Fagstein » CJFM

Lisa Player stops playing

Fagstein — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:14:01 +0000

UPDATE: Lisa Player's last day at CJFM was Friday. You can listen to her goodbye message, delivered just before 9am, on her final blog post on Virgin Radio's website. They've also posted a video of the same speech.

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

Natasha Gargiulo joins Virgin Radio morning show

Fagstein — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:51:41 +0000

"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.

Radio ratings: A good fall for Cogeco and CKGM

Fagstein — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:31:55 +0000

Overall market share for anglophone Montreal (note that this includes only BBM members)

Ah, ratings. That time of the every-few-months where people who own radio stations gloat about their rising numbers, and if they don't have rising numbers they selectively comb through demographics and time periods until they find something to gloat about, and if they don't find anything there either they just bullshit their way through a press release.

Normally I don't pay much attention to them, because the changes are so insignificant. But with some major programming changes this fall, and some corresponding jumps and plummets in audience, it's worth taking a closer look this time.

Here are some more objective highlights from the ratings numbers from what I've been able to find. The top-line numbers from BBM Canada are here (PDF, first page is English audience, second page French audience). You can compare that to the spring report or last year for the same period.

Astral Media also does a presentation (PDF) that looks into the numbers overall for key demographics, and for important time periods for adults 25-54, which advertisers apparently covet.

CJAD 800AM (Astral)

Programming changes: Aaron Rand show added to evenings, moving Ric Peterson to early afternoons and Kim Fraser to weekends. Barry Morgan does 7-10pm weekdays, replacing Dan Delmar. Loss of Canadiens games to CKGM.

Overall (adults 2+, seven days a week), CJAD is still the highest-rated station in the Montreal English market. It has a 24% market share, within 0.2 percentage points of this spring and last fall. But it's losing audience in key demographics, especially young adults. In the 18-34 demo, it's down from 17% this spring to 11%. Though losing rights to Canadiens games is undoubtedly part of that, it's not the whole story.

If CJAD thought Aaron Rand would give a ratings boost for its evening drive, that hasn't happened. Its audience for 4-7pm weekdays is stagnant, and it has dropped to fifth place, behind Mitch Melnick on CKGM, for 25-54.

CKGM 990AM (TSN Radio 990, Bell Media)

Programming changes: Rebranding. Acquisition of Canadiens games. Denis Casavant leaves morning show.

The biggest change to CKGM is the addition of Canadiens games, which is giving a significant boost to the evening audience, making it No. 1 on game nights. "Canadiens games are registering an impressive 28.2 share among males 25-54," Bell Media's Greg McIsaac tells me. Previously, the station was fifth place with a 3.7 share during that time period. Now, overall, it's 19.8, ahead of Virgin Radio, station manager Wayne Bews tells Mike Cohen.

But the station is seeing ratings gains everywhere. Overall, CKGM is reaching more listeners, 131,000 a week compared to 93,000 in the spring. Its market share overall has gone up from 2.7 to 4.

Mitch Melnick's afternoon show has the most impressive gains, going from 3,490 to 4,540 listeners during an average minute, representing a 30% increase in audience. It was enough to push CKGM past CJAD for this time period among adults 25-54, particularly impressive since he's now up against Aaron Rand.

For me, the big question out of this is: Was getting Canadiens games worth it? Obviously they won't get into details about their business plans, but the mood seems to be pretty positive.

Bell Media also wouldn't comment on whether the station is still losing 30% of its audience after dark, as it complained to the CRTC during hearings that eventually granted it the right to move to the clear channel of 690 kHz. But critics might argue it's hard to get a 28% share if you're having significant reception problems.

There was also speculation that the station might be picking up francophone listeners after the closure of CKAC Sports. Though there has been a "moderate increase", Bell Media's McIsaac says, the overall numbers among francophones have remained unchanged since the spring. Overall, CKGM has a market share of 0.0 among francophone listeners.

If anything, the more likely scenario is that anglophone listeners who tuned into CKAC are coming back to CKGM. The French all-sports station had a 0.5% share among anglophone listeners. Stands to reason many of them would prefer hearing sports-related news and commentary during the day.

CKBE 92.5FM (ex-CFQR, The Beat, Cogeco)

Programming changes: Complete station rebranding. Cat Spencer replaces Aaron Rand on morning show, Ken Connors moves to weekend mornings, Nat Lauzon does weekend afternoons (starting Oct. 15).

They called it a brand new radio station. They wanted to shed all remaining remnants of the old Q92. But despite all the changes, it has still inherited the old Q ratings. The station has a 16% market share overall, which is actually down slightly from last year.

But ~~program director~~ general manager Mark Dickie still has a happy face. (Well, I assume he does. He seemed content when I chatted with him over the phone.) That's mostly because CKBE has made the strategic decision as part of the Beat rebranding to target the 35-44 female demographic that competitor CJFM seems to have abandoned, and it's seeing corresponding gains there, and Dickie says they've managed to do that while continuing to grow its 45-54 female demo. Overall, from 9am to 4pm, it has a 30% market share for women 35-54.

"It's pretty well what we were hoping for in the first book," he said. Among his cherry-picked highlights, the breakfast show with Cat Spencer and Sarah Bartok has surpassed CJFM among the key demo and has gone from fourth to second (behind CJAD) among adults 35-54. (Expanding to adults 25-54, it's still third, but gaining on second-place CJAD.)

Besides the new morning show, the Beat has also focused on weekends, moving Ken Connors to a beefed-up weekend morning show and bringing star Nat Lauzon in for weekend afternoons.

Lauzon's numbers are good, even though she's been on for only half the ratings period. Her numbers are up 6% on Saturdays and 7% Sundays compared to the spring. Among adults 35-54, afternoons are up 12% on Saturdays and 15% on Sundays.

But it's Connors who is making the biggest impact, with double-digit growth on weekend mornings. Among women 35-54, the station's audience has grown 37% on Saturdays and 53% on Sundays on weekend mornings.

"It's definitely paying off," Dickie says of the decision to focus on weekends, and of the Beat rebranding in general.

Of course, a lot of that is the promotional blitz that comes with a station rebranding. We'll have to give it another ratings period to see if this audience is sticking around.

