Radio & Podcast News – Golden West’s CFAM celebrates 65 years

Numeris has released the Winter PPM radio ratings, covering the 13-week period from Nov. 29 to Feb. 27. In Toronto, CBC Radio One took the top spot, A12+, delivering a 15.9% share. Number one with women 25-54 was CHUM-FM, delivering a 15.1% share. boom 97.3 is on top with M25-54, posting a 10.4% share. In Vancouver, 980 CKNW grabbed the #1 spot, A12+, with a 13.1% share of hours tuned. Taking the top spot for F25-54 and F18-34 is JR Country. CFOX holds the lead for M25-54 listeners, delivering a 14.8% share and is also out front for M18-34 with a 20.0% share of hours tuned. In Edmonton, CISN is #1, A12+, posting a 9.0% share, while KiSS 91.7 holds top spot for F25-54, delivering a 12.3% share. NOW! Radio tops the list for M25-54 with a 13.0% share. In Calgary, CBC Radio One leads the way for A12+ with a 13.1%. 101.5 Today Radio is popular with women, taking #1 spot for F25-54 and F18-34. For M25-54, X92.9 rules with a 13.2% and M18-34, delivering a 17.6%. In Montreal, CHMP 98.5 FM is #1 for A12+ (Franco) with a 22.8% share. For A12+ (Anglo), CJAD 800 is #1 with a 28.7%. For F25-54 (Anglo), The Beat 92.5 is out in front with a 26.9 % share. With M25-54 (Anglo), CHOM is #1 at 20.0%. David Bray has a full breakdown here.

Golden West Broadcasting’s flagship station CFAM 950 Altona, MB celebrates 65 years on March 13.  Launching as Manitoba’s “Farm & Good Music Station,” CFAM began broadcasting on March 13, 1957 at 1290 kHz before moving to its current dial position in 1968. Golden West CEO Elmer Hildebrand has been with the station since its inception, with the company’s network now encompassing 44 stations in 23 communities, in addition to Homefield Marketing and Homefield People and Strategy. CFAM will carry special programming on March 11 featuring a variety of guests, including Manitoba Premier Heather Stephenson. Birthday wishes can be left here. 

Corus Entertainment news/talk stations 770 CHQR Calgary and 630 CHED Edmonton are launching a new, regular call-in show with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, set to debut this weekend. Your Province. Your Premier. will launch March 12 and run every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. MT. Hosted by former 770 CHQR anchor Wayne Nelson, calls and topics will be determined by a team of producers, however Corus says no subject will be off limits and calls will be taken live. While there’s no direct sponsorship attached to the program, Corus told Broadcast Dialogue that the provincial government has spent dollars “to promote the time of the show, day and key aspects to let the audience know how and when it can participate.” This isn’t the first time an Alberta premier has been featured on a call-in show on the network. Premier Ralph Klein appeared on Talk To The Premier, which aired monthly in the 1990s and early 2000s. Read more here.

Pam Kirby, the new late night host on Edmonton’s CRUZ FM (CKEA-FM), and Raj Dhami, swing host at Now! Radio (CKNO-FM), are spotlighted in the Edmonton Journal as the last two live and local evening DJs standing in the Alberta capital. Among those interviewed to talk about the lost training ground as evening and overnight timeslots are filled by networked personalities and syndicated shows, are Don Kay, Yukon Jack, Park Warden, and NAIT radio and television instructor Dave Sawchuk. Kirby was formerly the host of evenings on The Bear (CFBR-FM) for the last five years, up until November when she was bumped by voice-tracking.

iHeartRadio Canada has launched a new playlist feature, including curated, user-generated, and personalized playlists. The enhancement to the iHeartRadio app’s live radio experience allows listeners to add songs from live radio directly into their playlists. iHeartRadio’s curated playlists also allow listeners to follow what their favourite hosts are listening to, including Marilyn Denis, Jamar McNeil, Myles Galloway, Shannon Burns, and Shannon Ella, as well as lists from MuchMusic VJs and creators at TSN’s BarDown. Customized playlists include Your Weekly Mixtape, delivered each Monday, featuring the user’s favourite songs and latest discoveries.

Amazon has launched a new app in Beta that enables creators to share live radio shows, play licensed music from a library of millions of tracks, and take live callers. A new take on social audio, Amp – which is available right now to a limited number of American iPhone users via a waitlist – was unveiled this week with a small group of creator shows headlined by syndicated radio personality Zach Sang; Southern California radio icon Kat Corbett, host of the long-running Locals Only on KROQ Los Angeles; Man vs. Radio with Christian James Hand (formerly of KLOS Los Angeles); and Graham in the Mornings, featuring The Bachelorette Season 4 contestant turned country radio and podcast host Graham Bunn. In a Q&A with John Ciancutti, Vice President of Amp, on the Amazon blog, the former Google Director of Product Management, said the app infuses what listeners love about radio with what’s made possible by today’s technology, allowing creators to build their own radio shows outside the need for satellite towers or recording studios and licensing deals. Read more here.

SiriusXM is recognizing Women’s History Month with special themed programming and limited-engagement channels. Four limited-engagement music channels launch this month, including channels curated and presented by Avril Lavigne and Maren Morris, as well as  full channels dedicated to the iconic Tina Turner and defining 90s female-led festival tour, Lilith Fair. Alanis Morissette will host her own special on Lithium (ch. 34) on March 25, taking listeners through her experiences from the early days in her career.

CBC has announced the return of Canada Listens, the music debate series modelled after the long-running Canada Reads format, airing this April and hosted by CBC Music’s Saroja Coelho. Canada Listens features a panel of celebrity advocates who each champion a Canadian album they believe will win the title of the “one album that all Canadians need to hear.” The hour-long radio debates will air daily on CBC Music Mornings and CBC Listen starting April 11, repeating during CBC Music’s Drive show. An album will be eliminated each day until the winner is revealed April 14. This year’s panelists and albums are: Olympian Stephanie Labbé defending Ria Mae’s self-titled 2016 album; writer and activist Erica Violet Lee defending Crown Lands’ self-titled 2020 album; comic Dave Merheje defending Mustafa’s When Smoke Rises (2021); actor Kim Roberts defending jacksoul’s Sleepless (2000); and Survivorman Les Stroud defending Bruce Cockburn’s Further Adventures Of (1978).

LISTEN: On the latest Sound Off Podcast, Matt Cundill counts down the Top 10 Reasons Your Podcast Isn’t Working. The list comes from his own reflection on what’s next. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here: