Radio & Podcast News – CBC Radio One dominates Summer PPM ratings

Summer 2019 PPM ratings are out for Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton. CBC Radio One is number one in every market with the exception of Edmonton and Montreal. In Edmonton, 102.3 NOW! Radio (CKNO-FM) took #1 with A12+, posting a 10.3% share of hours tuned (up from 9.2%). In Montreal, CHMP 98.5FM is #1 A12+ (Franco) with a 14.9% share (down from 17.3%).  For A12+ (Anglo), CJAD 800 is #1 with a 25.2% (down from 26.7%). Read David Bray’s full breakdown here.

CFAX 1070 Victoria is celebrating its 60th anniversary this Thursday. CFAX went to air in Sept. 1959, initially licenced to Saanich and broadcasting only during the day. The founding owners were Ellison Queale and Roy Parrett, who were in the wholesale radio supply business. The news/talk station has been owned by Bell Media since 2011. This Thursday, the station will mark the anniversary with guests from its past, both on-air and off, including Rick Ball, Drew Snider, Barry Bowman, Keith Dagg, Barry Kennard, Steven Andrew, and Moira McLean.

University of Ottawa researcher Jada Watson’s latest study explores Gender Representation on Canadian Country Format Radio, finding that men are outplaying women 8.7 to 1. The study examined gender representation in country music, focusing on Canadian radio airplay as tabulated by Mediabase for their year-end charts published between 2005-18, as well as weekly charts in the same timeframe. Watson’s study found that the gap between the number of songs by men and women steadily increased. In 2005, female artists had 35 songs (23.3%) on the year-end country airplay reports, declining to just 16 songs (10.7%) in 2018 – a decline of 54.3% in the number of songs by female artists on the year-end reports. The gap between the number of songs by men and women increased steadily from 52.7% in 2000 to 78.1% by 2018. Read more here.

SiriusXM Canada has crowned Matt Lang from Maniwaki, QC as the winner of the second annual SiriusXM Top of the Country competition, in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA). Lang took home the grand prize of $25,000, an international SOCAN songwriting camp and more. Following a Sept. 5 music showcase by the three finalists, Lang, Kelsi Mayne and Tim & The Glory Boys, a judging panel of music industry professionals, along with audience votes determined Lang as the grand prize winner. Held at The Palace Theatre in Calgary as part of Country Music Week 2019, the event aired live on SiriusXM’s CBC Country (ch. 171).

CBC has launched Podcasts in Class, a series of custom-made lesson plans, built around some of its original podcasts like Tai Asks Why and The Secret Life Of Canada. The guides were written and vetted by teachers from across the country. They’re available to teachers free of charge.

CBC has launched new election podcast Party Lines hosted by The National co-anchor Rosemary Barton and Elamin Abdelmahmoud of BuzzFeed News. The political podcast is described as an “unpretentious political primer for every kind of concerned citizen. Each episode will take you beyond the talking points and provide the insights you need to understand the upcoming federal election.” Episodes will drop twice weekly.

Peter Mansbridge has launched indie election podcast The Bridge on his website thepetermansbridge.com, in addition to the major podcast platforms. So far, the former CBC News chief correspondent has dropped a few teaser episodes, leaning on his five decades in journalism, to provide insight into the election process. He anticipates filing nightly, 10-15 minute episodes as the federal election race heats up. Mansbridge is going the podcast project alone by choice, telling listeners he’s resisted network connections and sponsorship. 

On the latest episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, Lorie Russell, JAZZ.FM91 (CJRT-FM) Toronto vice-president and managing director, on how the not-for-profit station is getting its groove back after a tumultuous year that culminated in the election of a new board this past February.

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