CJFM 95.9FM (Virgin Radio, Astral)

Programming changes: Freeway Frank replaces Cat Spencer on morning show, Nat Lauzon leaves midday show for CKBE.

Virgin is still the market leader among adults 18-54. The only big demo it's lost control over is men 25-54, where CHOM has snuck into first place. The morning show, which took on Freeway Frank Depalo this year and is about to lose Lisa Player, has kept its audience. Its audience during midday, which has lost veteran Nat Lauzon, hasn't seen a significant change among adults 25-54.

Virgin's on-air lineup is young, and midday hosts Andrea Collins and Nikki Balch are new to the station over the past year. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I suppose. "As the leader our plan was not to react," Brand Director Mark Bergman tells Cohen.

CHOM 97.7FM (Astral)

Programming changes: Pete Marier moved to afternoon drive, Rob Kemp to morning show, Tootall to middays and Sharon Hyland to weekends.

Even though CHOM is in a period of transition as it awaits the return of Terry DiMonte on Jan. 9, this has actually been a pretty good ratings period for the station. It's up just about everywhere, except among women and during the drive-time show, where it's stagnant. It's now first overall among men 25-54, overtaking sister station CJFM. Even the morning show has picked up listeners, though it still sits fourth among English-language stations overall.

CBC Radio

Overall, Radio One's market share is still 8% among anglos, which hasn't changed over the past year. For Radio Two, there's been a slight drop in overall audience, going from a 3.1% to 2.6% market share.

CHMP 98.5FM (Cogeco)

Programming changes: Incorporation of sports programming in evenings after closing of CKAC Sports.

Cogeco Nouvelles, in a totally unbiased press release masquerading as news, declared 98.5 the most listened-to station in Canada. I'm too lazy to confirm that, but they're not making up their significant market gains.

Overall, the station has jumped from a market share of 12% last fall to 20% this fall. That's incredible. It's gained throughout the day weekdays (it's stagnant on weekends, when it plays music). The morning show, hosted by Paul Arcand, has gone from 33,000 to 45,000 average listeners a minute since last spring, a 37% increase. It's a 47% increase if you count from last fall.

In the noon and early afternoon periods, CHMP has rocketed past three other stations, CITE, CKMF and CKOI, to jump from fifth place to second among adults 25-54.

Demographically, the spike is most pronounced among men 25-54, where it was once in a three-way tie for first place with NRJ and Rythme FM, but is now way ahead (28% to 20%). But it's also ahead among women and young adults.

Unsurprisingly, the station has seen an increase in ratings during the evening, where it has replaced repeats of the day's talk shows with sports talk and Canadiens broadcasts. "Its new sports programming has proven a contributing factor to the station's growing success," says Cogeco. But that's not the whole story. Simple math shows that adding all of CKAC's former audience to CHMP only accounts for about half its increase in market share. Something else is causing more people to listen to the station and/or for longer.

CKAC 730AM (Radio Circulation, Cogeco)

Programming changes: Complete station rebranding, replacing sports and sports talk with 24/7 traffic information.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that since its switch Sept. 6 from sports talk to traffic, CKAC has plummeted in the ratings. But that was expected. Last fall, it had a 4.1% market share. This fall, it's 0.5%.

Where CKAC's morning show had an average minute audience of about 9,000, Radio Circulation is only 1,290. Similar drops happen across the schedule and across demographics.

Still, CKAC reaches more than 1 million listeners a week (counted as those who listen at least a minute in a week).

In its application to the CRTC this spring to put a French-language traffic station on 690AM, Cogeco estimated a French-language traffic information service as having a market share of 0.8%, with a total 265,200 weekly listening hours. That number, they said, would double as of the third year. As it turns out, they're behind that estimate a bit (even though there's one fewer station to compete with).

Fortunately for Cogeco, its agreement with Transport Quebec doesn't set any minimums concerning market share or total audience.

Other French-language stations

There haven't been much changes to the music stations on the French side, certainly not much of interest to anglos.

Among young adults (18-34), Astral's CKMF (NRJ) has overtaken Cogeco's CKOI for first place, going up six points with a corresponding drop of six points for CKOI.

CKOI's overall market share has dropped from 9.8 last year to 6.6 this fall, a significant drop. Why Cogeco would say it's proud of the station's performance is beyond me.

Quebec City

In brief:

CFEL (CKOI), recently sold by Cogeco to the Leclerc family on orders from the CRTC, has slid significantly in market share among adults 18-34. It's now 16%, compared to 24% last fall, dropping it from first to third in the market.
There's a corresponding spike for Astral's CITF (Rouge FM) in that same demographic. It has gone from 5% to 11% market share over the same period.
CHOI (Radio X) is losing a lot of audience during weekday midday, and Rouge FM has a corresponding spike in audience for that period.

Astral’s Martin Spalding on Terry DiMonte, CHOM, CJAD and Virgin Radio

Fagstein — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:22:58 +0000

Astral VP Martin Spalding outside his offices at Fort and Ste. Catherine Sts.

"You only have one chance to make a first impression."

It's a cliché, but I thought it was funny when I heard it come out of the mouth of Martin Spalding, the vice-president at Astral Media who is in charge of its three English-language stations in Montreal: CHOM, Virgin Radio (CJFM) and CJAD. The fact that we were talking to each other was kind of proving that assertion wrong. Or at least it was strong evidence against it.

Eleven days earlier, I called Spalding at his office to talk to him about the return of Terry DiMonte to CHOM, a move he arranged. But our conversation was brief.

"I know who you are," he said after I introduced myself. Just as I was starting to feel relieved that I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of convincing him to speak to some guy on the Internet as if he was a journalist, Spalding put the brakes on the interview. "I'm not in the mood to have this conversation," he said.

I asked why. "Let's just say you should be careful what you post on Twitter," he said, without elaborating. He followed that with "this conversation is over."

There was a slight hesitation in his voice, as if even he couldn't believe he was saying this.

I didn't know how to react. I don't expect that everyone I contact will be interested in talking to me - mostly because I'm not a traditional journalist and my audience is not that of a metro newspaper or a supper-hour TV newscast. But I'd never had someone answer me like this before. This conversation sounded like it would be in the script from a bad movie.

What got me most is that I had no idea what set him off. Other than quoting some press releases with his name in them, I'd never talked about him on my blog. I'd never mentioned his name on Twitter. I didn't even know what he looked like.

