six years, without any "Energy" souce:

[Radio_bored-Op]

sorry for the bad pun, but it still SUCKs, six years later!!!!

energy 108/ [email protected]/EnergyFM/energy95.3/ in all forms/ should
have survived, i still rank it as my number one(tied w/am 640 : ) lol,
as the best station.....ever!! of course, this is the earlier 90s image/branding/programming,etc

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Re: six years, without any "Energy"

sorry for the bad pun, but it still SUCKs, six years later!!!!

energy 108/ [email protected]/EnergyFM/energy95.3/ in all forms/ should
have survived, i still rank it as my number one(tied w/am 640 : ) lol,
as the best station.....ever!! of course, this is the earlier 90s image/branding/programming,etc

Remember to include the fact that you liked 640 as the beat of Toronto. Otherwise, people might think you mean the original talk 640, or the Hog or something.

Energy made their bed and laid in it. I would like to believe that they would still be around today if they ran each station as a seperate station, and not try to be this energy radio idea, but London Ontario was the exception that proves me wrong.

They stayed around when all the other Energy radio stations changed to something else, but they also ran into a *Major* problem in the end with too many "tweens" listening.

The audience there was just too young, so London's Energy fliped to Fresh FM, an AC/classic AC variety station.

 

[TonySantiago]

It is unfortunate.

If anything, Energy 108 served as the catalyst for what I have been doing over the last 15 years (off and on) regarding dance music in New York City. I figured, if Toronto has a cosmopolitan makeup that is somewhat similar to NYC, with a club scene that is either on par or actually BEATS NYC, then why couldn't we have a dance station? There's certainly a market for it down here!

Long story short, we had the revival of WKTU and just recently launched Pulse 87, whose sounds would be the New York equivalent of an Energy 108 if it was still around today.

Though...and just an opinion after hearing a "Back In The Day" track on Z103.5 through my cell.....could Toronto handle a rhythmic A/C station similar to our 'KTU? It would mainly be a "throwback/retro" station of dance tracks (club/Euro/house) from the 90s but interspersed with a couple of the more popular dance music acts of today. It definitely would satisfy CANCON/MAPL and target an older audience that were fans of Energy 108 and would still love hearing the classic sounds...but aimed with a bit of current in there.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

It is unfortunate.
Though...and just an opinion after hearing a "Back In The Day" track on Z103.5 through my cell.....could Toronto handle a rhythmic A/C station similar to our 'KTU?

If Rythmic A/C is the way to go, wouldn't Flow 93.5 have figured that out?

They have (after all) made several changes lately...still Urban, but a far cry from their original focus.

Funny how there's the adults claiming they don't like the modern urban sound, and the teens and twenty somethings prefering to boycott flow for "not being Urban enough" claiming that "Flow was better when..."

Yet Flow doesn't see any immediate desire to either go back to their original format, or just up and go rythmic A/C.

Oh well...

 

[TonySantiago]

If Rythmic A/C is the way to go, wouldn't Flow 93.5 have figured that out?

They have (after all) made several changes lately...still Urban, but a far cry from their original focus.

Funny how there's the adults claiming they don't like the modern urban sound, and the teens and twenty somethings prefering to boycott flow for "not being Urban enough" claiming that "Flow was better when..."

Yet Flow doesn't see any immediate desire to either go back to their original format, or just up and go rythmic A/C.

Oh well...

In general, hip-hop has been taking a "beating" as of late. Even though our two hip-hop/R&B (urban) stations in New York City (Hot 97 and Power 105.1) still bill well, they have experienced a dropoff compared to a few years ago. Even the "hurban" (Hispanic Urban) station (LaKalle) had a drop off at a point, but has been rescued due to the arrival of Luis Jimenez, who is perhaps the Latin "near equivalent but not close" to a Howard Stern.

So basically the same thing is pretty much being said down here as it is with Flow 93.5. Someone should figure it out. As long as these corporations are thick-headed about wanting to serve women 25-54, not caring there are those under 25 that exist, at least give a format that could work!

Energy 108 was a big deal back in the 90's. Heck....if they can get some of the on-air personalities from that era on board a new rhythmic A/C that for the most part matches what Energy 108/Hot 103.5/Power 88.3 was, that would be amazing!

No shock on Z but I am surprised no one has thought to do this.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Energy 108 was a big deal back in the 90's. Heck....if they can get some of the on-air personalities from that era on board a new rhythmic A/C that for the most part matches what Energy 108/Hot 103.5/Power 88.3 was, that would be amazing!

Morning specific:

Power 88.5's morning man was Tarzan Dan. He's busy doing mornings in out in BC, so that's ruled out.

