of "Pillow Talk" on WNIC-FM (100.3 Dearborn/Detroit) is no longer employed with Clear Channel Detroit, because of "creative differences". But the show will go on, at least in Rochester NY, on Warm 101.3 (WRMM-FM). Almond has signed a national syndication contract with Superadio Networks out of Boston. If all goes well, Pillow Talk could attract some of the estimated seven million continental listeners from Jones Radio Networks' "Delilah", currently AC radio's top syndicated evening show, heard in southern Ontario on Chatham's CKSY (94.3) and London's Q97.5 (CIQM-FM). But how to get Alan Almond on Canadian radio? Fire Don Jackson or scrap the boring voice-tracked small-market evening shows. Whether it's Pillow Talk or Delilah, I still miss CKPT's "Love Songs" with Sue Tyler.
Going solo in Ottawa
Thursday, January 16, 2003 | It's been a good eight months since Paul Herriot & myself took a day trip to the nation's capital, and this weekend, despite the planned anti-war protests, I'll be taking a solo run up to Ottawa. Saturday will mostly be spent with my old man, while I may tour around the city on Sunday, before the bus heads back to Belleville. Interestingly enough, my dad's place is on the edge of Byward Market, only a few blocks from the CHUM MarketMediaMall. Unfortunately, the offices will likely be closed, unless news staff from The New RO (CHRO-TV Ch. 5 Pembroke) and CFRA (580 Ottawa) bustle in & out with tape from Parliament Hill. Coming soon to Macblog's brother site on Geocities: Ottawa radio airchecks.
Internships & Ratings
Wednesday, January 15, 2003 | Here in the radio department at Loyalist, it's a race against the clock for 2nd-year radio students, as we get our internships in order. Today, I had a long chat with OJ 95.5 FM/Q100 PD Mark Philbin, not just about a possible internship at Starboard Communications, but also about the two stations in general, including OJ's move to the Seaway tower, which will likely happen sometime in the summer, and the installation of new digital systems. Q100 has already implemented the Scott system, while OJ is still running Digital Jukebox, and the 3 100-disc CD machines that were once linked to Digital Jukebox or DCS are collecting dust in Mark's office. I also had a quick peek at the Peterborough ratings (the book was sitting right beside me). Turns out The Wolf has the most listeners, but they don't stay tuned as long as Country 105's audience. Y92 is hanging in there, but I can't remember the exact figures that Mark showed me. As for my internship, things look pretty good so far, but he has to find a time slot for me if he decides to put me on air (evenings or overnights), and he also has to talk to owner/GM John Sherratt about after-hours access to the building. If I don't land my internship at Starboard, I'll be knocking on Quinte Broadcasting's door, looking for a spot on one of their AMs, if not Mix 97. Wish me luck!
No, automation isn't perfect yet
Saturday, January 11, 2003 | Was channel surfing just before bedtime (2:30 a.m.), and on CTV Newsnet, Dan Matheson repeated himself during the top stories at :45. The headline re some dead bridge workers in B.C. played, followed by another clip, and an encore of the dead bridge workers headline. That's second only to the sarcastic disabled-bashing outtake that cost Avery Haines her job.
Canada's first TV station to go digital...
Thursday, January 9, 2003 | ...is the one & only Citytv (Ch. 57 Toronto). Their application to set up a DTV rig on the CN Tower was approved today by the CRTC. CITY-DT will transmit on channel 53C with a directional signal, peak ERP just under 1,000 watts. An organization known as CDTV is already running experimental DTV stations in Toronto & Ottawa, but Citytv will be the first TV station in Canada to open a digital station that will eventually replace its analogue counterpart. As far as I know, extreme southwestern Ontario is the only area in the province that can receive regular DTV simulcasts, those from Detroit's network affiliates, but for the rest of us, Buffalo & Rochester aren't very far behind... Pinnacle Hill's just about ready.
