iHeartMedia Inc. which owns 858 radio stations in the U.S., has filed for bankruptcy so it can restructure its debt, striking more than $10 billion from its balance sheet. Liberty Media Corp. is proposing acquiring a 40 per cent stake in the company for 1.15 billion. The move will not affect Bell Media’s use of the iHeartRadio brand in Canada. Other radio executives say the bankruptcy does not reflect on the medium. Entercom CEO David Field wrote an open letter to staff saying “radio is strong and ‘iHeart and Cumulus went bankrupt because years ago prior management teams made ill-advised decisions to place too much debt on their companies. Period, full stop.” Field further stated that radio is currently the top reaching medium in the U.S. with Americans listening to 13x more radio than all streaming services combined (source: Edison Media Research – Share of Ear study).
The CRTC has denied Evanov Radio’s application to increase the power of low-power Toronto station CIRR-FM, while decreasing power of CIDC-FM Orangeville. ISED determined the application was technically unacceptable.
The CRTC has denied Sirius XM Canada’s proposal to create a new fund for its discretionary tangible benefits. Instead of directing $4.79 in discretionary tangible benefits to the Broadcast Participation Fund (BPF), Sirius proposed allocating $1 million to the BPF and the rest to the newly-created SiriusXM Amp’d Fund/Fond Survolté. The CRTC decision directs Sirius to pay $596,666 to the BPF over five years and contribute $1,596,667 to FACTOR and $1,596,667 to MUSICACTION, to be expended in equal amounts over seven consecutive broadcast years.
89.5 the Lake (CJRL-FM) Kenora is celebrating 80 years of broadcasting. The station launched on April 1, 1938 as CKCA-AM from studios located in the Tourist Hotel, which later became known as the Kenricia Hotel. In 1943, Kenora Broadcasting Company Limited changed the call letters to CJRL. The station was known as 1220 CJRL until 2004 when it was converted to 89.5 MIX-FM by Fawcett Broadcasting. On June 30, 2011, MIX-FM was rebranded as 89.5 the Lake to honour the community’s connection with Lake of the Woods. The station will mark the anniversary with an All 80’s Music Weekend, Mar. 31- Apr. 1, with community members, former announcers and employees providing on-air birthday greetings.
Pop 107.7 “The Classic You Want To Hear” is gaining attention in Cape Breton. Founded by Adam MacLean, 15, who hails from New Waterford, NS, the online station has already found sponsorship and done on location remotes. Find it at thepop1077.com.
106.7 Rock (CJRX-FM) Lethbridge has launched the Roots of Rock podcast hosted by Shawn Tompkins. The series traces the history and influences of featured bands and draws from content from Rogers Radio rock stations.
iHeartRadio Canada has announced the lineup for the annual iHeartRadio FanFest, taking place May 11 at REBEL Nightclub in Toronto. In conjunction with Canadian Music Week (CMW), iHeartRadio FanFest will feature performances from Allie X, Belly, DVBBS, Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine (The Launch), French Montana, Marianas Trench, Ria Mae, Shawn Hook, and Tyler Shaw. Tickets go on sale Friday.
A U.S. study by Westwood One and Nielsen Catalina Solutions has found that radio advertising delivered $12 in sales for every $1 spent on advertising. The study calibrated consumer purchase data from 90 million households with retail sales data and Nielsen radio ratings data to understand the influence on consumer behaviour. Heavy category users were most responsive to radio ads, driving an eight per cent lift in sales. Conducted with people 18+, the research examined purchase habits after being exposed to radio versus no exposure at all.
CBC will launch Music Day On CBC on Mar. 25, an all-day celebration of Canadian music across all platforms leading up to the live broadcast of the 2018 JUNO Awards. Featuring special programming across television, radio and online, Music Day will become an annual event and is part of CBC Music’s JUNO 365 content, which will spotlight homegrown music year-round. Music Day will culminate with the first-ever live broadcast of the JUNO Awards in all time zones across the country, starting at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on CBC. In another first, the awards will also be broadcast on both CBC Radio networks and livestream globally at cbcmusic.ca/junos.
CBC Music Festival returns to RBC Echo Beach in Toronto for its sixth year on May 26. The largest, all-Canadian music festival will include headliner July Talk, along with A Tribe Called Red, Charlotte Day Wilson, The Rural Alberta Advantage and Northern Touch All-Stars, among others. CBC Music Festival will stream the event live on cbcmusic.ca and via CBC Music’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
Benztown has announced its seventh annual Iron Imager Contest. Audio producers from around the world are invited to compete for the title of World’s Best Imager. Deadline for submissions is Monday, April 2 at 12 p.m. PT. Radio imaging, production, and programming pros aged 18 and older can apply here.