Energy 108 has had a few morning shows.
Anwar Knight is too busy theese days doing weather for CTV Toronto's news, (Aka CFTO News) so he's out.

Mr. Pickle ( ) is back in the States over at WKSE in Buffalo, and varioius other morning teams are also tangled other places.

That's just mornings...and given that this is years later, perhaps (if lucky) diging up an afernoon drive person (from that time) for mornings may be the way to go, but... ??? who's available?

 

[theradiokid]

Hey guys, as far as a dance radio station, you already have CIDC "Z" (103.5." There's nothing more to say on this topic. "Z" has your dance fix.

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].

 

[TonySantiago]

Hey guys, as far as a dance radio station, you already have CIDC "Z" (103.5." There's nothing more to say on this topic. "Z" has your dance fix.

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].

Actually, PLENTY more could be said.

NO ONE here is disrespecting Z103.5. And in all technicalities, Z 103.5 is a CHR station, but more dance friendly than let's say, Z-100 in New York City or, judging that you're from the Oswego area, 93Q. Now, if you're REALLY looking to get "fixed", I believe there is a station that does dance programming at night, CHQQ (Energy 105) but also streams with the format online 24/7.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Yeah you guys got the Legendary CIDC Z-1035 for Dance, so I woudnt complain,, plus you got Energy 105.1 with all dance at night as Tony mentioned,, plus they are 24/7 on the web.

As for Rhythmic AC,, it seems thats kinda what Virgin 99.9 is doing, except its more current Rhythmic based, but I wouldnt be surprised to hear some Classic dance get added into rotation soon.. In Vancouver, they have 95.3 The Crave,, similar to Virgin, and they play some 90s dance on there, so I think a Rhythmic AC..Virgin is your best bet....

 

[Yeziknoradio]

"In Vancouver, they have 95.3 The Crave,, similar to Virgin,"

So then, is it already identical to Virgin? Perhaps it will become one of the Virgin radio stations soon...?

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Update on this... the 95.3 in Vancouver is a Virgin too now... and i think Montreal has one.... Also,, Energy 105.1 is trying to get a full time 24/7 signal in Toronto instead of leasing time on the french shock FM... Energy 105.1 plays alot of the classics made popular on energy 108, hot 1035 and power 88.5,,, so it may be years away, but you will get your energy fix back... I dont see whats wrong with Z-1035,, its still about 50 percent dance,, unless you absolutely hate POP-Rock and Urban, then Z-1035 serves you guys well... CIDC went with the top 40 format years ago for a reason,,, no top 40 in Toronto,, but at least they kept the dance lean in tact. In fact Z 1035 is more dance friendly now, then when they where Hits 1035 in the mid to late 90s,,,,, which had an Alternative Rock lean, but still played dance and CHR as well.

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

Spoiled!!
(hey m-w-c) my ol..friend...how have u been

anyways, one word: Spoiled. describes why im reely
slow to embrace CIDC.

Spoiled, that ENERGY number 1.08 was it!
hot103..5 ( dot five),btw, did that pre-internet(dot)5ive...
was amazing back then (too)but where i lived, i pretty much
grew up w/ energy, and was "treated" to CIDC-103/5 when I went
to toronto, now and again...even later, in the 90s, it was still 75%dance....
but for every oh wow-factor song...they play the watered down,
70-spins a week(for what ever is popular); or the :20minutes, of
classic-euro(which -IS-the same set, pretty much)*see below*
they follow that up w/ "noise"(the steady beat trance) which..makes listening
soo obvilious, easy to not even notice its on...

(euro:set) is the same, because , well - the music is 'dated'/or...
established, and cant broaden the library, since its all part of...
well, history, so if u only have say, 300 euro songs to pick from,
its amazing, that the same/25...are played over and over....

dont believe me?*think im 'joshin' u buddy,....lol,
tune in your time on wed: 11:19pm, z1035.com/click on listen live,
and...log the play list...maybe more like 11:03pm, lol or what ever time,
do this for a 6 week period, alternating the weeks....ie: listen first week
of april, skip the second, listen the third week...and, write down the
euro set.. you will see what i mean.

another reason energy had it, others didnt...
when the mid/late90s dance was 'first run' it was some thing special..
NOW: if z103, plays the new ________ *(not lady gaga)or . . . .
but plays new _?-ferry costen(?sp), or...new robbie riveria...
well, im not "used" to it, til it trickles down...to an average chr, picking it up..

and finally,
day part..if im in toronto, or area (ny or ontario)and listen: sample playlist,
usher, alice deeJay, beyonce, [80s/bon jovi, or some thing .. .. like that : )/def leppard,
jay-z, kelly clarkson, daft punk(which is *nice* to hear), and then some thing, reeely new...(pop40),
and some thing new, dance....

so ... get the tired, but "OK" to hear "better off alone" and..."one more time" , and
maybe singing along to...the rock hit, but thats your hour right there...

