Radio & Podcast News – MBC to sell four stations and acquire Perth’s Lake 88.1

My Broadcasting  Corporation (MBC) has announced its intention to sell four stations and purchase Lake 88.1 (CHLK-FM) Perth, ON from Perth FM Radio Inc. The stations being sold include CIYN‐FM Kincardine to Lakeside Radio Broadcasting Corp., while CJML‐FM Milton, CIMA‐FM Alliston and CKMO‐FM Orangeville will be acquired by Local Radio Lab Inc. In a release, MBC said the deals “position the company for future growth and acquisitions.” MBC currently operates 21 radio stations in small to medium-sized markets in Ontario including Renfrew, Arnprior, Pembroke and Gananoque. Owned by President Jon Pole and Executive Vice-President Andrew Dickson, the transactions are dependent on CRTC approval.

Jim Richards is now helming a new national late night talk show across Bell Media’s iHeartRadio news/talk network. Making its debut last Sunday at midnight ET, the Late Showgram with Jim Richards airs through 5 a.m. ET. Richards, whose career has included stops at CJTN-FM Trenton, CIHI-FM Fredericton, CJCH-FM Halifax, Rock 95 (CFJB-FM) Barrie, The Fan 590 (CJCL-AM), and Q107 (CILQ-FM), has hosted late night radio before. His initial gig with CFRB-AM, when he joined the station in 1997, was hosting The Nightside. He also briefly hosted syndicated late night programming for the Rock Radio Network. The Late Showgram can be heard in Toronto on Newstalk 1010 as well as CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, Newstalk 610 CKTB St. Catharines, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 1290 CJBK London, BNN Bloomberg 1410 Vancouver, CFAX 1070 Victoria, and AM 1150 Kelowna. Read more here.

SiriusXM Canada is airing a new show and podcast hosted by Peter Mansbridge. Good Talk is airing weekly Thursdays at 5 p.m. ET on Canada Talks (SiriusXM 167) with a re-airing Sundays at noon, and are also available following the broadcast on the SiriusXM App. The show will include regular panelists Chantal Hébert and Bruce Anderson, in addition to weekly guest panelists, discussing important issues facing the country. Last month, SiriusXM Canada announced a collaborative relationship with Mansbridge that saw his podcast The Bridge added to its podcast line-up. It also airs on the Canada Talks channel at noon ET daily.

SiriusXM Canada and General Motors of Canada have reached a new multi-year agreement that will increase installation of the SXM hardware in new vehicles, making the satellite radio service available in nearly all Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles, beginning with model year 2021. Customers purchasing or leasing SiriusXM equipped new or pre-owned vehicles will receive a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM All Access. Additionally, GM Canada will continue to roll out its integration of SiriusXM with 360L, which combines satellite and streaming content delivery into a single in-vehicle entertainment experience. 

SiriusXM and the Recording Academy are launching The Grammy Channel ahead of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The limited-edition channel (104) will feature a variety of music from this year’s nominees, including Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Brittany Howard, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch and Taylor Swift, leading up to the Grammy’s broadcast March 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Listeners can also expect to hear music from Grammy Lifetime Achievement honorees like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Salt-n-Pepa, Selena and Talking Heads.

Stingray’s Classic Hits stations and its Breeze network will mark International Women’s Day on March 8 with an all-female playlist and interviews and audio from notable women, starting with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who’ll join Stu Jeffries on the boom 97.3 (CHBM-FM) morning show. Others participating include pop singer Lorraine Segato, media executive Denise Donlon, Olympians Catriona Le May Doan and Sami Jo Small, Kumudu Jinadasa of the Canadian Space Agency, and MuchMusic icon and podcaster Erica Ehm.

JACK stations in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Medicine Hat, London and Halifax are flipping to JILL for the third year in a row in honour of International Women’s Day on Monday.  JILL’s IWD playlist will feature all-female artists with the entire station re-imaged with female voice talent. New this year is JILLith Fair with the stations featuring live tracks from female artists starting at 6 p.m. The brand has also partnered with Tub Masks to create a “Fave 3 Female” Artist Mask in each market, with partial proceeds benefiting Dress For Success.  

Brent Wallace, who was one of the casualties of February’s Bell Media layoffs after two decades with TSN’s Ottawa bureau, along with former Ottawa Senators defenceman and NHL free agent Marc Methot, is launching a new hockey podcast and YouTube show this Friday. The Wally and Methot Show will drop episodes twice weekly, with the duo to be joined on the project by Craig Medaglia and Adam Wood, both former content producers for the Ottawa Senators.

LISTEN: On this sponsored episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Stephen Ryan joins us to talk about Momentum Music Research, a new player in the online audience music research space (*and subsidiary of Broadcast Dialogue parent company, Momentum Media Marketing). Ryan, a UK radio veteran, is the creator of the cloud-based platform that allows users to see the results of their music research in real time. Ryan talks about striking the right playlist balance in the increasingly competitive audio space and the pandemic impact on music testing.

LISTEN: On the latest Sound Off Podcast, award-winning Inside Edition journalist Lisa Guerrero joins Matt Cundill to talk about her forthcoming book, Between a Jock and a Hard Place. In this episode, she shares the high and low points of her time working in broadcasting, from a toxic environment at Fox Sports to the abusive media criticism she received as a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here: