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Rogers Shuts Down Six Stations

I think there are a lot of cases where you can look at a company and understand why they’re making a business decision. We don’t always like it, but business decisions are tough. Bell Media is a great example. They have centralized a lot of their programming and have shut down most of their underperforming AM radio stations. It’s too bad, but I don’t think it comes as much of a surprise that their network of comedy radio stations shut down.

This is a very unique situation, and I can’t really see any positive spin for Rogers. I guess the only positive takeaway is the fact that they get the remaining shares in MLSE and get to nickel and dime Canadians through one of the worst subscription based platforms imaginable.
 
mimo said:
.Since everything is a subscription these days, they don't feel bad about adding one more to an already massive affordability crisis the average Canadian is suffering throughh.
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You are right about subscriptions. I added up the amount I am paying for everything from my Adobe package and Microsoft 365 to Netflix and Hulu to the NYT and my local paper and my malware protection, I am spending over $600 a month on that kind of subscription. Add in my ISP, cellular phone and other stuff that I did not even know might exist 25 or 30 years ago!
 
radiofan2023 said:
What are the exceptions?
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An owner first has to go to the CRTC and declare that they wish to have a spoken word licence instead of their current music licence.
Secondly, there must be no complaints from competing sources about a move to FM.
Unfortunately, a request does not secure that CRTC will automatically grant a change from a music formatted FM licence to a spoken word licence.
Long story short,
A music formatted station can not just automatically switch to all sports on FM and then go to the CRTC requesting change.
Doing so has high chance of rejection, regardless of situation.

It is very possible that the CRTC may be in the middle of changing the rules regarding FM flips to sports, but for now, Music radio on FM is well protected.
Heck, even for News talk...see Calgary!
QR77 just upped and went News/Talk FM They shut down their Q 107 and turned it into a QR77 repeater, perhaps with plans to shut down the AM side.
They did this without asking CRTC for permission.
CRTC gave them crap! FM 107 was forced to go back to music...
 
Yeziknoradio said:
A music formatted station can not just automatically switch to all sports on FM
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However, is there any law preventing a music station from airing an occasional hockey game?

That appears to be what Rogers intends to do in Vancouver.

We have many FM music stations in the US that break format and carry basketball, baseball, and football games.
 
davideduardo said:
You are right about subscriptions. I added up the amount I am paying for everything from my Adobe package and Microsoft 365 to Netflix and Hulu to the NYT and my local paper and my malware protection, I am spending over $600 a month on that kind of subscription. Add in my ISP, cellular phone and other stuff that I did not even know might exist 25 or 30 years ago!
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If I were to subscribe to every site that carried what I wanted to watch, whether it's English football, my favourite tv shows, etc, it would cost me probably quadruple what I pay for cable. More if I throw in the cost of just getting online.
There was an article recently by Alan Cross (Canadian broadcaster for those who don't know) that mentioned how some auotmakers are considering getting rid of the car radio altogether, and move the entertainment centre to a subscription service. That's not going to go over well.
Personally, I'm very old fashioned and I pay for cable and internet only. No subscriptions of any kind....at all. I can't afford it and I'm happy to do without. No smart appliances. I don't even use the smart feature on my tv. It doesn't really work because the set is 11 years old,

Here's a link to the article about removing FM from cars
www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com

Are they trying to take away FM radio in the car away from us? Yes. | Alan Cross

What’s the first thing you do when you get behind the wheel after buckling up and hitting the ignition? You probably dial up some audio entertainment —
www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com
 
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TheBigA said:
However, is there any law preventing a music station from airing an occasional hockey game?

That appears to be what Rogers intends to do in Vancouver.

We have many FM music stations in the US that carry basketball, baseball, and football games.
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No. Here in Ottawa, some sports is carried on FM, but only in French. Those stations are all music stations as well. We get hockey and foorball (both kinds) on FM here. In the market, on the Gatineau side, we have a sports station on FM at 96.5, which is in French, but they are only sports on weekdays, and classic hits on weekends. So. yes, sports can absolutely be on FM, and is in quite a few cities. I should mention, the hockey and football (both cfl and soccer) are on French stations. CKGO 1200 continues to be an all sports AM station.
 
I should also mention 104.7 fm here is a newstalk station, in French, but again, only on weekdays. Weekends are music...unless there's a hockey game...then they carry that, unless those rights have gone to another station. I don't speak French, and I hate hockey so I don't listen to the games. I know they've been caried on FM in French and still are.
I also remember during a playoff run, the games were simulcast on both 1200 and 93.9...but that was back in 2007 or so.
 
TheBigA said:
However, is there any law preventing a music station from airing an occasional hockey game?

That appears to be what Rogers intends to do in Vancouver.

