Global Montreal's new virtual set debuted Monday

There wasn't much fanfare. In fact, it wasn't even explicitly mentioned during the first night. But it would have been hard to miss that Global Montreal's newscast has a new look, thanks to a new set.

Unlike CFCF, which needed to build a new set from scratch, CKMI's set is entirely virtual, with anchors sitting at a desk in an all-green room. So while it wasn't quite as easy as flipping a switch (there were complications in planning that pushed back the launch date), all the changes are in a computer's memory.

Above you see anchor Jamie Orchard in the new set. She's the only thing real there. The floor, the windows, the pillar, all have been added digitally through chroma key (a bit more advanced than your usual green screen because the camera's movements are synchronized with the computer changing the perspective of the digital background).

The background cityscape is the work of Gazette photographer Phil Carpenter. He'll also be doing a daytime version for use during the summer when it's daylight at 6pm.

The top of the newscast features graphics that fade in behind the anchor

Having a digital set has its advantages, like cool effects. One involves still images fading into place behind the anchor, covering up the city skyline.

There's also the fact that the set can seem much bigger than it actually is. That has led some to go a bit overboard with perspective. I'll leave it to you to decide if Global has gone too far here, or if the fantasy-studio-on-the-waterfront look works.

For the sake of comparison with the previous set, here's a few before-and-after shots:

The old standup position next to a digital giant screen

Note the non-existent newsroom in the background

The old studio - The anchor and desk are real, the rest is simulated

The new set - again anchor and desk are the only things real here. (Jamie's wearing different clothes here because they only started using this shot on Tuesday)

Among the options available with the new set, over-the-shoulder graphics can be done in two different ways, both of which were used during the first newscast on Monday:

Behind, on a wide shot...

... and the classic in front

The set change comes weeks after the newscast finally became high-definition, at least as far as anchors are concerned. (Packaged reports, live hits and weather presenters are still in upconverted 16:9 SD, so they're not advertising their newscast as HD yet.) You can read late anchor Richard Dagenais's experience with HD makeup on his blog.

You can watch the complete newscasts with the new virtual set on Global's website: Monday, Tuesday.

I'll be visiting Global Montreal on Wednesday to speak with station manager Karen Macdonald about other changes coming to CKMI for an upcoming article. Let me know in the comments if you have anything you'd like to know, and I'll try to ask her.

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Not much has changed since last year, so I'm sorry to report that Montreal TV viewers will, once again, be largely forced to endure simultaneous substitution during Sunday's Super Bowl and watch commercials from CTV instead of the originating American network. And cable and satellite providers will have to continue to calmly explain to irate subscribers that they're only doing what they're required to do by the CRTC, who will have to explain what "simultaneous substitution" is and why it's there.

CFCF's digital transmitter closed the loophole where the high-definition feed wasn't substituted in Montreal, and now Videotron and other cable providers must replace the WPTZ feed with CFCF in standard and high definition.

Here's how it works for the various options of getting television:

Over the air

This method gets a significant boost this year, because the Super Bowl is being carried by NBC instead of Fox. Montreal antennas can pick up WPTZ Plattsburgh (650kW) much better than WFFF Burlington (47kW), so more people will be able to watch the Super Bowl this way. But it's still difficult to capture American stations if you have cheap indoor antennas.

This is the best method (and the only legal one) for Montrealers to get American ads in high definition live, along with the Super Bowl itself.

CFCF will be carrying the Super Bowl, but obviously it has the Canadian ads.

Videotron (analog and digital)

Videotron has resisted substitution, especially for the Super Bowl, and does so only when absolutely necessary. Still, it is required to substitute both the standard and high-definition feeds in the area covered by CFCF.

This means all customers in the following areas will see their signals substituted:

• Montreal and on-island suburbs
• Laval
• The north shore
• The south shore
• Joliette
• St. Jérôme
• Montérégie
• St. Jean sur Richelieu
• Vaudreuil-Dorion

Quebecers outside of Montreal (as defined above) and the Gatineau region (which is part of the footprint of CJOH Ottawa) will not have their signals subtituted and will be able to watch the American ads on NBC channels.

Other cable providers (including Bell Fibe)

Same as Videotron, I'm afraid. They don't have a choice in the matter.

Bell Satellite TV

Because Bell feeds the same data to all its customers via satellite, it is required (as of 2009) to substitute American feeds with Canadian ones nationwide. So even if you're in an area not covered by a CTV station, you're still going to see the CTV ads.

Shaw Direct

Because Shaw Direct includes technology allowing the provider to control what signals individual clients receive, it can implement simultaneous substitution selectively. The result will be similar to cable: substitution in areas covered by CTV stations, no substitution elsewhere.

American satellite providers (DirecTV, Dish Network)

These are technically illegal in Canada, but many people have found ways to get service north of the border, either by pirating them or using fake U.S. addresses. Since these are American providers, they are not subject to simultaneous substitution rules.

Online

There's no legal way to get the Super Bowl itself online except through ways sanctioned by CTV (they're not streaming it, but it is available on mobile). There will probably be black-market feeds, but why bother when you can get it in HD on cable or over the air?

The ads are another story. Expect all the good ones to be online shortly after broadcast. In fact, many are already online and creating buzz. YouTube has a special site devoted to Super Bowl ads that you can watch whenever you want, in high definition.

Bars

Because most of the loopholes have been closed, there aren't many bars advertising the American version of the game anymore. To provide a high-definition feed in Montreal, they would either have to set up an antenna capable of receiving the American station or subscribe to an American satellite service and hope nobody notices.

If you spot one that promises to show American ads, let me know in the comments.

Other loopholes

There are also methods that have no guarantee of success. You could try watching west-coast feeds. Some cable companies offer Seattle stations as a way to time-shift, and then forget to do substitution for live events like this. But broadcasters have become wise to people using this loophole and I suspect the chances of it working is low.

You could also, I suppose, just go to Vermont for the weekend and watch the Super Bowl there.

UPDATE (Feb. 3): The Globe and Mail's Susan Krashinsky explains the reasons why U.S. ads don't air on Canadian networks. I'd also add that some are for products that simply aren't available in Canada.

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Dave Bronstetter (CBC photo)

Dave Bronstetter, the veteran CBC Montreal personality who was most recently the host of radio's All in a Weekend, is hanging up the microphone after more than three decades in broadcasting.

The announcement was made Saturday morning on his show by Sonali Karnick, who has been replacing Bronstetter. Bronstetter has been on leave from his show since last fall for reasons that haven't been made very clear publicly.

Karnick said Bronstetter will return to do one final show with her on Feb. 18. They will be running some best-of clips between now and then, and have asked listeners to send in their favourite memories and leave goodbye messages for him.

Most Montrealers will associate Bronstetter with his long stints as host of weekday shows Homerun (in the late 80s) and then Daybreak, from when Royal Orr left 1996 until 2006, when he stepped away from a five-day-a-week job to take the reins at All in a Weekend.

At the time, Bronstetter said burnout and fatigue we having serious effects on his health.

I've been asked a few times over the past few months about why he's been on extended leave. Bronstetter himself has been asked about it a lot as well, at least through posts on his Facebook wall. In response, he's been mostly vague, saying he hopes to come back soon and he's getting better by the day.

Bronstetter just celebrated his 59th birthday, though his Facebook profile has him listed as being born in 1905.

The announcement didn't include news about Bronstetter's permanent replacement at All in a Weekend. Karnick left her job as sports reporter for Daybreak to take up a job at CBC Sports in Toronto. She was recently brought in as the interim host of All in a Weekend, supposedly until the end of the season. Karnick would be an obvious choice, assuming she's interested in staying.

UPDATE: A story from The Gazette, which confirms no permanent replacement has been chosen but Karnick will continue until the end of the season. The news was also mentioned on CTV's local newscast.

UPDATE (Feb. 6): Brendan Kelly, who worked with Bronstetter as a regular contributor to Daybreak, talks to Bronstetter, who confirms he's leaving on the advice of his doctor because he's burned out and depressed.

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The company announced this week it is adding three new hosts for weekend programming on the station: Eric Arson, who will host music programming in the afternoons, Mario Langlois who will host an hour-long sports talk show on Sundays, and Isabelle Ménard who will do overnights Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Though 98.5 has a strong lineup on weekdays, as well as weekday evenings since sports programming moved there from CKAC, its weekends are mostly music, which competes poorly with established music stations.

The new schedule doesn't change that much. Guy Simard and Sylvain Ménard keep their weekend shows as is, and much of the schedule is still devoted to music (particularly when the Canadiens aren't playing).

One would think there would be more sports or talk programming they could air on weekends, rather than continue to leave it to mostly music.

Here's how the schedule change compares to what it was previously (changes in bold). The new schedule took effect Jan. 21.

 Saturday

 Sunday

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Don Bastien speaks at a recent CTV Montreal upfront presentation to advertisers

While viewers concern themselves with a high-profile change behind the anchor desk, there's another, perhaps more important, staffing change happening behind the scenes at CFCF.

Don Bastien, who as you can see from the photo above has been general manager of CFCF/CTV Montreal since 2001, is retiring. Today, coincidentally the 51st anniversary of the station, is his last day.

Louis Douville, the general manager at CJOH (CTV Ottawa), takes over starting Monday.

Bastien described his retirement to me as having "a touch of sadness" because of all the people he would be leaving. He's been with CTV and related company Baton Broadcasting since 1972.

"That's probably the most difficult part, when you've been interacting with them on a daily/weekly basis for all this period and all of a sudden that's going to come to an end."

Bastien's planning to take it easy for a while, taking some time to catch up with life and family. They're going to a ski trip in France next week, and he jokes that he might be playing golf "a little more than I did". Beyond that, he plans to keep up with various philanthropic activities, and he's been appointed to the board of St. Elias Mines of B.C., and he'll be looking for other opportunities to keep active. But he says the days of a Monday-to-Friday 9-to-5 job are over.

The decade under Bastien was transformative for CFCF, in good ways and bad. When he was appointed to the position in 2001 after being CTV's national sales director based in Montreal, the station had just been bought by CTV from WIC when WIC was bought by Canwest Global. CTV imposed a common brand for all its television stations, and the "CFCF-12" and "Pulse News" brands that had existed for decades were eliminated. A few years later, even the call letters were gone and everything became "CTV". Many viewers still resent this stripping of the station's identity.

A few years before the acquisition, the station cut just about all programming except for the newscast. What little additional programming remained would eventually be cancelled as well. The telethon, the morning newscast, Entertainment Spotlight and Sportsnight 360 all disappeared under Bastien's watch. Some elements of the latter two have been incorporated into the weekend newscasts, but to a large extent CFCF is just a CTV rebroadcaster with a local newscast.