And I've posted thousands of things on Twitter. Plenty of stuff has been negative about CHOM and other Astral stations. I couldn't really narrow it down.

The call was just before the end of business on June 23. My post about DiMonte - with the bit about Spalding at the end - was published the next day.

An email from Spalding was dated 9:05am the next Monday. He said he realizes he may have been a little "curt" in our phone conversation, and offered to take me out to lunch to explain. We scheduled a meeting for the following Monday at noon - July 4.

After seeing Spalding's office - a corner office with wood panelling - and meeting Virgin Radio Brand Director Mark Bergman, we went to a Chinese place nearby and discussed our respective pasts a bit. Everything was cordial.

It was actually quite a while into our conversation at the lunch table until Spalding set the record straight about that minute-long conversation.

He said he had taken exception to something I tweeted the day before, suggesting that CHOM's promotions department was lacking because its website had no mention of DiMonte a day after a press release announcing he was coming back to the station.

Spalding explained that it wasn't because they'd simply forgotten about this or were lazy about it. Because DiMonte was still contracted to Q107 in Calgary, Spalding said that CHOM couldn't use his image or promote him. Even issuing the press release was "playing with fire," he said.

Spalding took my ill-informed tweet as an attack on the employees who work for him, and for me to then call and ask for comment after bashing his radio station didn't exactly put him in the mood to cooperate.

By Monday morning, he had read my post on DiMonte, and his mood changed. He apologized for the curt tone on the phone, and went out of his way to compliment me on posts I had written, including the DiMonte one and an earlier one on Cogeco's CRTC application for all-traffic radio stations, which he considered much more solid journalism than some of the shoot-from-the-hip tweets that are based on incomplete information.

It's amazing how a simple conversation can change your perspective.

I, in turn, asked Spalding to apologize on my behalf to CHOM's promotions department, an apology I repeat here. I jumped to an incorrect assumption (not the first time I've done so with CHOM-related news), and I should have checked. Just because it's on Twitter doesn't mean it's exempt from basic journalistic rigour. I'll try to do better in the future.

So we're good now. Spalding gave me his card (asking me to call him before I tweet next time), paid for my lunch (the next one will be on me - I want to try to have at least some journalistic ethics here) and gave me two hours of his time - even pushing back a conference call so he could give me a few extra minutes.

The image of the super-professional businessman that DiMonte had painted for me during our conversation turned out to be a lot more accurate than I had thought after that brief phone conversation.

So, now on to the good stuff. I had a good bank of questions related to recent events at his radio stations, so I posed as many as I could fit in before I started to feel really guilty about taking him away from his real job.

Terry DiMonte: star power

Spalding has known DiMonte for a long time. In fact, one of his earliest jobs in radio was acting as DiMonte's assistant. He told me a story about ironing DiMonte's jacket before the radio jock was set to make a public appearance. At the time, DiMonte the radio guy bachelor didn't really appreciate the need to look professional.

Spalding worked with DiMonte from 1986 to 1991. "For five years, we were inseparable," Spalding said. He then worked another five years for former Standard Radio manager Rob Braide (Spalding said his first job in radio was moving boxes for Braide). He later worked as promotions director for what was then FM96 (CJFM, now Virgin Radio) and then for the Canadian Grand Prix before returning to radio as an Astral VP in 2009.

"Last fall, I knew the combination of Pete (Marier), Chantal (Desjardins), P.J. (Stock) and Merv (Williams) wasn't jelling," Spalding said. This led to the canning of Stock and Williams in March.

"I know what CHOM represented 26 years ago. It's kind of lost its way over the past four or five years," Spalding said (covering about the amount of time DiMonte was gone). He wanted to get it back on track. That started with the morning show.

"We needed someone who would resonate with the listenership. We needed star power," he said.

In discussions about who that star could be, Spalding said one name kept coming up: DiMonte.

So Spalding flew to Calgary to try to convince the well-known former Montreal morning man (and local-consumer-affairs TV show host) to come back home. "I wanted to demonstrate that we were seriously interested in bringing him back," Spalding said of the decision to meet in person rather than converse on the phone or via email.

DiMonte "is one of the best interviewers I've heard on radio," Spalding said. He explained that DiMonte has fantastic comedic timing, but "he knows his role. He won't try to our-star a star."

But part of being a good interviewer isn't just being funny and friendly. It's also about knowing your stuff. Asking a guy the same questions he gets from hundreds of other media is going to prompt a canned answer. But asking questions that make it clear you're familiar with someone's work can lead to a lot more depth, and the interviewee becoming a lot more comfortable and more likely to open up.

DiMonte, Spalding said, is a generalist, who will read everything he can get his hands on (this is easily confirmed by looking at all the stuff he posts on Facebook). That's what makes him a great interviewer and a great host, Spalding said.

Like DiMonte, Spalding sees this deal lasting longer than its contract specifies. "This is a long-term play," Spalding said.

Other talent at CHOM

Though the online rumour mill is buzzing with speculation about who's going where on CHOM's schedule, no official decisions have been made yet. And they won't be until the morning team is figured out, and that won't happen until DiMonte gets to Montreal, which won't happen until he's released from Q107.

Spalding said that after hearing about DiMonte coming back to CHOM, "people have reached out to us" about becoming DiMonte's cohost. But whether they hire from outside or just reshuffle their existing talent remains to be seen. DiMonte and Chantal Desjardins will at some point be introduced, but "there has to be chemistry" in any morning team, Spalding said. So they'll see how that plays out.

Pete Marier, meanwhile, is expected to go back to an afternoon drive-time show. His gruffy voice is much better suited to destressing after a day at work than waking up in the morning. Spalding said Marier is better as a drive-time host than a morning man, a sentiment I've heard from others who follow the industry.

For the rest of the schedule, it's still up in the air, though two changes have been made already: Tootall, one of CHOM's most ancient veterans (and a man filled with crazy stories from decades past), has been moved to mid-mornings, doing the 10am to 1pm shift. "We want him to be one of our pillars," Spalding said. He replaces Sharon Hyland, who has moved to weekends.

The other change is the show Amped with Jason Rockman (one of the station's young talents) on Friday and Saturday nights. It features more up-tempo music that Spalding described as "a soundtrack to a corporate party with your buddies."