We have many FM music stations in the US that carry basketball, baseball, and football games.
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You would be correct. A music station can carry sports games in Canada. They just don't get the benefit of spending hours before the game chatting it up about the sport. They can do a bit of chatter before, and after, but then they must go back to their music format.
 
mimo said:
No. Here in Ottawa, some sports is carried on FM, but only in French. Those stations are all music stations as well. We get hockey and foorball (both kinds) on FM here. In the market, on the Gatineau side, we have a sports station on FM at 96.5, which is in French, but they are only sports on weekdays, and classic hits on weekends. So. yes, sports can absolutely be on FM, and is in quite a few cities. I should mention, the hockey and football (both cfl and soccer) are on French stations. CKGO 1200 continues to be an all sports AM station.
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There is no law preventing sports coverage from being on a music station, but a music station itself can not go all sports at this time. Some exceptions have been granted under a special broadcast licence for all sports on FM, but for the most part, CRTC is preventing it.
 
mimo said:
I should also mention 104.7 fm here is a newstalk station, in French, but again, only on weekdays. Weekends are music...unless there's a hockey game...then they carry that, unless those rights have gone to another station. I don't speak French, and I hate hockey so I don't listen to the games. I know they've been caried on FM in French and still are.
I also remember during a playoff run, the games were simulcast on both 1200 and 93.9...but that was back in 2007 or so.
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104.7 is holding a special broadcast licence, but even so is required to offer other sources of programming outside of News/talk. As you can see, CRTC is very strict on what can be done and not done in Canada.

93.9 was a while ago, but it is a good example of the freedom to carry a sport on a music station without having to change format or ask CRTC for permission.
If Ottawa had more sports to cover, and they were to happen at the same time, 93.9 could have been the place to dump one sport while 1200 carries the other.
 
So what's the future of AM? There are a bazillion radios capable of receiving AM. It's not commercially viable. But there's probably enough hobbyists, Boomer Oldies fans, talkers and AM believers to keep the medium existing in some form. Just not on any professional level.
 
Yeziknoradio said:
104.7 is holding a special broadcast licence, but even so is required to offer other sources of programming outside of News/talk. As you can see, CRTC is very strict on what can be done and not done in Canada.

93.9 was a while ago, but it is a good example of the freedom to carry a sport on a music station without having to change format or ask CRTC for permission.
If Ottawa had more sports to cover, and they were to happen at the same time, 93.9 could have been the place to dump one sport while 1200 carries the other.
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Sometimes there is more than one game happening at the same time, so what they've done over the past few years is have one game on 1200 and the second on CFRA 580. Usually the Senators will stay on 1200, and the CFL or soccer games will go to 580. If it's a cfl/soccer conflict, the CFL stays on 1200 and the soccer goes to 580.
 
Yeziknoradio said:
As you can see, CRTC is very strict on what can be done and not done in Canada...
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And that may be the bigger problem with Canadian broadcasting. All these rules and restrictions continue while radio is struggling financially. Dump the CanCon requirement. As well as these outdated format restrictions that were designed to help the AM's, but are no longer needed. Allow spoken word on FM, and allow broadcasters to choose their format, and not have it dictated by the CRTC.

It makes me more appreciative of broadcasting in the US.
 
Yeziknoradio said:
You would be correct. A music station can carry sports games in Canada. They just don't get the benefit of spending hours before the game chatting it up about the sport. They can do a bit of chatter before, and after, but then they must go back to their music format.
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I'll bet there are ways around that but the big corporations will toe the line and not do it.

Otherwise, what is the minimum number of songs that a music station must play to meet the definition? Is it spelled out? If not, what stops them from doing long breaks about sports all day with a minimum number of songs thrown in going in and out of breaks, preferably ones that tie into the theme of the conversation?
 
Bongwater said:
So what's the future of AM? There are a bazillion radios capable of receiving AM. It's not commercially viable. But there's probably enough hobbyists, Boomer Oldies fans, talkers and AM believers to keep the medium existing in some form. Just not on any professional level.
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I've heard some people say it might become a place for hobbyist in the future, a bunch of lower powered or community based stations. That could be fun, but I can't predict the future. If I could I'd be retired and on my own island somewhere living the high life, and not here.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
I'll bet there are ways around that but the big corporations will toe the line and not do it.

Otherwise, what is the minimum number of songs that a music station must play to meet the definition? Is it spelled out? If not, what stops them from doing long breaks about sports all day with a minimum number of songs thrown in going in and out of breaks, preferably ones that tie into the theme of the conversation?
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50% of programming during the week must be music....so that can be pushed to weekends and overnights. Generally, the sports programming is continuous during the day. No breaks for music. It's like block programming. At least that's how it's done on the 2 stations we have here that have spoken word programming.
 
TheBigA said:
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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My thoughts exactly.

I find this so shocking particularly because, while News1130's staff is a fraction of what it was 15 years ago, it still was basically a fully staffed station.
Live anchors 7-days a week (I think some of the wee hours of the morning may have been repeated on a loop), and they'd backed away from the "CityNews Everywhere" combined newscast cost-cutting efforts with only overnights and late weekend evenings shared between Vancouver and Calgary.

This wasn't a situation like with WCBS where first overnights went away, then reporter slots went unfilled, then weekends were pre-recorded and it felt like the inevitable could happen at anytime.

The station was staffed. They'd picked up top anchor talent from around as other stations laid off around the market. There were young (cheap) but talented anchors and reporters filling out the roster. It sounded great.

And Rogers pulled the plug. Poof.

I don't know if they could have sold it, and I don't know what the economics are (I'm sure, not great), but these felt awfully abrupt.
 


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