Radio & Podcast News – CHAB Moose Jaw celebrates 100 years

800 CHAB Moose Jaw, SK marked a milestone on April 23, celebrating its 100th anniversary. CHAB’s history is rooted in community radio, launching in 1922 as 10AB. The Moose Jaw Amateur Radio Association originally planned to operate the station, but short on funds, handed it over to the area Kiwanis Club which broadcast from the local YMCA. The 50-watt, non-commercial station was handed back over to the association two years later. Struggling to garner financial support, 10AB went off the air in November 1933, with CHAB signing on one month later with a commercial licence, increasing its power to 100 watts. In 1947, CHAB was sold to John E. Slaight, then Manager of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, and Bill Davis, who was involved with the Prince Albert Daily Herald. By 1952, Davis had taken sole ownership of the station. A CBC affiliate through most of the 1940s and ’50s, that affiliation ended in 1958 when CHAB was acquired by Jack Moffatt. The Moffatt family continued to operate CHAB until 1992 when Moffatt Communications sold to Golden West Broadcasting. Announcers who have come through the CHAB studios notably include media mogul Allan Slaight, who started his broadcasting career there in 1948, working for his father, in addition to Spence Bozak, Earl Cameron, Mal Faris, Barry Nesbitt, and Ken Newans. Read more here.

Pattison Media and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs have released colour commentator Bruce MacDonald after he made a racist comment while calling a B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) game against the Langley Rivermen. During 93.3 The Peak’s (CJAV-FM) April 23 broadcast, MacDonald made a disparaging remark about Rivermen forward Owen Kim,  who is of Asian descent. Kim, who is 5’7″, was involved in an altercation with Bulldogs defenceman Logan Holm when MacDonald suggested Kim “Get on a ladder and talk to him,” followed by “Does he speak English? Maybe that’s the problem.” Play-by-Play announcer Evan Hammond immediately checked MacDonald on the comment, who was removed at the end of the period, and subsequently banned by the BCHL from participating in future broadcasts.

The New York Festivals Radio Awards has announced its 2022 Storytellers Gala award-winners, celebrating audio creators from 24 countries. This year’s Gold winners from Canada include CBC Radio’s The Doc Project – The Skyluck Journals, which won in the Documentary History category. Toronto’s JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM) won Best Jazz Format, while Radio-Canada’s Interprètes afghans: partir ou mourir (Afghan Interpreters: Leave or Die) won Best Narrative/Documentary Podcast. CBC productions claimed another two Silver awards – one in the Science & Technology category for Quirks & Quarks’ Black in Science Special, and another for Best Music Program Host for CBC Reclaimed’s Jarrett Martineau. Radio-Canada’s Enoch Arden, From the Balcony of ICI Premiere also won Silver for Best Drama Special. Read more here.

Benztown Radio’s annual “Ones to Watch in Voiceover” includes Canadians Sherri Drewe (Edmonton) and Matt Fogarty (Nanaimo). Benztown has also released its “Benztown 50” comprised of the top voiceover professionals. Among those making the list are Amanda Madi (Toronto), David Kaye (Los Angeles), Erin Setch (Nanaimo), and Lisa Keys (Parksville).   

Nails Mahoney and Tracey Lee, the team behind OnAirCoach, have launched a new social site for radio, dubbed The Radio Space. The ad-free space is aimed at connecting radio professionals from around the world. Learn more here.

SiriusXM and I Am Athlete, the athlete-led media network founded by former NFL All-Pro receiver Brandon Marshall have a new content deal that includes a live nightly radio show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio (channel 82 on SiriusXM radios and the SXM App). Debuting this past Wednesday, I Am Athlete Tonight will air live every weekday from 7-9 pm ET/4-6 pm PT, with former NFL defensive end Leger Douzable leading a cast of rotating co-hosts that will feature Marshall, former NFL players LeSean McCoy, Brandon Flowers and Adam “Pacman” Jones, former NBA player Antoine Walker, former WNBA player Chantel Tremitiere and journalist Omar Kelly as they engage in the type of thoughtful, unfiltered discussions the I Am Athlete podcast is known for. I Am Athlete Tonight episodes will also be available as podcasts after they air on SiriusXM.

Triton Digital has released its first-ever Canada Podcast Ranker of the most-listened to podcasts and networks in Canada, ranked by Average Weekly Downloads. The ranker includes the participation of Québecor, CBC/Radio-Canada, Cogeco Media, SXM Media, All Things Comedy, Audioboom, Headgum, Kast Media, NBCUniversal News, NPR, Paramount, Salem Podcast Network, The Roost Podcast Network, and Wondery. Triton’s ranker tracks the Top 100 podcasts consumed in Canada from participating publishers, in addition to the All-Canadian Top 30 English Category Ranker (English-language podcasts commissioned by a Canadian publisher) and the All-Canadian Top 30 French Category Ranker. Dateline NBC’s true crime podcast was the most-listened to pod in Canada in March, followed by CBC’s The Current, and the public broadcaster’s daily news podcast, Front Burner. Rounding out the top five are SXM’s Crime Junkie and Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett’s Smartless (Wondery). Read more here.

eMarketer is forecasting U.S. podcast ad spending to surpass $2 billion next year and $3 billion by 2026. It says podcasts will account for over a quarter of digital audio services ad spending in 2022 and account for more than a third of spending by the end of 2026. More than half of advertisers said they planned to increase their podcast ad budgets in 2022, according to a poll of 255 U.S. advertisers conducted by Advertiser Perceptions in August.

LISTEN: Brady Kingsbury, morning host on 96.7 CHYM Kitchener, is Matt Cundill’s guest on the Sound Off Podcast. He discusses how he went from working at a mall to programming JACK FM (CHST-FM) London, ON in just seven years, his love of audio editing, and the friends he made along the way who helped jumpstart his career. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here: