Quebecor has announced the launch of new digital platform QUB radio that will feature live radio shows as well as a podcast library, with a focus on public affairs. It will be available online at qub.radio, as well as the Journal de Montréal, Journal de Québec and TVA Nouvelles websites – and through the QUB radio, TVA Nouvelles and J5 apps. Listeners can also tune in via platforms like TuneIn and MyTuner Canada. Quebecor has recruited Quebec media personalities including Mario Dumont, Benoit Dutrizac, Richard Martineau and Sophie Durocher back to the airwaves, along with new voices like Bianca Longpré, Geneviève Pettersen and Vanessa Destiné. The platform’s podcast offerings will include on-demand streaming of QUB radio shows, interviews and program highlights, as well as a dozen original podcasts including several from Quebec production companies Magnéto and Transistor Media.
The Google Podcasts creator program, which aims to train underrepresented voices, is now officially open to applications. Google has partnered with PRX, a public radio distribution marketplace behind shows like This American Life, Reveal and The Moth Radio Hour, which will lead and manage the program focused on three main pillars: empowering and training underrepresented voices through an accelerator program, educating a global community with free tools, and showcasing participants’ work as a model for others. PRX, alongside a global advisory committee, will select teams to receive mentorship, seed funding, and intensive 20-week training, starting in Jan. 2019. Applications will be accepted from around the globe. Read more here.
Corus’ Curiouscast podcast network has added Canadian true crime podcast Dark Poutine to its lineup. Dark Poutine joins recently-added network offerings Nighttime, a true crime podcast based out of Halifax; Global News’ podcasts This Is Why and When Life Gives You Parkinson’s and The Ongoing History of New Music.
Rob Steele
Newcap Radio chairman Rob Steele, who also serves as CEO of Steele Auto Group, is this year’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Atlantic winner. Since Steele assumed the role of president of Newfoundland Capital Corp. in 2002, the business has grown from eight broadcast licences to more than 100. Steele will compete with the top entrepreneurs from the Pacific, Prairies, Ontario and Québec regions for the national honour of Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018, to be presented at a gala celebration Nov. 29 in Toronto.
The CISN Country Yards for Hope Radiothon broke a $110,000 fundraising goal on Oct. 4, raising $173,000 for Edmonton’s Hope Mission. Announcers Chris Scheetz, Jacqueline Sweeney and Matt Debeurs started camping out at Commonwealth Stadium at 5 a.m. the previous day, braving unseasonably cold temperatures. The radiothon moved across the field one yard at a time for every $1,000 donated.
Radio Day 2018 raised $858,360 for cancer care and awareness programs at Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Oct. 4. Broadcast from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Cabot House in Sydney, NS, the radiothon was broadcast on Newcap Radio stations 101.9 The Giant (CHRK-FM) and New Country 103.5 (CKCH-FM). Now in its 11th year, the radiothon has collectively raised more than $6.3 million.
Five Amigos Broadcasting has applied for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language commercial FM radio station in Listowel, ON. The station would operate at 100.1 MHz (channel 261B1) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 4,900 watts (maximum ERP of 8,000 watts with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 83 metres). The applicant proposes to offer an Adult Contemporary music format.
Carlsbad Springs Community Association has applied for a broadcasting licence to operate a low-power, English- and French-language community FM radio station in Carlsbad Springs, ON and a low-power rebroadcasting transmitter in Vars, ON. The radio station would operate at 107.7 MHz (channel 299LP) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 14.8 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) of 23 metres). The rebroadcasting transmitter would operate at 107.9 MHz (channel 300LP) with an ERP of 1.3 watts (non-directional antenna with an EHAAT of 10 metres). The applicant proposes to broadcast at least 103 hours of local programming per broadcast week. The commission notes that the station launched in Apr. 2017 and is currently operating as the exempt tourist radio station CJRO-FM Carlsbad Springs, using the same frequency and technical parameters as those proposed for the new station. The applicant has indicated that it will cease operating the station as a tourist information radio service upon the launch of the new community radio service.
Paqtnkek Radio Society has applied for a broadcasting licence to operate a low-power, English-language Type B Native FM radio station in Afton Station, NS. The station would operate at 104.5 MHz (channel 283LP) with an effective radiated power of 50 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 6.5 metres). The applicant proposes to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per broadcast week, including at least five hours of programming in the Mi’kmaq language.
Not A Subscriber? Subscribe Now – Free!
Broadcast Dialogue has been required reading in the Canadian broadcast media for 25 years. When you subscribe, you join a community of connected professionals from media and broadcast related sectors from across the country.
The Weekly Briefing from Broadcast Dialogue is delivered exclusively to subscribers by email every Thursday. It’s your link to critical industry news, timely people moves, and excellent career advancement opportunities.