'03 Outlook
Thursday, January 2, 2003 | Here's Macblog's quick 'n dirty list of possible radio happenings this year. The CRTC will approve several applications filed last year, including Durham Radio's purchase of Corus' Oshawa stations, as well as a couple of power increase & transmitter site change apps, most notably from Loyalist College Radio (CJLX-FM Belleville) and CHUM (Y92 Lindsay), plus United Christian Broadcasters' app for a new station in Belleville. On the operations side, CHUC will make the move to 1580 some time in the second quarter, if not the first, and Rogers will get burned for having its Ottawa jocks voice-track shows on its northern Ontario stations for free. This next Stateside prediction is a long shot, but you never know, it could happen. Clear Channel will get in deep you-know-what from just about everybody this year: the FCC, the entertainment industry, their shareholders, even the ASPCA. What are the chances that the "evil empire" will become the next Enron? We may know sometime this year.
When convergence goes wrong
Monday, December 30, 2002 | Every weather report on Peterborough's Country 105 ends with a plug for their website. The plug is also heard following a community announcement or an artist bit. Unfortunately, when I tried logging on, it redirected to their ISP's page (Trytel). It seems that none of the CHUM Kawarthas sites are up right now, and the same goes for that of Kingston's FLY FM. Punching in flyfmkingston.com pulls up a message from their ISP, Kingston Online Services. Is CHUMRADIO DOT COM making a comeback, or is it just a coincidence three CHUM stations' sites aren't working?
Corus Oshawa simulcast
Friday, December 27, 2002 | Was channel surfing this morning before heading back home, and this caught my eye on CHEX TV's Oshawa semi-satellite (Ch. 22): a simulcast of AM 1350's morning show on TV. That's right, Rogers cable in Barrie & Alliston picks up CHEX TV Durham. Anyway, there are three different shots of the AM 1350 studio - a wide view of the studio, a close-up on the host, and a CU on the newsreader. There is an L-shaped CTV Newsnet-style ticker taking up two sides of the screen: the bottom contains news & sports headlines, while the left side contains weather info. As for the content of the simulcast, the radio commercials are substituted with TV spots, and during each song, the viewer gets to see the two personalities talking off-air. Now this isn't the first time radio shows have been simulcast on TV in Canada: Lowell Green used to run his CFRA show on The New RO, and I think Corus' Dave Rutherford still has a TV simulcast on Global in Alberta.
Holiday reception reports
Monday, December 23, 2002 | From my grandmother's place in Collingwood, happy holidays everybody! Some radio news from the past few days... noticed on Friday that retired paralympian & leg amputee Rob Snoek, who was featured on CBC TV's "The Paralympians", is doing news on Oshawa's AM 1350 & Magic @ 94.9. Also, sitting in the car in downtown Alliston, some great catches: Wingham's FM 102 (CKNX-FM 101.7), Owen Sound's Country 93 (CKYC-FM 93.7), Collingwood's The Peak FM (CKCB-FM 95.1), and the biggest surprise was a decent reception of Lindsay's Y92. In Collingwood, The Peak is the strongest, even though it's only 350 watts, but the transmitter site is high atop Blue Mountain. On the portable, the French CBC transmitter in Penetanguishene (96.5) was blasting in, as were Owen Sound's Mix 106 (CIXK-FM 106.5), Barrie's Rock 95, and EnergyFM93.1. There'll likely be some more news coming from Alliston in the next couple of days, if aunt Helen will give me a few minutes on the computer (she's addicted to ICQ & MSN, and she's on a dialup connection). If not, the updates will come sometime Friday evening. Again, happy holidays, and stay tuned!
oops
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 | From this week's edition of the Industry Canada broadcasting databases, OJ 95.5 FM in Belleville did not change its call letters to CJOE-FM. It must have just been a mistake on the part of whoever edits the databases, but OJ's calls are still CJOJ-FM. Sticking with OJ, their website is gone. Going to oj955.com redirects to a page from their ISP, Golden Triangle Internet of Kitchener. They could be moving to a local Net provider.
Loads from the commish...
