CKNW 980 AM Vancouver will air a 75th Anniversary broadcast on Aug. 15, live on location from New Westminster where the station first went to air Aug. 15, 1944 at its original frequency of 1230 AM. Now one of the Corus Radio network’s flagship newstalk outlets, CKNW started as Vancouver’s first country music station and was the first in the region to air hourly newscasts. It was also the first station in B.C. to broadcast 24 hours a day, starting in 1947. CKNW will be live on location at New Westminster’s Anvil Centre on Aug. 15, while a 75th Birthday Luncheon will be held Aug. 12 at the Terminal City Club in Vancouver.
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has released the list of nominees for its Radio awards. Nominated for Music Director of the Year (Large Market) are Steph Hansen – CISN-FM/CKRY-FM Edmonton/Calgary; A.J. Keller – CFCW – Edmonton; Amanda Kingsland – CKBY-FM – Ottawa; Rebecca Lafrance – CKKL-FM – Ottawa; and Peter Walker – CJKX-FM/CHKX-FM – Oshawa/Hamilton. Nominess for Music Director of the Year (Medium or Small Market include Shilo Bellis – CJXL-FM – Moncton; Paul Ferguson – CHCQ-FM – Belleville, ON; Luca James – CKGY-FM – Red Deer; and Cory Noel – CKLJ/CKVG – Olds/Vegreville, AB. The nominees for Country Music Program or Special of the Year are CBC q Live At The Grand Ole Opry – CBCq; The Dungarees Christmas Special – Rogers Media and The Dungarees; Girl Power Hour – Rogers Media; Jess Moskaluke’s A Small Town Christmas – MDM Recordings Inc.; and Paul McGuire’s Country Countdown – ole TV.
Dufferin Communications has applied to the CRTC to swap formats on its Brantford, ON stations CKPC 1380 and Arise Brantford 93.9 (CFWC-FM). The less music intense Christian format would move to the AM side, while CKPC’s country station would go FM. Dufferin is also looking to boost CFWC-FM’s signal from 250 watts to 3,000 max ERP.
Radio Cité 97,9 (CFED-FM) Edmonton, the city’s French-language community station, has applied to increase its signal from 190W to 295W, and raise its antenna height. The station says the move would increase its coverage audience by 50% and potentially result in a tenfold boost to its advertising revenue.
The CRTC has approved Golden West Broadcasting’s $1.6 million sale of 99.5 Drum FM (CHOO-FM) Drumheller, AB to Stingray Radio. Stingray owns the only other commercial station in the market – Real Country 910 (CKDQ-AM) – and says the transaction will allow the company to find synergies in shared studios, production and backroom systems.
The CRTC has approved Stingray’s proposed conversion of CHCM 740 AM Marystown, NL from AM To FM. The new FM station will operate at 88.3 MHz (channel 202C1) with an effective radiated power of 59,300 watts. It will maintain the classic hits format currently offered on the AM station.
Dave Wheeler, the former morning man at 92 CITI FM Winnipeg, who was fired last summer after comments that offended the transgender community, has announced he’ll be running in Manitoba’s upcoming provincial election. Wheeler is running as an independent in the newly-created riding of McPhillips in northwest Winnipeg.
Huddle has entered into a strategic partnership with Acadia Broadcasting Limited, which owns and operates 15 radio stations across the Maritimes and Ontario. Under the partnership, both companies will explore content sharing opportunities to provide local news to the Maritimes. Huddle founder Allan Gates says Acadia is a logica strategic partner with both companies committed to local news coverage outside a paywall. Acadia owns radio stations in Saint John, Moncton and St. Stephen, NB; Bridgewater, Yarmouth and Port Hawkesbury, NS; and Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora and Fort Frances, ON.
Martin Streek is the subject of a documentary in production helmed by Orillia-based post-production editor Wil Dunlop. Dunlop first met Streek in the late ’90s, while hustling for music video production work outside CFNY’s former street level studios at 228 Yonge Street. Dunlop says the history of CFNY will play prominently in the documentary, looking at its evolution through Streek’s eyes, who joined the station as a volunteer in his last year of high school and was initially part of its travelling video road show before getting a shot on-air when he took over the Club 102 Saturday night show in 1992 from Chris Sheppard. Dunlop says the last part of the documentary will touch on the period from 2005, up until 2009 when Streek took his own life, two months after getting let go from the station after a 25-year run with CFNY. He expects to finish production on the doc, entitled “Keep it Locked & Cranked” – one of Streek’s catch phrases, next year. Dunlop has put out a call for any visuals or audio that fans or former colleagues may have, like tapes of old shows, airchecks, video road show footage, or photos from the club nights Streek hosted over the years. He can be contacted at mstreekdoc@gmail.com. Read more here.
Viewpoints with Todd van der Heyden is being introduced to more markets. Bell Media Radio is expanding the three-hour current affairs show’s reach into the Toronto market, now broadcasting Saturday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on Newstalk 1010 (CFRB-AM). The show will also be heard on Stingray station Radio NL (CHNL-AM) Kamloops, BC. Hosted by CTV News Channel anchor Todd van der Heyden, the show now reaches nine markets across the country and is also available as a podcast.
Canadaland podcast Thunder Bay is being developed into a TV series. The true crime podcast, which explores the Northern Ontario community’s high hate crime and homicide rates, will be co-produced by Northwood Entertainment – the production company behind Anne With an E, among other series. Podcaster/writer Ryan McMahon and Canadaland publisher Jesse Brown will also serve as co-producers.
The myFM (CKYM-FM) Napanee, ON morning show golfed sunrise to sunset on July 3 to raise funds for the Hospice Lennox and Addington. Jamie Cybulski, along with Town Councillor Dave Pinnell Jr., tee’d off at 5 a.m. and made their final putt at 9:15 p.m., finishing off a personal best 206 holes of golf in one day at the Napanee Golf Course. The event raised $6.500, bringing its eight-year total to $40,000.
106.9 The Spirit of Dawson (CFYT-FM), the community radio station in Dawson City, Yukon, held its annual Radiothon this month raising $5,500. The station has found success taking pledges during the day long event in exchange to hear a request, however pledges are also taken by those who wish to pay to get a song to stop playing, resulting in some friendly community rivalry.
On Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, a couple of new Canadian internet radio stations are exploring the question of what radio would look like if it were invented after the internet? Maple Music Cafe – launched this past New Year’s Eve by Toronto music industry veteran Joey Cee, and OkanaganValleyRadio.com – helmed by former Vancouver area station owner and host Allan Holender.
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