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730 CKAC to go all Traffic

M

mimo

The plug was pulled on the sports programming today at 10:00 AM. The station is now AC until September 6th when it will be going all traffic. So if you hear music on 730 and live in the northeast, it's CKAC you're hearing. There are ads promoting the new format mixed in with the music. The station is running automated until the format launch. Cogeco has pulled it's application for 690 AM as there's no need to have 2 French language traffic stations right next to each other on the dial. They are still going after an English version on 940. Other applicants are applying for 690 and the list of who they are will be released in the coming weeks.
 
I think I saw this on the Canada board....with two 730's doing traffic in Canada (the other being in Vancouver), maybe 730 will be the de facto "all traffic all the time" frequency in North America in a few years... :)

They may as well start now....AM is a dying breed anyway... :)

cd
 
cd637299 said:
I think I saw this on the Canada board....with two 730's doing traffic in Canada (the other being in Vancouver), maybe 730 will be the de facto "all traffic all the time" frequency in North America in a few years... :)
Click to expand...

Except that Corus still owns 730 in Vancouver, while they sold its Quebec stations, including CKAC, to Cogeco last year.
 
Well I guess the folks at CKDM 730 in Dauphin, Manitoba should think about joining this growing trend too. After all, during harvest time there's hundreds of tractors and broken down farm equipment clogging up the streets of the city, not to mention herds of cows & chickens running rampant. A commuters nightmare!
 
^ :)

As I don't live in MTL, I must ask: What happened to this once-great station? Weren't they a killer in the ratings at one time? What did them in? (I think 98.5 there is news/talk, but wow.)

I guess AM really *is* dying there.

cd
 
CKAC with their Sports format has been sitting in the 3.0 range in the recent Montreal PPM's (Francophone). Fairly respectable and close to the ratings that English language Sports stations garner in other markets. From what I've been able to gather it sounds like Cogeco was at risk of losing the money from the Quebec government to fund the two All Traffic stations unless they did something immediately. Cogeco expected the CRTC to rubber stamp their initial 690 & 940 proposals, they weren't prepared for the opposition that led to the CRTC opening up the frequencies to other potential applicants.

For the record the latest PPM's for Vancouver show All Traffic CHMJ 730 with a whopping 0.8 (undoubtedly the fate of CKAC as well).
 
Dan said:
CKAC with their Sports format has been sitting in the 3.0 range in the recent Montreal PPM's (Francophone). Fairly respectable and close to the ratings that English language Sports stations garner in other markets. From what I've been able to gather it sounds like Cogeco was at risk of losing the money from the Quebec government to fund the two All Traffic stations unless they did something immediately. Cogeco expected the CRTC to rubber stamp their initial 690 & 940 proposals, they weren't prepared for the opposition that led to the CRTC opening up the frequencies to other potential applicants.

For the record the latest PPM's for Vancouver show All Traffic CHMJ 730 with a whopping 0.8 (undoubtedly the fate of CKAC as well).
Click to expand...

If you ask me, 0.8 for all-traffic is great! Wow

cd
 
If you ask me, 0.8 for all-traffic is great! Wow
Click to expand...

Not really, especially when you consider the station that most people listen to for traffic reports, All News CKWX 1130, came in with a 6.9 in the latest PPM's. Traffic reports on WX are a lot more professional and polished all around in comparison to AM 730.
 
Dan said:
Well I guess the folks at CKDM 730 in Dauphin, Manitoba should think about joining this growing trend too. After all, during harvest time there's hundreds of tractors and broken down farm equipment clogging up the streets of the city, not to mention herds of cows & chickens running rampant. A commuters nightmare!
Click to expand...

+1. My understanding is that U.S. 730s are dumping existing formats signing up to go all traffic as quickly as possible. KLOE in Goodland, Kansas and KWOA in Worthington, MN leading the way. Existing political talk 730s in rural areas will merge that programming into special "manure spreader" traffic reports. ;D
 
How much does all traffic cost to run? ???
Is it a format that demands more than a .8 share?
 
Yeziknoradio said:
How much does all traffic cost to run? ???
Is it a format that demands more than a .8 share?
Click to expand...

Hello. I am a Montrealer - the only one on this forum, I believe - and I may be able to answer your question.

Cogeco Diffusion will be receiving an annual subsidy of $1.5 million from the Quebec transport ministry to run the all-traffic station on CKAC AM 730. This will cover employee salaries, among other things.

I have no idea if an all-traffic format will make any significant dent in the ratings, but then again, I'm no ratings expert.

You can read more about the details of the change here: http://blog.fagstein.com/2011/09/02/ckac-sports-ends/
I also provide some analysis of Radio Circulation 730 on my own blog here: http://madmark77.blogspot.com/2011/09/commentary-ckac-montreal-to-flip-to-all.html
 
Yeziknoradio said:
How much does all traffic cost to run? ??? Is it a format that demands more than a .8 share?
Click to expand...

A well-run all-traffic & weather station, possibly augmented with news headlines, ski reports, and other short information elements could attract a very large cume for very short listening spans. It might not have to have much TSL (and therefore not much AQH audience) to make money. If it was part of a cluster, it could run promos driving listenership to a news-formatted sister station, and it might all make sense.

I don't know how this all works in Canada, but suspect there are probably lots of rules I haven't considered. Does the government subsidy block the sales of other ads?
 
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