If you notice some of your favourite shows have suddenly disappeared from CJAD’s schedule, it’s because they’ve been cancelled.
Montreal’s news/talk station has canned four of its shows:
- Kevin & Trudie (Kevin Holden and Trudie Mason), weekdays 2-4pm
- Holder Tonight (Peter Anthony Holder), weeknights midnight to 3am
- The Laurie & Olga Show (Laurie MacDonald and Olga Gazdovic), Saturdays 1-4pm
- Solid Gold Saturdays with Al Gravelle, Saturdays 4-10pm
In all, The Gazette reports, eight on-air personalities are leaving the station:
- Peter Anthony Holder, overnight host
- Laurie MacDonald, Laurie & Olga host
- Olga Gazdovic, Laurie & Olga host
- Kevin Holden, Kevin & Trudie host
- Al Gravelle, Solid Gold Saturdays host
- Jake Lawrence, Solid Gold Sunday Nights host
- Kathryn Coulombe, news anchor
- Rod Dewar, editorialist
Trudie Mason will remain with the station, expanding her morning news role.
Holder was the latest to get the news… yesterday. He received so little notice that he had to cancel a booked guest. Holder confirmed he’s been fired but wouldn’t comment further (UPDATE: See below). Laurie MacDonald told The Gazette they were told to give in their pass keys as soon as they were told they were fired.
As for what’s taking their places:
- Dan Laxer will be taking the Kevin and Trudie spot from 2-4 weekdays
- Laxer’s weekday evening slot is taken over by a syndicated show, The Ryan Doyle Show, from CFRB
- Ray Scott takes over Solid Gold Sundays from Jake Lawrence
- Former CBC host Anne Lagacé-Dowson takes over (on an interim basis) the spot left by Laurie & Olga at 1-4 Saturdays
- Saturday evenings will have “weekend” versions of weekday shows
Bendixen says other announcements will be forthcoming “in the next couple weeks.” Operations Manager Bob Harris told The Gazette that negotiations are ongoing.
Sports reporter Rob Martier has also left CJAD to move back to Chicago, though that move was for personal reasons and is unrelated to the shakeup.
More coverage:
- CBC.ca
- Coolopolis mourns the loss of Holder Tonight
- RadioInMontreal has some info from local radio watcher Sheldon Harvey
- The Suburban business columnist David Lisbona argues it’s just business
UPDATE (Aug. 11): Holder talks to The Gazette’s Kathryn Greenaway, saying “they can only fire you, they can’t kill you.” Holder’s fans are making themselves heard loud and clear, starting up a Facebook group, Facebook cause and commenting en masse on his Facebook wall. The Gazette piece resulted in lots of feedback from readers.
And The Mirror points us to “Why CJAD sucks“, published exactly 10 years ago this week.
Meanwhile, Kim Fraser, who survived the cuts, responds to criticism of her on the Radio in Montreal group.
It’s very subjective: I always found Laurie and Olga grating. I appreciated the fact that they got their gig after winning some kind of amateur open-mike contest at CJAD, but could not listen to them.
Laurie & Olga are gone! Finally!!
Well, judging by Marc’s comment maybe it ain’t so subjective.
Tommy Schnurmacher made it through the mass staff ejecting?
The grumpy folks will be pleased about that.
Never understood his appeal. I him back in the 70’s on CHOM and his was pitiful back then.
The last sentence in the above post should read.
I remember him back in the 70’s on CHOM and his was pitiful back then.
My typing is just like Tommy.
Well, not too pleased at the departure of Peter Anthony Holder since he’s quite good. Evenings formerly done by Dan Laxer will now be a simulcast of CFRB Toronto. I hope this is temporary because that’s the worst thing they can do. I don’t think anyoe here wants to hear shows made for a Toronto audience. The Saturday evening music is being replaced with a “best of” roster from the past week, until hockey resumes. The schedule is up on the web.
Im disapointed for the loss of peter holder, his show was always a nice one to listen to. when i was in toronto in june i was surprised to hear it on cfrb, well good luck peter
Now if only they can get rid of Kim Fraser and Tommy (Atilla the Hun) Schumacher. And bring on Ann Lagace Dawson!
I’m with you all the way……on the first two anyhow since I don’t know Ann Lagace.
It’s a good thing we have CBC.
While I can’t say that I enjoyed every single one of those shows, these moves by CJAD are very troubling. It continues a clear Astral Media trend to cut and eliminate wherever possible. Astral is clearly not content with steady profits, they need steadily increasing profits to make the shareholders happy. Unfortunately, cuts made by assholes like Rob Braide won’t end with this.
