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More "Virgin" radio stations anounced!

T

theradiokid

Guest
According to the news page of radio-info.com, it was anounced today that Astral Media is launching 3 more “Virgin Radio” branded stations this month. Here are the details:

Ottawa: CKQB (106.9) will flip from “The Bear,” becoming a “Virgin Radio” targeting men 25-54. (I smell Classic Rock here…)

Montreal: CJFM (95.9) will drop “Mix,” becoming a “Virgin Radio” targeting Adults 25-40.

Vancouver: CKZZ (95.3) will dump it’s “95Crave” format (thank God), becoming a Rhythmic “Virgin Radio” targeting Adults 25-40.

Personally, I’m happy. When my talking Jaws software read this to me,, I fell out of my chair with excitement. This is great! At least you Canadians will have real radio to listen to!

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].
 
I responded in the Toronto thread on this topic but I will say here I don't see the bear going Classic rock. We already have that right next do0r on CHEZ 106. They do play some classic already along with new rock, all the classic rock airs during the day. This move makes no sense at all. The Bear is the number 1 rocker in the city. Just ahead of CHEZ and double the audience of Live 88.5
 
What a stupid decision for The Bear in Ottawa. They have a loyal fan base and high ratings, and you don't just change the brand of the station for the sake of changing the brand. The Bear = Rock, Virgin = ...um? Sounds like a female-targeted format. It will only hurt the station. Just leave the darn branding alone.
 
Well. We’re beginning to see the “Virgin Radio” brand spread from Toronto, just like Astral promised. As of this afternoon, CKZZ is rebranding itself as “Virgin Radio 95.3.” There is already a website: www.vancouver.virginradio.ca. I tried to listen to the stream provided, but the link didn’t work. It appears that CKZZ is stunting before the launch, as the last played on the website keeps telling me the last played was “Beautiful Goodbye” by Amanda Marcial, apparently the last song on “Crave.” If anyone is out that way, and can hear the stunting going on over analog air, please post a reply. What are they doing? When are they telling you “Virgin” will be on the air?

This is the first of three. Also getting a “Virgin Radio” brand attached to them will be CJFM (Montreal), and CKBQ (Ottawa.)

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].
 
Well, it looks like the “Virgin Radio” folks didn’t want people to see the new website yet, cuzz they’ve just taken down all the contents, or, well, my screen reader tells me now that there’s nothing there, when just 15 minutes ago or so, it had some content on it. It was very scarce, with all the links up, but no content within them. For example, the shows and schedules page had nothing in it at the time. Hmmm. I still wonder what’s going out over the air over there right now…

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].
 
Mimo, what’s on the 106.9 signal now (7-10A.M. EST?) Is it “The Bear,” or is it stunting?

Also, I’d be very interested in your take on “Virgin Radio” Ottawa after a few days of listening.

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].
 
It's still The Bear playing for the moment (like playing the 9 in a row thing), but they keep announcing the new station starting at 4. :) And I think the last show being played today (with bear...) was Bearly awake.
 
For some reason I woke up just before 9 for a little bit so I switched over to 106.9 to listen to what was going on. I heard the end of Bearly Awake, and from the sounds of it, the morning show is staying, and will be intact. It sounded like they were trying to get every one at the station to get on the air and say "ottawa's best rock 106.9 the bear" for one last time, kind of like to drive it into your memory. They sounded like they were excited about the change. Rumour has it (according to milkman unlimited) that they are adding Alice Co0per for the night shift. I'm going to check it out and listen to the switchover, but if I hear to0 many hair metal bands I'm gonna scream.
 
I wasn't impressed with the new virgin at all, the music is mostly older, tired tracks I hear on classic rocker CHEZ 106, with very few new releases thrown in. The Bear was much better. I loved how one of the jocks during the launch slipped and started saying "Ottawa's best rock 106.9 the bear" before he caught himself. There is one feature that could be go0d, the 2 hours of live tracks on Saturday nights, but as far as new rock is concerned, Live 88.5 has won the war.
 
