Radio & Podcast News – OAB Connection 2023 highlights

FEATURE: Broadcasters should be harnessing the power of data and station web presence to drive new revenue and make more strategic decisions, the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ (OAB) Connection 2023 heard last week. In one of the conference’s early sessions, Programming Integrated: On-Air Goes On-Line, Amanda Cupido, founder of Lead Podcasting, called on those in the room to focus on the the amount of data radio stations can get from their websites and gauge what the user experience is like, how long listeners stay, what they stream and where they go next. Navigating beyond the impacts of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which has seen the Facebook and Instagram pages of many media companies censored in the wake of Meta’s news ban in Canada, was also touched on in more than one panel discussion, including how much stock stations should continue to put into social media. Read more here and find a list of this year’s OAB Award winners here.

The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) and SiriusXM Canada have partnered on the launch of Words and Culture, a series of radio programs supporting the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous languages. Scheduled to debut in early 2024, five six-episode series will be produced by an all-Indigenous team, led by Anishinaabe and Mohawk producer and SiriusXM host Kim Wheeler, weaving together conversations with Indigenous language keepers, community stories, and featured music by Indigenous artists. Each of the five series will delve into a distinct Indigenous language family – Iroquoian, Athabaskan, Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway), Inuktitut, and Cree – hosted by learners and speakers of the language. Read more here.

The CRTC has approved an application by Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre for a broadcasting licence to operate an English- and Kanyen’kéha-language Indigenous (Type B Native) FM radio station in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, east of Belleville, ON. The station will operate at 89.5 MHz (channel 208A) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 2,100 watts. TTO proposes to offer 126 hours of programming each broadcast week, including 119 hours of local programming and seven hours of wrap-around programming.

The Manitoba Country Music Association (MCMA) has recognized 730 CKDM Dauphin as Radio Station of the Year and Brian Cook, host of afternoons on Native Communications’ NOW Country 104.7 FM (CIUR-FM), as Radio On-Air Personality of the Year at the recent 2023 MCMA awards ceremony. Find the full list of winners here.

Curtis Pope, host of The Road Show on Rogers Sports & Media Country 107.1 (CKQC-FM) Abbotsford, and Jaxon Hawks, evening show announcer and music director at Pattison Media’s JRFM (CJJR-FM) Vancouver, were recognized with this year’s Country On-Air Personality of the Year honours at the B.C. Country Music Association’s (BCCMA) 46th annual awards. Find the full list of winners here.

Don Taylor is among the 2024 inductees into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame . Currently the co-host of Donnie and Dhali on CHEK TV and a contributor to Sportsnet 650 (CISL-AM) Vancouver, Taylor’s career began at CJDC Radio and TV in Dawson Creek, BC in 1979. From there, he held roles at CKGY Red Deer, before returning to Vancouver as the host of Sports Page on CKVU-TV from 1985-2000. Taylor has also worked with CFOX, CKNW, Sportsnet Pacific, and served as the afternoon co-host on TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) Vancouver from 2003-21.

P1 Media Group’s annual Christmas Music Research is out, finding that “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms is America’s #1 Christmas song, reclaiming the position it has held for six of the last seven years. Holiday Classics rule the Top 20, including two versions of “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Holly Jolly Christmas,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” 2022’s #1 stream and airplay song Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” ranked #26 in total appeal this season, however trails this year’s #1 song by less than three percentage points. Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” from 2010 and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (2014) are the two highest-testing original Christmas songs from the 2000s, ranking #11 and #29, respectively. More respondents this year (27%) said Christmas Music should begin on Thanksgiving, 23% said early November, 20% the beginning of December, and 19% mid-November. P1 says the most surprising finding in the study is that 60% (vs. 48% in 2022) said Christmas music programming should cease airing on New Year’s Eve.

Thinktv and Ipsos Canada’s recent Ad Nation study highlights consumer media habits vs. advertising perceptions of “average Canadians.” In general, a Radio Connects analysis says the study found the advertising industry underestimates how much time the average Canadian spends listening to live radio by 15%, while the industry perception of podcast consumption is nearly two and a half times greater than Canadians surveyed stated. The study also found Canadians are listening to Spotify three times less than the industry perceives they do. 

LISTEN: Paige Nienaber, the VP for radio marketing consultancy CPR Promotions, is on the latest Sound Off Podcast. Nienaber is consulting over 350 stations across the U.S. and Canada at a time when radio is working through challenges like 40% less cume than a decade ago, and more audio options than ever before. In this episode, he looks back at successful promotions from radio’s past that still work today. 

SAVE THE DATE: This year’s Canadian Radio Awards submissions head to the jury this week. Due to a record number of entries this year, we are pushing the winners’ announcement date to Tuesday Dec. 5. Stay tuned for details. You can listen to winning entries from past years at CanadianRadioAwards.com.