The rumour going around (and printed in today's Ottawa Sun) is that Oldies 1310 in Ottawa will be making a format flip on Tuesday (after the long weekend), most likely going all news or news/talk placing it in direct competition with CFRA. This is bolstered by the dismissal of the morning host Brother Bob on Thursday, the disappearance of all the show information on oldies1310.com, and the fact that Rogers owns 1310news.com (although they have owned it since 2007).
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New format for Oldies 1310 in Otttawa?
- Thread starter webhamster
- Start date
I have long speculated CIWW would become 1310 News. Oldies on AM just isn't viable anymore, especially now that it's allowed on FM.
I'm just wondering if it can compete with CFRA and CBC Ottawa, two very well-established news-talk outlets in Ottawa. CIWW's advantage at least is that they have some sports coverage not heard on Team 1200.
I'm just wondering if it can compete with CFRA and CBC Ottawa, two very well-established news-talk outlets in Ottawa. CIWW's advantage at least is that they have some sports coverage not heard on Team 1200.
This is news to me. I for one will be listening. While I like the oldies format on AM, I agree, their numbers have been dropping for years. If it's promoted, then it could grab some listeners. Not everyone in the capital is a hardcore conservative, and those listeners are very turned off by CFRA, myself included. The only thing I truly like about CFRA is the highlights from question period aired every day at 4:37 PM. Right when I leave for work. CBC is a non factor for me on my walk to and from work or around my neighbourho0d. I live near downtown, and the signal gets wiped out by other FM's halfway up the dial. For those of us in Centretown/downtown. AM is a better option than FM.
This could be quite interesting and a welcome change for the capital.
This could be quite interesting and a welcome change for the capital.
M
Mr. Stereo
Guest
Just heard this news myself. Sad, since 1310 has been in a semi-oldies format since New Years 1986. They jumped the gun on CFRA doing it and did a better job over all(although could have had a better variety-which was CFRA's major problem as an oldies station). AM definately is a dead format for music, but when exactly did the CRTC begin allowing the Oldies format on the FM band? I've yet to hear of one. In Ottawa's rather over crowded radio market-there's a lot of competition going on, and some stations that lean towards playing some oldies but not a specific "Oldies only" station.
CIWW-formerly CKOY was Ottawa's oldest radio station. While CFRA celebrates it's legacy and history, 1310 has forgotten there's and has done their level best to bury whatever history the station had. I guess if you've never been #1 in the market, you don't have much to celebrate.
CIWW-formerly CKOY was Ottawa's oldest radio station. While CFRA celebrates it's legacy and history, 1310 has forgotten there's and has done their level best to bury whatever history the station had. I guess if you've never been #1 in the market, you don't have much to celebrate.
The CRTC allowed oldies on FM some point either last year or the year before in every market BUT Ottawa and Montreal, due to the bilingual nature of both cities. They also finally relaxed the hit/non hit rule for FM the same time, again with the exception of Montreal and Ottawa, which explains why you hear so much older material on Hot 89.9, since a song over 2 years old loses it's status as a hit. At least that was the hit rule when I worked in radio.
I noticed you never saw any promotion at all for 1310. You saw ads on the bus for the other rogers stations, kiss and y 101 (which has such a bad signal it only hits maybe 50 % of the city at best). How could they have attracted any listeners if no one knew or remembered that they were even there? Also the voice tracking and weekend morning infomercials didn't help at all. Listeners will tune out of voice tracked stations, they can tell. My girlfriend is not an oldies fan but even she's sad the station is going away. I wonder if there is an odd chance they might keep playing music but go in a different direction...like country, classic country or standards.
People can argue we already have a country station in y 101, but with the transmitter in Smith's Falls, the signal doesn't penetrate the downtown/centretown area or Gloucester or Orleans. It's more a south side/Nepean/Kanata station. CIWW's signal is go0d everywhere. Just a few hours more and we'll know.
I noticed you never saw any promotion at all for 1310. You saw ads on the bus for the other rogers stations, kiss and y 101 (which has such a bad signal it only hits maybe 50 % of the city at best). How could they have attracted any listeners if no one knew or remembered that they were even there? Also the voice tracking and weekend morning infomercials didn't help at all. Listeners will tune out of voice tracked stations, they can tell. My girlfriend is not an oldies fan but even she's sad the station is going away. I wonder if there is an odd chance they might keep playing music but go in a different direction...like country, classic country or standards.
People can argue we already have a country station in y 101, but with the transmitter in Smith's Falls, the signal doesn't penetrate the downtown/centretown area or Gloucester or Orleans. It's more a south side/Nepean/Kanata station. CIWW's signal is go0d everywhere. Just a few hours more and we'll know.
With the CRTC preventing FM from doing oldies in Ottawa, it's sad to see that station go.
There's no alternate home for the oldies format.
Also, who will carry the Toronto Blue Jays in Ottawa now?
Will Team 1200 pick them up?
Is CTV willing to pay for the rights???
There's no alternate home for the oldies format.
Also, who will carry the Toronto Blue Jays in Ottawa now?
Will Team 1200 pick them up?