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 | Firstly, Raedio Inc., owner of Stratford's CJCS (1240), had their app for a new FM station approved; it'll transmit at 107.7 FM with about 3000 watts. Also, the CBC is getting three more Radio Two rebroadcasters in southern Ontario: in Owen Sound (97.1), Orillia (90.7), and Huntsville (104.7). Surprisingly, Ian Byers, owner of "More FM" (CFBK-FM 105.5), opposed the CBC's app for a Radio Two rebroadcaster in Huntsville, despite the fact that Radio Two (and CBC Radio itself) is non-commercial, and More FM's only commercial competition is the Haliburton Broadcasting Group's automated MooseFM chain. What's more, Radio Two's programming comes out of Toronto (no Huntsville or Muskoka content), while just about everything aired on More FM comes out of its Main Street studios. When the next big snowstorm hits, who will Huntsvillians turn to? More FM, of course.
The history of the Christian Flamethrower exposed
Sunday, December 15, 2002 | It seems our friend Scott Jackson, southern Ontario's dominant force in Christian radio, hasn't always been a devoted Christian. In fact, in the 1980's, Jackson was a popular late-night jock at Kingston's CKLC, back in the Top 40 heyday (before those Yankee boneheads at The Border stole the format). If you love staring at studio pics, Scott's got some old shots of CKLC's control room, as well as those of Nashville's Way FM, the first official day of broadcasting on his own "Life 100.3", and the booth at Barrie's B101, before they moved out to the Corus digs in Midhurst. Click this entry's title to see the radio history of the Christian Flamethrower, Mr. Scott Jackson.
Radio on TV
Wednesday, December 11, 2002 | It's not that often that a TV station documents the happenings of radio stations in the market, but tonight, Rochester's WROC-TV (Ch. 8) ran a great report on the official opening of Entercom's new High Falls facility, housing WBBF-FM 93.3, WBEE-FM 92.5, WBZA-FM 98.9, and we can't forget WROC 950, considering they simulcast WROC-TV's 6:00 news. In fact, during the live follow-up, the reporter was in WROC AM's air studio, showing his voice (on the simulcast) being visualized on the console's VU meters. As much as I don't like WROC-TV's news, this report was very interesting, and a good supplement to WROC morning host Allan Harris' website.
More ratings
Monday, December 9, 2002 | The two markets whose ratings have eluded me forever have finally made their numbers public: Barrie and Kingston. And in both markets, rock stations are now #1. In Barrie, Rock 95 (CFJB-FM 95.7) edged out AC B101 (CIQB-FM 101.1) with a 13.7 (B101 is down to 9.7 this book), followed by country Kicx 104 (CICZ-FM 104.1 Midland) with 9.6, CHR EnergyFM (CHAY-FM 93.1) with 6.8, easy listening Foxy 88.5 (CKDX-FM Newmarket) with 4.6, Hot AC Star 107.5 (CKMB-FM) up to 2.6, and christian Life 100.3 (CJLF-FM) rounds out the list with a 2.5. In K-Town, "Kongratulations" to K-Rock 105.7 (CIKR-FM) on becoming #1 with a 20.1 in Kingston central. In second place was Country 96 (CFMK-FM 96.3) with 17.0, AC FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3) with 15.0, followed by CHR The Border (WBDR-FM 102.7 Cape Vincent NY), standards CKLC (1380), Oldies 960 (CFFX), and The Point (CJPT-FM 103.7 Brockville). Good job everybody!
It's official
Monday, December 9, 2002 | Pineridge Broadcasting of Cobourg has been given the OK by the CRTC to move CHUC (1450) to 1580 AM with 10,000 watts day & night. I don't know how long it'll be before they actually make the switch, but I'll try to stay tuned to find out. FYI, CHUC is currently transmitting with 8,000 watts day and 1,000 watts night, from a three-tower site west of Cobourg. Among the other applications approved today was from Scott Jackson's Trust Communications Ministries, who were granted a low-power (75 watts) rebroadcaster of christian contemporary "Life 100.3" (CJLF-FM Barrie), at 90.1 in Owen Sound. No word yet on Trust's app for a Peterborough rebroadcaster.
