The CBC News Hall of Fame has posthumously inducted Matthew Halton and Peter Stursberg, both WWII correspondents for CBC Radio, whose field reporting kept Canadians informed from the front. Halton covered the war from Egypt, Italy, and Normandy, among other battlefields, while Stursberg covered the Canadian troops as they landed in Italy and later France. Halton died in 1956 at age 52, while Stursberg passed away in 2014 at age 101. Halton’s son David, a retired CBC correspondent, and Stursberg’s son Richard, former executive vice-president of CBC, both appeared at a ceremony at the CBC Toronto Broadcasting Centre.
The Country Music Association of Ontario’s 7th Annual CMAOntario Awards were handed out Sunday at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Country 101.1 (CKBY-FM) Ottawa was awarded Radio Station of the Year (large market). Cool 100.1 FM (CHCQ-FM) Belleville took the medium market honour, while Pure Country 106 (CICX-FM) Orillia claimed the small market award.
G98.7 (CKFG-FM) Toronto is reportedly in financial trouble following the death of its founder Fitzroy Gordon in late April. Intercity Broadcasting Network, which operates the radio station serving the GTA’s Caribbean-African community, has been placed in investigative receivership following an application by Jamrock Broadcasting and Delford Blythe, a minority shareholder and former Intercity vice-president and Chief Financial Officer. Blythe, who originally filed an application in 2016, alleges that Gordon was directing revenue from online advertising to his personal accounts and that he was relieved of his management duties after discovering financial mismanagement. The matter was adjourned after Gordon suffered a stroke in 2017. The CRTC renewed the station’s licence through Aug. 2021 last year, but cited that it was “gravely concerned over Intercity’s unprecedented levels of non-compliance in terms of the number of instances and their severity, and over its ability to operate CKFG-FM in a compliant manner.” Blythe filed an intervention in response to that renewal that reads in part “A major significant financial challenge faced then and still continues is the high overhead cost established at the outset for the organization. As a small independent broadcaster Mr. Gordon failed to respect reasonable financial expectation established in our proposal to the Commission for the licence. In addition the young station was further placed in significant financial jeopardy by Mr. Gordon’s actions resulting in an unnecessary and expensive legal fight. Not only were our finances diverted to non-core business issues but our time and resources as well.”
The CRTC has approved joint applications for technical changes for Toronto’s 106.5 ELMNT FM (CFPT-FM) and Indie88 (CIND-FM), allowing Indie88 to boost its output without affecting ELMNT’s signal. First Peoples Radio will increase its ERP from 1,014 to 1,150 watts, while Indie88 will increase its average ERP from 2,100 to 4,800 watts.
Rogers has applied to the CRTC to increase the power of 92.5 CKIS-FM Toronto’s transmitter from 4,700 watts to 9,000 watts and the maximum ERP from 13,000 watts to 21,000 watts. Rogers wants to improve reception quality and reduce the level of co-channel interference from U.S. border station WBEE-FM Rochester, New York.
The CBC has applied to the CRTC to simulcast CBC Radio One CFFB 1230 Iqaluit on 105.1 CBQR-FM Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. CBQR-FM Rankin Inlet is currently licensed as a mother station, but does not broadcast any distinct programming and is technically a rebroadcasting transmitter of CFFB Iqaluit. As such, the CBC says there is no need for CBQR-FM Rankin Inlet to have a licence.
CJRU-AM and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA/ANREC) hosted 115 delegates from 37 stations, seven provinces and one territory, June 3-6 at Ryerson University. The conference was highlighted by keynotes from Simon Peeks, editor of the BBC OS and BBC Minute, as well as Dr. Mark Campbell, assistant professor at the RTA School of Media, speaking about the important role community station Vibe 105.5 (CHRY-FM) played in the rise of the Toronto Hip Hop/Rap scene. This year’s Community Radio And Broadcasting Online Awards(CRABOs), saw Community Radio Fund of Canada co-founder John Harris Stevenson inducted as an NCRA Radio Legend. Read more and find the full list of award winners here.
Spotify has officially launched The Daily Drive, a personalized playlist the streaming service has been testing, that intersperses music with selected news podcasts like NPR News Now, The Wall Street Journal Minute Briefing and The Daily. Aimed at commuters, The Daily Drive features songs from one’s playlist in addition to recommended tracks. Spotify has also moved to give podcasts and music equal billing in the Your Library interface. Additionally, the streaming service is now letting advertisers target podcast listeners by genre. Previously, so-called ‘freemium’ listeners could only be targeted based on streaming habits.
Dave Pratt, who was a casualty of layoffs at TSN 1040 (CKST-AM) Vancouver in March, has launched a podcast called Prattcast. Kerry Marshall, best known for his time as part of the CFOX and JACK FM morning shows, co-hosts. The podcast promises “Entertainment/Sports with the accent on the word “Entertainment”! This is a Podcast that talks in absolutes with no apologies for the Topic Matter or the Opinions that go with it. Time to put some Fun” back into “Sports Talk”!”
980 CKNW Vancouver is hosting a live special dedicated to B.C.’s housing crisis on Friday, June 28. The four-hour indepth panel discussion, from 2-6 p.m. PT, will see host Lynda Steele joined in-studio by Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, Maple Ridge Mayor Mike Morden, and New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Coté. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development will also participate in the discussion. The special will also be live streamed on CKNW’s Facebook page.
TSN Radio’s lineup of live CFL coverage includes TSN 1050 Toronto, the official radio voice of the Toronto Argonauts, featuring live coverage of every game; TSN 690 Montreal, the official radio voice of the Montreal Alouettes, delivers English-language coverage of every game, along with The Als This Week (Mondays at 7 p.m. ET); TSN 1200 Ottawa, the official radio voice of the Ottawa Redblacks, delivers live coverage of every game, including pre- and post-game, plus the Ottawa Redblacks Radio Show (Tuesdays at 6 p.m. ET); TSN 1040 Vancouver, the official radio voice of the B.C. Lions, features coverage of every game, including pre- and post-game shows hosted by Farhan Lalji and Chris Burns with Bob ‘the Moj’ Marjanovich and former CFL QB Giulio Caravatta providing commentary; TSN 1150 Hamilton, the official radio voice of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, delivers live coverage of every game; TSN 1290 Winnipeg, Blue & Gold Game Day hosted by Hall of Famers Chris Walby & Troy Westwood and Darrin Bauming, will deliver pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of every Winnipeg Blue Bombers game; TSN 1260 Edmonton, will air the Green and Gold pre- and post-game show with Matt Iwanyk and Hernan Salas, alongside various TSN Insider guests.
SiriusXM Canada will air every Canadian Football League (CFL) regular season and playoff game on Canada Talks (ch. 167). French broadcasts of all Montréal Alouettes games will also be offered to subscribers on Influence Franco (ch. 174). Frank Trachtenberg hosts Inside the CFL on Mondays at 7 p.m. ET, starting July 8, featuring highlights, interviews, and analysis.
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