The new Virgin radio Ottawa is a piece of crap.
The bear was alot better.

A friend of mine out that way plans to get an auto logger for the ads so we can all boycott the businesses that advertise on that station.
 
Well, we just got Virginized here in Montreal today. Popular Hot AC station Mix 96 (CJFM) rebranded itself as Virgin Radio 96 at 4 PM today. The format and airstaff have remained intact, albeit with a few new additions. I recorded the last hour of Mix 96 (which went jockless from noon until 4 PM), and the launch and first 42 minutes of Virgin Radio 96. You can download it by followinf the link below:

http://www.mediafire.com/?1wld1mzx22n

Enjoy!
 
Thanks!...but all I get is:

"Database connection failed! If this problem persists or you need further assistance, contact support."

Is there something wrong with my computer?
 
Yeziknoradio said:
Thanks!...but all I get is:

"Database connection failed! If this problem persists or you need further assistance, contact support."

Is there something wrong with my computer?
Click to expand...

Maybe... because the link looked ok for me.


o_O oh but I don't know what could be the problem though... sorry
 
Back in January, when these “Virgin” stations launched, I got to hear the launches of Ottawa and Montreal. I was impressed by both launches. Someone wrote me, and said that Vancouver also had a similar launch.

Over the past week, I’ve finally been able to listen to the webstreams of all 3 new “Virgin” stations, though the web streams are still spotty.

Musically, I’m not impressed with Vancouver or Montreal. They are just Hot AC stations, and they don’t seem to have the Rhythmic lean, or as many gold tracks as Toronto does. I like Ottawa. I don’t think 106.9 plays as much Classic Rock as some on this board have contended. Nor is it as crappy as some here have said, in my opinion.

What I will say for all “Virgin” stations is this. I’m impressed by the commitment “Virgin” has to talent. On all Virgin” stations in Canada, there’s a morning show with 2 people, a mid-morning/lunch host, an early afternoon host, a drive home show hosted by 2 people, and a syndicated show at night whichh has more than music. Weekends on “Virgin” are just as compelling, and talent packed. Also, the talent is allowed to interact with each other without time limits in 2 person shows, and, most importantly, the “Virgin” listeners. US radio can, if it chose to, learn a lot from the Canadian “Virgin Radio” stations.

--The Radio Kid
(Oswego, NY.)
My email: [email protected].
 
Here you go Kid, the Virgin Radio launch (CKZZ 95.3) in Vancouver from January 8th courtesy of Radiofan at RadioWest.ca:
http://www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=4841

The problem as I see it with Virgin Radio Vancouver is promotion (or lack thereof). The flip from 95 Crave FM happened over 2 months ago and it seems that no one locally even knows the station exists. This is a sharp contrast to their predecessor Crave which was very visible (TV spots, wrap-around bus ads, billboards, etc.). Perhaps it's a result of these tough economic times, but if Astral really wants this thing to work they've got to do a better job promoting it.
 
Dan. Thank you thank you thank you sooo much for providing that link. As a self described “Format change freak,” I am fasinated by format changes, and, if possible, love, love, love to hear a format change occur. Thank you for letting me hear this one in person.

I must say that, from the launch I heard, “Virgin Radio” Vancouver was playing some dance music. I didn’t hear that while listening last week, but I was listening during workday hours. I’ll have to give them a second listen.

So, for the record, the first “Virgin” songs for the 3 launches were:

*Vancouver: Michael Buble, “Sway”
*Ottawa: The Clash, “London Calling”
*Montreal: Madonna, “Like a Virgin” (Live Version.)

My favorites in order are: Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Montreal.

I hope Astral will launch more “Virgin Radio” stations in the future, but right now, it might not be in the budget…

--The Radio Kid
(Oswego, NY.)
My email: [email protected].
 
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