I’m going to especially point out the canceling of Peter Anthony Holder’s show as a real loss to Montreal radio. That was a terrific show for that time slot.
Peter Anthony Holder will be greatly missed. He is a real professional. Hope to hear him soon on another station. It is time for Kim Fraser and Dan Laxer to go. Kim is extremely rude and not to mention low class. Dans voice is irritating to the ear and he is rude.
I guess their salaries are very low. Cheap to keep.
This is joke! We’re literally watching local programming disappear before our eyes. While I can’t say I cared much for any of the now canceled shows, they nevertheless made up an integral part of Montreal’s anlgo media. You don’t know what you’ve got ’till its gone…
I never listened to PAH, I guess judging from the comments here he was a good host. I can say the only one I disliked the least of the bunch is Kevin Holden, I mean I would’ve like to see Fraser or Shnurmacher go more than Holden.
I think everyone should celebrate the departure of Laurie and Olga, so annoying!
The Toronto syndication kills me. I say we bombard that show with calls, blasting Astral Media. Just keep calling in and reminding the host that we don’t want a Toronto show. Who’s with me?
I agree all the way with Youppi! I am extremely disappointed with ALL of the changes, especially, well I can’t even narrow it down, I will be mourning the loss of ALL the fired on-air personalities. I am in my mid 40’s and never thought that I would have become a fan of CJAD (it was always my parent’s station) but I became a die-hard fan and would tune in all day and night. NO MORE!! I do not like the changes and will be tuning out of CJAD immediately. A sad day in Montreal radio.
P.S. Forgot to mention that I could not stand any of the summer fill-ins and now it seems they are going to be the replacements! OH THE HORROR, THE HORROR!
Trudi and Kevin represnted family…
laxer laxitive …his night time show is terrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrible
jesus all mighty. It seems that Astral media is as bad as Corus entertainment.
HELLO ASTRAL MEDIA !
YOU WANT TO MAKE CJAD BETTER? Get rid if the Angryphone talkshow format. Get rid of the 1/2 hour topics with a yes or no answer from the caller format where the host talks 20 minutes in the 1/2 hour then gives the 4 callers he gives time to 15 seconds to say something then cuts em off and spends a minute telling everyone how stupid the caller is.
( tommy schnurmaker brought this format to cjad, Kim frazer , trudie and kevin would do the same but in stereo when calling a listerner stupid)
Bring back researched topics and allow an exchange between Caller and host. THAT is more entertaining and INFORMATIVE.
the whole weekday schedule from 7.50AM to 7PM is a pure waste of time.
Why 7.50AM?
That when Tommy kills the current feature with his bad comedy routine.
There used to be a FRENCH PRESS REVIEW that basically allowed CJAD listeners to know what was going on in the french Media. Tommy messed that up by cracking jokes and basically going into satire .
Then it became the PRESS REVIEW where tommy cracked jokes BAD JOKES about stories in the newspapers without giving the source so we can actually look up the story ourselves.. You ain’t no John Stewart, Tommy.
NOW .. it is 5 OR 6 QUESTIONS FOR TOMMY which has NOTHING to do with the news.
A WASTE OF TIME
Does anyone remember lemmons and Laurels? THAT disappeared when Tommy S. got his hands on it. The format was simple… 1 hour of getting something off your chest about something Good or Bad… Neil McKenty and those who followed him NEVER yelled or called a caller stupid.. it was simply “get it off your chest”
Tommy comes along and starts yelling at callers because he disagreed with the Lemon or the laurel..
WHO THE HELL WANTS TO CALL INTO TO A SHOW WHERE THE HOST CUTS YOU OFF THEN INSULTS YOU AFTER. at the end no one was calling in lemons or laurels, and few people would call in, period! thus was born the 1/2 topic.
1/2 hour topics dont allow for a momentum to build up. It is the COITUS INTERRUPTUS of Talk radio.
There, I’ve practically said my peace.
Jacques
I stopped listening to CJAD for a while because I had had enough. I rediscovered CJAD overnight with Last Call with SoL. and Peter Anthony Holder who has always had one of the better shows on CJAD along with Dave Fisher.
I tell Ya… CJAD managment just does not get it.