Though Spalding said the station "worked very hard to keep our staff," he does expect some attrition. He doesn't know who that is yet, but he does seem to expect some announcers to leave for other opportunities elsewhere.

One thing is for sure, he wants the station to be local. While Q107 in Calgary can get away with having only four announcers (two in the morning, one in the afternoon and one on weekends), that wouldn't fly in Montreal. Nor does Spalding want it to.

"Given the choice between Alice Cooper - which is syndicated - and local, I'll always choose local," he said. "Our strategic advantage is to stay local."

That means local announcers - who can tell you what happened during the Habs game, who know the difference between Pie IX and "pie nine" - even during the overnight hours.

Mind you, Virgin Radio's schedule still features quite a bit of syndicated content, especially on weekends.

Ted Bird: never say never

Ask the Internet who Terry's cohost should be, and you'll probably get "Ted Bird" as an answer. But is such a thing possible, or likely? Bird has said it isn't - even though he and DiMonte are good friends.

I wondered, from Spalding's perspective, how torched the bridge between CHOM and Bird was. "Ted is an incredibly talented broadcaster. Very passionate, very emotional," he said.

Spalding also pointed out that "people's memories are very short."

In Spalding's world of media management, letting your ego get in the way of a good business decision means you're not doing your job. "You hire the act," he said. In media, being controversial can be as much a benefit as it is a liability. If CHOM wanted to hire this act back, there's nothing legally preventing it.

And, Spalding reminded me, it was Bird who made the decision to leave CHOM.

"Never say never," he said.

But don't get your hopes too far up. Bird has said he's happy at K103 in Kahnawake. And Spalding said that there have been no conversations with Bird about rejoining the station.

"But I'm not closed to the idea," Spalding said. "I'm not closed to anything."

Bird's main beef at CHOM was with the program director, Daniel Tremblay. For Bird, he was this guy who bragged about never being on the air and who started bossing people around at CHOM after working at some French stations in another city. For Spalding, Tremblay was a man with lots of experience in the industry in a management role. "Daniel has done one thing in his life, and that's work in radio," Spalding said.

Now that Tremblay no longer works at CHOM, and DiMonte is coming back, the chances of reconciliation with Bird are much higher. But still not high enough that I actually expect it to happen. Public demand would have to be much higher to force CHOM to put enough resources into luring Bird back.

Poaching at Virgin Radio

The biggest pieces of news to happen to CJFM in the past few months are remarkably similar: Two of the station's big names - Cat Spencer and Nat Lauzon, have left the station and will take jobs at competitor CFQR (92.5 the Q) in the fall. I asked Spalding about this, and whether this is just a coincidence or if he's worried about losing top talent to Cogeco.

It's business, he said, and the two left under different circumstances. Spencer got a better offer at the Q, and apparently felt it was a better opportunity for career advancement, while Lauzon wanted to reduce her work hours to concentrate on other projects.

These things happen. And if you're looking for talent, it makes sense to target the big stars at the No. 1 station in the market. But Spalding isn't worried.

Besides, he said, Freeway Frank Depalo, who was hired to replace Spencer on Virgin's morning show, has been "a blessing in disguise," and ratings have gone up since the former Montrealer joined the team.

Spalding isn't panicked about competition, particularly since Astral has a 76% market share with its three stations, which includes the top-rated station in the market, CJFM.

But the competition is constant, and Spalding said his goal is to make his stations' programming as seamless as possible. What he called "errors" are what lead listeners to switch stations. Long pauses, technical snafus, or just songs and segments that don't hold the listener's interest.

"The one who makes the fewer errors wins," he said.

CJAD Habs-less

For CJAD, the biggest news recently has been the loss of broadcast rights of Canadiens games to Bell's CKGM (Team 990). Though Spalding took issue with how I phrase the question.

"Losing broadcast rights to Team 990 is a misrepresentation of what happened," he said.

The writing was on the wall not for weeks or months but since way back when Bell purchased CTV and Team 990, Spalding said. The business connections between Bell and the Canadiens are almost too numerous to mention. Bell owns a minority stake in the team, it owns the French-language TV broadcaster (RDS), the English-language regional TV broadcaster (TSN), the naming rights to the team's arena, lots of exclusive rights for mobile, and it produced a special TV series profiling Canadiens players that was available exclusively on Bell video on demand before airing on RDS and TSN2. And that's just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head.

To suggest that Team 990 won the rights to Canadiens games strictly on its own merits is ludicrous, according to Spalding.

Spalding's interpretation jives with that of Mike Boone, who wrote shortly before the announcement that the deal was essentially forged when Bell negotiated regional TV broadcast rights for Canadiens games (they air on a special "TSN Habs" channel that's so far available only on Bell and Bell Alliant).

I asked Spalding if he thought this was unfair. A slight grin developed on his face.

"Unfair? Life is unfair," he said, returning to his this-is-just-business philosophy. There's no bitterness, no anger, just acceptance. This is how things work in the media business, and you have to understand that and get used to it.

So CJAD will move on. "We'll keep covering the team as a news item," he said. And regular programming will be more consistent (though CJAD still retains the rights to things like Alouettes games). And Spalding said he doesn't expect ratings to suffer hugely.

"It wasn't a huge ratings benefit to us," he said. But it was "prestigious" to be known as the official Canadiens broadcaster.

Asked whether there will be significant programming changes to expect for the fall now that there are about 10 more hours a week to fill during the season, Spalding answers simply: "Aren't we always?"

Cogeco's all-traffic stations

Spalding mentioned a post I wrote about Cogeco's proposal for all-traffic AM stations in Montreal. I asked him what he thought of it.

"It's opportunistic," he said, a way to make use of transmitters and antennas they bought as part of the purchase of Corus Quebec. Give him $1.5 million a year and he'd be more than happy to setup his own traffic station.

Astral Media Radio has submitted an intervention in the application that largely echoes the points raised by Spalding and myself.

Nat Lauzon jumps to the Q

Fagstein — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:21:40 +0000

Nat Lauzon is too cool for weekdays

It won't get the same attention as Terry DiMonte, but another veteran Montreal radio personality is on the move. Nat Lauzon, who has been at CJFM since 1999 (though it seems like forever) is moving to CFQR to take over a weekend gig there.

