Radio & Podcast News – Cogeco pulls Michael Jackson from radio station playlists

Cogeco has pulled Michael Jackson from its radio station playlists, including Montreal stations Rythme FM (CFGL-FM), 96.9 CKOI-FM and The Beat 92.6 (CKBE-FM), following the airing of controversial HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. The two-part documentary, which made its television premiere Sunday and Monday night, features two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused by the pop star as children. “We are attentive to the comments of our listeners, and the documentary released on Sunday evening created reactions,” said Christine Dicaire, Cogeco’s director of marketing and communications, in an emailed statement provided to Broadcast Dialogue. “We prefer to observe the situation by removing the songs from our stations, for the time being.” Thus far, no other Canadian media networks have followed Cogeco’s lead. Cogeco owns a total of 23 radio stations in Quebec and Ontario. Read the full story here.

Billy Talent frontman Ben Kowalewicz and CBC Music’s Julie Nesrallah will co-host the JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards, presented by SOCAN, on Mar. 16. The event will be live streamed starting at 6 p.m. ET on cbcmusic.ca/junos, CBC Gem and CBC Music’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. This year’s special achievement award recipients will be among those recognized, including David Foster, Humanitarian of the Year; Duff Roman, winner of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award; and Kim Hastings, 2019 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year. The evening will also feature live performances from 2019 JUNO Award nominees Dizzy, Donovan Woods, Exco Levi, Hubert Lenoir, and 2018/19 Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class winners Port Cities.

Flow 93-5 (CFXJ-FM) Toronto hosted its Second Annual All Day Made in Toronto Takeover on Wednesday, coinciding with Toronto’s 185th birthday. The first annual Made in Toronto Takeover made history with more than 2,000 song submissions and 234 Toronto artists played between 6 a.m. and midnight. That spawned the Daily Made In Toronto Takeover, which airs Sunday through Thursday from 11 p.m. to midnight, hosted by Ricochet.

The CRTC has posted upwards of 130 radio licence renewal applications, in addition to several specialty and pay-per-view television channels. With some exceptions, most have at least one apparent instance of non-compliance.

SiriusXM Canada has debuted more than 100 new Xtra channels, many a mash up of existing offerings, including three new 80s channels – 80s on 8 Top 100, 80s on 8 Workout and 80s on 8 Party. A Discovery category also features new channels from the tastemaking programmers behind SiriusXM Hits 1, The Highway, Alt Nation, and The Heat. Available exclusively to SiriusXM All Access and SiriusXM Premier Streaming subscribers – as well as trialers – the Xtra channels also feature skip-ahead functionality.

Crime Beat, a new series from Corus Entertainment’s Curiouscast podcast network, takes listeners on a journey inside some of Alberta’s most high-profile cases. Hosted by Global Calgary crime reporter Nancy Hixt, the podcast premiered Mar. 5, with the first episode exploring the 2011 death of six-year-old Meika Jordan.

Virgin Radio (CKMM-FM) Winnipeg host Ace Burpee will host new series Tailor and the Jets for Bell MTS’ Fibe TV1, starting Mar. 14, featuring Ace engaging with Winnipeg Jets players during their personal suit fittings at Vittorio Rossi Clothiers. The series promises stories from players touching on everything from personal style to life on the road. Fibe TV subscribers will have on-demand access to a new episode of Tailor and the Jets each week.

Erin Davis’ book Mourning Has Broken: Love, Loss and Reclaiming Joy has been well-received, sitting at the #3 spot in Canadian non-fiction on the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star bestseller lists. It’s now on backorder through Amazon.ca until April. Released on Feb. 26, the book takes the reader through the former CHFI Toronto host’s  grieving process after the sudden death of her daughter Lauren, 24, a former CFRA Ottawa news anchor. It also includes many anecdotes from Davis’ broadcasting career.

Jack 92.9 (CFLT-FM) Halifax morning show personalities Griff & Caroline raised $20,400 for the Nova Scotia SPCA on Mar. 1. Their Gimme Shelter campaign saw the duo spend 13 hours “locked in for love” behind a makeshift cage at Dartmouth’s Mic Mac Mall.

Rosalie Award nominations are open, recognizing Canadian women who have blazed new trails in radio. Rosalie Award recipients are selected based on career success, leadership qualities, entrepreneurial spirit, spirit of generosity and mentorship. Last year’s recipient was radio personality Maureen Holloway. Link to the nomination form here.

The Allan Waters Young Broadcaster of the Year Award in Honour of Steve Young, recognizing outstanding young broadcasters, is open for nominations until Mar. 11. Awarded at Canadian Music Week in May, the winning recipient’s travel, accommodation and registration are covered. Anyone working in the industry can nominate any worthy broadcaster so long as they are under the age of 30 as of Apr. 19, 2019; work on-air or in programming, promotion, production or creative; are a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant; and have made a significant, documented contribution to the community they serve, the radio industry or their craft. Click here to access the submission form.

Numeris has released the latest PPM radio ratings for Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, covering the 13-week period from Nov. 26, 2018 to Feb. 24, 2019. Here’s a look at the five PPM markets, courtesy Broadcast Dialogue contributor David Bray of Bray & Partners Communications.

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