It's a popular newscast though, with ratings that continue to obliterate the competition, and a high percentage of local news content. Bastien said maintaining this dominance, particularly in the face of increasing pressure from specialty channels, will be a challenge for his successor.

More recently, there has been significant technological change at the station. It began transmitting in high definition, later swapping out its analog transmitter and 50-year-old antenna on Mount Royal. Just last September it moved into its new studio, a million-dollar investment as it prepares to upgrade its newscast to high definition.

But when asked what his biggest challenge was in his decade here, Bastien points to the 2003 move from 405 Ogilvy Ave., where CFCF had been based since just after its launch in 1961, to 1205 Papineau Ave. in what has become the city's broadcasting neighbourhood.

"The relocation project was a huge undertaking," Bastien said. "Not necessarily from a technical point of view. But it was an opportunity for us to upgrade technology. When we went from tape-to-tape editing to linear editing. The real challenge in the relocation project was not moving from one building to the next. We were not moving technology, we were moving people, who had worked in a single building all of their career. We were changing areas of the city. That was huge, working with entirely different facilities."

The move meant CFCF's master control was moved to Toronto. Though the newscast itself is controlled from their building, advertisements and network programming are handled way down the 401.

The technological change is still ongoing. CTV is moving ahead with upgrades to equipment to prepare for the newscast moving to high definition. This will require new studio and field cameras (scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks) and new editing equipment and servers, which represents a substantial investment. Bastien said it will be dependent on how CTV authorizes capital expenditures. No date has been set, but Bastien said he expects it to happen either this year or next. Hopefully the recent upgrades of both CBMT and CKMI's newscasts to high definition (or at least partly HD) will put more pressure on CTV to follow suit.

Asked what advice Bastien had for his successor, Bastien said Douville will need to "maintain our connectivity to our viewers, to our market, to our community."

It's a connection Montreal anglophone television viewers take very seriously.

Louis Douville

Douville comes back home

"It's always been a dream to come back home," says Douville, who takes over as CFCF's general manager starting Monday. At that point, he said during a phone interview on Friday, he will be introduced to the staff and learn about things like where the photocopiers are. "Monday is mostly going to be about passing the torch," he said.

But the training should be short. Douville has a lot of experience as general manager of a CTV station and said he's very familiar with CTV Montreal.

Douville grew up in Montreal, attended Concordia University, and his family lives here. But his 30-year career took him to Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Ottawa before coming back home.

Douville described CFCF as the "crown jewel" of CTV, mainly because it's the only station covering all of Quebec, while much smaller regions have multiple CTV stations.

"I'm fortunate that I'm taking over a station in good shape," Douville said. With the station's ratings dominance, "there are no pressing issues" and he reassures that "I'm not coming in to make many changes."

Douville recognizes that the conversion to high definition is a priority. "It's a situation we face in all our CTV stations" outside of Toronto, he said.

But he also said that it's the content, not the resolution, that matters most. The market share is holding even though the newscast is still standard-definition, he said, and "those numbers speak for themselves." Douville also said the technical quality is still very high (the lighting, the set design, etc.) and if it wasn't for the 4:3 aspect ratio people probably wouldn't notice it wasn't HD.

CTV Montreal's 6pm newscast on Friday ended with a brief goodbye to Bastien.

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Paul Karwatsky can put the reporter microphone away for good.

When Todd van der Heyden left CFCF for CTV News Channel, the speculation on who would replace him really came down to one choice: Either it's Paul Karwatsky or it's not Paul Karwatsky.

Karwatsky was the only other male anchor at the station, and while it wasn't impossible that a woman would be picked to sit beside Mutsumi Takahashi, managers in TV news are still concerned enough about how things look that such a selection would seem unlikely.

Karwatsky was a great idea on paper. He's a Montrealer, was already working at CFCF and had anchoring experience. The only strike against him was that he was young. And when your viewers have grown up with people like Bill Haugland and Brian Britt, going young presents a risk. (A risk that has already blown up in their face once.)

But when Karwatsky was selected to be "interim" co-anchor with Takahashi after van der Heyden left, it was just a matter of time before the position was made permanent. Barring some dramatic failure, he was clearly up to the job. And it would have taken a lot for them to decide to go with someone from the outside who CTV Montreal viewers are unfamiliar with.

As it turns out, it required only two weeks. CTV announced on Wednesday evening that Karwatsky has been made a permanent co-anchor with Takahashi. What was essentially a probation period or tryout has clearly been successful.

And being young isn't the worst thing in the world. Andrew Chang at CBC is younger, and although his appointment as anchor of CBMT's supper-hour newscast seemed similarly risky back in 2009, he's fit into the role remarkably well.

The Gazette's Bill Brownstein has the story, which has many of the same platitudes contained in the CTV story but also some colour about Karwatsky's background.

What about weekends?

Now that Karwatsky's position on the weekday desk has been made official, there's the question of what to do with his former post. Before moving to weekdays, Karwatsky did weekend newscasts at 6pm with Tarah Schwartz and solo at 11:30pm. Schwartz has been doing both newscasts alone, which means her shift starts much later than it used to and the lineup editor has to do more of the work to setup the 6pm newscast.

CTV could choose to continue this way, or could hire someone else to take over Karwatsky's old job. (UPDATE: News Director Jed Kahane confirms he will be hiring another anchor for the weekend desk.)

Either way, they could probably use another backup anchor. Caroline van Vlaardingen has been substituting on occasion as needed, and Cindy Sherwin has also done some anchoring, but other than that the cupboard is pretty bare.

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CKLX-FM 91.9 has applied to the CRTC for permission to change its format from jazz to talk radio, citing its poor financial situation and the lack of francophone talk radio options in Montreal.

You can download and read the application here (ZIP).

Planète Jazz, which launched Dec. 14, 2004, is the last commercial jazz radio station in Canada, its owner says, after similar formats in Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton and Winnipeg abandoned it for other more popular formats. Though it won't release full details to the public, RNC says CKLX has revenues "well below" $1 million a year, about 18% of what was forecast in the station's business plan.

It has come to the conclusion that the format does not work, and it must either change formats or consider shutting down the station.

Though it's not stated explicitly in the application, it's hinted that the new format would be similar to that of CHOI-FM in Quebec City, a station also owned by RNC Media that has controversial opinionators who talk more than they think (people like Stéphane Dupont). It's been dubbed "radio poubelle" and compared to right-wing talk-radio stations in the United States, but it's popular, with more than 200,000 listeners.

RNC Media also owns the similarly-styled CKYK-FM in the Saguenay region, as well as music stations Capitale Rock in Gatineau, Planète-branded stations and other Radio X and Radio X2 stations across Quebec.*

CHOI is so controversial, in fact, that the CRTC ordered it be shut down because of its comments. Only the sale of the station from Genex Communications to RNC Media (and the issuing of a new license) saved it from going dark.

RNC conducted a survey of Montreal listeners to gauge their interest in a new station "that would have a style that discusses subjects in the news, that asks real questions and isn't afraid of its opinions". Based on that, it predicts a new talk-radio station would have a 10% market share, and 20% among the key demographic of men 25-49. It also sees its revenues going from $2.6 million in the first year to $8.2 million in the seventh year of its license, far above what they could have hoped for Planète Jazz.

The market for French-language talk radio has been open for opportunity, particularly since CKAC turned into all-traffic last September. Other than Radio-Canada and community/campus stations, the only talk radio station is CHMP 98.5, which has shot to the top of the ratings. It also has to do double-duty as a sports station in the evenings.

The application, survey and other documents curiously make no mention of the license for a talk-radio station recently given to the Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy media group. That station is also expected to launch next fall. It's unclear if they're unaware of the license or if they're just ignoring it in their projections.

RNC Media President Raynald Brière declined to comment on the application, saying "le dossier n'est pas complet."

The application, which would see the license changed from requiring 75% jazz to requiring 50% talk, is a Part 1 application, which means the CRTC has not called a hearing to discuss it, and if there's no significant opposition it could be approved without the owners having to appear in front of the commission.

The deadline for interventions is 8pm on Feb. 13. You can file an intervention or comment here, by clicking "submit" next to the item about RNC Media.

*UPDATE: This move is strangely the opposite of one being done in Abitibi, where RNC Media is abandoning the Radio X format in favour of Capitale Rock, replacing talk radio with music. (Thanks Psychodork for pointing this out.)

Reaction

UPDATE (Jan. 20): The Journal de Québec reports about this move, getting the manager of its Quebec City stations to comment. The company wants to export the CHOI format to Montreal, but adapting to the market. Less talk of bringing back the Nordiques, more talk about traffic. (Is this really what separates Montreal from Quebec City?) The paper also talks to André Arthur, who thinks they should put Stéphane Dupont (the guy who told Haiti "fuck you" after the earthquake) in Montreal.

There was also a discussion on Tuesday on CHOI itself about the application, with an interview with Patrice Demers. They even discuss potential hosts, saying Patrick Lagacé is unlikely and Jeff Fillion is very doubtful, but nothing is set in stone.

The proposal also was discussed on Radio-Canada's Les Lionnes, which prompted not one but two discussions on CHOI. You can imagine how Radio Poubelle and a public broadcaster TV show hosted by three women think about each other.

La Presse covers this in the form of a column from Marc Cassivi. There are also blog posts at Voir from Sportnographe's Olivier Niquet and journalist Fabien Loszach. Each of these got criticized on CHOI, which blasted Cassivi for being uninformed about what can be heard on CHOI, and said Voir's complaints that CHOI's programming is sexist, racist or homophobic are simply false.

Stéphane Gendron reacted to the news on Radio X, in which he said he would be interested in an on-air position at the station, because he's more of a radio guy than a TV personality.

Jeff Fillion himself also comments the news on his Radio Pirate.

At least one blogger has called for people to rise up against this move, and another defends the sophistication of Radio-Canada against its Radio X-supporting critics.

Quebec's FM93 wants to go mostly-talk

Coincidentally, the application from RNC Media comes about the same time as one from Cogeco Diffusion to change the license of CJMF-FM (FM 93.3) in Quebec City to allow for more talk. Currently the station offers a hybrid format of talk and music, but its survey numbers show more than 60% of its listeners tune in only for talk programming.

The new schedule would see talk programming in the mornings and evenings on weekends (noon to 4pm would remain music) and weekday evenings. Weekday mornings and afternoons are already all-talk.