She'll be doing the noon to 5 p.m. shift starting in October. She remains at Virgin Radio until then, where she does the weekday late morning show that is No. 1 in its timeslot with a 38% commercial market share, far ahead of its competitors.

So why leave a No. 1 weekday show at the No. 1 station to do a weekend shift?

Lauzon says she's heading in "a new direction" and wants to focus on her other two passions - her freelance voice-over work and her Montreal Dog Blog (she's got a thing for the puppies).

As for why this new schedule requires switching stations, well, she won't comment. So let's speculate irresponsibly. I'm thinking she just can't bear to be at a station that doesn't have Cat Spencer.

Meanwhile, Astral has posted her former job, weekdays 9am to 1pm. Minimum three years experience.

UPDATE (July 25): Virgin has hired Andrea Collins of 99.9 BOB FM in Winnipeg (a Bell Media station), to replace Lauzon in the 9am to 1pm slot. She starts Aug. 15.

Lauzon has written a blog post about her departure, in which she states that "my departure is all on good terms".

No way to treat your listeners

Fagstein — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:32:00 +0000

"Freeway" Frank Depalo was introduced to Montreal at the St. Patrick's parade with co-host Lisa Player the day before he debuted as morning co-host on CJFM

The past month has seen a lot of staff changes in the Montreal radio scene. All three anglo FM music stations are seeing morning hosts leave, and at least two are introducing new faces to replace them.

Aaron Rand got the ball rolling by announcing he would be leaving CFQR's Q Mornings show at the end of April. Rand has been hosting this show for two decades, so you can imagine how listeners reacted to the news. He's got a lot of new Facebook friends and a lot of people posted messages to the Q's Facebook page.

Though Rand himself reached out to listeners and communicated with them, the station's management was silent. Mark Dickie, its general manager, didn't return my phone calls or emails, and provided The Gazette's Bill Brownstein with a pathetic quote that sounds like it came out of a fill-in-the-name-here press release.

As if to underscore a lack of respect for this dean of local radio, Rand's seat wasn't even cold before it was announced that Cat Spencer would be leaving CJFM to take his place ... in September. (Maybe before, if the two stations can work out a deal on his contract.) This is still months away, yet for some reason they couldn't wait 24 hours to make the announcement. What little coverage of this story appeared in local media had to be about both Spencer and Rand instead of just the latter.

Cat vs. Freeway

Learning that Spencer would be leaving, some Virgin Radio listeners also spoke up on its Facebook page. At least there, a few brief replies from the nameless Facebook page administrator saying Spencer had decided to leave. But otherwise, the station has been pretty silent about it. Program Director Mark Bergman hasn't made any public statements that I'm aware of.

That contrasts, of course, to all the publicity it's generating about its new star, "Freeway" Frank Depalo, who debuted on Monday as Lisa Player's cohost. (You can read an interview Depalo did with Mike Cohen on his blog, and a story in The Gazette by Kathryn Greenaway.)

The same day "Freeway" started on Virgin Radio, the Q launched a new contest where it gives away $1,000 daily to people who listen to the morning show. It promoted it like crazy, including an ad wrap around the front section of Monday's Gazette (hope some of that ad money trickles down to me).

PJ who?

And then there's CHOM, who yanked PJ Stock and Merv Williams from their morning show. Perhaps it was unrelated to the other changes, or perhaps the station decided it needed to freshen up while its competitors are changing things up. We don't know, because CHOM Program Director Daniel Tremblay isn't talking.

Again, fans complained. Not on the station's official Facebook page because it doesn't have a wall. But there were comments here and elsewhere, most more upset at the loss of Williams than the part-timer Stock.

The same day the news became public, there was a flurry of activity from the morning show's social media outlets, its Twitter feed (which had been dormant for more than two weeks) and its blog. Neither had any mention of Stock or Williams. Instead, we heard about Alouettes cheerleader tryouts and other ridiculousness.

As far as CHOM was concerned, it was easier to pretend these people never existed than to even briefly acknowledge and explain its reason for terminating them.

Listeners deserve better

Program directors aren't under any obligation to talk to me. I'm just some guy on the Internet. But their own listeners deserve explanations of these kinds of changes.

Radio stations go through a lot of effort to build familiarity with their hosts. Just look at what Virgin Radio is doing with Freeway Frank. Listeners become attached to them and, if the branding effort is really successful, they become loyal to those hosts, even if they've never met them in person or heard them off the air.

And then, when the usual turnover in radio causes that familiar voice to leave, the station expects listeners to instantly forget about them, to not ask questions.

It's a giant insult to the intelligence of those listeners. They understand how broadcasting works. They understand that people leave jobs that are no longer fulfilling for them (Rand), leave for better-paying competitors (Spencer), or leave because they've been fired (Stock and Williams). Simply coming forward and explaining yourselves to listeners would be a simple, albeit uncomfortable, experience.

I don't have 24/7 logs of these stations, so I can't say for sure about what statements have and haven't been made on air, but if the social media sphere, the websites and the lack of communication with media is any indication, the strategy seems to be to sweep bad news under the rug and hope nobody notices it, even though it's beyond obvious that they are.

Each of these three radio stations has gotten on the social media bandwagon, highlighting their Twitter and Facebook pages, and putting blogs on their websites. Listeners are using those forms of communication to try to seek answers.

They won't get answers, because CHOM, Virgin Radio and the Q are being antisocial.

That's a shame.

Heather Backman leaves CJFM, opening afternoon host job

Fagstein — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:08:38 +0000

Heather Backman

From Milkman Unlimited we get the news that "Virgin Radio 96" (CJFM 95.9) has lost afternoon host Heather Backman ("Heather B", in their our-hosts-have-no-last-names style) to Q104 in Cleveland (I hope they spend more money on their hosts than their web designers).

Asked about her move, Backman told me it was simply a question of a better job opportunity: "Afternoon drive in a major market. ... Couldn't say no!"

UPDATE (Feb. 1): Backman introduces herself to her new Cleveland audience by way of a video on Facebook. (via Brave New TV)

The departure opens up the afternoon host job here. The shift is 1-4pm weekdays, and a Saturday afternoon once a month from 1-5pm.