Is CTV willing to pay for the rights???
Jack FM can do the oldies thing? Are they far enough away from the Ottawa area to count them as exempt from the regs in the Ottawa market?
From the Oldies 1310 website:
"We want to thank Oldies 1310 listeners for all your support and loyalty over the years. We`ve had a lot of fun playing the greatest hits of all time ... but the music isn`t gone! You can still hear the music of the 60's, 70's and 80's at 92.3 JACK FM — that's 92.3 on your FM dial, on Rogers cable channel 915 and on line at 923jackfm.com!"
Source: http://www.oldies1310.com/
From the Oldies 1310 website:
"We want to thank Oldies 1310 listeners for all your support and loyalty over the years. We`ve had a lot of fun playing the greatest hits of all time ... but the music isn`t gone! You can still hear the music of the 60's, 70's and 80's at 92.3 JACK FM — that's 92.3 on your FM dial, on Rogers cable channel 915 and on line at 923jackfm.com!"
Source: http://www.oldies1310.com/
They've never shown up in the ratings here. The signal is atrocious. It only hits the south edge and west side (or about 40% of the city) with any reliability. Downtown and points east it's little or no signal unless you have a go0d radio. I get the jewel 98.5 and CJLL 97.9 bleeding over it on all but one radio in home. The signal is also fairly decent in Aylmer Quebec, which is actually south and west of my location.
I think they may keep the jays. Since the Jays are a rogers property, as is CIWW I don't see why they would feel the need to drop them. They've had an audience with the Jays. 1200 has it's plate way to0 full with hockey. So much so that they air both the 67's and the Senators, and when both are playing, the 67's get bo0ted to CFRA. Come playoff time, and early season, they'll interfere with the hockey. As of now CIWW is still airing the baseball post season games. I don't know if they would want to put them on kiss or y 101 once the flip is done. We'll just have to see
Jack fm is the former 630 CJET. They had a great signal on AM. I believe Smiths Falls is 45 minutes away by car (I may be wrong) and jack only runs 10,000 watts, compared to the full 100,000 that Y 101's signal has.
I think they may keep the jays. Since the Jays are a rogers property, as is CIWW I don't see why they would feel the need to drop them. They've had an audience with the Jays. 1200 has it's plate way to0 full with hockey. So much so that they air both the 67's and the Senators, and when both are playing, the 67's get bo0ted to CFRA. Come playoff time, and early season, they'll interfere with the hockey. As of now CIWW is still airing the baseball post season games. I don't know if they would want to put them on kiss or y 101 once the flip is done. We'll just have to see
Jack fm is the former 630 CJET. They had a great signal on AM. I believe Smiths Falls is 45 minutes away by car (I may be wrong) and jack only runs 10,000 watts, compared to the full 100,000 that Y 101's signal has.
Mr. Stereo said:
In Kingston, ON CKWS-FM recently became an all oldies FM station, after being an A/C station for a few years. CKWS used to be an AM oldies station as well, but that has been off the air for a while now.
It would be interesting if we saw another Ottawa station switch to oldies now, since it is allowed. There seem to be a few to many A/C stations in Ottawa. CJWL, CJOT, CJMJ, and CISS all play an A/C variant.
webhamster said:
Sad to see it gone, and I'm glad I got a "last listen" when I was in town two weeks ago.
But that said, I thought the station had been sounding increasingly stale over the last couple of years. And as had been mentioned, the infomercials etc. undoubtedly weren't helping matters.
spunker88 said:
It's still illegal to go all oldies on FM in Ottawa. Kingston is far enough away, I guess.
For some unknown reason the CRTC is still not allowing oldies on FM in Ottawa area because they want to protect the french.
It could be that Smith Falls is far enough away from Ottawa to not count in that ruling, but (as mentioned) the signal is very poor.
I hope for the sake of Ottawa fans that baseball doesn't end up on Jack.
It's simply not fair to do that to the good people of Ottawa, given the signal strength there and all!
Keep on mind also, 92.3 Jack fm is a Smith falls station, not an Ottawa area station...it's roughly an hour away (if I'm not mistaken).
I thought the rule for allowing Oldies on FM was for all of Canada when I heard about CKWS, guess I was wrong. Im suprised Martz Communications who operates a few stations out of the Massena, NY area as border blasters into Montreal hasn't bought up an FM in Ogdensburg or the vicintity and converted it to blast Oldies into Ottawa. But then again their probably isn't much of a market for Oldies, and you'd have to pump out major kilowatts to get a good signal from NY into Ottawa. Many of the Ottawa stations have great signals in the Ogdengsburg, Canton, Potsdam, Massena area but thats because many of them are 100kw ERP. I think 50kw is the limit in the states.
And speaking of 1310, I tuned in to it today when I was in Canton and it has a pretty bad signal there, it gets a lot of interference from 1310AM out of Utica which only runs 5kw. Meanwhile CFRA sounded like a local.
And speaking of 1310, I tuned in to it today when I was in Canton and it has a pretty bad signal there, it gets a lot of interference from 1310AM out of Utica which only runs 5kw. Meanwhile CFRA sounded like a local.