As an added bonus to Quebec City listeners, the change would mean the station broadcasts all Montreal Canadiens games. Currently it offers only a selection. This will be welcome news to Canadiens fans in the region who may have been able to tune in to the bleu-blanc-rouge on AM station CKAC but have no hope of listening to 98.5.

The deadline for interventions or comments in the CJMF-FM application is Feb. 6. It is also a Part 1 application and can be seen on this page.

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Terry DiMonte does his first show back at CHOM on Jan. 9.

The news that Terry DiMonte was coming back to CHOM came out all the way back in June. The date was set and publicized in November. But details on such things as who his cohosts would be and what happens to the rest of the schedule were kept under wraps until Monday when DiMonte started his first show.

Here's the details of its new schedule:

Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte

The morning show, from 5:30 to 10am weekdays, is being completely reconstructed around DiMonte. His cohost, starting Jan. 16, will be Heather Backman, who left CJFM a year ago for an opportunity in Cleveland, which she's leaving to come back to Montreal.

Backman and DiMonte don't have any history, which makes the choice a little out of left field. But she did a demo with DiMonte and there was something about it that he and Brand Director André Lallier liked. "She's very witty," Lallier said. "She brings a certain edge. She has a good laugh. A fresh perspective."

Backman and DiMonte together just sounds good, he said, and in radio that's what's important.

The show also includes some regular contributors:

Maureen Holloway will do entertainment segments twice each morning from Toronto.

Maureen Holloway will do entertainment segments (called "Dirty Little Secrets") at 5:50 and 7:15am daily. Holloway works out of her home in Toronto for Corus stations across Canada, and was a feature of DiMonte's morning show at Q107 in Calgary. She's also an old friend of DiMonte's.

Holloway previously contributed to CFQR, but since it and other Corus radio stations in Quebec were sold to Cogeco, there's no Corus station in this market, so they were able to negotiate having her on CHOM.

Because she happened to be in the area finishing off her vacation, Holloway joined DiMonte in studio on his first day.

(As an aside, I find it funny that DiMonte comes from Q107 in Calgary, Holloway comes from Q107 in Toronto - both owned by Corus - and Backman comes from Q104 in Cleveland. Gives you an idea of the lack of imagination when it comes to branding radio stations.)

Trudie Mason does newscasts on the hour

Trudie Mason of CJAD walks down the hall just before the top of the hour and gives the news headlines (usually preceded off-air by an apology from DiMonte for not being on time).

Eric Engels talks about the Habs

Eric Engels continues contributing his Habs report to CHOM's morning show, though it's moved to 6:55am. Engels is a Habs reporter who writes for HockeyBuzz and does the Engels Angle on CTV Montreal's website, among other things. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricEngels.

Esteban Vargas sits behind the big board pressing all the cool buttons

Esteban Vargas is the unsung hero behind the big board, queueing all the songs and audio clips and traffic reports and everything else. He's been at Astral since 2005, working mainly as an operator and in promotions.

• Tootall (Weekdays 10am-3pm). His shift remains unchanged, as does his noon-hour Made to Order show.
• Bilal Butt (Weekdays 3-8pm). Bilal gets upgraded back into the afternoon drive slot vacated when Pete Marier left the station last month. The afternoon drive show expands in length to five hours.
• Jason Rockman (Weeknights 8pm-midnight). Rockman shifts earlier to take over Butt's slot. His Amped show runs weeknights instead of one day a week.
• Brandon Craddock (B.C.) and Ron MacKinnon (Ronny Mack) continue to share overnight duties from midnight to 5:30am.

Weekends

• Sharon Hyland stays on weekend mornings, shifting earlier so she starts at 6am instead of 8. "It's all good," she writes on her blog.
• Rob Kemp takes on the midday shift on weekends, from 11am to 4pm each day.
• Randy Renaud remains the weekend evening person, 4-8pm Saturday and 4-10pm Sunday
• Jay Walker maintains his Montreal Rocks show from 10pm to midnight Sundays.

Chantal Desjardins moves to CJAD

The one personality leaving CHOM is morning co-host Chantal Desjardins. But she's not leaving the building. Instead, she's joining Aaron Rand's show on CJAD weekdays from 3-7pm, essentially doing the job of sportscaster that Barry Morgan did. Now Morgan can concentrate on his own show, which comes on after Rand's.

Desjardins says she's "really enjoying" her new job already. "I think Aaron and I have natural chemistry...he is very encouraging and his energy is contagious. And have I mentioned I've slept in until 9am the last two days? Amazing."

She says she also plans to keep doing stuff for CTV on the side and is "looking forward to a new adventure."

Rand says he's excited about Desjardins. "Chantal is funny, opinionated, and smart, AND she brings a female perspective to the show, which is something I’ve always thought was a good complement my style," he told me. "We’d worked together before on a couple of occasions, and I immediately liked her style and personality."

"And, it gives Barry Morgan a chance to spend all his time focusing on his evening show from 7-10, without having to worry about doing the afternoon sports run on my show."

"So as far as I’m concerned, it’s a win/win all around."

Rand has made Desjardins a part of the last half-hour of his show, from 6:30 to 7pm, when the two chat about weird and funny stories. "I figured that would be a good way to incorporate her into the show beyond her sports reports,  and give her a feel for how I work so she can get comfortable with my style," Rand said. "After that it’ll be a matter of getting her more involved on a regular basis."

Desjardins let her Facebook friends know about her new job, drawing dozens of encouraging comments.

Rob Kemp okay with weekends

Kemp also put on a happy face about his new job. Kemp posted on his CHOM blog taking the bright side of being on the radio only two days a week.

Lallier talked up the new weekend lineup, saying that ratings show that 30-35% of the audience is now on weekends, which means Saturday and Sunday are no longer audience wastelands. Weeks after the Q became the Beat and put big names Ken Connors and Nat Lauzon on the weekend, resulting in ratings boosts, it seems CHOM is also paying attention to weekends.

What about Pete?

I asked Lallier about Pete Marier, and the possibility of him coming back. A cursory look at the new schedule suggests it wouldn't be that difficult to shift things around to put Marier back on the afternoon drive show.

Lallier's answers differed little from what Astral VP Martin Spalding told me just before Christmas. They wanted Marier to stay and form one of the "three pillars" of the station. They offered him a "very, very good" contract for an afternoon drive host, and gave him multiple opportunities to accept. Lallier pointed out that even after it became clear Marier wouldn't take the contract and his show was terminated, management still let him go on air one last time (something that is very unusual in professional radio because it can lead to people saying things on air that make the station look bad) but that again Marier said no.

Marier himself remains quiet, despite lots of activity from his fans (a protest had been planned via Facebook for Monday morning outside CHOM's offices, but was called off because a poor showing would have seemed worse than none at all). At least one other radio veteran who works at Astral has expressed hope that Marier can put his emotions aside and work out a deal with management to come back.

Coverage

Astral's press release explaining all these changes was issued Monday morning.

The Gazette's Bill Brownstein had a feature on DiMonte in Saturday's paper, in case you haven't read it yet. It includes a sidebar on what happened to Marier.

Global and CTV both sent cameramen to document DiMonte's first show. CTV later sent reporter Cindy Sherwin to talk to DiMonte. Global's brief is at the end of Monday's newscast (skip to 23:15).

CTV Montreal also interviewed DiMonte on the noon newscast on Thursday.

A live chat with the Gazette

UPDATE (Jan. 11): The Gazette invited DiMonte to do an hour-long live chat on Wednesday, in which he talks about his favourite music, his weight loss and what it's like to come home. Even his mom stops by and asks him to get some rest.

Of interest to us, he offered the following on Pete Marier:

I feel bad that Pete left but have been hopeful that there is a raprochement possible. He chose to leave. I hope we can change his mind

(Answering a question on whether Marier would come back) I hope so Pat... there seems to be a detente brewing there

On Ted Bird:

I would LOVE to have Ted back..the best fun I ever had...and maybe someday...but right now he loves what he's doing at K 103...so not in the NEAR future I don't think...unless we can change his mind

DiMonte also called Rob Kemp a "talented young broadcaster" and said he met Backman for the first time in October but "liked her very much".

UPDATE (Jan. 14): Richard Burnett talks to DiMonte for his Gazette blog. DiMonte also talks to the Cornwall Free News.

Related Posts

• Terry DiMonte leaving CHOM for better offer in Calgary
• Terry DiMonte’s first day at CHOM … again
• Pete Marier leaves CHOM over contract dispute
• Terry DiMonte returns to CHOM Jan. 9
• Astral’s Martin Spalding on Terry DiMonte, CHOM, CJAD and Virgin Radio

Todd van der Heyden won't be seeing Jellybean around much anymore. (Fagstein file photo)

It ended not with a bang or with a whimper, but with the standard anchor goodbye. Friday was Todd van der Heyden's last day at CFCF, and the 6pm newscast spent a few minutes at the end to acknowledge the departure of one of its anchors.

It was no Farewell to Bill, the special program devoted to long-serving anchor Bill Haugland in 2006, but CFCF's tribute to van der Heyden was appropriate and classy. For those who missed it, the whole thing has been posted online. You can watch it in the CTV News video player here.

The segment starts with van der Heyden introducing a story about pandas (the usual fluffy, funny and entirely expendable story that fills time at the end of a newscast) only to have producers pull a switcheroo and run a story about van der Heyden put together by reporter/anchor Tarah Schwartz, which includes some testimonials from some of his long-time coworkers. The packaged report is followed by a one-on-one with Schwartz and a speech from van der Heyden thanking viewers for their loyalty (as far as he knew going into this, only the latter part was going to be in the newscast).

Unfortunately for van der Heyden and viewers, there was no message from coanchor Mutsumi Takahashi, nor from weather presenter Lori Graham, nor from sports anchor Randy Tieman. They're all off on vacation, and I guess nobody thought ahead long enough to have them record a short video message before they left. The result gave some the impression that they had intentionally kept quiet as a snub. And with due respect to the people filling in during the holidays, this kind of moment isn't the same with Randy Renaud and Paul Graif.

For the record, Takahashi (who was also on vacation at the beginning of the month when the announcement came that van der Heyden would be leaving), had this to say to me on the subject: "Bill, Brian, Todd... All I can say, Steve, is that I'm obviously having trouble holding on to my men..."

Though it's possible they exist, I don't know of anyone there who didn't like van der Heyden. No matter what your opinion of his work, it's hard not to like him personally once you get to know him.

Mutsumi Takahashi looks at Todd van der Heyden with a mixture of loving affection and facepalming disbelief at his silliness. (Fagstein file photo)

Van der Heyden starts on CTV News Channel on Jan. 16, co-hosting the show Express, weekdays 1-4pm with Amanda Blitz.