The book
Friday, December 6, 2002 | The ratings are out, and there are some good (and maybe surprising) results in the major markets... CHFI (98.1) defends its title as #1 12+ in Toronto, with CHUM FM (104.5) losing out by .1. CHUM AM (1050) bounced back from the Team's failure, but continues to stay at the bottom of the list, with a 1.3. Out-of-market listening is on the rise in Hamilton, with only about 40% of all tuning going to Hamilton stations. Next door, in the Niagara region, a mere 32% goes to stations in St. Catharines & Niagara Falls, with the highest-rated in the region being 105.7 EZ Rock (CHRE-FM St. Catharines). Out of the province, in Winnipeg, talker CJOB (680) continues to dominate Manitoba's radios with a 21.1 share (way up from 15.0 in the spring), their closest competition being Hot AC Bob FM (CFWM-FM 99.9), with 11.2. Can't wait to see some Belleville & Kingston numbers.
Paul, can you sneak into Don or Joel's office and get me some Peterborough numbers too, please?
Less Cancon on CKPT
Thursday, December 5, 2002 | From today's CRTC releases, the Commission has approved an application by CHUM Limited to reduce the amount of Canadian content on Peterborough adult standards station "1420 Memories CKPT" to 30% from the standard 35%. The reason being is that there isn't enough Cancon in this format (see the CKLC reference further down this page), and CKPT has had to burn out certain popular Canadian selections.
My bad
Wednesday, December 4, 2002 | Apologies to those who tuned in Warm 101.3 and heard the usual Tony & Dee and Pillowtalk instead of Xmas tunes. I guess for a short period Warm was playing a set of holiday music. However, Rochester's Scott Fybush says soft AC Sunny 102 (WISY-FM 102.3 Canandaigua) has gone all-Christmas, as has Syracuse's Y94 FM (WYYY-FM 94.5).
Xmas music update
Saturday, November 30, 2002 | According to a posting on the Milkman's "Tuned In" page, Vancouver AC 97 Kiss FM (CKKS-FM 96.9) has switched to all-Christmas music, complete with requests! So far in Canada, this "holiday music" thing has only hit the major markets, so it's pretty unlikely that any station in eastern Ontario will go all-Christmas music until Xmas Eve or so.
It's that time of year again...
Friday, November 29, 2002 | ...when certain radio stations start playing nothing but Christmas music until just after the 25th. Toronto's EZ Rock (CJEZ-FM 97.3) is the only Canadian station I know of so far that's doing it, but numerous stations south of the border have already rolled out the holiday tunes, including Rochester's Warm 101.3 (WRMM-FM). At 3:00 this afternoon, when I tuned in, Warm was playing that Alvin & The Chipmunks christmas song, whatever it's called. I don't think any of the Belleville stations will go all-Christmas until about the 23rd or 24th. I won't be able to tell, as I'll be back in Alliston for the holidays, listening to the carols on the Barrie stations. Any MacBlog readers from Belleville who will be sticking around here between December 23rd and 27th, feel free to e-mail me regarding holiday programming around here, and I'll put the results up here.
More changes at OJ (nothing bad)
Saturday, November 23, 2002 | Downloaded yesterday's edition of the Industry Canada/CRTC broadcasting databases this afternoon, and it seems that OJ 95.5 FM has changed its call letters from CJOJ-FM to CJOE-FM. Could this mean a name change? According to owner/GM John Sherratt, in a chat with 2nd year Loyalist radio students on Thursday, there won't be any significant format changes, but the station's Hot AC format will become a little more rigid than it currently is; plus, they're thinking of ditching Paul Burke's IDs. Also, the technical details for OJ's new Oak Lake configuration are as follows: effective radiated power of 42 kW (64 kW peak), from a directional antenna 152.5 m above average terrain, on the 250-foot Seaway/Telus tower. I'll have to take a walk up Pinnacle Street to see if both STL rigs are pointed northwest.
