Where are all the broadcasters? Is there no one in either place who could have either made an offer to Rogers or could now make an offer to the CRTC?
I gather the ownership limits probably prevent Stingray from getting involved?
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Rogers Shuts Down Six Stations
- Thread starter Huff
- Start date
Where are all the broadcasters? Is there no one in either place who could have either made an offer to Rogers or could now make an offer to the CRTC?
I gather the ownership limits probably prevent Stingray from getting involved?
Ownership limits have been recently adjusted, actually. It's still 4 stations in a market, but now it can be 3 FM and one AM
What it still can not be is 4 FM in a market.
(previously it was two AM and two FM)
I'm not saying this will happen, but Rogers just freed themselves up to declare that they no longer own two AM in various markets, so they can now buy a third FM...
Their announcement made it sound like radio is not in their future
I'm asking if there's anyone else?? Would someone in those cities flip to sports?
It's not just the ownership limits. The CRTC takes a long time to approve sales and there are no LMAs. So Rogers would still be operating these stations for 12-18 more months.
By surrendering the licenses, the can sell the tower land and get that money a lot faster.
Sports on FM is still illegal in Canada, so I doubt Vancouver will have a sports station back any time soon.
Otherwise, Rogers would be quick to buy a third FM and dump all their sports coverage there...
(assuming the cost to run an FM is indeed far less than AM and they can somehow sell just the right amount of ad time...)
Hockey season starts on September 29. I would expect that by then, there will be an announcement.
Onto a semi related related topic.. Im surprised all traffic 730CKGO lasted until early 2025. I was listening during Covid and the anchor was absolutely bored to tears and then some. Im shocked it took till 2025 to ditch that format.
You nailed it with this comment. Anyone can look up basic information. But when you frame this information as a story, it becomes much more clear. I hate googling things and getting bullet point information (relating to any topic). I’d rather dive deeper and look into forums or blogs that provide more context about the topic. It’s the same thing with traffic reports, weather reports, or news content. Sure, I can look at Google Maps and see that there’s an issue at the George Massey Tunnel (staying with the Vancouver example), but that information isn’t really that useful. Hearing an actual traffic report of what is going on makes a huge difference.
News 1130 was great at announcing useful information in a predictable and timely manner. Even causal listeners (like me) knew when to listen for the information I needed, most often I stuck around for a while after I flipped over.
Saying that there’s no point in having this kind of content available is absurd.
I’d argue that this station was useful in the prime drive time hours. Outside of those hours, there wasn’t much to talk about on the roads. As a radio format it was interesting (but probably not viable going forward). But this was definitely a case where the traffic information was far better than anything I’ve ever gotten from an app (as someone who has to drive around Vancouver every day).
Before Covid, maybe... but it was painfully obvious during Covid that playing portuguese langage rap music sung by brazillian nuns would've been more interesting and entertaining. multiple times, the anchor would let the imaging play, the music bed would fire and play out and the anchor is nowhere to be heard... and his tone of voice was clearly exasperated
I’m with you on that one. I think it makes a lot more sense if they ran other programs in addition to the traffic coverage. Perhaps they weren’t allowed to do so though.
Stingray has a sports AM station in Edmonton. I know they own 2 FM stations in Vancouver and Calgary. I wonder if they try to buy a license from Rogers or just wait until they can apply for a license then try to get a sports station. They could also apply to flip The Breeze in Vancouver to sports. But Rogers is keeping the Canucks rights just moving them most likely onto Jack, although I would argue the Kiss trio of stations would be better. Having Canucks on Kiss would mean 3 frequencies and it would cover more areas then the 96.9 signal.
I would say that if any N American city could support a FT traffic program, it would be Vancouver. You have lots of bridge and tunnel choke points. You have ski areas and snow/road reports pertaining to those, seasonally. You have 4 viable local international border crossings (and another weird one.) You have BC Ferries and their various backups and whatnot- lots of backups and full boats, again seasonally. Tons of sporting and cultural events at venues that are right downtown in the heart of traffic. And an international airport fed by surface streets, though I have to say that airport is a relative breeze in comparison to many. There is a lot in theory to talk about, though it must have gotten pretty dismal at 2AM on a Tuesday LOL.
Sorry you misunderstood my comment which was in response to another member who suggested using a traffic app amounted to distracted driving. To be clear, I agree with everything you said about the value of traffic reports. I'm a fan and a user of this kind of radio.
I'm a regular listener to a station similar to CKWX where I live, and I listen to 680 News for traffic when I travel around Toronto, so I am quite familiar with the benefits of stations like this. Far from suggesting just shutting off broadcast radio altogether, I have been an outspoken proponent for good content and localism on the radio across this site for a long time.
At the same time, I'm a fan of technology and progress. I believe navigation apps are great, but I understand how connected technology poses challenges to legacy media like radio. However, the way people get traffic doesn't have to be a binary decision of using either the app or radio traffic reports. Using both together is best, for many of the reasons you outlined. I believe radio should really sell that angle better to its audience.
It's incredibly frustrating to see giant corporations behave like this, and once again we see mass layoffs of good people who were undoubtedly passionate about their craft and serving their communities. You're right, Rogers is almost certainly not in the radio business because they care about radio. It's one of the most predatory and monopolistic corporations in Canada, one that bought up as many stations as it could to the effect of diminishing the country's local radio diversity and transitioning the medium from a public-interest service to a corporate utility. And now it has thrown good people out of work and literally destroyed the radio stations it ate up and spit out, canceling the licenses instead of offering them for sale in another typically monopolistic Rogers move.
I'd say it's a more extreme example of the bloodbath that happened two weeks ago with iHeart. From Allentown to Spokane, entire staff rosters were let go, pink-slipped, fired. Some of these morning shows had been on the air for over 30 years, with a generation of loyal listeners. Now it's syndicated from NYC, or Chicago, or Dallas. Not to mention the afternoon personalities who got us through the ride home with great music.
I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the end for Rogers. They may start shutting down other FM stations before long...MUSIC stations.
Rogers and iHeart are two peas in the same monopolistic pod.
I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the end for Rogers. They may start shutting down other FM stations before long...MUSIC stations.
Rogers and iHeart are two peas in the same monopolistic pod.
It's very different. The iHeart stations are still on the air. These Rogers stations aren't. Not the same thing.
The market cap for Rogers Communications ($56 billion) is more than the annual billings for the entire US radio industry.
I’m with you on that. The Rogers situation is downright insane. With a blink of an eye they turned off a significant number of radio stations and put a huge number of people out of work. Not to mention, they didn’t even give these stations a proper send off. Bell media is also terrible, but when they handed in their licenses they provided a message on a loop thanking listeners for being a part of the station. Rogers couldn’t even be bothered to do that apparently.
Did any of these stations even get a chance to sign off or did they just come through and pull the plug?
I also find it interesting that Rogers just announced their multi billion dollar investment in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment in Toronto. So I guess they have money for that. That, of course, is after cutting off access to hockey night in Canada on CBC.