The CRTC has ordered two Quebec French-language radio stations off the air following a lengthy history of non-compliance. The commission announced Friday it would not be renewing the licence of CJMS 1040 AM Saint Constant, Que., owned by Groupe Médias Pam (which also owns Montreal’s CPAM 1410 AM). Its violations, over the last six consecutive licence terms, range from incomplete music logs to non-compliance in regard to Canadian talent development (CTD) contributions. CFOR-FM Maniwaki, owned by shareholders Josée Cholette and Roch Lepine, has also had its licence revoked with the commission saying it could not assess compliance due to the station’s failure to submit monitoring materials and its annual return for the 2018-19 broadcast year. The station was also in non-compliance for a fourth consecutive term for its CCD contributions. Both stations have been ordered to cease broadcasting by Aug. 31. The commission is inviting interested parties to apply for a broadcast licence in both markets.
Jim Pattison Broadcast Group (JPBG) has announced that it’s laying off 40 staff at its stations and has offered early retirement packages to another 30 as it looks to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on its operations. With the voluntary departures, the staff losses represent about a 10% reduction in the company’s workforce. In a memo sent to staff Friday morning, President Rod Schween said for a company focused on growing positions, making staff reductions was an incredibly difficult decision. He cited second quarter revenues which came in at less than half 2019 earnings for the quarter. Five network midday shows have risen out of the staff reductions with many of the hosts longterm JPBG on-air personalities, who were previously heard on individual stations. Each network show will also be overseen by a Lead Program Director, responsible for show direction, host development and communication with affiliate PDs.
Rock: Jason Foui, host of afternoons on 106.7 The Drive (CFDV-FM) Red Deer for the past 16 years, will host the network Rock show, while Drive PD Peter Michaels, serves as Lead PD. Originating from The Drive, it will be heard on 98.3 CIFM-FM Kamloops, 106.9 The Wolf (CHWF-FM) Nanaimo, The Drive (CHDR-FM) Cranbrook, and 93.3 The Rock (CJHD-FM) North Battleford, SK.
Hot AC: Angie Heinze, co-host of the CIFM morning show in Kamloops, will host the Hot AC network midday show. Jamie Rankin, PD at BIG 105 (CHUB-FM) Red Deer, acts as Lead PD. Originating from B100 (CKBZ-FM) Kamloops, the show will be picked up by BIG 105, The River (CKKN-FM) Prince George, B93 (CJBZ-FM) Lethbridge, 102.3 The Wave (CKWV-FM) Nanaimo, MY96 (CFMY-FM) Medicine Hat, Power 99 (CFMM-FM) Prince Albert, Q98 (CJCQ-FM) North Battleford, and B94 (CHBW-FM) Rocky Mountain House.
Country Metro: Kristen Jade will host the Country Metro midday show out of Wild 95.3 (CKWD-FM) Calgary where she continues in the midday role, while the station’s PD, Jonathon Best, acts as Lead PD. The show will be heard on Wild 95.3 Calgary, JR Country (CJJR-FM), Vancouver and QX104 (CFQX-FM) Winnipeg.
Country Non-Metro: From Medicine Hat Kim Johnston, who has been afternoon drive host on MY96 (CFMY-FM) for the past few years, will host the Country Non-Metro midday show. Mike Doll, CHAT Medicine Hat, is Lead PD. The show will air on CHAT, Country 95 (CHLB-FM) Lethbridge, B104 (CHBZ-FM) Cranbrook, XFM (CIXM-FM) Whitecourt, CJVR Melfort, CKBI Prince Albert, CJNB North Battleford, Big West Country (CIBW-FM) Drayton Valley and Big Country (CJXX-FM) Grande Prairie.
Classic Hits: Charlee Morgan, who has hosted the Beach Radio (CKQQ-FM) Kelowna midday show since its 2017 launch, helms Classic Hits network middays. Russell James, Senior PD for the JPBG Okanagan group, serves as Lead PD. The show will be heard on the Beach format in Kelowna, Vernon, and Melfort; The Drive (CHWK-FM) Chilliwack, The Eagle (CKLR-FM) Courtenay, and Q99 (CIKT-FM) Grande Prairie.