Oldies on AM is stale, period. They're all playing the same tired old hits we've heard millions of times over the past 30-50 years, in glorious low-fidelity monaural sound.
Well I've just recently spoken over the phone with a very reliable source in Ottawa.
They..."Have no idea where the Baseball games are going at this point."
Interesting. You'd think they would have thought that one through.
Doesn't Martz still have an oldies station at 92point something?
I think it reaches Cornwall, but not Ottawa.
??? Strictly a guess. I honestly don't know.
They..."Have no idea where the Baseball games are going at this point."
Interesting. You'd think they would have thought that one through.
Doesn't Martz still have an oldies station at 92point something?
I think it reaches Cornwall, but not Ottawa.
??? Strictly a guess. I honestly don't know.
Martz sold off a bunch of stations and now all they have are a country station, a CHR station and an AM oldies station but they are all closer to Montreal. Although its interesting to note they do have a CP to increase daytime power to 50kw on their AM station which would give it good signal in Montreal as well as Ottawa. They used to own WPAC, a 6kw oldies station in Ogdensburg. At only 6kw I dont think it would cover Ottawa very well.
Im guessing there isn't much money in doing Oldies anymore, because we had another oldies station, WGIX 95.3 convert to country this spring even though theres already WNCQ 102.9 and WFRY 97.5 with powerful signals that cover its listening area.
Im guessing there isn't much money in doing Oldies anymore, because we had another oldies station, WGIX 95.3 convert to country this spring even though theres already WNCQ 102.9 and WFRY 97.5 with powerful signals that cover its listening area.
spunker88 said:
Yep. WPAC is the station I was thinking of. Are they still Oldies? Too bad the signal is too weak.
That DOES sound like too many Country stations, but then again, "I LOVE MY FROGGY!" 8)
When Regent sold the station (WFRY) I was really upset because I thought Stephens group would pull the plug and go sports or religion. (Two things they're known for).
I'm glad they left Froggy alone.
Yeziknoradio said:
Yes, WPAC is still (there's some history here) 'oldies' and broadcasts on 98.7, but as you near Ottawa it gets over-run by CJWL The Jewel, on 98.5.
Originally WPAC was on 92.7, with an CHR format, however after going through a number of formats, 92.7 is currently running as an FM talker WQTK. It does get through to the southern tier of Ottawa very weakly, but starts breaking up north of Kemptville.
The flip of 'Cool Oldies' 95.3 to CW was something of a shocker, as its been an oldies station since Adam & Eve were kicked out of the garden...
As for Froggy, I believe it is (or has been) subject of an FM DX record, with a DXer from Northern Ireland reeling it in.
~BG
Well, i think News 1310, will be like CFTR 680 news in Toronto
680 news gives traffic reports on the Ones (1's)
And its about time ottawa had breaking news coverage, Not a cfra, 8 hours after the fact, mini 10 second report. I am going to like this station
Take that CFRA, your talk radio is good, but the news part sucks. And your waste of radio space rebroadcasting material everyday during the night. I hope 1310 gives 580 a run for it's advertising money. And maybe CTV globe media will revamp CFRA, lol.
As for the CJET transmitter, 92.3 jack fm, its located off of hwy 15, near franktown ontario, 20km north of smithsfalls. But because of ownership rules, from the CRTC, rogers has to keep 92.3 in the smithsfalls market. I don't know if CRTC or even industry canada will allow 92.3 to boost kw power, or change to directional antenna , at less wattage. to better penetrate in the city of Ottawa. Wait and see, if there are any requests for rogers to do so, which in turn would be posted on the CRTC website, for decision and intervention requests/ But for this to happen, Rogers has to prove that it is serving smithsfalls in an adequate way for the market, even though there real intention is to Penetrate into ottawa to attract ottawa listeners. Will the commision allow this? There has been some oddities to the rules that seems to circumvent what should happen to what will happen.
680 news gives traffic reports on the Ones (1's)
And its about time ottawa had breaking news coverage, Not a cfra, 8 hours after the fact, mini 10 second report. I am going to like this station
Take that CFRA, your talk radio is good, but the news part sucks. And your waste of radio space rebroadcasting material everyday during the night. I hope 1310 gives 580 a run for it's advertising money. And maybe CTV globe media will revamp CFRA, lol.
As for the CJET transmitter, 92.3 jack fm, its located off of hwy 15, near franktown ontario, 20km north of smithsfalls. But because of ownership rules, from the CRTC, rogers has to keep 92.3 in the smithsfalls market. I don't know if CRTC or even industry canada will allow 92.3 to boost kw power, or change to directional antenna , at less wattage. to better penetrate in the city of Ottawa. Wait and see, if there are any requests for rogers to do so, which in turn would be posted on the CRTC website, for decision and intervention requests/ But for this to happen, Rogers has to prove that it is serving smithsfalls in an adequate way for the market, even though there real intention is to Penetrate into ottawa to attract ottawa listeners. Will the commision allow this? There has been some oddities to the rules that seems to circumvent what should happen to what will happen.
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