At CFCF, no decision has been announced for his permanent replacement, but weekend anchor Paul Karwatsky (who led the list of candidates) has been named the "interim" co-anchor. This gives management more time to make a final decision, and a chance to try out Karwatsky in the post to see if he's the one they want.

Good luck to him, and to van der Heyden I can only say: Qapla'!

For more on Todd van der Heyden and his departure from CTV Montreal, see my post on the subject from earlier this month. He was also interviewed on CJAD.

Related Posts

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• Caption Lori, Todd and Mutsumi
• Inside CFCF 12
• Britt leaves CTV Montreal
• CFCF GM Don Bastien signs off

Here's what there is to expect as far as schedule changes this weekend and next:

STM (Montreal, including the entire metro)

Details from the STM's website. For details on adapted transit or customer service, consult their page.

Note that from Dec. 24 to Jan. 8, the STM offers its Family Outings plan, which allows an adult to bring up to five children under 12 to ride for free with a fare-paying adult. (Normally this is allowed only during weekends and statutory holidays.) This does not apply to the 747 bus.

• Saturday, Dec. 24:
  • Buses and metro service will follow a regular Saturday schedule.
• Sunday, Dec. 25:
  • Most bus routes will run on a Sunday schedule.
  • Metro trains will pass about every 10-12 minutes on the green line and every 10 minutes on the other lines.
• Monday, Dec. 26:
  • Most bus routes will run on a special schedule.
  • Metro service will run on a special schedule, with additional trains added to the Orange and Green lines from 8:30am to 7pm to accommodate rabid Boxing Day shoppers.
  • Monday to Friday shared taxi service will not be in operation.
• Dec. 27-30: Normal weekday schedules for all services.
• Saturday, Dec. 31:
  • Buses, metro and taxi service will follow a regular Saturday schedule.
  • Once again, there's no extension of metro service despite how many people are out celebrating New Year's Eve, but because it happens to be on a Saturday people get a half-hour more than usual. Last trains of the night leave the two blue line terminuses at 12:15am, in all five directions from Berri at 1:30am and from Longueuil at 1:30am.
• Sunday, Jan. 1:
  • Bus routes will follow Sunday schedules for the most part.
  • Metro trains will pass about every 10-12 minutes on the green line and every 10 minutes on the other lines.
• Monday, Jan. 2:
  • Bus routes and metro trains will follow a special schedule.

Note that Opus cards can be recharged at any point after Dec. 20.

STL (Laval)

As usual, the STL offers free transit on its buses on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

• Saturday, Dec. 24: Saturday schedule. Free service on all routes.
• Sunday, Dec. 25:
  • Sunday schedule for all routes.
  • The following will only have service from 11am to 9pm: 12, 20, 25, 27, 28, 31, 33, 37, 39, 40, 45, 46, 58, 61, 63, 65, 66, 74, 144, 804 and 903.
  • All other routes will have full regular Sunday service.
• Monday, Dec. 26: Saturday schedules in effect for all routes.
• Dec. 27-30: Regular weekday schedules for all routes.
• Saturday, Dec. 31: Saturday schedule. Free service on all routes.
• Sunday, Jan. 1:
  • Sunday schedule for all routes.
  • The following will only have service from 11am to 9pm: 12, 20, 25, 27, 28, 31, 33, 37, 39, 40, 45, 46, 58, 61, 63, 65, 66, 74, 144, 804 and 903.
  • All other routes will have full regular Sunday service.
• Monday, Jan 2: Saturday schedule for all routes.

RTL (Longueuil)

Like the STL, the RTL is offering free service for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and is asking for donations in lieu of fares.

From their PDF guide:

• Saturday, Dec. 24 (free service): Saturday schedule for all routes
• Sunday, Dec. 25: Sunday schedule for all routes
• Monday, Dec. 26:
• Saturday schedules for most routes.
• Saturday schedule with additional departures on lines 8, 35, 45, 80.
• Weekday schedule for taxi lines T22 and T89.
• Dec. 27-30: Regular weekday service for all routes
• Saturday, Dec. 31 (free service): Saturday schedule for all routes
• Sunday, Jan. 1:
• Sunday schedule for all routes
• Monday, Jan. 2:
• Saturday schedules for most routes.
• Saturday schedule with additional departures on lines 8, 35, 45, 80.

AMT (commuter trains)

The AMT offers free trips on the two lines that operate on Christmas and New Year's - Dorion/Rigaud and Deux-Montagnes.

From their website:

• Saturday, Dec. 24: Regular Saturday service on all lines
• Sunday, Dec. 25:
  • Sunday service on Montreal/Deux-Montagnes and Montreal/Dorion (all trips are free)
• Monday, Dec. 26:
  • Saturday service on Montreal/Deux-Montagnes
  • Sunday service on Montreal/Dorion
  • No service on other lines
• Dec. 27-30: Regular weekday service on all lines
• Saturday, Dec. 31: Regular Saturday service on all lines
• Sunday, Jan. 1:
  • Sunday service on Montreal/Deux-Montagnes and Montreal/Dorion (all trips are free)
• Monday, Jan. 2:
  • Saturday service on Montreal/Deux-Montagnes
  • Sunday service on Montreal/Dorion
  • No service on other lines

Customer service at the AMT will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Related Posts

• Transit fares for 2012
• Fagstein’s 2010-11 guide to holiday transit
• 2009-10 guide to holiday transit
• Transit agencies aren’t giving enough notice of fare increases
• Fagstein’s Guide to Holiday Transit

Pete Marier

 Last update: Dec. 27 at 2am, adding a comment from Marier at the bottom.

"My show on CHOM was terminated last night."

That was the extent of the comment from Pete Marier Friday morning, on Facebook, to the fact that he's leaving CHOM.

Rumours about Marier's impending departure have been flying about for a few weeks, but things came to a head this week when Marier was given an ultimatum, a source close to Marier said. (Marier himself isn't talking - his only communication with me directly was to confirm the news of his departure.)

According to the source, who asked not to be named for fear of pissing off Bad Pete, Marier was told Thursday after his show to sign a contract that would have decreased his salary by more than half, otherwise he would be terminated as of Friday. Marier refused, which led to a heated verbal confrontation in Astral Media vice-president Martin Spalding's office on Friday morning. Marier was thrown out of Astral's Fort St. offices, and called the police to press for charges of (very minor) assault against Spalding, according to the source, who was in the office at the time.

Spalding wouldn't get into what happened in his office, saying he didn't want to air dirty laundry, but he did say that emotions got the better of both of them. Spalding confirmed that Astral exercised an out clause when Marier made it clear he would not accept a new contract with a reduced salary, and his last day was set at March 8, 2012. Spalding said the new salary figure, which he wouldn't specify but said was nowhere near a 50% pay cut, was "very competitive" for an afternoon host in this market, and that even if it's less than what he would make in mornings, it's higher than what he made the last time he was doing the afternoon drive show.

Spalding said Marier was given five chances to accept the offer and stay at CHOM. He maintained that Marier was to be one of the three "pillars" with Terry DiMonte and Tootall, and that they wanted him to stay. "He was in our long-term plans," Spalding said.

"No choice"

"He left us no choice," he explained. With DiMonte set to return Jan. 9, management wanted to get its schedule finalized by then. Spalding said he and Brand Director André Lallier didn't want to go through a big launch Jan. 9 and have to make a big change two months later when Marier left.

Spalding said the decision was made Thursday night, after one final offer, to make Friday Marier's last day. That still gave Marier the chance to say goodbye to listeners, which he seemed to accept on Thursday. But on Friday morning, Marier changed his mind and said he wouldn't go on air.

Marier remains on CHOM's payroll, as per the terms of his contract, until March.

"It saddens me because I think he's a great guy," Spalding said. Despite their falling out, Spalding had nothing but praise for Marier's talent and said it was unfortunate that he wouldn't accept Astral's offer.

The timing is probably the worst part about this. Marier's last contract wasn't set to expire until next September, but with DiMonte's return so close in the new year, the decision had to be made now.

On Friday, as they have done in the past with acrimonious departures, CHOM scrubbed Marier's name and photo from its website. The 3-7pm timeslot on the schedule now just reads "The Drive"

Listeners fight back

Marier's Facebook wall was flooded with comments from angry listeners, one of whom has started a Facebook group to demand CHOM rescind its decision, but its chances to success are just about zero now that the decision has been made. After initially allowing non-profane comments to stay, the people managing CHOM's Facebook page deleted all comments about Marier. That didn't stop them, of course, and they kept posting, adding more anger and some sarcasm to their voices.

It used to be that broadcasters, newspapers and other media could control their means of communication, and simply make people or issues disappear. But with social media like Facebook, their power is limited. They could shut down the page completely to comment, but that would throw away the baby with the bathwater.

Unfortunately for Marier, this kind of thing blows over. People aren't calling in to CBC anymore to complain about Nancy Wood, or calling in to Q92 to complain about the axing of Tasso and Suzanne. CHOM can only hope that the protest about Marier dies down enough by Jan. 9 that it doesn't harm their promotional plans.

Pillar of CHOM

Marier, 52, has been at CHOM since 1989 (except for a stint in Winnipeg from 2002 to 2005), mainly hosting morning and afternoon programs. He stepped back into mornings with Ted Bird and Chantal Desjardins, then went back to the afternoon drive when CHOM rejigged its schedule to prepare for the return of Terry DiMonte.

At the time, Spalding agreed with myself and many others that Marier's voice was probably more suited to afternoons than mornings. (Even though CHOM's ratings actually went up with Marier in the morning show chair.) There was no indication at the time that Marier's future at the station was in doubt. In fact, Spalding referred to Marier as one of the "pillars of CHOM" - a description he maintained even when discussing Marier's departure.

Not DiMonte's fault

There's been speculation that Marier's departure is related to DiMonte's return. It's true that the timing of that is why this decision came now, and that DiMonte's return is why Marier moved back to afternoons (and hence was offered less pay), but neither of these things are DiMonte's fault.

Still, many comments online are extremely negative toward DiMonte, suggesting his return is why Marier is leaving, in part because CHOM spent big bucks for DiMonte and has little left for the rest of its staff.

That's just not true, DiMonte says.

"The notion that I had anything to do with it is complete nonsense," DiMonte wrote to me on Saturday. "I was REALLY disappointed that he left. I've known Pete for years and we always got along great. He's a great broadcaster, a Montreal favorite and part of the fabric at CHOM... and I thought with me, him and TooTall it was going to be a helluva lineup. I'm really sorry he left."

