RADIO/AUDIO/PODCAST:
CBC Radio says q will have a tighter focus on arts, entertainment and music when it relaunches next week. Under new host Tom Power, the show will include both long and shorter interviews, new contributors and more music. Power was named new host in August, replacing rapper Shad. Power officially takes over on Oct. 24.
John Badham of Extra 90.5 FM (CJMB-FM) Peterborough is being awarded Sports Media Canada’s Career Achievement Award on Nov. 10 in Toronto. Badham, 79, started at age 20 by broadcasting Weyburn Beavers senior hockey team games. In 1959 he began a decade of calling Saskatchewan Roughriders football games. He went on to call CFL games for 22 years for various teams. Badham worked for Corus Peterborough stations Kruz FM (CKRU-FM) and 101.5 The Wolf (CKWF-FM) until a brief retirement. In 2013, he joined Extra 90.5 FM where he co-hosts the daily show The Regulars.
Stingray Digital Group is teaming up with EuroArts in their first content distribution partnership. The deal allows Stingray to grow its classic music offerings to include 600 hours of concerts and documentaries. The long term partnership gives Stingray worldwide rights to EuroArts’ back catalogue as well as an option to purchase all future content.
The CRTC has dismissed a complaint by a number of Montreal stations against CKIN-FM. In 2007, Hellenic Radio applied for a licence, promising multilingual and multicultural programming with an emphasis on South Asian communities. After Neeti P. Ray acquired the station in 2015 it was alleged that the programming became largely focused on the city’s Arabic-speaking community and in non-compliance. The CRTC disagreed but indicates it will examine the station’s programming as part of the next licence renewal.
The CRTC has ruled the Sudbury, ON radio market cannot sustain more commercial stations at this time. The decision comes as Larche Communications Inc. filed an application to launch a 50,000 watt FM station. The Commission will return the Larche application and will not entertain others for the next two years.
The CRTC has approved a First Nations radio station for the Campbell River, BC area. Aupe Cultural Enhancement Society filed the application in March, promising 126 hours of local weekly programming with a minimum of six hours in the K’omoks language, 10 per cent of its music to be performed or composed by Aboriginal artists, and a $3,000 annual contribution to a scholarship for local Aboriginal students pursuing broadcast or journalism programs in Canada. The station must be on the air by October 2018.
Newcap has applied to the CRTC to replace its AM rebroadcaster for CFGN in Port aux Basques, NL with an FM transmitter. CFGN rebroadcasts the signal of CFSX Stephenville.
CHKT-AM 1430 Toronto held a radiothon on Oct. 6 that raised $280,173 for SickKids Hospital for Sick Children. Fairchild Radio Toronto has raised over $1.7 million since 2007.
105.3 The Fox (CFXY-FM) in Fredericton, NB raised $5,000 for a local hospital with a weekend of Pay for Play. For 50 hours over the weekend of Oct. 15-16 the station charged listeners for requests. The money goes to the Everett Chalmers Hospital pediatric unit.
Scarborough Campus Community Radio station Fusion Radio will get its funding for a move to terrestrial radio thanks to UofT students who approved raising the station’s levy by eight dollars a head. The funds will be used for renovations, marketing and promotions.
boom 97.3 (CHBM-FM) Toronto has launched a personalized interactive online tool that allows listeners create a song list that reflects keys moments in their lives. “Mixtape of You” starts with questions like “When was your first kiss?”. The tool produces a song list, which can be previewed or heard in its entirety via Spotify. See it here.
NextRadio polled 40,000 of its listeners regarding the US election. The in-app survey revealed that formats with the highest percentage of listeners expecting to vote are News/Talk (74%), Sports (56%), R&B (56%) and Soft R&B (55%). Formats with the highest percentage of people who said they didn’t plan to vote were Top 40 (46%), Country (41%), Spanish Music (39%), Adult Hits (37%) and Hip Hop (37%). Read the entire report at RAB here.
