Street Talk/Shop Talk/let's Talk http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/ http://www.eblah.com en 'Amateur Night' (AND DAY!) in the C-FAX Newsroom http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216928919/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216928919/#num1 I enjoy many women newsreaders, and Nikki Ewanyshyn of "The Fax" is a good one.  

But the same station that boasts Frank Stanford and Al Sebring (or Steve Duffy) in the newsroom in the morning, is inflicting upon us some woe-begone beginning broadcasters these days, interns or fresh-from-broadcasting-school females who don't yet have the on-air skills for a medium market like Victoria.

One afternoon recently, while Ryan Price presumably was on shift, he took a break & we were treated to a series of on-air auditions that were extremely painful to suffer through.  At least the woman who seems to have won out .. reads fairly well, but her small thin voice carries little authority .. for THE sole remaining radio news outlet in the Capital City.  (My apologies to 'The Q' .. yours is but a 'token' news service.)

First we lost C-FAX meteorologist Blaine Coulcher to budget cuts.  He's been replaced in large part by adenoidal operators who get to butcher the weather 5 or 6 times an hour, telling us who they are EVERY time, and sometimes twice in a single report.  Their names are mentioned more often than the talk-show hosts they're interrupting!   Yet their on-air work is of a standard that begs for anonymity.

I know there are Vancouverites who will try to point to CKNW as a similar case.  I would reject the comparison, every one of NW's news staff is a seasoned pro compared to the abysmally low standards C-FAX seems ready to tolerate.

Since there is no C-FAX News Director I would normalIy try protesting to the station's head honcho Terry Spence, but he doesn't seem to handle constructive criticism at all well. ]]> Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:48:39 mikedup Leaving Corus Radio http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216387419/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216387419/#num1
Why and where are they all going?

I mean despite all the criticism of the Corus stations across the country they do well in the ratings and are making lots of money this is quote from their lasted financial report.


Quoted Text
Corus Radio revenues were $77.0 million, up 3% from $74.8 million last year.


]]> Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:23:39 WPGGUY Stephen Page from BNL caught with cocaine http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216215687/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216215687/#num1 Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page
faces drug charges in New York state



http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=arts&articleID=2956233


.]]> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:41:27 Drummer Bruce Allen Cleared http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216151609/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1216151609/#num1
Bill Good will have the verdict up for discussion at 8.35 am Wednesday (the 16th) on NW.
]]> Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:53:29 mikedup Orlando Dad agrees to let DJs name baby! http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215999038/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215999038/#num1
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080712/koddities/oddity_gas_naming_rights

]]> Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:30:38 CRS Red Robinson to Receive Two Honours http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215868225/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215868225/#num1 Red receives pair of honours
The (Vancouver) Province
Published: Friday, July 11, 2008
                                                                        
They really, really like Red.

Local radio legend Red Robinson will be presented with this year's Bruce Allen/Sam Feldman Legend Award at a Vancouver Music Industry (VMI) gala at the end of the month.

"This award was created to recognize individuals who have significantly contributed to the local music industry and Red Robinson has been an integral part of this for many years," said Jeff Dawson, VMI Founder.

In another honour, Robinson's life-size image has been added to "The Party," a giant collage of 132 influential B.C.ers on display at The Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.
]]> Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:10:25 ronrob RIP Mike Halleran, Ernie Rose http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215867541/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215867541/#num1
MIKE HALLERAN, 1935 - 2008 Former Journalist and Television Producer, passed away July 4th in Nelson, B.C. Survived by partner Darlene Collins, son Terry (Michele), grandsons Wyatt and Cody (Elyse), great-grandson Will Halleran, brother Terry (Chris) and sister Patricia. A celebration of Mike's life will be held July 26th at the Kaslo Legion Hall at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers donations to the BC Alzheimer's Society would be appreciated.

On his 'Northwest Broadcasters' website, Gord Lansdell recalls that Mike was news director at CJOR Vancouver in the mid 1960s and had worked in news at CKCQ Quesnel and CKWX in the early 1960s.  He left radio in the late `60s, moving on to produce and host the award-winning environmental/outdoors television series Westland, which began production in 1983.  