DiMonte also denied that Astral is breaking the bank to bring him home (he denied similar rumours about the kind of money he was supposed to be making in Calgary). He said he's getting a pay cut, not a pay increase, to come back home. "The notion that there's nothing left for others is internet claptrap. It's just not so."

Spalding similarly flatly denies that other announcers are being offered less because DiMonte got more.

Though DiMonte is getting a say in his morning cohosts (no decision has been announced yet), he said he had no part in Marier's contract negotiations and was only told about everything after the fact.

"It's not going to be as much fun without Pete, but I'm not sure what I can do about that."

Team Pete or Team Astral?

I don't have access to the dollar figures involved here, so I can't say whether CHOM's move was justified or whether the contract was fair. A 20-plus-year veteran is obviously going to attract a lot more sympathy than a faceless corporation, but that doesn't mean the latter has to cave to the former.

That said, if Marier's only demand was that he get paid the same salary, it's hard to be too outraged by it. If Marier was a "pillar" of CHOM, he should have been treated as one. Unless his salary as a morning DJ was unreasonably through the roof, would it have hurt the bottom line so terribly for it to remain at that level?

As with any negotiation, the two sides choose what they can live with. Marier believes his talent (or his dignity) is worth more than Astral offered, and if he's right he won't be unemployed for long. (He's still doing freelance voice work, including a lot of radio commercials - many that are still airing on the station he left.) Astral believes it's more profitable to let Marier go than to keep paying him a morning-show salary. If it's right, the company will either save money by not having Marier on payroll, it will do better on ratings and revenue with the money it would have spent on him, or both.

No matter how this ended, or which side is right, it really sucks for something like this to happen two days before Christmas.

Lineup decisions coming soon

No decision has been made about the rest of the CHOM lineup, including who will replace Marier on the drive show. Spalding said Rob Kemp and Chantal Desjardins, who will get the bump from the morning show unless they become DiMonte's sidekicks, are still part of their plans, and roles for them are being finalized. He said an announcement should be expected within the next two weeks. In any case, it'll come before Jan. 9.

UPDATE (Dec. 26): From Marier, on Facebook:

Dear Friends, Thanks for the tremendous support and well wishes. Both are greatly appreciated. In spite of recent events (on which I cannot comment right now), my family and I had a great Christmas! I hope you all did too. Merci encore!

"Happy to sit down"?

UPDATE (Jan. 6): A Gazette story from Bill Brownstein on Terry DiMonte coming back to CHOM includes a sidebar that mentions Marier. It includes quotes suggesting reconcilation is possible:

Spalding: “If Pete called me today and if we could come to terms, we’d make it work. We would have him right back in drive. The last thing I ever wanted was to lose him. He’s an incredible talent.”

Marier: “If Astral Media is willing to negotiate a contract with me, I’d be more than happy to sit down with Martin Spalding and try to work it out.”

Related Posts

• Astral’s Martin Spalding on Terry DiMonte, CHOM, CJAD and Virgin Radio
• Terry DiMonte’s first day at CHOM … again
• CHOM’s new schedule adds Terry DiMonte, Heather Backman in mornings
• Terry DiMonte returns to CHOM Jan. 9
• Terry DiMonte returns to CHOM, and is back in Montreal for good

Lisa Player is leaving Montreal for Northern Ontario

As I sat in the conference room at Astral's studio on Fort St., interviewing people for my article in The Gazette on the change in the morning show at Virgin Radio, the discussion turned to how unusual it is for radio personalities to stay in the same job for long. For some reason, Montreal seems to be an exception, perhaps because of its two languages or because it has a particular connection to its media.

Still, at CJFM, most of the voices are new. "Freeway" Frank Depalo, Andrea Collins and Nikki Balch have been there less than a year. "Cousin" Vinny Barrucco and Tony Stark not much longer than that. Mark Bergman has been around for a while, but he's behind the scenes now.

So when Lisa Player leaves her post as the morning show co-host at Virgin Radio (she and Kelly Alexander are the only hosts to predate the name - unless you include MC Mario), her seven-year tenure is remembered as being exceptionally long (she says it's the longest she's ever had a job in radio) and relatively short by the standards of people like Aaron Rand, Terry DiMonte, Tootall and Andrew Carter.

A look at this video posted less than two years ago, and you see that of the nine personalities, listed, only two (plus Player) are still on the air here.

Friday is Lisa Player's last day at CJFM

Done

"I feel like I honestly don't have a great deal to say anymore," Player says of her decision to pack it in. "It starts to get a little repetitive after a while."

As she announced to CJFM's listeners last week, Player is not only leaving the show and the station, but the city and the business entirely. Her replacement is Natasha Gargiulo, who starts Jan. 3.

"Radio's an extremely fun career and I've had an exorbitant amount of fun," Player said. "When it stops becoming fun then it's time to seek fulfillment again."

So Player and her hubby Joey are moving to a small town in Northern Ontario (is that redundant?), where they're fixing and flipping a house. It seems a bit crazy, but she insists she's "turning a new chapter" and wants to go back to her small-town roots.

"I'm not really a city person," she confessed, even though her 20-year career has taken her to cities, from Cornwall, Ont.'s CJSS, where she said her first job was to read the obituaries, to Barrie, Kelowna, Calgary and Toronto, before ending up at what was then called Mix 96 in 2004.

The move came during what Player described as a "dark period in my life," as she was undergoing a separation. But she credits this city for helping her to heal from that.

"It's the favourite city that I've worked in. If I had to be stuck working in a city it would be Montreal."

But she's un-sticking. The Toronto-born but small-town-Ontario-raised Player is going back to "the same thing I couldn't wait to get away from" at the beginning of her career. And she made it clear it's not because of the audience.

"Our listeners are amazing," she said. "They're the most normal, grounded, caring people."

"I'm excited i had the chance to share with them, and I know they won't be disappointed with what's to come."

She's also promised to visit.

Natasha Gargiulo and Lisa Player have known each other since Player joined Mix 96 in 2004.

"The ultimate pro"

It could have been because she was in the room at the time, but her boss, her former co-host and the person who's replacing her all had nothing but praise for Player.

"Lisa, she's the ultimate pro," Depalo said of his on-air partner for only a few months.

"I always admired her quick wit," said Gargiulo. "She's on the ball and there's a lot of things to admire about Lisa."

I'd have far more quotes than this, but suffice it to say there was lots of praise going around, and everyone loves everyone else.

Player has also been receiving a lot of messages via the station's Facebook page (and the show's Facebook page) from listeners who are sorry to see her go, even as they wish her well.

While the news came as a surprise to many listeners, Bergman said a succession plan was discussed as early as late summer. Player said over the past year she's been thinking it's time to go back home.

No tears

Player's last show is Friday, and she's promised a brief goodbye. "I don't like being in the spotlight," she says, before laughing at how silly that seems because she's a morning show personality on a major-market radio station. Still, she'll keep the goodbye talk brief, probably just before the show ends at 9am.

She says she doesn't expect to break down on air, though she admitted she did get a bit choked up on Monday.

"I think when it's really going to hit me is when I turn off the mic for the last time," she said.

Change is good

Montrealers may be against change, sometimes in a completely irrational way, but Bergman says it's important.

"My biggest learning experience as a person as programming director was a year ago when Cat left. It made me realize when one opportunity is missed another is gained." Bergman hired Depalo to take over for Spencer, a decision that he thinks has worked out great for the station.

"Change is a good thing," he said. "It doesn't mean that it's anything is negative about what happened before."

Player agrees, and adds: "Astrologically, 2012 is a year of change. Positive change."

Lisa Player blows a kiss to her loyal Montreal listeners

See also: Natasha Gargiulo joins CJFM morning show

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"Freeway" Frank Depalo and Natasha Gargiulo form the new CJFM morning team

After just under a week of anticipation, Virgin Radio (CJFM 95.9FM) announced Thursday morning at 7:10am that Natasha Gargiulo is going to be the new morning co-host in the new year, taking the place of the departing Lisa Player. Starting Jan. 3, she will co-host Freeway and Natasha in the Morning with "Freeway" Frank Depalo.

You can listen to audio of the announcement and a chat with Gargiulo here (MP3).

Virgin Brand Director Mark Bergman graciously allowed me to break the news a few hours early so it could be in Thursday morning's Gazette. It was, surprisingly enough, the first time I had been inside the Virgin studio with its giant branding star (and a giant CHOM logo in the hallway visible through a window), and I got a chance to talk to Gargiulo, Depalo, Player and Bergman about this big change.

Meet Natasha

First, an introduction to the new girl. She's definitely not new to the station. She started at what was then Mix 96 way back in 2000, and was so desperate to get into the industry she worked for free.

"I gave up a really good job in university to do telemarketing at night and work for free (in the Mix promotions department). My parents thought I was crazy," Gargiulo told me during our chat in a conference room in Astral's Fort St. offices.

She continued working at CJFM until she was hired at Global Quebec in 2003. ("I always wanted to be on television," she says.) From there she worked as a weather presenter and an entertainment reporter for Global's local newscast. She also got other gigs, including working for Entertainment Tonight Canada, hosting Ciao Montreal on ethnic station CJNT (back when it and Global were both owned by Canwest), and a few other television gigs.

About a year and a half ago she came back to CJFM as a contributor to the afternoon drive show with "Cousin" Vinny Barrucco. Since then her role has expanded to de facto co-host of that show. She also filled in on the morning show this summer while Lisa was on vacation. Those two facts had led some people to correctly speculate that she'd be a strong candidate for the job.

As for the afternoon show, Bergman says Barrucco will continue it solo for the time being. There are no immediate plans to give him another co-host.

In addition to all her other activities, Gargiulo is also a mother. You can see a video done for ET Canada of her and Leticia, now 15 months, at a photo shoot earlier this year.

Many jobs

Here's the part where I question this young lady's sanity. In addition to a radio gig that requires being at work at 5am five days a week, and the hectic, inflexible schedule that comes with being a mother, Gargiulo says she will continue working for ET Canada.

"I figured I can't put all my eggs in one basket," Gargiulo said of having so many things going on at once. "If Ryan Seacrest can do it, why can't I?"

Not that she's some sort of superhero. She credits her "very supportive husband" for allowing her the flexibility to jet off on weekends to do entertainment reporting.

Besides, she says: "My motto is never say no, because you never know how long this ride is going to last."

That's certainly true. Though some radio personalities in Montreal seem to last forever, most don't last a decade. Case in point is CJFM itself. It's turned over most of its daytime staff in the past year (losing Cat Spencer, Heather Backman and Nat Lauzon) and just about everyone since the station became Virgin Radio in 2009.