Off-air
Wednesday, November 20, 2002 | I know I should have posted this more than twelve hours ago (when I discovered it), but last night at around 9:30, the CKWS-TV tower was shut down for a while. Or perhaps all of Wolfe Island lost power... I didn't have the chance to check the AMs, but Country 96 (CFMK-FM 96.3) wasn't on, and due to that damn substitution/advertising deal with CKWS and Cogeco in Belleville, CBC programming wasn't available during prime time, since CHEX and CBMT were running the same thing, but CKWS can be substituted if the other two stations carry programming at exactly the same time.
Leeza dominates AC radio
Saturday, November 16, 2002 | Since when did FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3 Kingston) and CJTN (1270 Trenton) start running Leeza Gibbons' "Hollywood Confidential" on weekends? I know Orillia's 105.9 LiteFM (CICX-FM) and most, if not all of the EZ Rock stations ran it, but having it on 'TN and FLY is pretty new to me. Wait a minute... I see some connections... CJTN's sister station Mix 97 (CIGL-FM 97.1 Belleville) carries AT20 & Dees, both Premiere Radio Networks offerings; and FLY FM being a CHUM property, CHUM being the exclusive Canadian distributor of Premiere shows. Naaah, those probably aren't the reasons. I'll leave it to D'Arcy & Bob to answer why they put Leeza on weekends.
Digital radio OK in Ottawa
Wednesday, November 13, 2002 | Most of Ottawa's commercial radio stations were granted licences to open DAB rebroadcasters. The full list of affiliated stations is as follows: CHUM's Kool FM (CKKL-FM 93.9), CFRA (580), Team 1200 (CFGO), and Majic 100 (CJMJ-FM 100.3); Rogers' Oldies 1310 (CIWW), Y105 (CKBY-FM 105.3), and CHEZ 106.1; Standard's 106.9 The Bear (CKQB-FM); and a couple of French-language stations in Gatineau. Rogers, however, wasn't given approval to open a DAB rebroadcaster for 101.1 XFM (CIOX-FM Smiths Falls), due to technical limitations.
AM DX
Monday, November 11, 2002 | I know that these catches aren't as spectacular as those that avid DXers get, but early last night (about 5:30 pm ET), smaller AMs from western & central New York were coming in loud & clear, especially when night configs had only been in effect for about fifteen minutes. Among the new additions to my DX log are Rochester hot talker WHTK (1280), as well as Binghamton talkers WNBF (1290) and WYOS (1360). From Belleville, WHTK is usually pretty tough to pull in during the day with a regular receiver, due to Trenton's CJTN (1270), but it was there. For the record, WNBF was running Binghamton University Bearcats basketball, while WYOS was playing oldies music (blackout?). Also blasting in for a second time: Rochester talker WROC (950, formerly WBBF), Syracuse ESPN affiliate WNSS (1260), and their cross-town rival, WHEN (620).
For the news/talk buffs out there...
Sunday, November 10, 2002 | If you haven't already seen it, click this entry's title to check out a really good site by Rochester talker Alan Harris. He hosted the evening show on WHAM (1180) before taking over mornings at the new News Talk 950 WROC (formerly WBBF). There are plenty of photos, particularly some recent ones from the station's move to new digs. FYI, WROC's sister stations are oldies "93 BBF" (WBBF-FM 93.3 Fairport), retro The Buzz (WBZA-FM 98.9), and country WBEE (92.5).
Music overlap
Friday, November 8, 2002 | Here's something I haven't heard since my last year or two back home: frequent occurrences of songs being played at the same time on more than one station (not owned by the same companies). At home, it was Y92 (CKLY-FM 91.9 Lindsay) and what used to be called EZ Rock (CICX-FM 105.9 Orillia, now "Lite FM") that seemed to have similar playlists every now & again. Now, I've heard Belleville's OJ 95.5 FM (CJOJ) and Kingston's FLY FM (CFLY-FM 98.3) doing this a couple of times, most recently last night. It's most likely just a coincidence that these songs are popping up at the same time on two stations, but I heard a rumour some time ago that four or five Toronto stations all played a Snow song at almost exactly the same time. Ah, the radio paranormal... Art Bell would love it.
