As mentioned last issue, CKJR-1440 Wetaskiwin AB is switching format to All Sports during the daytime on weekdays beginning September 5th, with half the former CFRN-1260 on-air staff. The other half has just announced that their on-line-only All Sports offering begins September 6th: Edmonton Sports Talk will have Listen Live and Watch Live buttons on their web site, podcasts and YouTube; Apple and Android apps are promised for the near future.
At first glance, these two ventures looked doomed, given that Bell Canada stated that CFRN was not making money as the only All Sports station in Edmonton. How can two competing “stations” expect to make money? One answer might be significantly lower costs of “transmission”.
Speaking of CFRN, Bell Canada’s abrupt shut down of so many AM stations has led to rumors that it has now given other owners of AM stations in major markets the justification they need to shut down many of their stations. Although most of the attention has been focused on the bottom of the Ratings, CHQR Calgary may be hinting at another approach for AM stations closer to the top of the Ratings: switch an existing FM station to simulcast the AM, then shut down the AM once listeners have made the move to FM.
770 AB Calgary CHQR License would have expired on August 31st, but was granted an Administrative renewal until December 31st, to allow the CRTC more time to consider the station’s non-compliance, most notably simulcasting full-time on CFGQ-FM, a violation of both the AM-FM simulcasting rules and the FM Spoken Word rules.
1400 ON Rolphton CBOF-4 With the replacement FM transmitter now on the air, this 40 watt AM CBC LPRT will go off the air in 2-3 months. It will continue as a member of the Ici Radio-Canada Première network, formerly known as CBC’s French AM network, and simulcasts CBOF-FM Ottawa.
1410 QC Montreal CJWI Received a short-term License Renewal, until August 31 2026, due to long-standing non-compliance issues. The renewal was issued because the CRTC felt that the station was making progress towards full license compliance. Nonetheless, a Broadcasting Mandatory Order was issued to address the major outstanding issue: failure to submit a complete music list for specific recent periods of time whenever requested by the CRTC.
CANADIAN RADIO NEWS –Jon Pearkins jon@pearkins.com
The Facebook page Canadian Radio News by Dan Sys provides much of the information for this column.
IRCA DX Monitor Sept 9, published Sept 4 via WOR iog (2023-09-04)
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