Target demo

Not that Gargiulo's stint should be considered temporary. Bergman, at least, is happy with her appointment.

"I think Natasha is a young Montreal working mom who lives everything that the Virgin Radio brand represents: fun, entertainment, she's into social media, pop culture. I think she's a great reflection of the typical virgin radio listener."

If that sounds a bit like a radio program director, it's because that's what it is. Bergman is up front about the fact that this is about targetting a key demographic, which is like Gargiulo: Young mothers, people who enjoy hit music and have the spending power to please advertisers.

No big changes

Asked what, other than the personality, would be changing with the new so, everyone involved agreed that there wasn't going to be any drastic changes. But the team is constantly discussing new ideas and could put some of them into force slowly in the new year. But even then, don't expect fundamental changes. They're still the number-one music radio station, and they don't need to reinvent themselves to improve.

"We wanted four words people would think of about the show," Bergman said about the more philosophical thoughts. The words they came up with are fun, real, local and entertaining.

"If we can accomplish those four goals, we'll be happy," Bergman said.

"The show is always evolving," said Depalo. "I've only been here seven months, so this is not it."

Natasha Gargiulo starts Jan. 3. You can follow her on Twitter at @NatashaGargiulo.

UPDATE: Lots of congrats for Gargiulo on Twitter and Facebook. If you want to read the announcement in press release form, Astral Media has posted it to their website.

See also: Lisa Player stops playing

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In Kirkland, there's a street called Henri-Daoust St., that acts as a shortcut between Antoine-Faucon St. and Brunswick Blvd., a bit west of St. Charles Blvd. It's a simple two-lane street that serves as a small artery for the area, and is used by the STM's 201 and 261 buses. But it was also used by a lot of people in western Pierrefonds to get around traffic on St. Charles.

Because western Pierrefonds is an area that is continuing to expand with new developments, the problem is only getting worse.

So residents on that street demanded traffic-calming measures, preventing cars from using it as a shortcut, at least during rush hour.

Complicating matters is that one end of the street is in Pierrefonds, a borough of the city of Montreal, while most of it is in Kirkland, an independent city. Pierrefonds had no interest in preventing its residents from using the street, and Kirkland could not legally block people.

Finally Kirkland decided to prohibit cars from turning left from Henri-Daoust onto Brunswick during the morning rush hour (and the reverse during the afternoon rush). Once drivers were aware of this restriction, they would stop using the street.

And, as it turns out, that's exactly what happened. More than 1,000 drivers stopped using the street as a shortcut, according to the city.

But residents still weren't happy, and they went door-to-door trying to convince people to push the city for more action.

The city reacted alright, by telling residents they were removing the signs prohibiting left turns, effective Dec. 15. Residents say it's "revenge". The administration is being called "bullies".

I don't know whether this move is badass, or just being a total dick. It certainly seems a bit of a juvenile way to get one's point across, if that's the goal.

But the pamphlet being passed around by residents (PDF) clearly states that they don't like the no-left-turns sign, that it wasn't their idea but was only reluctantly accepted.

The truth is there is no way to make everyone happy. There are things to be done to calm traffic to make neighbourhoods more livable, but people who live in the suburbs have to come to realize that their way of life isn't sustainable. Other people also want to live in the suburbs, and they will want to use your street.

And not every street can be a cul-de-sac.

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Todd and Mutsumi play with their gadgets between live parts of the newscast.

In September, I visited CFCF to write a story for a magazine about their new studio.

That story just came out in Broadcast Dialogue, a controlled-circulation trade magazine for the radio and television industry in Canada. Fortunately for us without TV and radio stations, it's posted online.

You can read the story, cryptically called "CTV Montreal's new studio", in PDF form. It's part of the December/January issue, which is available in its complete form here as a PDF or here as a Flash-based digital version.

It marks what is technically my first foray into trade magazines (or freelancing for any magazine, for that matter). And I must say it was a pleasure to work for the Christensens, who run a mom-and-pop operation and wanted to treat freelancers well, a rarity these days. I even got a personal cheque in the mail with my fee just to make sure I got it as soon as possible.

The same image appears on background screens as the rotated plasma

The story is illustrated with photos taken by me during September before, during and after the launch. It starts with a little anecdote about different screens using the same feed of an animated CTV News logo, as illustrated above. It wasn't a major problem, but required careful attention to camera movements to make sure the screens you see here with rotated graphics weren't visible in the opening pan shot.

I've published photos of the new studio taken before the launch, as well as for my behind-the-scenes look at the first newscasts.

You can find more photos of the new studio sets below:

The plan

Plan for the new studio, with markings of camera angles. Note the four structural pillars that had to be designed around.

Designers of the studio had to work around a few constraints, mostly due to the fact that they were converting former office space. The ceilings were lower, requiring more lights (a lot more). There are four structural pillars in the middle of the set that needed to be dressed up and worked around in camera shots.

Artist's conception of the new studio - pretty close to the final product

When I first saw the artist's conception for the new studio, I thought it looked really spacious. It turns out those drawings are a bit of a distorted perspective, but not by much. Even though the new studio is smaller than the old one, because the camera control centre and the Antichambre set each took up about a quarter of the old studio, they have more space to work with here. And because it can be shot from almost 360 degrees, and some parts of the set are movable, there are even more options.

 The anchor desk

The anchor desk, when empty

The anchor desk you're familiar with by now. Chairs are removed from the desk when not in use (which results in a lot of moving around as the weather presenter and sports anchor come on and off the anchor desk during a newscast).

The anchor's view (though during a newscast you'll see the cameras up close)

Aside from the problem of glare (more on that in a bit), the anchor's view also looks out onto René-Lévesque Blvd., which means people or vehicles who go by could attract their attention.

View of the anchor desk from the anchor's perspective

You can't see it well above, but there are two computer screens at full brightness underneath the desk. The bright lights embedded in the desk, designed to light the anchors from beneath, create an enormous amount of glare.

Overexposed shot shows working computer screens. Sadly human eyes can't be as easily adjusted

Heavily overexposed, you can see the working monitor on the far side. Both of them sit on blocks of rigid foam. They're used by the anchors to make last-minute changes to scripts.

Behind the anchor desk, a printer for paper copies of scripts.

Nothing particularly special behind the desk, except for a printer, a recycling bin, some steps and a bunch of cables. The platform has a raised edge to prevent the anchors from accidentally rolling off (this shot was taken before they had wheels on the chairs).

The backdrop behind the anchors is on a roller

The skyline behind the anchors is obviously fake. There are two versions, one for daytime and one for night. There was also a bit of photo editing done, to remove corporate logos from buildings and to make Place Ville-Marie taller so it seems more prominent.

Anchor desk with CTV News backdrop

A third backdrop with the CTV News logo is used mainly for promo shots, and perhaps also for special occasions like election nights.

The rest of the set

Lori Graham in front of the green screen

The green chroma-key wall used for weather can be stored behind the set when not in use. Here we see Lori doing a weather segment. Notice she has the battery pack for her wireless mic strapped to her ankle. She says she used to have it at waist-level, but people would ask her if she was pregnant. Her left hand has the clicker she uses to cycle between weather graphics.

Neutral-density light filters on the windows

One of the biggest changes in the new studio is that it has windows. But because the sun can be a lot brighter than any studio could hope to be, it sometimes needs to be blocked out. Three neutral-density (read: colourless) filters of different degrees of shade can be lowered electronically into place to get the desired brightness.

The cozy corner had two problems: unsightly camera cables and a lot of green

The "cozy corner" set used for sit-down interviews with one to three guests. Two problems emerged on the first day of its use. First, that camera cables were visible in wide shots (the other two cameras are on the other side of the pillar to have close and wide shots of the guest). The second was that the green chroma wall is visible through the translucent window in the set. This can be solved by simply storing the green wall behind the set, but sometimes this is forgotten.

A new backdrop is added to the cozy corner set

The second problem was solved by adding a backdrop to that translucent wall. Now it doesn't matter whether the green screen is stored, it won't be visible from this part of the set.

Interview desk dubbed the "anti-cozy"

The "anti-cozy" is also a new feature of the new set, conceived for more formal interviews. It has a large screen at the back (concealing another one of those structural pillars) that can be used to show video during the two-shot. The camera on the right is right up against another pillar, which has another large screen. It's so close that, two weeks in, it had already scratched that screen.

The pillows on the chairs aren't just for comfort. They found that people were too low compared to the desk when they sat here, so pillows were added to make the anchor and guest higher.

The camera control centre in the corner of the newsroom

While most of the action happens in the control room upstairs, the three studio cameras are controlled from here, as is the prompter.

Literally behind the scenes

The back of the green screen is blue.

The 103-inch plasma screen used for show openings

One of the surprises when the set was constructed is that this 103-inch plasma screen (which was used during the Vancouver Olympics coverage) runs on 220V. That required some unforeseen electrical work.

The weather desk from another angle. The Quebec part of the map is kind of hidden.

Some people have noted that the map of Canada behind the weather desk tends to show the west coast more than the east. So here's what the Quebec part of the map looks like.

Arrays of TV sets showing the same image means lots of wires behind.

Here we see the back of those TVs between the anchor desk backdrop and the weather desk. It actually looks pretty neat considering the large number of electrical and signal wires involved.

The old newsroom set

The former anchor desk in the temporary set has been converted into a reporter debrief set

During the period from the beginning of July to the beginning of September when the old set was being torn down and the new one was being built, CTV News had to be done from a temporary set in the newsroom. To say it was cramped is putting it mildly. The anchor desk had room for only one chair behind it, so segments that required two people (like the handoff to sports) required one of those two to be standing.

The two cameras and temporary anchor desk are against a wall in the newsroom

Since the inauguration of the new studio, the desk has been slimmed down and has only one camera in front of it.

The temporary anchor desk close up. Not much room for anything.

Green screen for weather in the temporary newsroom set

The situation wasn't much better for weather. You can see the anchor set at the far left of this photo, and note that the weather presenter and anchor couldn't see each other directly. The same was the case for noon-hour interviews, in which the interviewee was across the newsroom from the anchor, in front of another camera.

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Cogeco: No final decision

Metromedia (owned by Cogeco Diffusion), which in September launched a French-language all-traffic station on CKAC 730, had its application for an English station on 940 kHz rejected because "the Commission is not satisfied that the proposed service would represent the best use of a high-power AM frequency in Montréal," and the group said it would not accept the other frequency that was available as part of the hearing, 990 kHz. Still, the commission suggested Cogeco reapply for another frequency.