Interested parties with at least three years of on-air experience and who want to drink the "contemporary hit radio" Kool-Aid can send a resume, cover letter and MP3 demo to "brand director" Mark Bergman at mbergman@astral.com by Feb. 4.

Let it snow

Fagstein — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:09:22 +0000

I went to a snowball fight today.

CJFM (Virgin Radio) had this promotion where they'd bring in snow and have people throw snowballs at each other in the middle of a July heat wave.

The station has video of the event, as does Canadian Press. I took some pictures which I've posted below.

The event - just across the street from Place Jacques Cartier in the Old Port - lasted about 15 minutes before the Virgin folks quietly departed into their air-conditioned SUVs, the pile of snow having turned to less appetizing dirty slush.

Still, a fun way to spend 10 minutes in the middle of a heat wave.

Bags of ice are brought in

Emptying the bags of snow (or, more accurately, crushed ice)

Yes, that's Mark Bergman on the right - in desperate need of a belt.

Cousin Vinny enjoys the fun

Mark Bergman is interviewed, asked if this event is just an excuse for him to wear his shades

I understand it's in Bergman's contract to have girls dancing around him wherever he goes

Ten minutes later, the snow has turned mostly to slush

Radio ratings: Not much change, but a nice period for Team 990

Fagstein — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:01:54 +0000

Some Montreal ratings analysis from the latest PPM ratings survey, as put together by Astral's helpful team:

As you can see, not much has changed in the local anglo radio landscape. CJFM Virgin Radio still dominates, with CFQR second and CHOM third. This graph shows weekly reach, which means the number of people who listen to the station at least once a week.

This one shows average minute audience for the stations, which weighs how long people listen to each station. Here, Virgin's dominance is clear and it continues to grow.

Probably of greatest interest over the past year is the morning ratings, particularly since changes have happened to all three music stations' morning teams. As you can see, not much difference in the 6-9am spot, except for a drop in Andrew Carter's morning show on CJAD, and slight rises in the Q's Aaron Rand and Team 990's morning show.

In the afternoons, little change there as well, except for a drop in Ric Peterson's show on CJAD and a spike for Mitch Melnick on The Team 990, CKGM.

There are other places to analyze the franco ratings, and in most cases there's as little change as on the anglo side, but this chart is telling - NRJ has jumped from second to first, beating out overall leader Rythme FM. This is primarily due to the new guys NRJ brought in in the middle of January (the midpoint of the earlier ratings period): Les Grandes Gueules. (Astral is, of course, very happy about this.) If there was any doubt about the Gueules' power to bring in an audience, this should remove it.

CJFM is hiring (Seacrest out?)

Fagstein — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:00:40 +0000

A job posting has gone out for an evening host at CJFM 95.9. It's to replace "Cousin Vinny" Barrucco, who's moving from late nights to take over The Rush in the afternoon.

The position requires at least two years of on-air experience, the ability to prepare "relevant content for each on-air shift as scheduled and as per station target" and, you know, the ability to speak English.

What's noteworthy about this post is that it lists the on-air shift as 7pm to midnight. This would entirely replace not only Barrucco's old show but the syndicated On Air with Ryan Seacrest as well. Replacing syndicated content with a local DJ has at least one former Astral Media employee giving it a thumbs-up.

I wish I could get you more details about all of this (like whether this would also affect Seacrest's weekend show), but Program Director Mark Bergman isn't responding to my emails anymore (probably because I keep making fun of him).

Meanwhile, I just noticed that the station has picked up a (former) podcast to fill an hour on weekends. Man of the Hour features two Montrealers (including someone from Simple Plan), and is now airing Sundays from 9 to 10pm. Unfortunately, this means they've discontinued the actual podcast, so you can't download it. You'd think they'd at least have the podcast on the Virgin Radio website so it can generate some buzz and better connect the station with an audience that doesn't listen to radio any more.

“Sir” Patrick Charles dumped from Virgin Radio Breakfast Show

Fagstein — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:40:59 +0000

Patrick Charles

After a year on the CJFM (aka Virgin Radio 96) morning show, Patrick Charles, aka Sir Patrick, is being shuffled into an off-air job at Astral Media.

As seems to be the usual procedure in this town, when a host is removed from a show there's no announcement or long goodbye. The name of the show is simply changed - it's now just "The Breakfast Show with Cat and Lisa" - and the offending host's image scrubbed from the website.

Charles made the announcement himself to his Twitter followers on Saturday night (his new Twitter handle being itself scrubbed of links to Virgin Radio). "The company has new plans for me," he said, indicating that this wasn't his decision.

Sources who support Charles tell me this is the outcome of a personal conflict between Charles and co-host Lisa Player. Because Player is the more senior co-host, it's Charles who gets the boot. (I've asked Player for comment, and will update this post with any response.)

But Charles isn't leaving Astral Media. He says he'll be doing "new stuff for the company" - he'll be working in an off-air capacity, continuing to do his parodies for CJFM and CHOM. He will also have a regular segment on CJAD, joining morning host Andrew Carter at 8:20am weekdays starting April 19. And he appears semi-regularly as a pop culture columnist on CFCF newscasts.

It's expected Charles will return to the air in a more permanent capacity soon, possibly at CJAD.

UPDATE (April 12): On the first show as Cat and Lisa, a pathetic 35-second announcement (MP3) about Charles's departure suggests that this decision was somehow his and that he's welcome to be a guest "sporadically":

Spencer: By the way, as you probably have mentioned, or probably have noticed by now if you've been listening this morning, it's now Cat and Lisa. Sir Patrick is still with us in the building and with all three of our radio stations now. He will be doing other work behind the scenes and he'll be welcome to join us on the air here and there sporadically.

Player: That's right, when he gets a chance. When he has time.

Spencer: But the show now is Cat and Lisa, but it's nothing that he has been asked to leave or let go or anything like that –

Player: No no no.

Spencer: He's still working with us and all three of our stations in a different capacity.

Player: Yeah, we're trying to use him even more.

Spencer: There you go.

The announcement aired only once during the three-and-a-half-hour show, at about 7:37am.

Compare this to the multiple announcements throughout the morning totalling almost 17 minutes given on sister station CHOM-FM when Ted Bird left in January. Is Charles less important to CJFM than Bird was to CHOM, or did they want to sweep this under the rug and hope people wouldn't notice?

