Ruby Carr of Newcap Vancouver is this year’s Allan Waters Young Broadcaster of the Year, in memory of radio programmer Steve Young. A prominent member of the Ruby, Leslie and Scooter morning show on Z-95 (CKZZ-FM), Carr moved to Vancouver from Halifax in 2014, and has quickly established herself, devoting personal time to charitable endeavours in support of mental health initiatives at BC Women’s Hospital, the Starlight Children’s Foundation, and the BCSPCA. Carr will be recognised during the Industry Award dinner on May 10 and presented with her award at the Radio Talent session. Lauren Hunter of SONiC 102.9 (CHDI-FM) Edmonton and Jax Irwin of KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM) Toronto were runner ups this year.
CJFX/XFM Antigonish, NS marked its 75th anniversary on Mar. 25. The station held an open house on Mar. 23 with on-air announcers Paul Van, Gerard MacDonald, Joe Chesal, GM and longtime Inside Sports host Ken Farrell and former on-air personalities Ray ‘Mac’ MacDonald and Freeman Roach in attendance, among others. CJFX began broadcasting on Mar. 25, 1943, and continued on-air at 580 AM for 60 years. The variety station was a pioneer in broadcasting educational programming and live music in its early years. The 98.9 FM signal first went on the air in 1998 to correct coverage issues and rebroadcast the AM programming. In 2003, CJFX made 98.9 FM its main signal.
KiSS 100.5 (CHUR-FM) North Bay host Kevin Oschefski was on air for 29 hours during this year’s Rotary4Kids Radiothon. Wrapping up on Mar. 29, the event raised over $71,000. This was the 16th year the Rotary Club of North Bay has organized the fundraiser in partnership with the Nipissing Association for Disabled Youth.
MajikBus Entertainment is releasing several rare, long-unavailable albums under license from CBC/Radio-Canada. Diving into the CBC vault, the first three releases in the Transcription Records Series feature Judy Singh, the Emile Normand Sextet and Perth County Conspiracy. They’re available at the MajikBus store on PledgeMusic. MajikBus is promising more vinyl and box set releases anthologizing the depth of material from the CBC archives, featuring Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane and more.
SiriusXM has debuted a new talk show from Irving Azoff, music dealmaker and talent manager to some of the biggest names in the record industry, called Unmanageable. Featured on the VOLUME channel, the show features conversation on everything from ticket prices to technology, artists’ rights and the current state of live and recorded music. Unmanageable debuted this week with special guests Jon Bon Jovi, director Judd Apatow and CAA’s head of music Rob Light.