STOP INSULTING CJAD LISTENERS WITH CRAP LIKE 1/2 TOPICS. and bring back Peter Anthony Holder,
OK, just get it off your chest ;)
Always love listening to you on Sol`s show, Jacques. Your opinions and comments are always refreshing and interesting and very welcome on this CJAD one-trick-pony of a radio station.
they throw away a gem, and keep this ole guy who warns ya how bust it gets through the 2nd hours, and ususally pleads for callers. A critic of the unlicenced scammer , this non creditted gambling critic, frequents the casino more than the “addicts” . “Last call” is the last straw in repetative air fillers…Ya Sol we know night folks are baking bread and delivering newspapers..
they throw away PAH, a gem, yet keep this guy who warns ya how busy it gets through the 2nd hour, then ususally pleads for callers. A critic of the unlicenced scammer , this non credential gambling critic, frequents the casino more than the “addicts” . “Last call” is the last straw in repetative air fillers…Ya Sol we know night folks are baking bread and delivering newspapers..
I have tried to avoid listening to CJAD as much as possible over the last few years as they have increasingly become a station of ranters & raving lunatics, with total disregard for letting their callers express a coherent opinion before thanking them for their call. Peter Anthony Holder was the one true exception to the rule. He had interesting guests and was a total professional. Rod Dewar was not on the air very often but he usually was a calm voice in whatever storm was brewing. Olga & Laurie seemed like nice ladies who should never have been on the air. Kevin Holden can finally get the therapy he needs. Kathryn Coulombe was a solid news caster who didn’t try to be a humorist like the afternoon anchor. Al Gravelle was on the air? Who is Jake Lawrence?
Syndication is NOT the way to go. Radio is about the local not the universal, we have television & the internet for that. Anne Lagacé-Dowson will be a breath of fresh air, but that is where it ends. The real problem with CJAD is a management that seems to obsess about how things are done elsewhere. Montrealers are different, and should be treated that way when it comes to local broadcasting.
RAB
The departures of George Balcan, Ted Blackman and Jack Finnigan were enormous losses for CJAD. And Rick Leckner’s traffic, too. Speaking of that, their (and almost all other stations’) traffic reports SUCK. They always talk about the Remembrance Highway. Of course, they’re referring to the 20. But there is no official designation of “Remembrance Highway” and it confuses the hell out of people – especially out-of-town folk. The official designation is in French but no one calls it that. Even the stations between Trenton and Toronto never refer to the “Highway of Heroes” in their traffic reports. They always say the 401. Nothing wrong with being patriotic, but common sense is in order. I wrote to Bendixen once about this highway 20 issue and was promptly ignored.
Totally agree with Jacques on the 1/2 hour 20 minute rants and then cut-offs.
Laurie & Olga should never have been a more than a once every three month gig. Could not stand their voices.
Can’t believe its come down to pee in the shower topics with Kim Fraser.
I was with 600, 940 and now am stuck with 800. I tried CBC today for 1st time and was impressed with their professionalism – FM sounds better too! Morning radio with Virgin or Mike FM is good too.
Should have more smarter shows on 800 that deal with business news. Lou Schizas had good stuff on 940. The business guys actually sound good on 800 and should get like 30 minutes every night when professionals are driving home to talk about economy, stocks, budgets, investing, etc.
Legal guy is good too.
Until they change a lot more, will only listen to 800 for Habs games from now on.
Don’t even get me started on the Habs games!! Since they let Dino Sisto go and Rick Moffat took over both hockey & football broadcasts, its been terrible!!! During the hockey games, Murray Wilson celebrates and the crowd cheers THEN 10 seconds later Rick announces they’ve scored. He is so far behind the actual play, its not funny! Love Murray, but they need a new play-by-play guy. Then again, on the road they are on, they’d probably have Dan Laxer do it.
As I said on the other site bemoaning the loss of CJAD as we know it, Abe Hefter is a pretty good replacement for the now banished Deejays. EVERYTHING he says (even the time of day) sounds like he’s calling a breakaway during a game for the Habs, so you can kill two birds with one stone by hiring Abe.
Hey, why not? I’d love to hear Abe give it a try… but you know Rick will never give up that job, seeing as he appointed himself to it after he fired Dino Sisto. Anyone know where he ended up?
CJAD is killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
Since 940 changed format I went back to CJAD but now they got rid of the 2 shows I listened to most Peter Anthony Holder and Kevin & Trudie. I often listen to web radio and will do more of that.
I personally can’t stand Dan Laxter, Tommy or Kim, why are they still there, I’m a 38 year old white male, why isn’t anyone asking what I want to hear on the radio. I am the futre of CJAD and I no longer want to listen to it anymore.
It’s to bad that CJAD keeps killing the goose who laid the golden egg!
Haven’t their market reseach shown that once you’ve lost youloyal listners, your toast. I think they relie on the fact that most listeners are older and not internet savy but once their no longer around who will be listening?