Promotions at CJFM

Fagstein — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:32:13 +0000

From Mark Bergman via Milkman Unlimited comes news about new appointments at CJFM 95.9 aka Virgin Radio 96, two of whom replace Bergman himself, who has been holding a few titles since being named the station's program director and has been looking for new blood for the past few months:

The big one is behind the scenes. Madhvi Shah becomes the station's music director, taking over from Bergman. "Madhvi is part of the reason that Virgin Radio has been enjoying the success that it has. Her attention to detail, strong work ethic, love of music, and her strong desire to win, will make Madhvi a successful and strong Music Director," Bergman writes.

Vince Barrucco

Vince Barrucco, aka "Cousin Vinny", who has been getting the really crappy shifts of late (late night weekdays and early morning weekends), takes over Bergman's afternoon show The Rush.

Bergman writes:

"Over the last 2 months I searched across the country for Montreal's next big star. Throughout my search, I began to notice that Montreal's next big star was right here in Montreal! Cousin Vinny possesses a rare quality that allows him to raise his game faster than anyone I've ever met. Vinny has been working with Cat Spencer over the last couple of months in order to get the gig of his dreams. Well today his dreams come true! Vinny's slick on-air style, hot phone calls, and targeted material will give The Rush the fuel that it needs to continue owning the #1 afternoon drive position in Montreal!"

Natasha Gargiulo

Finally, Natasha Gargiulo, who you might recognize from Global Quebec, Entertainment Tonight Canada and CJNT's Italian show, will be a contributor to Vinny's show, with segments three times a week.

Unlike some other radio stations in Montreal, CJFM has been enjoying climbing ratings of late. So it's all happy fun time with no downside.

We'll see how long that lasts.

I'll get more details from Bergman just as soon as it's no longer 1:30am on a Saturday.

You’re listening to an Astral Media radio station

Fagstein — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:38:44 +0000

November 2007 newspaper ad

This is part of an ad that appeared in The Gazette in November 2007, reassuring listeners after Standard Radio was purchased by Astral Media that their radio stations wouldn't suddenly change.

Since then:

Two of these three stations have changed logos, making this ad all the more ironic
All three have changed program directors (CJAD changed twice)
CHOM has replaced its entire morning crew (at the time it was Terry, Ted and Kim)
CJFM has replaced its entire branding with one that Astral purchased from England
CJAD has fired a bunch of on-air staff

"Please be assured of our commitment to continue providing the same great listening pleasure you have come to enjoy," the ad said. "Respect for our broadcast audience and the public in general is a core value of Astral Media."

I'll leave it to you to judge, based on their subsequent actions, whether Astral Media stuck to their word.

Mark Bergman hiring own replacement at CJFM

Fagstein — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:17:31 +0000

A year ago, Mark Bergman launched Virgin Radio 96 on air. Now he da boss.

Mark Bergman, who hosts the afternoon drive-time show on CJFM (~~Mix 96~~ Virgin Radio 96) but was recently promoted to interim program director at the station, is hanging up the mic and hiring his own replacement.

But he won't disappear forever, he tells me:

Radio is a passion of mine (I'd have to be crazy to be in this biz, if it wasn't).

I started off handing out bumper stickers, then tech work, then overnight shows, evenings, drive, and now the next step for me is programming the entire station. It's ways been a goal to program... But yes, I will still be around on-air here and there.

Bergman, who I'm told spends his days alone in his office crying, with occasional screams of "Chantal! Why did you leave me?", is accepting applications for a permanent weekday 4-7pm host until Jan. 31. Requirements are three years of on-air experience, the kind of energy and perkiness that you'd expect from a music radio announcer, and "fashion sense of Lady Gaga", which I find an odd requirement because every time I see someone from that station they're wearing a standard-issue Virgin Radio T-shirt.

Here's the job post that went up at Milkmanunlimited.com:

Position: AFTERNOON HOST – VIRGIN RADIO 96 (Full time - permanent position)

The search is on! Virgin Radio is looking for Montreal’s newest superstar!

If you’re passionate about our business, pop culture, not afraid to challenge yourself everyday, have a proven track record of success and want to live in one of Canada’s most exciting cities, mp3 us your best now!

Reports to: Program Director

Address: 1411 Fort Street, Montreal, Quebec H3H 2R1

Schedule:

On air shift Monday - Friday 4:00pm-7:00pm (includes 1 weekend shift a month)

Responsibilities:

Delivering a creative, fun, different, tight, and spontaneous drive home show that fits the target audience of Virgin Radio 96;

Preparing relevant content for each on air shift as scheduled and as per station target;

Updating Interactive content, (blogging on relevant Astral websites, participating in daily podcasts and such other Interactive content related activities);

Making public appearances;

Commercial production;

Preparation and recording Voice track shifts when required.

Skills and Qualifications:

Minimum 3 years on air experience;

Love for pop culture and music;

Must be creative and innovative;

Must be able to relate to, and embrace the lifestyle of CHR (contemporary HIT radio) audience;

Excellent organizational and production skills;

Very team oriented;

Able to create slick phone calls;

A positive, friendly manner that will allow you to deal with challenging situations;

Passionate, detail oriented and goal oriented;

Able to work under pressure and with tight deadlines;

Excellent computer skills;

English mandatory, French an asset;

Fashion sense of Lady Gaga!

Any candidate who wants to apply for this opportunity should send their resume, cover letter and MP3 to:

Mark Bergman

Program Director

Astral Media Radio Virgin Radio 96

Subject: Virgin Radio Drive

Email: mbergman@radio.astral.com

Deadline : January 31st, 2010

The one-year-old Virgin

Fagstein — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:15:01 +0000

Today was the first anniversary of Virgin Radio 96, a rebranding of CJFM 95.9 from "Mix 96" to one created by the British and licensed by Astral Media.

The move was criticized, not so much because of the brand change (the previous brand was as generic as you can get), but because of staff changes that came with it, particularly the dismissal of Murray Sherriffs (who has since found a job at competitor CFQR). Bringing in Ryan Seacrest as the evening host didn't help matters much either.

A year later, Virgin Radio 96 hasn't been a disaster, but hasn't been a success either. The ratings were stable, and the station is still #1 among anglo music stations with a 16% market share among anglophones (PDF), the same as it was a year ago.