Automation problems
Thursday, November 7, 2002 | If you were listening to CJLX (92.3 Belleville) at around 11:00 last night, then you may have heard a screwup. The second hour of "The Art of the Musical Theatre" was supposed to air, but instead, my voicetracked midnight-3 show started running an hour early. I thought "that's odd" and fired off an e-mail to GM Greg Schatzmann. Seems the file that contains hour 2 of AOTMT is corrupt, so next time the show comes in, it'll be on a new file in the system.
Toronto pics now up
Monday, November 4, 2002 | My October 15th side trip through downtown Toronto is now online! Take a peek at the pics by clicking this entry's title.
The week in review
Friday, November 1, 2002 | It's been kind of a slow week in radio in general, other than my remotes with Bill Porter on CJLX, and today's announcement by the CRTC that three of CHUM's ex-Team stations (CJCH 920 Halifax, CKLC 1380 Kingston, and CFST 1290 Winnipeg) are applying to lower the level of Canadian content aired on those stations from 35% to 30%, based on the fact that there is little Cancon in the "all-time favourites" standards/AC/oldies mix that's been in place since the Team network's late-August demise. They have to comply with the regs, but can't exactly do so by burning out Anne Murray, Paul Anka & Gordon Lightfoot records every two hours.
OJ on the move
Wednesday, October 23, 2002 | Well at least their transmitter's on the move. Today, the CRTC approved an application by Starboard Communications Ltd. (ex-Belleville Radio Ltd.) to co-locate the transmitter site of OJ 95.5 FM (CJOJ-FM Belleville) with sister Q100 (CHCQ-FM 100.1) on the Seaway tower at Oak Lake, and decrease OJ's ERP to 42 kW, most likely still directional. FYI, OJ's current configuration is 50 kW ERP (100 kW peak) from the CBC site in Read, and there have been times when the signal would fade in & out on my digitally-tuned walkman. As soon as Industry Canada's databases are updated, I'll have the peak ERP (if OJ's signal remains directional)and antenna height for you.
A.M. in T.O.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002 | What better way to kill four hours waiting for a bus than to wander around downtown Toronto looking at anything radio or TV? To begin, people were lined up as early as 5:30 this morning to see a live performance by Our Lady Peace at the Yonge & Dundas storefront studio of 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM Brampton). The lineup stretched all the way down to Queen Street! Stay tuned for a pic. This morning's itinerary also included a glimpse of Q107's Hard Rock Cafe studio, as well as CHUM's radio digs on Yonge, and their television home, the ChumCity building, at Queen & John. Oh yeah, we can't forget the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, or the CN Tower! After all that, I need some rest.
Catching up on listening
Wednesday, October 9, 2002 | Thanksgiving weekend is upon us, and I'm headed out to Alliston this year. Not only will I be reuniting with the family & stuffing my belly, I'll hopefully be grabbing some airchecks, at least those of stations that don't stream online. These include: Star 107.5 (CKMB-FM Barrie), 105.9 LiteFM (CICX-FM Orillia), and Life 100.3 (CJLF-FM Barrie). I'll also stick a reception log on my Geocities page on Tuesday or Wednesday if you'd like to know what I pulled in with what kind of receiver.
Belleville - a seven-station market?
Friday, October 4, 2002 | Christian radio may soon be coming to the Quinte region. A licence app by United Christian Broadcasters Canada will be among the 18 items on the agenda at a CRTC hearing in St. John's, NF, on December 10. UCBC hopes to open up a commercial Christian contemporary station in Belleville on 102.3 FM with 45 kW ERP. Their website is definitely worth checking out, so click this entry's title to take a peek.
From the commish...