ERNIE ROSE, former VP Engineering at CHAN-TV/8 Vancouver (later BCTV and now Global) died Friday at age 92.  He served as announcer/technician then Chief Engineer at CKMO Vancouver from 1934-40, operator/technician then assistant technical director at CBC Vancouver during the 1940-50s and oversaw construction of CHAN-TV in the late 1950s.  He was the recipient of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Engineering Award in 1973 and the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters Broadcaster of the Year Award in 1980.  He retired as BCTV Vice President of Engineering in 1981.]]> Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:59:01 mikedup The Week the Women Went 2 http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215804418/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215804418/#num1
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/07/09/tatamagouche-women.html

Good concept, but could they tell the narrator to stop repeating himself following each commercial break.  We KNOW the town, we KNOW the women left, we KNOW the men are fending for themselves.  Spruce up the music too...]]> Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:26:58 CRS Jonas Brothers Mayhem sweeps TO http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215199640/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1215199640/#num1
"Tickets for the Toronto show were being offered for as much at $300 apiece online, with 15-year-old Kelsey Barnes saying she paid $500 for her tickets through eBay."

Somebody let me know when these guys are coming to Vancouver...make me some fast money.  Then I can afford to see the Canucks!  LOLOL]]> Fri, 4 Jul 2008 15:27:20 CRS where are they now: Ruben Studdard http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1214844835/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1214844835/#num1
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/06/29/studdard.wedding.ap/index.html]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:53:55 CRS Recording industry decries broadcast industry http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1214333195/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1214333195/#num1 http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/recording-indus.html]]> Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:46:35 Drummer RIP  Chris Talbot-The PEAK Port Alberni http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1213640853/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1213640853/#num1

Died of a heart attack Sunday.  

Thoughts and prayers with family and staff.]]> Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:27:33 Digicart Edge Looking for PD http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1213160093/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1213160093/#num1 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:54:53 1076 Sam Sullivan:  Vancouver's lame-duck Mayor http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1212977173/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1212977173/#num1 Peter Ladner wins mayoral nomination
Two-term Vancouver councillor replaces Mayor Sam Sullivan in the Non-Partisan Association
  
Frances Bula
Vancouver Sun
Sunday, June 08, 2008

VANCOUVER - Vancouver's mayor has been deposed by challenger Peter Ladner.

After six hours of voting that appeared to be evenly split, Ladner, a two-term councillor, managed to squeak past the incumbent mayor to win the mayoral nomination of the city's ruling party, the Non-Partisan Association.

The nomination contest was held at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel at 1128 Hastings Street.

Any NPA member was eligible to vote as long as they live in Vancouver or own property in the city.

Party members were also be asked to nominate candidates for city council, park commissioner, and
school board chair.

About 1,000 peopled had turned out by midday to vote in Vancouver's contentious civic-party vote.


Ladner beats Sullivan in major upset vote
Updated: Sun Jun. 08 2008 19:00:45

ctvbc.ca

Challenger Peter Ladner has unseated incumbent Sam Sullivan and won the NPA's endorsement to run for mayor in November's civic election.

Members of Sullivan's party, the Non-Partisan Association, cast ballots today in a crucial vote that decided between the mayor and his challenger, a two-term councillor.

"I'm feeling a mix of shock and elation and a bit of grief," Ladner told CTV News shortly after the vote was announced.

"It's not easy to do this and have a contest because someone has to lose," he said.

But it was a razor-thin margin of 1066 votes for Sullivan to 986 votes for Ladner, raising the spectre that the party will be deeply divided by the win.

But Ladner said he wasn't worried about facing a divided party.

"If you remember this room three years ago, when Sam (Sullivan) defeated (former NPA mayoral candidate) Christy Clark, people were saying that the divisions were huge. But we went on to a majority. That's my goal to do it again," he said.

Political observers say the very fact the race happened is bad news, showing a party to be split and vulnerable.

"Regardless of who's going to win it's going to be very divided," said CTV's political blogger, Alex Tsakumis, before the votes were counted. "If Peter's people win, Sam's people will bolt. If Sam's people win, Peter's people will bolt."

Related: Read more about the race with ctvbc.ca's political blog, Front and Centre

But NPA Councillor Kim Capri told CTV News before the votes were counted that the party would be unified.


"Definitely it's been a tough ride to get us to this place, but I really feel confident that on Monday you're going to see a united NPA team," she said.

Sparks flew in divisive campaign

Sparks flew during the campaign, much as they did during the two candidates' debates last week, where Ladner said that he was the one that could carry the NPA to victory in the municipal election in November.

"That's why I'm running...The NPA can't win under Sam's leadership," Ladner declared last week.

The mayor's support comes from his tight hold on his constituents, who he "intimidates" so they will remain loyal, said Ladner.

"They don't want to be seen to be offside with [Mr. Sullivan], who's known to be vindictive at times," he said.

But the mayor blasted Ladner, saying that the two-term councillor had received no endorsements from anyone else at city hall.

