Rogers Sports & Media has extended the reach of the Roz & Mocha Show to more markets in the wake of last week’s cross-country layoffs.
Originating from Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM), the show is now airing on KiSS 100.5 (CHUR-FM) North Bay, KiSS 99.3 (CKGB-FM) Timmins, and KiSS 100.5 (CHAS-FM) Sault Ste. Marie, bumping the local morning shows on those stations.
“The Roz & Mocha Show is a hugely successful morning show in Toronto, and we recently expanded it to our KiSS stations in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Ottawa to deliver a fresh, new voice in these markets,” said Andrea Goldstein, Senior Director of Communications, in an email to Broadcast Dialogue. “Based on the success of this expansion, yesterday we began airing the Roz & Mocha Show on additional KiSS stations in North Bay, Timmins, and Sault Ste. Marie.”
With the exception of Winnipeg, where the show was picked up for the morning time slot in September, Roz & Mocha airs weekday evenings in Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
Syndicated network shows, which have been the norm in the U.S., are becoming increasingly common on this side of the border as the large radio ownership groups like Rogers, Bell Media, and Stingray look for synergies in a challenging advertising market that’s been intensified by the pandemic.
Last week, Rogers laid off what’s believed to be approximately 100 staff in the media division, including on-air and behind-the-scenes talent across the KiSS brand in several Ontario markets.
In North Bay, that included afternoon drive host Cody Belanger as well as newsroom staff, Richard Coffin and Bob Coles. Former morning show host Kevin Oschefski moves to afternoons.
In Timmins, 99.3 KiSS morning host Mark Kinsman and afternoon host Tyler Cropley were released, in addition to program director Amanda Dyer, who had been with the station since 2007, as well as news anchor/reporter Alain Quevillon.
In Sault Ste. Marie, Zenga McCurdy is now helming middays across all three stations, while his former morning co-host Casey MacDonald moves to afternoon drive. Former Sudbury-based KiSS network midday host Turner Gentry has been released.
Ottawa’s KISS 105.3 (CISS-FM) also underwent layoffs, including program director Anthony DeRossi, who had been with the station since 2015.
Other station cuts in Ontario impacted K-ROCK (CIKR-FM) Kingston where personalities Sideshow and Eilish Sullivan were among the casualties. In London, commercial/imaging producer Andy Goddard was let go, in addition to creative writer Sarah Drapeau.
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