Thursday, October 3, 2002 | It's official... CHUM has filed an application to increase Y92's coverage area. CRTC Public Notice #2002-56 indicates that, if approved, Y92's ERP will more than double, to 29.3 kW, from a site somewhere in the vicinity of Devil's Elbow ski hill, southeast of Lindsay. Also, Trust Communications Ministries has applied to open a 500-watt station in Peterborough at 89.3 FM, rebroadcasting christian contemporary "Life 100.3" (CJLF-FM Barrie). Click this entry's title to see all the details of both apps.
Ch-ch-ch-changes at CHUM?
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 | During today's chat with CHUM Kawarthas OM Rick Ringer, I learned an awful lot about what I've missed since leaving Omemee more than a year ago. Firstly, Y92 (CKLY-FM 91.9 Lindsay) may be moving to a new transmitter site, if it's okay with the CRTC & Industry Canada. The proposed site, near Bethany, is said to be one of the highest points of land in the region, and will give Y92 much better coverage in the Peterborough area. No word on any power adjustments, though. FYI: Y92's current site is their old AM site, south of town on Highway 35. Secondly, in the next couple of months, they'll be ditching their five-year-old MediaTouch digital system for the Scott Studios SS32 system currently in use at CKPT & Country 105.
Back to Peterborough... for a couple of reasons
Monday, September 30, 2002 | Wednesday, I'm on my way up to Peterborough again... this time, though, it's all about radio. My first stop will be the CHUM duo (CKQM-FM 105.1, CKPT 1420), where I have chosen to do a "station visit" assignment for my Radio Biz class. I will also be talking to PD Rick Ringer about getting my internship set up ASAP, as opposed to people who procrastinate and end up going to Quinte Broadcasting. After that, I will be hitting Trent Radio (CFFF-FM 92.7) for an update on what I've missed since my co-op placement there in Fall 2000. For both of these visits, I may get photos on the Geocities site, if it's okay with everybody involved. Stay tuned!
New site and new Net connection
Wednesday, September 18, 2002 | Alas, my new Net connection is up and running at home, earlier than I thought! Updates to MacBlog will be more frequent now (assuming there's something to talk about). Also, another reason that additions to this page are becoming a little sparse is because I have been devoting a lot of my online time to putting together a site about the 2002-2003 second-year radio students at Loyalist College. So far, the biggest chunk of the site is the bios section, as well as a message board exclusively for us (students). Click this entry's title to check out the site so far. Again, it's a work in progress.
Q-Country out, Quinte's Best Country in
Thursday, September 12, 2002 | Contrary to my 9/11 radio turn-off vow, I did end up switching on the radio, albeit late last night. Although I only listened to the first five seconds of the BN Report, I did get a chance to hear the new imaging on CJBQ (800 Belleville), some of which was voiced by none other than recent Loyalist radio grad Jacquie Beckett! The "Q-Country" liners have been abandoned for "Quinte's Best Country"... probably changed in time for the ratings, making it clear that CJBQ and Q100 (CHCQ-FM 100.1) are two totally different stations, owned by different companies.
The net returns to Macblog HQ
Wednesday, September 11, 2002 | In case you haven't been here in a while, all entries have been archived. If you want to check those out, click on "MacBlog Archives", and pick the archived page from today "11_09_2002". Anyway, the big reason for this entry, though largely non-radio/TV, is to let you know that Net access is returning to my downtown pad within about two weeks. I have no need for a blazing fast connection, so Ma Bell set me up with her most basic DSL service: an always-on 128 kbps connection... all I need, considering my tiny 2 GB hard drive's too packed with stuff, and only has about 300 MB left. Well, there's always the production studios' CD burners if there's a song I hear on the radio and absolutely need to have ASAP. Back to the Net: if you'd like to chat in real-time, I'm usually available (after 6:00 pm ET) on ICQ at 134015860, and on MSN at baba_booey26@hotmail.com. Finally, a note to the webmasters at CHUM Radio: bring back the Windows Media feeds of all the stations! I miss being able to listen to stations like CFRA, Kool FM, and C100 online. Message from Shilo: don't yank The Team 990's feed, or he'll snap.
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