"Councillor Ladner has no one," he said. "Every single NPA councillor who sits with (him and me) at the caucus table every week, who knows our style, has endorsed me, and said that I am the one to lead them into the next election."

Whoever wins November's election will be mayor in Vancouver when the city welcomes the world for the Olympics.

Rival party Vision Vancouver will select its mayoral candidate next Sunday. Provincial MLA Gregor Robertson, Councillor Raymond Louie and Park Board Commissioner Allan De Genova have all thrown their hats into the ring.

Councillor David Cadman of the Coalition of Progressive Electors has also expressed interest in running.

]]> Sun, 8 Jun 2008 22:06:13 TV_ON_THE_RADIO Radio Formats of the Future http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1212457345/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/m-1212457345/#num1 I for one think that Ace of Base should not be on the radio, ever, for any reason, ever... but I am not a 30 year old woman... and so the brains of radio say... "I Saw the Sign" and present:

http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2008/05/30_under_30_honorees_pick_the.php

30 Under 30 Honorees Pick The Next Hot Format
Entry by Sean Ross
Over the last few years, the rhythmic music of the late '80s and early '90s has gone from being the music that had completely disappeared from the radio to the music that programmers on the pop and Urban side have tried valiantly to make work on the radio. So far, the stations that have gotten any degree of traction, such as KQM V (Movin' 92.5) Seattle, have been the exceptions.

But if the responses of Edison Media Research's 2008 30 Under 30 Honorees are any indication, there is still plenty of support for a '90s-based format, whether it's a younger Urban AC or a newer generation of Bob- and Jack-FM. And as has been the case with previous gold-based formats, what it may take for the '90s to finally gain traction is for the programmers who grew up with that music to move into decision-maker positions at the same time that their peers are moving into the Hot AC and Urban AC demos.

We're posting our "30 Under 30" honorees' self-penned biographies and their thoughts on the state of the industry every day at Edison's http://www.infinitedial.com blog. But taken together, their answers to the question, "What is the one format that you can't believe nobody has done?" have a distinct theme.

Not all our honorees saw an obvious "next format" on the horizon--particularly when so many potential niches are already available on satellite radio, the Internet, or HD-2 multicast channels. Several voiced their support of other next-big-things that have support, but few working models yet, throughout the industry, such as stations that make their money from sponsorships, not spots, or a Hip-Hop/Rock hybrid.

But the concept of a new-generation Urban AC was easily the one most cited by our honorees. As Rickey Smiley Morning Show executive producer Tazz "Daddy" Anderson asked, "When you have people who are 25-44 who grew up on Hip-Hop, why wouldn't you devote a format to them? I would throw in some Run-D.M.C., Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, some SWV and TLC and keep it banging! The Movin' format does Hip-Hop lite for soccer moms, but I'm talking about an anti-Soulja Boy format here without the pop princesses."

Charlamagne of the Wendy Williams Experience also believes that a mix of old-school Hip-Hop and late '80s New Jack Swing "would kill the game right now. It would also give a lot of older Hip-Hop artists new life because their respective catalogues would start to sell more and they could possibly be out still doing shows. Another plus is a lot of jocks who grow out of the 18-34 demo targeted by most Hip-Hop stations wouldn't have to still be on [younger targeted stations and] still trying to sound young."

Also filing briefs for an Adult Hip-Hop outlet: WPGC Washington, D.C., MD Talya Johnson who calls for an alternative to the core Urban AC artists who she characterizes as "the Old Jays," and James "Doubledown" Howard, PD of Clear Channel Active Rocker WXTB Tampa, who says, "I realize that Hip-Hop Brands do features, but we are getting close to having a library that can facilitate a lifegroup."

There were also calls for a '90s based format from the pop side. PD Scott Herrold of the SOS Radio Network acknowledges that, "I'm not sure that many companies have found the ideal Mainstream CHR/old school mix ... We've lost the nostalgia on our CHR stations." Similarly, KKOB/KMGA Albuquerque, N.M., PD Justin Riley says, "One that I'm looking forward to is a 90's format. I don't think we're too far away from somebody busting out the Ace of Base!"

Jake Kaplan, who does imaging and creative services for KROQ and L.A.'s Jack-FM (KCBS), sees the need for "a younger version of Jack-FM [where the] core of the station is 90s based: Rap like 2pac, Dr. Dre, and L.L., to [Alternative like] Green Day, Nirvana, and Weezer. [It would have] many of the same principles of Jack, but targeted to people in their 20s to early 30s."