And so while the station and its perky on-air personalities are very excited about the anniversary, as you can see in the above video (they were also apparently handing out cupcakes downtown today), the city responded to the anniversary much the same way they did the rebranding itself - with a collective "meh."

Chantal Desjardins replaces Kim Rossi on CHOM morning show

Fagstein — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:13:01 +0000

Chantal Desjardins and Mark Bergman put on their sad faces in announcing they're splitting up on Twitter

The game of musical chairs in local radio continues. Bob Harris, formerly the head honcho at Astral Media's Montreal radio stations, is moving to take a similar job in Hamilton. His wife, CHOM morning host Kim Rossi, joins him and gets a job in St. Catharines.

Two weeks ago, Astral announced that each station would have its own program director and promotion director. Mark Bergman will take over Harris's job at CJFM 95.9 (Virgin Radio 96).

Rossi's job will instead be filled by Chantal Desjardins, Bergman's afternoon cohost on CJFM.

Mike Cohen was the first with the news in The Suburban. Bergman and Desjardins made the announcement on Wednesday's show. Desjardins joins the CHOM morning team of Ted Bird and Pete Marier on Jan. 4.

Before then, hopefully someone will figure out how to change the name of the Mark & Chantal Facebook fan page.

From her bio:

Chantal received a Communications degree from the University of Winnipeg and a Creative Communications diploma from Red River College. She then got her big media break as a sports anchor/reporter at CityTV Winnipeg.

Chantal got her first taste of radio thanks to a number of guest appearances on Winnipeg’s Q94FM and BOBFM’s morning shows. Once Chantal realized she could wear jeans and a ponytail every day to work, it was only a matter of time before her big TV hair and spray tan days were behind her.

Chantal’s lived in Montreal since 2006, reporting on the Montreal sports scene for CJAD800AM and helping people get home every afternoon as a traffic reporter for Astral Media Montreal.

Meanwhile Rossi, whose last day on CHOM's morning show is this Friday, has a long post on her blog saying thanks to just about everyone she's ever met.

Behind-the-scenes changes at Astral Media radio

Fagstein — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:47:14 +0000

From the Airchecker blog, a memo about changes at Astral Media radio stations in Montreal (which include CJAD 800, CHOM 97.7 and CJFM 95.9).

The skinny:

Mike Bendixen, former CJAD programming director who took a temporary job doing the same at CFRB 1010 in Toronto, will remain there permanently.
Steve Kowch, the man Bendixen replaced at CFRB (and who took Bendixen's job at CJAD in a rather ironic move), is out. His last day is Dec. 18. He had expected to be at CJAD until March. Now he can concentrate on writing a book, at least.
Chris Bury takes over as PD/Interim News Director at CJAD on Jan. 4. Bury started at CJAD in 1998, but for most of this decade worked at 940 News. He became CINW's program director when it became 940 Hits.
Mark Bergman becomes Interim Program Director of CJFM (Virgin Radio 96), replacing Bob Harris, who is leaving for Hamilton. Bergman is currently the assistant PD. Bergman will remain on his afternoon show with Chantal Desjardins.
Mathew Wood, who managed promotions for all three stations, now focuses exclusively on CHOM.
Melissa Mancuso, a promotions assistant, replaces Wood as Promotions Director at CJFM.
Bianca Bayer becomes Promotions Coordinator for CJFM. (What's the difference between a Promotions Director and Promotions Coordinator? Beats me.)
Lisa Fuoco becomes Promotions Director at CJAD, stripping "assistant" from her title.
Peter McEntyre will assist Fuoco part-time. (McEntyre is also one of the hosts of CJAD's Irish Show)

VP/GM Martin Spalding explains the strategy, in case it's not obvious:

The strategy is to have a dedicated Program and Promotions Director for each station. This will enable CJAD, Virgin 96 and CHOM to compete independently, prosper and build strong brand identities within an aggressive and ever-evolving radio market.

Could it be that Astral Media is finally realizing that radio stations work better if they have their own brands and target audiences, and that the tag "an Astral Media radio station" doesn't impress anyone?

UPDATE (Dec. 10): The Suburban's Mike Cohen talks briefly with some of the figures in these changes.

Virgin Radio branding hasn’t helped CJFM’s ratings

Fagstein — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:18:01 +0000

Though everyone at what used to be Mix 96 was really excited about owner Astral Media stripping out their (admittedly lame and generic) branding to replace it with one they bought form the British, ratings figures since CJFM's new brand launch in January have shown little change for the station.

BBM figures for Dec. 1 to March 1 (PDF) using their new fancy-shmancy portable people meters show it has 16% of the anglo Montreal market, putting it behind powerhouse CJAD but ahead of its direct competition. Over the past few years, CJFM's share of the anglo market has drifted between 13% and 20%. There was a slight uptick compared to figures from before the relaunch, resulting in about 8,000 more daily listeners, or an increase of about 1%. But that's still well within the usual margin for error in radio ratings.

If Astral expected an audience jump from the change, it didn't get one. But there wasn't a widespread abandonment of the station either. When it comes down to it, people don't care about the branding, so long as the music is the same.

For the French side of the recent radio ratings, Le Devoir has the numbers.

Patrick Charles says Q92 sucks

Fagstein — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:30:13 +0000

Patrick Charles (Q92 photo)

Well, not in so many words, but it's hard to interpret otherwise from his first blog post at his new home of CJFM 95.9, where the morning show is now Cat, Lisa and Sir Patrick.

There, he says "the callers, everything is cooler" at CJFM compared to his old station of Q92. He also says the morning hosts are better.

Patrick Charles joins CJFM morning show

Fagstein — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:16:19 +0000

Patrick Charles (Q92 photo)

Patrick Charles, who since 2001 has been working with the morning show on Q92, has jumped ship and (after some contractually-mandated downtime) will join CJFM 95.9 as the third morning host with Cat Spencer and Lisa Player. He starts on Wednesday. (via MediaInMontreal)

His old bio page at Q92 is still up in case you want to learn more about the guy. You can also hear his song parody work on MySpace.

Fagstein » CJFM

Lisa Player stops playing

Done

"The ultimate pro"

No tears

Change is good

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