Investigates

Broadcasters need more speed from the Commission By Steve Faguy “I REALIZE WE HAVE the right to transmit over what they consider a public resource — the limited bandwidth that’s out there,” says Rod Schween, president of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. “I’m not saying that we need no regulation,

By Steve Faguy IN CANADIAN BROADCASTING’S regulatory system, the industry is represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the broadcasters who always want less regulation, and the interest and artist groups who always want more. These are their demands. Canadian content In its commercial radio policy, which the CRTC

Submissions to CRTC review shows Quebecor wants into radio, too By Steve Faguy TROY REEB DOESN’T THINK this story will be controversial. Reeb, executive vice president broadcast networks at Corus Entertainment, which owns 39 radio stations, is one of several radio executives who believe the Canadian commercial radio industry needs

By Steve Faguy IT WAS SUPPOSED to be to FM radio what FM was to AM: Better audio quality, a way to expand to more channels, and a future replacement with some cool bells and whistles. In the 1990s, Canada’s radio broadcasters spent millions of dollars on new transmitters and

By Steve Faguy IS TERRESTRIAL RADIO dead? Well, no. The Canadian commercial radio industry brought in $1.45 billion in total revenues in 2018-19, according to CRTC data. But that’s a steady decline from $1.6 billion in 2014-15, and even without the effects of Covid-19, it looks like the only way

By Steve Faguy FOR A MEDIA SECTOR whose consumption comes predominantly from commuters in their cars, what happens when everyone works from home and there is no more commuting? The radio business found out in the past year. The covid-19 pandemic, as we outlined last week, was very bad for

Some changes look to be permanent By Steve Faguy LAST YEAR WAS A bad one for radio. According to data compiled by Standard Media Index, which tracks national advertising sales in Canada, ad revenue in the industry dropped 35% in 2020, almost three times how much it dropped in 2019

By Steve Faguy “THE SYNDICATION OF LOCALIZED programming is nothing new,” says Troy Reeb, executive vice president broadcast networks at Corus Entertainment. “My career began at 17 years old at CFOK in Westlock, Alta., which was a hub station for a network of rural stations across Alberta and northern B.C.,

By Steve Faguy Kiss. Boom. Jack. Fresh. Jewel. Virgin. Country. Real Country. Pure Country. Hit Country. K-Rock. B. Q. O. X. Mix. Moose. Drive. Énergie. Rythme. Rouge. Plaisir. They’re all brands used by Canada’s largest broadcasting companies for multiple radio stations in their groups. Some are generic enough they’re even