*back w/ energy* (when they were amazing), and even after watered down...
i dont know...seem to have a lil better handle.....maybe i was clinging to
some thing i never wanted to lose.

# # #

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Don't forget there was a non hit regulation back in the day, forcing FM radio in general in Canada to play 49% non hits.

There was alot of great dance music that wasn't "hit music" yet, so it got more attention on Hot 103 and the original Dance 108(later known as energy).

Today, the hit music rule is out the window, so there is more desire to just toss on a playlist of "hit" music, rather than actually experiment with what (dance) music might be out there...

Plus, the can con regs were only 30%, not the 35-40% it is today, so there is less room for international dance hits.
(unfortunantly)

 

[Radio_bored-Op]

sidenote:

the con-can rule...
does it reely factor in that much?!

when i was active in cdn.radio...the percentage was
35%....This was "easy" to cover for the following reasons:

in the dance genre/format, there was enough material....
(*please note: dance, not a "kiss 10@10" criteria).

secondly, of the can-con, there were soo many "breaks"
(the MAPL) was streeeechin it so a few more songs would "count"

(now in the light/hot ac)...there was enough celion dion; bryan adams,
*even though a select song of his?/was not considered "canadian"...
there was still plenty to pick from...and *songs like shania, u would
want to play anyway..not....some thing like, HIT*hit,*new music,
then "UNKNOWN" cdn.nobody....

*THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS*

additonally, a "way" around the can-con rule..
load up, the songs off peak hours:
energy(energyRadio era) would do a morning (sunday morning) block of canadian artist, i believe
it was the 7am hour...until the live person told me, i just thought it was
one fun song after another, with a few (okay, this song, kinda sucks) mixed in...

the (at the time 1/3rule, now the 1/2rule) ...covers the 'day'/waking moments
soo load up 2.5 hours in the first part of the day that counts, (even more on
sat and sunday)...and u have (stay w/ me)....u have...35 %Of the 50 % needed...
so u can do a true kiss 10 @ 10 lineup....justin/beyonce, jay z. etc...

after the morning "vitamin" C ....throw in about 2 or 3 every other hour,
and the opposite hours, 4 or 5...there u go!

lastly...
the can-con rule, lets itself win:
meaning...if some one like......tragically hip gets air play,
the average cdn listener...might feel, ( believe my friends do this)...
...deep breathe, and its nice to hear CANADIAN bands on the radio...
-or, a bigger band, say RUSH, just some thing that makes it special (still now)
to hear that on the air waves, and it counts to the can-con,
....
ok, so its not the established bands, like ..................the 5 u just thought of;
the live dj, can solve that: ...this new band, ( name here)....oh wow...
(actually) mobile, for example,
"....and the startin the set, was mobile, wow what a success...to come out of montreal..."

(and go a # of ways w/ that )....
either: praise montreal, ( grade 8 i went there and ....)
(B), another thing: ....talk about the band, or some cdn-music fest...
(c) , perhaps...another tie in - that has origin in cdn-roots(no pun)...
..
is it a 'stupid rule' ?
No. i always loved the rule...
simpy for the reason it seperates the
border towns...FM dial.
you ask, any american what they think of
CFNY ( for example), and they tell you "its better"
they may not know why - but it is directly related to
the can-con regulations.
BECAUSE: most people in general,(esp ones NOT reading this forum) claim
"i dont know names, artists, songs" i just know (what i like)/or know it if i hear it..
chances are, it was a cdn song.

or say,
i "like everything " and have a semi-large range of music, but chances are..
listen to their fave. genre, but even w/ in their own niche, there are a few
songs, they can only hum/sing along, or catch the tune when they hear it..
i do this, esp. on the retro/spirit of radio on cfny,sunday nite...and it is:
for one, a great Song, or AWESOME Music and....usually canadian....

take: "peace of mind"( one4one), circa: 1991
it took me FOREVER to find out who sang that, simply because
i only heard it on am640 and sometimes, chum, and rarely.............
'the other station' / .. .. 98.5 wont and shouldnt know it, talk it or play it...
...that kinda 'buzz' (even if 'forced' by govt), is a plus for the broadcasting industry.

it is some thing special...
when a song is on chum, virginFM, "light 105.7"(hehe), and not on
star 102, mix 104

same can be said about
air play on z101, versus kiss 98.5
...*CAN * star,kiss,mix (buffalo)stations play it, sure
will they ????

usually...the "suits" answer would be: we dont have to.