Month: June 2023

Canada

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1050 CJNB is announcing it is now back up and running again, after being down for the past week or so due to transmitter issues.
The station was plagued with technical challenges after lightning storms caused the radio transmitter to fail.
Program Director Nic Fransoo said the lightning storm went through the area and resulted in an immense power surge that struck the station’s main transmitter in early June.
[….]
https://battlefordsnow.com/2023/06/15/cjnb-radio-back-up-and-on-the-air-again/?fbclid=IwAR24qT32MMU7O-KCwnB-0e8Z2c7eRBOMoHLrt04a1ahyCzVru53nQM5bWT4

Canadian Radio News FB group (2023-06-16)

United States

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WVRC Audio is preparing a multi-signal shuffle in Charleston WV.

The programming of Country “107.3 KAZ” WKAZ-FM Miami will move to 680 WKAZ/95.3 W237AZ Charleston on Monday, June 26. The AM/translator combo, which had been airing Bloomberg Business programming, had already begun simulcasting WKAZ-FM in preparation for the change.

The company has also applied to move the WRVZ call letters from what is now Hip Hop “98.7 The Beat” WRVZ Pocatalico to 107.3 as of July 10. 98.7 will become WCST-FM that day. We reported on domains that the company registered for 107.3 back in February.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/253237/multi-signal-format-shuffle-coming-to-charleston-wv/

Lance Venta, RadioInsight (2023-06-16)

Space Weather

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CIR SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Earth’s magnetic field is reverberating today from the impact of a solar wind structure that many sky watchers have never heard of–a “CIR.” Short for “co-rotating interaction regions,” CIRs can spark bright auroras when they hit Earth. That’s exactly what happened last night with colorful lights sighted in both hemispheres. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Ydun Ritz (2023-06-16)

United Kingdom

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Next weeks issue of the Radio Times Page 144 (edited summary quoting the information)

Why is Long Wave being dismissed?

Radio 4 Longwave on the 198 frequency will be switched off in 2024, possibly by the end of March.
The Daily Service and Today in Parliament will move to digital only.

Radio 4 FM will carry the Shipping Forecast twice a day on weekdays and three times a day at weekends as well as on Radio 4 Extra and BBC Sounds.

A spokesman for Arqiva, the company responsible for the transmitters at Droitwich, Westerglen and Burghead tells Radio Times: “Longwave equipment here has been around for decades and has now reached the point where maintaining the network for the relatively small audience is not considered economicallly viable.Any equipment used solely for this network that can’t be repurposed will be decommissioned and eventually removed.”

No mention of the medium wave fillers or that the electricity industry is paying for the operational costs and maintenance of the infrastructure, annual cost of which estimated to be £5 million this financial year.

Their website mentions the extension of this agreement until March 2024.
https://www.energynetworks.org/industry-hub/engineering-and-technical-programmes/radio-teleswitch

Mike Barraclough to mwlists iog (2023-06-16)

Mexico

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More grants for new social/community stations in Mexico. 4 of these seemingly replace old AMs which had finished moving to FM years ago. 2 of them (1520, 1570) are completely new stations.

On May 24, according to data in the Public Register of Concessions, the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones México Plenary awarded at least eight social-use radio concessions to wolves.

Two are on FM. Michoacán Te Escucha, A.C., new dealership, will have XHCSBP-FM 98.7A in Huetamo. In Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, Gro., will be XHCSBJ-FM 97.7AA of Radio Lacustre, A.C.

Radio Lacustre will also have social radios in Modulated Amplitude in Guanajuato:
* XECSCN-AM 840 Clearance
* XECSFC-AM 1370 Dolores Hidalgo
* XECSGG-AM 1570 Comfort

And Radio Tonatiuh, A.C., will have three of its own:
* XECSDL-AM 1000 Leon
* XECSDZ-AM 1100 Moroleon
* XECSFV-AM 1520 at San Felipe

(Credit to Raymie Humbert‘s excellent En Frecuencia blog).

THall DX to DXing.info FB group (2023-06-14)

Canada

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As of 9:00 AM Thursday, Edmonton time, CFRN-1260 is off the air — transmitter is powered off — but CKXM-1060 Calgary is still running the continuous loop of the same instrumental used on all the stations being abandoned by Bell, with a customized announcement between playing of that same instrumental.

Canadian Radio News FB group (2023-06-15)


1290 CFRW – time of death was 10:00 AM central time June 15, 2023. Transmitter now off-air and 1290 has gone dark.

Rob Brown to Canadian Radio News FB group (2023-06-15)

Canada

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Bell Media signed off six of its AMs across Canada this morning as part of a companywide restructuring that will include 1300 jobs eliminated and the sale of three other stations.

Bell ceased programming this morning on News/Talk 1290 CJBK London ON, Sports “TSN 1260” CFRN Edmonton AB, Business “BNN Bloomberg Radio” 1410 CFTE Vancouver BC, and the Comedy trio of “Funny 1040” CKST Vancouver, “Funny 1060” CKMX Calgary AB, and “Funny 1290” CFRW Winnipeg MB.

Bell will also sell Comedy “Funny 820” CHAM and Business “BNN Bloomberg 1150” CKOC Hamilton ON as well as Oldies “AM 580” CKWW Windsor ON to buyers to be announced.

Bell, whose radio division operates under the iHeartRadio name under license from iHeartMedia, stated that employees will be informed of the job cuts throughout the remainder of this week.

The cuts will see 1300 job positions eliminated of which 30 percent are currently unfilled making up three percent of its workforce. Management positions will be cut by six percent.

Bell President and CEO Mirko Bibic said in a memo that the company expects to lose more than $250 million in legacy phone revenues per year and its news operations have $40 million in annual operating losses. EVP Robert Malcolmson told the Canadian Press that the company cannot afford to continue operating its various news brands, local TV stations, and radio stations independently of one another.

The stations that will be shut off began running a loop at 11am eastern time today announcing the end of regular programming. Listeners of CFRN noted the station went to break never to return.
https://twitter.com/gmfantasyhockey/status/1669001309385793536

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/253090/bell-media-shuts-6-ams-to-sell-3-others-as-part-of-companywide-cuts/

Lance Venta, RadioInsight (2923-06-14)

Canada

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Several Canadian MW Stations To Close Down
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/bell-cutting-1-300-positions-shuttering-six-radio-stations-1.6440794

Among them is the old CFRN 1260 in Edmonton, Alberta. That station’s been on the air for as long as I can remember, going back to the early 1960s.
I suspect that it might be back, but with new owners and a different format. That’s what happened to CJCA 930 when the station went belly-up several years ago. After a brief silence, it was on the air again but as a religious station.

Here’s some background on CFRN 1260:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFRN_(AM)

Another Alberta station that just went off the air as part of those closures is CKMX 1060 in Calgary, which I first heard more than 45 years ago as CFCN:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CKMX

73 Bernhard Jatzeck to WOR iog  (2023-06-15)