The Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards nominations are out with voting open as of Mar. 28. Industry members can register to vote here. The awards will be handed out on May 10, during Canadian Music Week in Toronto.
Attraction Radio, which owns 15 radio stations in Quebec, is being sold to its own vice-president Sylvain Chamberland. Attaction’s founder Richard Speer recruited Chamberland in 2011 to help develop the radio network. The sale is subject to approval by the CRTC.
CJYR-AM Edson is celebrating 50 years of broadcasting. On Apr. 4, 1968 Yellowhead Broadcasting opened up the microphone and the voice of morning-man Wax Williams was heard for the first time on frequency 970, soon to be known as YR Radio. In due time, re-broadcasting transmitters were established in Hinton, Jasper, Grande Cache and Whitecourt. Today, “Real Country West” is owned and operated by Newcap Radio.
Tuff City Radio (CHMZ-FM) Tofino remains off the air. Station manager Cam Dennison issued a statement to Tofino business owners last week informing them that licence holder McBride Communications had failed to pay CBC for use of tower space, which resulted in transmission being cut off on Feb. 15. Dennison says he’s currently trying to purchase the licence and that of sister station Ukee Radio (CIMM-FM) Ucluelet, which is unaffected by the issue, from Matthew McBride.
The CRTC is accepting comments until Apr. 26 on several broadcasting applications including Newcap’s bid to purchase New Glasgow stations CKEC-FM and CKEZ-FM from Hector Broadcasting. Rogers Media is also looking to acquire CJCY-FM Medicine Hat from Clear Sky Radio, while International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association seeks to establish Christian stations in Saskatoon and Kelowna.
LIFE 100.3 (CJLF-FM) Barrie’s annual Sharathon fundraiser Mar. 21-22 finished with a combined total of $4,167 in new monthly pledges (104 per cent of the station’s $4,000 goal) and $149,699 in one-time donations, provided by over 800 donors. LIFE 100.3 has repeater stations in Owen Sound at 90.1 FM, Peterborough at 89.3 FM and Huntsville at 98.9 FM.
SiriusXM Canada has announced the launch of LL COOL J’s new SiriusXM classic Hip-Hop channel dubbed LL COOL J’s “Rock the Bells Radio.” The channel will feature a wide range of classic hip-hop content, music, interviews and retrospectives curated and presented by LL, as well as other hip-hop innovators like Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Snoop Dogg, Outkast, Kool Moe Dee, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC, De La Soul and others. Rock the Bells Radio aims to bring audiences classic Hip-Hop through the lens of current culture and music.