Now Cogeco is planning what to do next. Mark Dickie, who is the general manager for CKBE The Beat and part of the committee planning the anglophone traffic station, said he's been in regular meetings since, but no final decision has been made on whether to reapply. Another meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.

There are many factors that suggest Cogeco will reapply for another frequency despite its earlier assertion that only a clear channel would work. For one thing, the station is part of an agreement between Cogeco and the Ministry of Transport, which would pay the broadcaster $1.5 million a year to operate the station. Though the agreement requires the station to have coverage around the Montreal area, how that's determined is not clearly defined.

A similar agreement governs the French all-traffic station, which is also worth $1.5 million a year for Cogeco. Because the agreements are the same for both languages (meaning their value is based on the cost of providing the service, not the potential audience) and because there are no guaranteed minimums in terms of audience reach, it's clear the ministry doesn't actually care how many people listen to the station, just that it's there.

Guilaume Paradis, spokesperson for Transport Quebec, told me they are awaiting another submission from Cogeco, and that "we will study it," but that they still want to see an English all-traffic station in Montreal.

When asked about specifics, Paradis said that they are not experts in radio broadcasting, which is why they hired Cogeco to do the job in the first place, and they will leave the details of how such a station would reach the Montreal area to Cogeco.

The agreement between Cogeco and the government originally called for both stations to be operational by Oct. 31. That was amended with a new deadline of Feb. 29 in light of the elongated CRTC process. Clearly that will need to be amended again if the project is to continue.

Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy will reapply

The other group, 7954689 Canada Inc., known as Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy Media, scored a half-victory at the CRTC, getting clear-channel 940 kHz for a French-language news-talk station, but the English station was rejected for lack of available frequencies (like Cogeco, the TTP group rejected 990 as an option).

One of the group's partners, Paul Tietolman, originally wouldn't comment on their plans, but now says the group will make an application for another frequency. He wouldn't say what frequency that is, but did suggest it would be a unique technical setup (perhaps not limited to one frequency or one transmitter), without going into details.

Tietolman said many people have already approached the group expressing an interest in joining them. They are currently in the process of setting up their management team, who will then hire talent.

He said the goal is still to have the station running by fall of 2012.

Asked whether the group is sticking to its stance that it would not proceed with a radio station in one language without getting approval for the other, Tietolman would say only that he expects everything will work out, and that a solution has been found that will make everyone happy.

Meanwhile, the group has applied for an FM radio station in Calgary, one of 11 applications for FM stations on a few remaining vacant frequencies in that city. The application is for a music station that would be based on current and classic hits (from Katy Perry to the Beach Boys), based on requests, and with commitments to promote emerging Canadian artists as well as comedians. It would also hire 12 journalists and have newscasts 24 hours a day.

Tietolman said other applications are coming for other cities.

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Until recently he had a job at Espace Musique, Radio-Canada's music radio network. But when RadCan wanted to kill his show and move him online, he left. He took a job back at MusiquePlus, where he hosts two shows, Rajotte (Fridays at 7pm) and Hors Circuit (Sunday mornings at 1am). They're not exactly big-budget shows (Hors Circuit in particular looks pretty cheap), but the quality is in Rajotte's biting commentary (like tonight where he trashed Nickelback by saying they seem to be stuck in a 90s time-warp).

Having gone back to MusiquePlus, Rajotte wondered if maybe he could get a job at CHOM as well. But, La Presse reported, CHOM said no.

It's not because they're not interested, explained Astral Media VP Martin Spalding, just that they don't have any openings for him. "There wasn't an opportunity," Spalding said. "But that doesn't mean there won't be an opportunity in the future."

Spalding explained that giving Rajotte a show would mean cutting the time of existing staff like Bilal Butt, who hosts evenings. "For the time being, we want to allow Bilal to grow in that timeslot," Spalding said.

Sadly, the radio market isn't what it was even a decade ago, and the anglophone music stations aren't as eager as the francophone ones to grab big names to do an hour a day.

Could fate open up an opportunity for Rajotte at his other former home? As Spalding would say, never say never. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

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Todd van der Heyden, who has been anchoring CTV Montreal's noon and 6pm newscasts with Mutsumi Takahashi since 2008, will be leaving the station and moving to Toronto to accept a job as an anchor on CTV News Channel, CTV announced on Friday.

CTV Montreal has a story on its website, CTV News Channel has a press release, and Van der Heyden confirmed the news on Twitter. He also announced it to viewers at the end of Friday's noon newscast (see video above).

His last newscast for CFCF will be Friday, Dec. 30. He starts anchoring CTV News Channel's Express from 1-4pm weekdays with Amanda Blitz, starting Jan. 16.

You can read the abridged version of all this in the story I wrote for The Gazette. Or, for you TV fanatics, lots of detail and baseless speculation below.

Captain Fill-in

While his move might be a surprise to some of his viewers, it's not completely out of the blue. Van der Heyden has filled in as news anchor at Canada AM and on CTV News Channel, starting in 2007. He filled in for Seamus O'Regan as Canada AM's cohost this summer, his most high-profile Toronto gig so far.

In fact, he worked a shift at CTV News Channel on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day last year, cancelling holiday plans with his family. That's not something a big-city anchor does for the money.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that other opportunities might open up for him in Toronto, and that he would be interested in them if they did.

Really quickly

"This is something that's been in the back of my mind for a while," van der Heyden told me on the phone Friday, just after finishing the noon newscast. "I always kind of had my eye out on what was out there (but) I wasn't going to go for anything. I wanted something that was going to be a challenge for me."

"A couple of months ago there was word that they were going to be rejigging CTV News Channel. That kind of got me thinking. They approached me a couple of weeks ago and said 'Is this something you'd be interested in?' Everything really happened really quickly."

CTV Montreal News Director Jed Kahane says the national people kept him in the loop about the offer. It was finalized this week with the agreement that van der Heyden would continue working in Montreal until Dec. 30 and he'd have a couple of weeks to get settled in Toronto before his first shift at News Channel. Though he starts Jan. 16, what if any preparatory work he has to do there is still up in the air.

He still hasn't met his co-host yet, and wants the chance to take her out to dinner and get to know each other.

Van der Heyden said one of his first calls was to Takahashi, catching her just before she left on vacation to Japan. He said she was very encouraging.

Big fish vs. big pond

Though at first the idea of moving to Toronto and having a national audience might be considered a big leap forward career-wise, there's a similar argument that it's a move down - or at least in a lateral direction.

There's the ratings, for one. CTV tells me the average afternoon audience (noon to 6pm weekdays) for News Channel is 43,000, and that's up 35% from last year. CTV Montreal's News at 6 has ratings in the area of 200,000 due to its market dominance.

No more billboards of Todd van der Heyden

There's also the marketing. In Montreal, he's the big fish in a small pond, second only to Mutsumi Takahashi in terms of prominence at the station (and hence in the market in general). At CTV News Channel, he's a weekday afternoon co-host, well behind Lisa LaFlamme, Sandie Rinaldo, Dan Matheson and the rest.

The big thing that works in his favour in the move is that he can move up. In Montreal, you can't really go higher than the evening news anchor. So you can either stay there, like Bill Haugland did, or you have to move to Ottawa or Toronto and build a national profile.

"Bottom line, I think it's going to be a challenge for me, a kick in the ass," van der Heyden said. "It's an opportiunity for me to grow."

"It's a bit scary too, to be honest. I've been here for 12 years."

A decade of Todd

Van der Heyden was first hired at CFCF in 2000 as a reporter. He notably covered the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks from New York for CFCF (back when it was called Pulse and had more control over its own operations and Todd apparently had a thing for flak jackets). In December 2001 he became a backup news anchor, then was the On Your Side consumer affairs reporter in October 2003, then weekend coanchor in 2005. He co-anchored the noon newscast starting in January 2007 and was given the top job with Takahashi in 2008 following the departure of Brian Britt. His full CTV bio is here.

When he was first hired, it was for two years, he said, but "they kept promoting me."

Not surprising considering he looks and sounds like he came off some news anchor assembly line.

Todd van der Heyden will be saying hello to a new makeup chair in the new year

No friends

Van der Heyden also had personal reasons to make the move. His family moved out of the city after the 1995 referendum (most are now in Vancouver), and many of his friends moved away in the past decade, mostly to the greater Toronto area.

"Every five to six weeks I would head up there" to Toronto, he said, right after describing the city as undergoing changes for the cooler. "It's less of a boring concrete jungle ... there's a bit of a cool vibe coming."

Hard as it may be to believe, van der Heyden said he didn't have many friends here until the past year or two who haven't since moved out.

And one of the things he's going to miss most is ... his apartment.

He said he just moved into a place in Old Montreal in June, which he described as a great find at a good price. Now he'll have to sublet that while he finds a place in Toronto, and I'm guessing it's highly unlikely it'll be that good a bargain.

Anti-celebrity

I asked van der Heyden about leaving his legion of teenage fangirls (I imagine they exist).

"I don't think I'm going to miss that," he said, referring to seeing his face on billboards around the city. "It was never about that for me. I never got 100% comfortable with it."

I don't know how much I believe that. Not that I think he's an attention hogger, just that it's hard to see someone wanting to be successful in media and not have that be linked to some measure of fame.

But only van der Heyden knows for sure.

"A natural fit"

I got the chance to speak with CTV News President Wendy Freeman, who's originally from Montreal (she mentioned that, as did the person who setup our interview).

"He is a natural fit for the network," she said. "Todd really fits the bill."

CTV News Channel is undergoing a renaissance, she explained. In an effort to gain some serious ground on CBC News Network, which leads the all-news networks by far in the ratings, they're "investing in the channel," hiring more staff and redoing graphics and sets (she hopes the new look will be in place early in the new year, by the time van der Heyden starts).

Because CTV likes to promote from within, van der Heyden was a prime candidate for a national anchor spot. Freeman said she doesn't want him to change, and she wants to see the same well-respected anchor we've seen in Montreal in his new job in Toronto.

Freeman was adamant that she wasn't stealing him away from Montreal.

"I would never say we're stealing him. This is a win-win for everyone."

As she and van der Heyden both point out, CTV News Channel is carried in Quebec. So anyone who wants to see him can just tune in from 1 to 4pm weekdays.

Like family

But it certainly won't be the same for van der Heyden, who has to leave the family he's developed on Papineau Ave., as well as the audience that tunes in every day at noon and every night at 6.

He said there have been "dozens of emails, plus Twitter and Facebook" messages just in the two and a half hours between the time the announcement was made and the time I talked to him. (Some, he said, were angry that they found out about it on Twitter.) He said when he was talking to me he was in the dark studio, alone, just to get away from all the craziness that developed at the office with the news he was leaving.

