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RadioInsight.com Boards » Forum: Canada - Recent Topics http://radioinsight.com/boards/ RadioInsight Discussion Boards en Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:48:30 +0000 Joseph_Gallant on "Major Local News Cutbacks At "City" Stations" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18579#post-74822 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:16:38 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 74822@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ A major cutback in local news at the City stations has been announced, with major layoffs. The City stations in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver are completely out of the local news business, while the 12 Noon and 5 P.M. weekday newscasts on CITY-57 Toronto have been cut. There are also sopme layoffs in Winnipeg. Broadcaster Magazine story: <a href="http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000355114" rel="nofollow">http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000355114</a> . This is the latest in a major wave of cutbacks to hit television in Canada. Yeziknoradio on "Easy 101 (CKOT)" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18643#post-74960 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:26:03 +0000 Yeziknoradio 74960@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ Easy 101 (CKOT near London Ontario) has finally decided to get themselves a website and a "Listen live" feature. I thought that would never come to be! The internet came to be...when? They just launched a web site recently. As of today. ( :? or perhaps yesterday?) you can FINALLY listen to them online! Link: <a href="http://easy101.com/player.html" rel="nofollow">http://easy101.com/player.html</a> Mark David on "Two Montreal AM stations to go dark on January 29th" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18602#post-74869 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:28:32 +0000 Mark David 74869@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ Some breaking news out of my hometown of Montreal today. Two Corus AM stations, CINW (AM 940, Montreal's Greatest Hits) and CINF (Info 690) ceased regular programming this morning at 10 AM and began airing audio loops from their respective general managers annoucing the ends of both stations. The stations will be leaving the air for good as of 7 PM. They have been suffering in the ratings for a long time, and were no longer profitable to run. More information about the situation can be found here in an official press release from Corus: <a href="http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2010/29/c5055.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2010/29/c5055.html</a> It should also be noted that CINW was the first radio station in Canada. Here are the audio loops that were played on both stations (both about a minute long). CINW: <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?mmxmek14tjy" rel="nofollow">http://www.mediafire.com/?mmxmek14tjy</a> CINF (In French): <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?njt2mjfmojv" rel="nofollow">http://www.mediafire.com/?njt2mjfmojv</a> Joseph_Gallant on "NBC Late-Night Fallout And Impact On Canadian TV" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18561#post-74771 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:52:21 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 74771@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ The soap-opera that is NBC's late-night programming and who will get to host what show and when will impact television in Canada as well. Jay Leno's soon-to-be-cancelled prime-time variety/talk show has been seen on the City TV stations at 10 P.M. (meaning that in Toronto and Vancouver, they've been simulcast on City at the same time they've been seen on NBC stations over-the-border), while the Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon shows are currently seen on "A" (once known as "A-Channel") at 11:30 P.M. and 12:30 A.M. respectively. Again, in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, these are simulcasts with NBC's over-the-border stations. City will face the biggest problem with losing Leno, having to fill five prime-time hours a week. Given the state of Canadian television, Leno would probably have to be replaced with a simulcast of a U.S. network program. But which ones?? It will be interesting to see what City does. I believe CITY-57 in Toronto is the only City station that still has a decent-sized news department; if all the City stations still had comparable news departments, I could have seen them move their late local newscasts to 10 P.M., but that would place them in competition against CBC's "The National". Still, local news on CITY Toronto could be the best alternative for CITY in the 10 P.M. hour, and would probably draw far more viewers than "National" on CBC flagship CBLT-5; but might not do as well as entertainment programs on other stations, most notably CTV flagship CFTO-9. The solution outlined in the last paragraph would only solve the problem in Toronto, and not the other City markets. For "A", they could very well continue to simulcast NBC's late-night lineup from 11:30 P.M. onward, regardless of who hosts. Yeziknoradio on "BOOM!" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18540#post-74721 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:56:09 +0000 Yeziknoradio 74721@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ Yes that's right, EZ rock Toronto is no more and Boom 97.3 is up and running as Toronto's Greatest hits. What a dead board. This all happend December 26, 2009. Down the dial there's also similar formatted Vinyl 95.3, which until recently was a counrty format. The two stations do have their differences though. Vinyl 95.3 concentrates mainly on 70's rock/variety while Boom concentrates heavily on 80's pop/rock music. Joseph_Gallant on "Canwest/Global Declares Bankruptcy" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18240#post-73850 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:31:39 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 73850@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ Time has run out on Canwest/Global, parent of (among other things), the Global TV Network. After numerous extensions of a bankrutcy