Corus Radio has announced that Willy in the Morning, the Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver-based morning show that expanded to Q107 (CILQ-FM) Calgary last year, will also be heard on Edmonton’s CHUCK @ 92.5 (CKNG-FM), starting Aug. 24. CHUCK @ 92.5 has been without a morning show since earlier this year when the station dropped syndicated Seattle morning show, Brooke & Jubal (now Brooke & Jeffrey). The Willy in the Morning team, helmed by Willy Percy, Kim Seale and Alece Anderson, will air on CHUCK @ 92.5 from 6 – 9 a.m. weekday mornings. Together for the last seven years, the highly-rated show helped lead Rock 101 to a 14.3% share with women 25-54 in the Spring 2020 PPM ratings. The station posted an overall 8.1 share, 12+, while Q107 garnered just 4.4% market share. CHUCK @ 92.5 finished the last ratings period with a 3.9 share, 12+.
Stingray Q1 2021 revenues were down 35% to $52.3 million from $80.4 million, primarily due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Radio revenues (which fell 62.1%) and, to a lesser extent, on Broadcasting and Commercial Music revenues. The company says for provinces and cities opening their economies faster, the Radio segment is already seeing “encouraging signs of recovery and we are confident that key markets for us, such as Toronto and Ottawa, could follow similar patterns.” It also expects to solidify future advertising relationships as a result of $20 million in Stingray Stimulus Plan grants handed out to businesses across Canada. Broadcast and Commercial Music revenues decreased by 3.7% to $35.9 million, while organic growth in subscriptions was offset by the impact of COVID-19 in the company’s Commercial activities. SVOD subscriber growth was up 18.6% year-over-year and a sequential increase of 4% in a soft seasonal period. Stingray says its new free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels with major over-the-top providers is fueling month-over-month growth with potential viewer reach now over 400 million.
Stingray has announced it’s expanding its reach into the U.S. with the launch of Stingray Music on six additional platforms, including Comcast Xfinity, Distro TV, Freecast’s Select TV, Channel Plus on LG, MX Player, and XUMO. Stingray says the new distribution agreements grow its potential reach by over 40 million viewers. Users on those platforms will have free access to up to 10 Stingray Music audio channels spanning the most popular genres including rock, pop, country, hip-hop, and Latin.
Vista Radio has dumped its JuiceFM branding on CJOC-FM Lethbridge after just a year. Classic Hits 94.1 CJOC is back on the air with a company press release saying “the city has spoken.” “The city sampled, swished it around in their mouths, and while some liked the flavour… the majority of listeners did not enjoy the taste of JuiceFM. It wasn’t just because of the music. It wasn’t at all because of the announcers. It was because JuiceFM could never truly replace the original CJOC, a station that was uniquely Lethbridge,” said Peter Deys, CJOC General Manager.
Spotify’s Q2 2020 earnings call revealed that the streaming platform now has 299 million monthly active users, up 29% year-over-year. Paid subscribers reached 138 million and are expected to go up to between 140 and 145 million in the next quarter. About 21% of Spotify’s audience is listening to the platform’s expanded roster of podcasts which now boasts 1.5 million shows. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for the second quarter stood at 4.41 euros, down 9% year-over-year. Revenue rose 13% to 1.89 billion euros for the three months ended June 30, missing analyst estimates of 1.93 billion.
Google Play Music will be shut down permanently in December as the platform is merged with YouTube Music. Starting in late August, users will no longer be able to purchase and pre-order music or upload and download music from Google Play Music through Music Manager, but will be able to migrate or download any purchased songs. YouTube Music is also rolling out new features, including a redesigned user interface, a new Explore tab, and improved Google Home and Nest smart speaker integrations.
eMarketer’s latest forecast predicts that U.S. podcast ad spend will reach $782.0 million by the end of 2020, up 10.4% from last year, giving it a 21.0% share of the U.S. digital radio ad market. It says just 4.0% of that will be programmatic, increasing to 6.0% next year. Podcast ad spend is predicted to jump nearly 45% to $1.13 billion next year, $1.1 billion in 2021 and $1.3 billion in 2022.
LISTEN: On the latest episode of the Sound Off Podcast, Alan Cross talks about ongoing podcast copyright violations, the impact of the pandemic on the music industry, the durability of the Ongoing History of New Music and the radio show’s transition to one of the most downloaded podcasts. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