While he may not embrace celebrity, he values the relationship he's built with his viewers, even though he only hears from them through social media or sees them at open houses.

"I'm kind of sad that way because people are very loyal and very discriminating viewers," he said. "I'm going to miss these viewers."

Who's the new Todd?

Now, once again, Jed Kahane has a hiring decision ahead of him. (And he hasn't even finished the last one, finding a Quebec City bureau chief.)

Kahane told me he'll make a decision "in the coming weeks ... I won't say how many." Though he seemed confident that a decision would be made, he said no decision has been made yet.

Of course, the speculation has already begun.

So fine, let's speculate.

Paul Karwatsky is the most obvious candidate. He's been co-anchor with Tarah Schwartz of the weekend newscasts since 2009. If we make only three common-sense assumptions, he becomes the only candidate, which almost turns this into a Paul-or-not-Paul scenario, as fair or unfair as that might be to him:

1. They will hire a male co-anchor to sit with Takahashi (a move that can be described as both politically correct and sexist)
2. They will hire internally, as it has tended to do in the past for major positions
3. They will hire someone with significant anchoring experience

But Karwatsky is young. He's only been at the station since 2005. Is that enough for them to take a pass for now?

If we eliminate our assumptions, we open up posibilities.

A female co-anchor. Why not? It's unusual, but hardly impossible. Are we so stuck in the idea of the male-female anchor team that we can't even consider this possibility?

Opening the job to women would bring up potential candidates like Tarah Schwartz, Debra Arbec (who left CTV for CBC in part because she didn't see herself getting the 6pm anchor job anytime soon) or Jamie Orchard (who left CFCF for Global Quebec when it launched in 1997 and has been in various anchoring positions there ever since). There are also CTV Montreal reporters who serve as backup anchors: Caroline van Vlaardigen and Cindy Sherwin, both of whom would do well in the position.

A CTV Montreal reporter. I've heard the name Rob Lurie come up. But there aren't too many male reporters at the station with anchoring experience who aren't already anchors or haven't, like Brian Britt or Herb Luft, already retired. Stéphane Giroux isn't going to be the next anchor for obvious reasons. This group has plenty of good reporting skills, but no obviously good candidates for anchor, with the exception of van Vlaardigen and Sherwin as mentioned above.

They could take a chance and go young, like they did with late anchor Catherine Sherriffs and CBC did with Andrew Chang, but then why not just go for Karwatsky?

And as for Craig Silverman's Draft Mosé Persico movement, well I don't expect it'll go anywhere. For one thing, it isn't serious to begin with. Fortunately Persico is a good sport about his public persona, otherwise I'd feel bad about everyone making fun of him, even with his sometimes ridiculously fawning movie reviews.

Someone else. It's possible there could be a candidate entirely out of left field. Andrew Peplowski, Richard Dagenais, Leslie Roberts or someone else who either hasn't been at CFCF for years (Ben O'Hara-Byrne, former CFCF reporter and CTV's bureau chief in Beijing, is another name mentioned) or has never been there at all.

I rate it highly unlikely that they would opt for anyone without a strong existing connection to Montreal, even in the unlikely scenario that they bring someone in from outside. Montreal viewers tend to be more picky about that kind of thing, and it shows on air when someone is unfamiliar with the quirks of anglophone life in Quebec.

But hey, I've been wrong before. What we do know is that unless there's another surprise announcement coming before the end of the year, Van der Heyden's replacement will be Takahashi's fourth co-anchor at 6pm, after Haugland, Britt and van der Heyden.

CJAD show remains, for now

In addition to anchoring 10 one-hour newscasts a week, Van der Heyden hosts Viewpoints, a call-in show from noon to 1pm Saturdays on CJAD. Though it would get a bit complicated doing the show with him living in Toronto, he says he'd like to give it a try.

"I'd love to continue doing the show," he told me.

CJAD Brand Manager Chris Bury also thinks it's worth giving it a try. "Todd and I still have to work it out but we both want the show to continue," he said.

There are various options available. He could host the show from the studios of CJAD's sister station CFRB in Toronto. Van der Heyden also says he'd be willing to travel to Montreal on a regular basis, maybe once or twice a month, and do some shows live and prerecord others.

The logistics aren't insurmountable. But will Todd van der Heyden still be a big name for CJAD in a few years when he's not the big face on the billboards and in the CTV promo ads and hosting the newscast with its 200,000 viewers?

Other coverage

As one would expect, anglo media - at least the anglo media that doesn't compete directly with CTV - gave coverage to van der Heyden's move. In addition to the Gazette story, there's one at CJAD and another at OpenFile.

In addition to messages from viewers, van der Heyden also got congratulations from competitors, Jamie Orchard at Global and his former coworker Debra Arbec, now at CBC.

UPDATE (Dec. 6): Van der Heyden has his first on-air chat with his new co-anchor Blitz on CTV News Channel on Monday.

UPDATE (Dec. 15): Karwatsky has been tapped as the interim co-anchor, starting in January, as the search for a permanent replacement begins. (Whether this means Karwatsky is a viable candidate I'll leave to you to speculate.)

Takahashi, who was on vacation through the announcement, returns to respond as such: "Bill, Brian, Todd... All I can say, Steve, is that I'm obviously having trouble holding on to my men..."

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The STM's press release (sent on Friday, which made Métro's Mathias Marchal wonder if it was trying to get hidden in news coverage) talks about all the additional service it provides in exchange for this modest increase, and they're not making it up - there have been significant increases in transit service over the past few years. But for most users, that increase isn't enough - buses and metro trains are still packed during rush hour, and still don't seem to come often enough outside of it.

No more six tickets or CAM Longueuil

Two fares disappear completely from the grid for 2012. One is the CAM Longueuil, a compromise set up for 2011 that allowed users of the Longueuil metro station to transition from a regular STM fare to a Zone 3 fare.

People who use the Longueuil metro station (but who don't use the RTL network) will go from paying $82 a month ($49 reduced fare) to $117 a month ($70 reduced fare, $93.50 intermediate fare). This represents a 43% increase, or a whopping 91% increase for students 18-25.

The other item gone from the fare table is the six-trip package. Originally designed to be a single disposable magnetic card that could be used six times, the STM quickly started giving out six individual tickets when it noticed that careless users would discard their ticket after one use.

There is still the 10-ticket package available, but that requires an Opus card. This means that people who don't want an Opus card (say, tourists) must buy tickets two at a time or use the "Carte occasionnelle" one-day or three-day tourist pass.

Fare progression chart

Here's a chart showing the STM's fares over the past five years:

I'll leave it to you to decide if these increases are too much in the short or long term.

UPDATE: Here's some progression tables for Montreal's other transit agencies:

AMT

I value my sanity, so I won't do the entire fare table. I'll limit this table to the most popular fare, the TRAM fare, for each zone. (Zone 8 doesn't have any train stations, but does have some bus service). The full 2012 fare table is here (PDF).

The AMT says it will also maintain the "discount" allowing people using the Hudson train station, which is in Zone 6, to use a Zone 5 pass. This policy has been in place since Hudson (and Rigaud) were moved from Zone 5 to Zone 6 on Jan. 1, 2005.

STL

Slight hikes in all categories, including an increase in the cash fare from $2.80 to $3, which is equal to the STM cash fare and the cash fare to enter the Laval metro stations. It also brings it back up to the level it was in 2007. The fare was reduced in 2008 to encourage more people to use transit.

The full list of fares is here.

RTL

The full fare table for 2012 is here.

*In 2009, the RTL eliminated transfers and reduced single fares. (All other fares moved to electronic cards.) As of then, cash fares no longer allowed transfers, hence the reduction in price.

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Today, Dec. 1, is La grande guignolée des médias, the day during the year when various Quebec media and other groups unite for the cause of raising money and supplies for various charities.

What I like most about this campaign is that it's entirely independent of the guerre des médias. Its list of participating media includes Quebecor (including the Journal de Montréal, 24H, Canoe, TVA and VOX), Radio-Canada, La Presse, Cogeco (including CKOI, Rythme FM, 98.5, CKAC and The Beat), Astral (including CHOM, Virgin Radio, CJAD, Rouge, NRJ, Canal D, Canal Vie, MusiquePlus, MusiMax, Télétoon, Vrak.tv and Ztélé), V, Télé-Québec, Transcontinental (including Métro), TV5, MétéoMédia, RDS, Groupe Serdy (Zeste and Évasion) and CHOQ.FM (UQAM's student radio station).

It would probably be easier to list the media not part of this list: Le Devoir, Voir, some community radio stations and a larger number of anglophone media (including The Gazette), many of which have their own holiday fundraising campaigns.

Volunteers will be collecting money at metro stations during the rush hours, and donations can be dropped off at Loblaws/Maxi/Provigo stores or Laurentian Bank locations.

Here's to hoping they have a day worth reporting on.

UPDATE (Dec. 3): It looks like they raised at least $150,000 in Montreal alone.

La Presse's Patrick Lagacé, in response to a piece by Le Devoir's Stéphane Baillargeon asking if it's the job of journalists to be panhandlers for charity, says there's plenty of other things journalists waste their time on. He has more on his blog. Baillargeon's piece is, sadly, subscriber-locked.

La Presse auctions off its journalists

As part of the Grande guignolée, La Presse is once again auctioning off activities with its columnists. These lots aren't cheap - three or four figures, depending - but they're for a good cause. Bidding ends at 4pm.

Just please make sure Lagacé doesn't win.

Tele...Webo...Phoneothon!

Another event happening this week is the big annual fundraiser for the Foundation of Stars, formerly known as the Foundation for Research into Children's Diseases. Last year, you'll recall, the foundation decided to do away with the telethon they had done for decades, replacing it with a "webothon" that was streamed online. I panned the idea because going online would rob them of the big thing being on television gave them: visibility.

As it turns out, the foundation seems to have realized that, and they've abandoned the webothon idea. Without the financial means to put on another telethon, they've switched medium and gone to radio, organizing a "phoneothon" on CJAD, Rouge FM and Boom FM stations. It happens Sunday, Dec. 4, from 10 am to 7pm.

As the organization's latest annual report shows (PDF), the switch from television to the Web resulted in a drop of about $500,000 in fundraising. And because fundraising costs stayed about the same, that drop came out of the bottom line. The result is that there was $700,000 less given to hospital research centres in the 2010-11 fiscal year than the year before.

Let's hope that using radio instead of television can provide a happy medium between visibility and cost control that results in maximum benefit for the foundation and, of course, the children it's trying to help.

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