deadline over many months, the company has findeed entered bankruptcy. According to a Toronto Star story (<a href="http://www.thestar.ca/business/companies/canwest/article/706530--canwest-empire-crumbles" rel="nofollow">http://www.thestar.ca/business/companies/canwest/article/706530--canwest-empire-crumbles</a> ), some of Canwest's companies (like the Ottawa Citzen and Vancouver Sun newpapers and the speciality TV channels acquired two years ago from Alliance Atlantis) are not part of the assets under bankruptcy. The Global TV Network, the National Post newspaper, and several cable channels are under bankruptcy protection. Canwest/Global of course has taken on enormous, many would say, unstainmable (even in the best of economic times) debt. And while the company hopes to be able to shed most of that debt, there probably will be a lot of talk from people (included some among those Canadians who are members of the Radio Insight.com family) as to whether this will succeed. Given the bargain-basement prices of recent TV station sales in Canada, I would think the total value of the Global stations may be less than $1,000 Canadian! Had the CRTC permitted majority U.S. ownership of Canadian broadcasters, I could have seen several U.S. firms bid to purchase the Global network and it's O&O stations. What now?? Joseph_Gallant on "After Almost 55 Years, Brandon's CKX-5 To Sign-Off" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18228#post-73829 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:58:47 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 73829@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ After two deals to buy the station for $1 fell through (the most recent yesterday, October 1st), Brandon, Manitoba's CKX-5 is going off-the-air. The final program will be the 6 P.M. local newscast this evening (October 2nd). Bropadcaster Magazine story: <a href="http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000342787" rel="nofollow">http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000342787</a> . The homepage (<a href="http://www.ckxtv.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.ckxtv.com</a>) today has a sad but very appropriate poll: What show seen on CKX was of most interest through the years?? The choices were: (1) The Noon newscast; (2) The 6 P.M. newscast; (3) "The Prairie Farm Report" (an agricultural program), or, (4) "Hockey Night In Canada" (carried through CKX's affiliation with the CBC) The "Schedule" section of the website had programs listed for broadcast through October 9th. Joseph_Gallant on "The New CHCH" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18208#post-73786 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:26:57 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 73786@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ It's been a few weeks since Hamilton's CHCH-11 adopted a new programming format: News from 5 A.M. to 7 P.M. ET and 11 P.M.-12 Midnight weekdays (mornings and 6-7 P.M. on weekends), with movies the rest of the time. I'm making a request of those in the Hamilton/Toronto/Niagara Falls/Buffalo area who are able to watch CHCH: What do you think of these changes implemented by new station owner Channel Zero, and have you heard whether the station is getting more viewers as a result?? Personally, I think something bigger might happen to CHCH's fortunes should the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes move to Hamilton: Should that happen, don't be surprised if the team (Hamilton Cougars??) gets some broadcasts on CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada", with CHCH picking-up HNIC's telecasts of Hamilton's Saturday-night games that are played at the same time that the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing on CBC flagship CBLT-5. And CHCH might also end-up locally broadcasting some midweek games of the relocated team as well. Those games would probably become CHCH's top-rated programs, and should Hamilton fare better than the Leafs in the standings, those broadcasts might make a ratings impact in the entire Toronto market. But that might not happen until the Fall of 2010 as it appears that the team will stay in Phoenix for the entire 2009/2010 season, even if it gets sold to Jim Basille, the man who wants to move the club to Hamilton. Joseph_Gallant on "Down To The Wire For Victoria's CHEK-6" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/18136#post-73650 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:07:57 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 73650@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ At this writing (Friday afternoon, September 4th), we may be a short time away from learning the fate of Victoria's CHEK-6. A Broadcaster Magazine report (<a href="http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000339941" rel="nofollow">http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000339941</a>) indicates that the station will stay on the air through at least late this evening with local news broadcast as usual. A group of employees is trying to raise money to purchase the station which would then make it an employee-owned company. Joseph_Gallant on "CTV/Globemedia To Keep "A" Windsor On The Air" http://radioinsight.com/boards/topic/17952#post-73241 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:38:51 +0000 Joseph_Gallant 73241@http://radioinsight.com/boards/ CTV/Globemedia has announced that in the wake of Monday's (July 6th) decision by the CRTC to "enhance" the Local Improvement Programming Fund (LIPF) for the 2009/2010 TV season, the company's "A" outlet in Windsor, CHWI, will remain on the air until the scheduled end of it's current license term in August of 2010. Previously, it had been threatened with being shut down this August 31st, a full year before the license was to expire. The company is also seeking CRTC permission to convert CKNX Wingham to a 24/7 simulcast of CFPL London, and has also announced that it will "review it's options" concerning CKX in Brandon, which is oddly enough a CBC affiliate. Broadcaster Magazine article: <a href="http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000333727" rel="nofollow">http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000333727</a> . My take: This gives them time to try to make a deal to sell these stations.