Not all the calls were for a '90s-based format. WABC/WPLJ New York director of engineering Alex Roman envisions "an eclectic rock/new music format. We need to accept that there is a group of people that has tastes that are not accounted for in mainstream programming and they're not listening to your competition, they're just not listening to the radio. They find new music on MySpace or go to indie rock shows and just listen to their iPod. This is happening with a younger generation now and we need to bring them back into the fold somehow. We need to find programmers who understand how to go out on a limb musically without sounding forced or being too cool for the room and create a channel that makes people go 'hmm, what's that?' every now and then."

KWTV Los Angeles APD/MD Blake Florence would like to see "a request-based format via the internet [and/or] text [messaging]. I've seen programs that are doing some cool Web page requests for maybe a specific daypart or hour, and I've seen stations that have done it for a day or a weekend. We have so many options to choose from now -- and we can buy/listen to what we want, when we want. I believe to have a listener controlled station with the right technology in place could be a huge success.

WKKT Charlotte, N.C., APD/MD Ryan Dokke seconds that with his call for "24/7 Requests and Dedications. I would love to see a station that had a 10,000 song library and was live 24/7." There would be "no real playlists: jocks wouldn't really know more than 3 or 4 songs ahead of time, what they'd be playing. The music wouldn't have to be genre specific either. It could be a request for the Bee Gees into a dedication of some slow Usher song." He does allow that this might be "strictly a cume station." Then again, they said that about Bob- and Jack-FM once.

Clear Channel/Chicago online PD David Snoble believes "a true dance format hasn't been fully explored or given enough time to succeed and I also believe a chill format could perform well on terrestrial radio. I believe in 10 years or so, chill will be the new smooth jazz." He might want to trade notes with KIIS Los Angeles middayer Sisanie Reategui, who thinks recent hits by Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Kanye West have set the stage for a format based in house, electro, and techno-dance. Or perhaps WLZX Springfield, Mass., PD Courtney Quinn who calls for a format of "all-Thievery Corporation, all the time." We think she's joking about giving a whole station to chilllout's core artist, but if she's not, Edison VP Tom Webster has his new favorite station.

KYW Philadelphia reporter/anchor Ian Bush files a brief in favor of the "all-sponsorship/no spots" model: "What about a whole station based on changing up the traditional spot model with one advertiser sponsoring blocks, even a day of tunes in exchange for short, unobtrusive messages that don't interrupt the music long enough for you to change the dial. The name repetition would be sticky, it would give people a reason to stay tuned -- music keeps going and going and going, and the station itself likely would get some press and recognition itself out of the deal ('Oh yeah - that's the one with those short little commercials')."

Rich McLaughlin, who just joined WFUV New York as content director from Sirius Satellite Radio, votes for the Active Rock/Hip-Hop fusion of Sirius' Faction. "I'm not holding my breath for that format to show up on the FM dial, but it certainly speaks to a lifestyle and young audience." So far, the problem hasn't been the format showing up on FM - most recently on KMBY (X103.9) Monterey, Calif. -- it's been a matter of it staying there.

This one has also, by its advocate's acknowledgement, made it to HD-2 channels, but WLVQ Columbus, Ohio, PD Chris Thomas suggests a station "airing back to back live concerts ... in a day when you can immediately buy a recording of a concert as you leave the venue, a station airing back to back live concerts would take it a step further. A daily/weekly concert line-up can be sent to the e-mail database and listeners may vote online for their favorite concerts."

Some other suggestions:

From Clear Channel/Raleigh, N.C. director of marketing and promotions Carley Laskey: "Girl FM."

From WMMR Philadelphia morning show associate producer Marisa Magnatta: "All cover songs all the time."

Emmis/Austin, Texas, OM Thomas "Chase" Rupe says the quest shouldn't be for a format, rather, "If you're asking me what "content" I can't believe nobody has done, that answer is ... user-generated media. I think the great minds of our industry get this and are working on it. I aspire to be part of the solution that truly puts interactivity and pull-content into the hands of the audience, despite the delivery platform."

Finally, from WBOQ/WTYD Williamsburg, Va., PD Amy Miller: "I've always been interested in finding a way to combine the programming mentality of public radio with the business mentality of commercial radio and making it truly successful. I think once someone cracks the code, it will change radio forever."

You can ask our "30 Under 30" honorees about their other format ideas on June 28 at Conclave in Minneapolis. And check http://www.InfiniteDial.com every day for new profiles.


]]> Mon, 2 Jun 2008 21:42:25 Flamethrower