The Greatest Radio Stunt Ever

My personal favorite radio stunt in recent years was last August. Lauren Hunter, p.m. driver of Rogers’ Alternative CHDI (Sonic 102.9) Edmonton, Alberta’s running bit about designating an official “Nathan Fillion Civilian Pavillion” finally paid off with the temporary renaming of City Hall. I already liked Sonic as part of Canada’s more robust Alternative format, where rock and pop played together and somehow seemed far more purposeful than its American counterpart.

When Top 40 CKKS (Kiss Radio) Vancouver began stunting yesterday (June 29) with Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” in preparation for a segue to Alternative and the Sonic brand, I didn’t think much about it, except to note that Rogers was flipping in a market that already has both CFOX and CKPK (the Peak). Pattison-owned CKPK is rumored to be picking up the group’s successful “Join the Conversation” phone-based format at some point, but for now we have a market with three alt-rockers, something else unimaginable in the U.S.

But then there was this tweet thread, whose author did not initially seem familiar with the customs of radio stunting:

A soft-rock station in Vancouver has been playing "Killing In the Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine for hours on a loop.

Whenever someone calls in for a request, they deny it and replay the Rage song again. https://t.co/r2yhK0qTSi

— Tracey Lindeman ???????? (@traceylindeman) June 29, 2022

Eventually, the thread’s author wrote an article for The Guardian. Rolling Stone published a story, too. From its initial tweet, the publication seemed to regard the stunt as an internal protest in support of the CHR morning show that had been laid off to make room for the new format.

Vancouver’s @kissradiohits has not stopped playing Rage Against the Machine’s song “Killing in the Name” after two beloved morning show DJs were laid off on Tuesday. https://t.co/yCL4I2s2lL

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) June 30, 2022

Then I got this tweet from an industry reader.

@RossOnRadio You definitely have to do a story about that Vancouver station, because it's obviously the most covered radio stunt in modern history. The amount of coverage that thinks it's a legit "protest" is stunning to me.

— Steve Reynolds (@reynoldstop20) June 30, 2022

But by that time, I’d already come to the realization that the most traditional of format launch stunts was getting international press coverage, and doing so at a time when broadcast radio finds it harder to generate attention. I do now have to recognize Sonic’s launch as the greatest radio stunt ever—or at least for this year. (That it worked so well even eight years ago was a surprise at the time for Radioinsight’s Lance Venta.)

Rage Against the Machine on repeat at @kissradiohits Vancouver is now an international news story. (@RollingStone too.) We think listeners don't notice a radio stunt. We think everybody has heard this one before. And yet… https://t.co/Izqd3LilqP

— Sean Ross (@RossOnRadio) June 30, 2022

It’s worth noting that Kiss, even as the market’s No. 2 CHR, was still a 4-share radio station (putting it ahead of some American CHRs that have the market to themselves). Also, in our current summer of rage, the choice of song was an inkblot in which listeners and social media could see what they chose. And because the consumer press rarely covers radio these days, even familiar stunts don’t sound familiar to an outsider. Morning host Angela Valiant is already on the air, but she probably could have lived on a billboard that said “I want a job on Sonic” and kept a good thing going.

(UPDATE: A few days after this article was published, veteran Chicago media writer Robert Feder announced the end of his daily column. While it’s true, as some noted afterward, that there are fewer consumer press people devoted to covering radio, there are plenty who currently tweets and other social media postings as news. The Sonic stunt was perfect for that, plus it drew journalists who were unlikely to recognize it as a stunt as Feder would have.)

Also, in anticipation of Sonic’s launch, I took a listen to both “the world famous CFOX” and “The Peak.”

Corus’ CFOX has a similar market profile to WWDC (DC101) Washington, D.C., a heritage rocker that made the segue to Alternative. The first break I heard from afternoon hosts Tyler & Lynch took a (coincidental?) shot at Edmonton, mocking the city for having to hire lifeguards to protect people cavorting in the city’s public fountain. There was also a “sing the next lyric” contest in which the winner belted “Total Eclipse of the Heart” out loud at a mall.

Here’s CFOX at 4 p.m. on June 29:

• Black Keys, “Tighten Up”
• Nirvana, “Come As You Are”
• Beaches, “T-Shirt” (Canadian)
• Interrupters, “In The Mirror” (two female leads vocals in a row are happily unusual in Canada)
• Tragically Hip, “Poets” (Canadian)
• Beastie Boys, “Sabotage”
• Sheepdogs, “Rock & Roll (Ain’t No Simple Thing)” (Canadian)
• Stone Temple Pilots, “Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart”
• Mumford & Sons, “Little Lion Man”
• Anyway Gang, “Reckless Reckless” (Canadian)

“Alternative Vancouver” The Peak evolved from Triple-A a decade ago. Like Pattison stations in other formats, there are already elements of the “Join the Conversation” format as heard on its Now-FM Edmonton and Today Radio stations in Calgary and Winnipeg. Afternoon host Emily talked about the R-rated graphic tee she had once worn to school without understanding its meaning, and solicited texts from listeners with similar stories. 

The Peak was preparing for Canada Day and its “Alt Rewind Long Weekend” which promised not just your favorites but a chance to “discover songs you’ve maybe never heard of.” (That particular sell would have been unimaginable in a pre-streaming era when Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” would still be consigned to its own decade.) Here’s the Peak at 4 p.m.

• Wheatus, “Teenage Dirtbag”
• Sloan, “If It Feels Good, Do It” (Canadian)
• No Doubt, “Sunday Morning”
• Milky Chance, “Synchronize’
• Lorde, “Team”
• Beaches, “Lame” (Canadian)
• Marcy Playground, “Sex and Candy”
• Florence + the Machine, “My Love”
• Metric, “All Comes Crashing” (Canadian)
• Fitz & Tantrums, “Sway”—staged as a “check this out” cut with listener texts solicited as “your chance to help [MD] Jason [Manning] and the music team.”
• Arkells, “Come to Light” (Canadian)

I also went back to Edmonton’s Sonic and heard Hunter again. She had a caller who was able to name all 23 Canadian Prime Ministers from memory (although not in order). Another reminder of how Canadian radio is different:  Sonic is celebrating Canada Day with a weekend of ticket giveaways for multiple Canadian rock acts. I’ve written before about Canada’s robust homegrown rock scene. When I designate Cancon in these music monitors, it’s not just to explain songs you might not know, it’s mostly a list of recommendations.

This morning (June 30), the new Sonic Vancouver launched at 6 a.m. Details are here, but here’s the station at 7 a.m. with  Valiant, part of a full-staff being unveiled with the launch. The morning show also had a newscast (“Sonic 360”) and two concert calendar segments:

• Black Keys, “Wild Child”
• July Talk, “Picturing Love” (Canadian)
• Blink-182, “First Date”
• Alexisonfire, “Sans Soleil” (Canadian)
• White Town, “Your Woman”
• Modest Mouse, “We Are Between”
• Audioslave, “Cochise”
• Florence + the Machine, “My Love”
• USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker), “Who’s with Me” (Canadian)
• Eminem, “Lose Yourself”
• Interrupters, “In the Mirror” (with a new music discovery stager)