Radio & Podcast News – 94.9 The Rock revives live all-night DJ format

MuchMusic icon Ed the Sock has officially joined Durham Radio’s 94.9 The Rock (CKGE-FM) Oshawa, reviving the classic overnight radio format. The All-Night Show!, which the station has been testing out for the past two weeks, will air live Wednesday to Sunday from midnight to 5 a.m., taking listener phone calls and texts all night long. Ed (aka Steven Kerzner) is no stranger to the time slot, first introduced to viewers of Newton Cable in 1987 on The Late Late Show, which eventually landed on Citytv in the ’90s as Night Party. Steve Macaulay, VP of Sales at Durham Radio, said the company believes that the overnight audience has long been under-served. Read more here.

640 (CFIQ-AM) Toronto is welcoming Canadian comic Colin Mochrie (Whose Line Is it Anyway?, This Hour Has 22 Minutes) as a guest host on Sunday, May 21. Filling in for Maggie John from 7 – 10 a.m. on Toronto This Weekend, the hosting stint marks Mochrie’s radio debut behind the mic. “Colin Mochrie is a legendary comedian, and we are delighted to have him on 640 Toronto,” said Amanda Cupido, General Programming Director Talk & Talent. “Our station champions smart, informative talk radio, but also understands the importance of laughter – and we’re excited to deliver this mix with talent like Colin for the May long weekend.”

CFAX 1070 Victoria talk show host Adam Stirling has issued a public retraction after admitting to spreading misinformation about conservative media personality Ezra Levant and Rebel News. Following Rebel’s $100,000 fundraising effort for the Red Cross during the Alberta wildfires in 2016, Stirling acknowledges that he shared numerous tweets suggesting that the right wing news outlet was directing funds into its own coffers. Levant has asked Stirling to make a donation to the Wood Buffalo Food Bank in Fort McMurray.

SiriusXM Canada and the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) have revealed the three finalists in the 2023 SiriusXM Top of the Country competition: Hailey Benedict (St. Albert, AB); Noah Derksen (Winnipeg); and Teigen Gayse (Kelowna). The finalists have a busy summer ahead, starting with a trip to Nashville in June where they will perform at CMA Fest, followed by stage performances at Montreal’s Lasso country music festival in August and then CCMA’s Country Music Week in Hamilton where the competition culminates in a finale in September, broadcast live on SiriusXM’s Top of the Country Radio (Ch. 171). 

Marc Denis, a veteran of Montreal radio and TV, has self-published a book of anecdotes featuring the celebrities he encountered over the decades. Available in both English and French, net sales of “Mais Oui Tell You Some Stories?” will go towards the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence serving Montréal’s West Island. Among the famous faces featured in the book are Paul McCartney, Céline Dion, Boy George, Billy Joel, Chris DeBurgh, Bo Diddley, and Frank Zappa.

Luminate has beta launched its new platform which promises to expand the company’s global data capabilities across music sales, streaming and airplay data, while introducing a more agile user interface. Unveiled at the Music Biz Annual Conference in Nashville, the company (formerly known as Nielsen Music and P-MRC Data) says the new interface – which replaces legacy music data consumption platform Music Connect – offers users a more comprehensive view of music consumption by artist and project at both global and individual country levels to gain greater understanding of “the intersection of growth and disruption in music and entertainment.” In the coming quarters, Luminate says it will incorporate its other data offerings into the platform, including music audience research, film metadata, TV metadata, and streaming video analytics. Read more here.

U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Ted Cruz are among a bipartisan coalition that has introduced legislation that would direct federal regulators to mandate AM radio in new vehicles at no additional charge. The legislation follows a letter Markey sent to 20 leading carmakers last year requesting they maintain access to AM broadcast radio in their vehicles. Of those 20 carmakers, eight – BMW, Ford, Mazda, Polestar, Rivian, Tesla, Volkswagen, and Volvo – had removed AM radio from their electric vehicles, with Ford and Volvo among those abandoning AM altogether moving forward. The Act would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a rule requiring automakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in their vehicles without an additional fee or surcharge; and direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study whether alternative communication systems could fully replicate the reach and effectiveness of AM radio for alerting the public to emergencies. Read more here.