Durham Radio launched its seventh station and first outside Ontario on Monday morning. WAVE 98.3 “Vancouver’s Coolest Vibe” will carry a similar format to Durham’s WAVE. FM Smooth Jazz station heard on the HD-2 frequencies of CHKX-FM (Hamilton) and CJKX (Oshawa/Ajax), featuring classic Motown and R&B, instrumental smooth jazz, as well as hits from artists like Michael Bublé, Adele and The Weeknd. The station takes over the dial position previously occupied by Vancouver’s former Roundhouse Radio (CIRH-FM), which has been off the air since May 2018. Tara Jean Stevens, who was most recently heard in afternoon drive on Vancouver’s KiSS Radio prior to its rebrand to SONiC RADiO last month, will helm the WAVE 98.3 morning show. Jazz singer and longtime WAVE.FM personality Vickie Van Dyke, will be heard in middays, while actor and entertainer Danny Mags handles the drive home. Gary James will be heard weekday evenings, while “Downtown” Julie Brown returns to the Vancouver airwaves in the Sunday afternoon time slot. Read more here.
Vista Radio has rebranded Stratford radio station 107.1 Juice FM to 107.1 CJCS FM, marking a revival of the heritage brand in the southwest Ontario city. Initially known as “10AK”, what started as an amateur station began broadcasting in 1928, eventually switching to the CJCS call letters in 1935. The station served as a launching pad for names like Lloyd Robertson, Tony Parsons and Bob Bratina. CJCS was relaunched as Juice FM when it was converted from AM to FM in August 2017. With this year marking the station’s 95th anniversary, General Manager Tracy Lamoureux says restoring the station branding to the original call letters “just makes sense.” CJCS continue to carry a Classic Hits format and will remain the local home of Toronto Blue Jays baseball, as well as news, weather and community information.
Stingray and ad tech marketplace Airfind have launched Musicstre.am, a free music rewards app currently only available in the U.S. that allows users to earn gift cards by simply listening to music. Musicstre.am users can access 100,000 stations across genres like Massive Classic Rock, Rock Out, Pop Adult Chart, Listeners’ Choice: Hit List, Today’s Hot Tracks: Country, Hits of the Decade: ’70s, Like Totally ’80s Dance Party Hip-Hop Boombox, Motor City Soul Review, All-Time Greatest Hits, and Top of the Latin Charts. Users earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards to Amazon, Target, Walmart, and other stores. Powered by the Stingray Music app, Musicstre.am can be accessed via Google Play.
Paul Wells is joining the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy as the inaugural journalist fellow-in-residence for the 2022-23 academic year that will see the veteran political reporter host new podcast, The Paul Wells Show, in collaboration with the Munk School, Antica Productions and the National Arts Centre. The podcast series will debut in fall 2022 and focus on politics and culture. In coordination with the podcast, Wells will host a series of live public events at the Munk School, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and other major Canadian cities. Wells has been a political journalist for nearly 30 years. He wrote for Maclean’s magazine for 19 years, as well as the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post. His latest project, paulwells.substack.com, is a subscription-based newsletter.
Frequency Podcast Network has launched new podcast, Africville Forever, which tells the story of the Black community in Halifax before it was razed by the city in 1969. Hosted by Eddy Carvery III, the grandson of the longest civil rights protestor in North American history, and social entrepreneur Alfred Burgesson, founder of BIPOC entrepreneurship and innovation hub, Tribe Network. Featuring archival audio, the podcast explores the systematic eradication of Africville and the effect it had on those who called it home.
Corus Entertainment’s Curiouscast podcast network is producing a 13-episode branded podcast series with Matrix Mortgage Global titled Crypto House. The “crypto-education” series aims to break down the fundamentals of digital currency in a user-friendly way. Crypto House is hosted by Matrix Mortgage Global CEO Shawn Allen, founder of the Toronto mortgage brokerage.
On-Air Coach has launched new podcast The Aircheck Room, where talent coaches Nails Mahoney, Tracey Lee, and special guests listen to audio from the past week and chat with radio pros about it. The inaugural episode features Cousin Vinny Barucco from Virgin Radio (CJFM-FM) Montreal and Dusty Rhodes from dustpod.io.
SiriusXM has announced the inaugural winners of SiriusXM Music Town. After weeks of voting and online rallying, the 2022 SiriusXM Music Towns and their headlining acts are: Miramichi, NB – Arkells; Blanc-Sablon, QC – 2Frères; Orangeville, ON – Walk off the Earth; and Estevan, SK – Dallas Smith. The four winning communities were selected based on their nomination story, online voting and social rallying. Over 100,000 votes were cast for the top 16 communities. The concerts will take place in September and October, with details to be announced next month.
LISTEN: On the latest Sound Off Podcast, Matt Cundill talks with Montreal radio veteran Aaron Rand, an alum of CFCF CKGM, CBC, CHOM, CFQR and now CJAD where he currently resides in afternoon drive. Listen on your favourite podcast app or here:
