Radio & Podcast News – Pattison unveils 94.3 NOW! Radio in Winnipeg

Pattison Media unveiled its CHIQ-FM rebrand at 1 p.m. CT Monday, introducing 94.3 NOW! Radio to Winnipeg. As reported by Broadcast Dialogue last week, the move was anticipated as cryptic “NOW” billboards began to pop up around the city, accompanied by the release of the entire 94.3 The Drive talent lineup, the Classic Rock format the station had carried since 2016. Leading the on-air lineup on the new-to-Winnipeg Hot AC format are Alyssa Petryshyn, former morning show co-host at Pattison’s Big 105.5 (CHUB-FM) Red Deer, alongside Luca James in mornings; Marika Friesen, former swing announcer at 102.3 Now! Radio (CKNO-FM) Edmonton, in middays; and Zap Davids, former morning show host at Zed 98.9 (CIZZ-FM) Red Deer, in afternoon drive. Chris Ash, former afternoon drive announcer at Kool FM (CKMB-FM) Barrie, and Kalie MacIntosh, former afternoon drive host and music director with Vista’s 106.1 The GOAT (CKLM-FM) Lloydminster, will be heard evenings and weekends. Program Director Ray Camphu, who previously held multiple roles with Pattison in Edmonton, will lead the 94.3 NOW! Radio team. Read more here.

In the meantime, Pattison Media is recruiting for a more permanent morning show for the station with Camphu telling Broadcast Dialogue that Alyssa & Luca were originally hired to host afternoon drive. “We couldn’t secure the right morning show in time for launch,” Camphu told us in an email. “We decided to launch with A+L in mornings and restart the morning show recruitment process after launch once we could do so more openly.”

Rawlco Radio’s CHUP-FM Calgary has rebranded from Soft Rock 97.7 to C97.7, focused on hits from the ‘90s to now. Kent Newson, 97.7 Vice President/General Manager, said Rawlco sees the format flip as a way of making the station more appealing to the large number of listeners who grew up in the ‘90s and early 2000s, and women aged 30-60, a lucrative consumer segment. CHUP-FM had held the Soft Rock 97.7 branding since 2015 when it flipped from adult hits format, Up! 97.7.

The 20th Annual CKNX Health Care Heroes Radiothon took to the airwaves on Oct. 16, raising $506,053.83 in support of 12 midwestern Ontario hospital foundations. Continuing with a virtual format again this year, donations were accepted during the all-day broadcast on AM920, also heard intermittently on 101.7 The One (CKNX-FM) and CoOL 94-5 (CIBU-FM). Among the projects funded through this year’s Radiothon are x-ray machines, an ultrasound unit, cardiac monitors, an anesthetic gas machine and a mammography digital imaging machine. Since its inception in 2002, the event has raised nearly $13 million in support of quality health care for rural hospitals.

Corus Entertainment’s Curiouscast has debuted Season 4 of Crime Beat. Led by veteran Global Calgary crime reporter Nancy Hixt, the format has also been adapted for TV, currently in its third season on Global. Crime Beat Season 4 dives into some of the high-profile cases she has worked on, with the first episode looking at the 2014 disappearance of five-year-old Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents. Since its debut in March 2019, the podcast has received 11 million downloads and been recognized with the 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best International Podcast, in addition to a nomination from the People’s Choice Podcast Awards.

Broadcast Dialogue is pleased to announce our jury for the 2021 Canadian Radio Awards, presented by HD Radio. This year’s judging panel includes former Rogers Radio executive Chuck McCoy; legendary CHFI Toronto morning show co-host Erin Davis; TV and radio news veteran Lynda Steele, who most recently hosted afternoon drive on CKNW Vancouver; former MuchMusic VJ, radio host, and voiceover talent Michael Williams; Broadcast Hall of Famer and retired CHOM morning man Terry DiMonte; Radio Connects President Caroline Gianias; East Coast programmer/producer and NSCC audio instructor Trevor Wallworth; National Campus & Community Radio Association Executive Director Barry Rooke; and award-winning consultant Jaye Albright. Read more here. Stay tuned for our winners announcement in early November.