I hope that 940 changes back it’s format and Duff comes back and they pick-up Peter Anthony Holder and some others, they will definately go to number 1.
I cannot believe what is being done. Peter Holder is terrific and always interesting and such a polite proffessional who always worked so hard for us. Olga and Laurie made me laugh on Saturdays and Dave Fisher is the wisest, best-spoken host that is on CJAD. So nice to hear someone who actually can speak English properly and what will the Trivia Game be without him – I WILL NOT LISTEN. Who wants anything from Toronto. I think all of this is a mistake and I cannot believe that you just dumped all these familiar radio announcers. Where is your heart. I guess money is the only goal. You have lost a loyal listener except for the 9-12 spot. I love Tommy. I also do not like the way people are cut off and find Kim extremely irritating with topics that must be made up while she is working out. Bring Peter back!!!!!!!
I don’t think Dave Fisher was let go.
He’s professional and well-liked… you can be sure he’ll be next! Maybe he wasn’t joking when he came back from his vacation and said he had been in Toronto “looking for work”.
They’ve also gone to recorded 2 minute overnight newscasts. I just can’t believe it, it’s so bush league.
So correct me if I’m wrong, aside from perhaps the CBC, we now have no 24 hour radio newscasts in Montreal in either official language. That is absolutely pathetic for a city of about 4 million people.
Even the CBC doesn’t provide overnight local newscasts. It has national newscasts on the hour (though “national” for Radio-Canada effectively means “Quebec”), and the rest is programming from Europe and Australia. Looking now (1am on Sunday), the latest anglo local newscast was noon Saturday, and the last local franco newscast was Friday afternoon!
Then there’s Corus’s stations, Info 690 and 98.5, that turn into music stations at night (in fact, they play the same music).
Wow…that is really sad. What I really appreciated about CJAD was the fact that you knew you could count on getting live broadcasts around the clock (o.k. with the exception of a few weekend hours devoted to informercials) that made Montreal still feel like a viable city. The loss of Peter Anthony Holder is enormous; you’re not going to find someone willing to do that again any time soon. Daytime AM radio has disappeared as far as I am concerned, I have also now switched to FM.
The attitude seems to be that as far as overnights are concerned, nobody is listening, so we might as well skim there. Sol Boxenbom being the exception becuase he probably doesn’t cost them anything – he’s there because he wants to be, not to make a living. Overnights have always had the best talk shows. Granted you have a group of regulars, who can grate on you at times with their poem requests and such, but it’s the only time of day when people are actually able to express an opinion without being cut off in 20 seconds. The overnight talk show has been a staple for decades. Remember the late Dave Patrick? He had open lines and guests between midnight and 3, then would play old time radio and stuff the rest of the way. It was great. Different times, perhaps, but I suspect that there are probably more people working and listening now at the oddest hours imaginable than there were even back then. These folks have been abandoned by local radio, in both languages.
Jacques Fabi was also shown the door earlier this year after about 30 years on the CKAC-based network. The guy was a fantastic broadcaster who was making good money for a slot the brass at Corus felt was expendable. He once ranted about how the new people meters were only given to groups of “day” people, and that obviously they weren’t usually the ones that tuned in after midnight Therefore, when the first ratings came out, it looked as if nobody -at all- was listening.
So Astral probably felt the same way after looking at the last numbers.
PAH was probably the most talented “broadcaster” on CJAD. I’m talking about a guy who could do more than simply take phone calls, but who actually knew what radio was supposed to be about. Granted, not everybody liked his kind of thing, but it was still very good. And he’d been bounced in the past for the Ricky Cyrs of the world and didn’t seem to complain. The guy should leave this town for a real market where he might be appreciated.
When I was growing up, CJAD was a hell of a radio station. I just can’t believe what has happened to them. What’s next, are they going to get rid of the call letters in favour od some generic crap that seems to be the new trend?
People also claim that Montreal is an english market of about 600,000 or something like that. That probably doesn’t take into account that a lot of francophones do sometimes tune into english radio, but aren’t quick to admit it. That is particularly true on the FM side. You walk into many a store and you’ll hear either CFQR or CJFM on in the background.
I would hope that CJAD airing canned newscasts from Broadcast News (or whatever it’s now called) is a temporary thing during this “transtiion.” You’d think that with the boatload of tax money CBC gets from us, they could provide local news around the clock? But I digress. CINF 690 does lots of simulcasting with 98.5 including the automated music overnight and I don’t see 940 letting go of its largely automated music format. Corus may just be holding onto 940 to prevent new competition, but if they do anything with it, they could just sell it. And it’s a class-A frequency so there would probably be lots of takers – but I would never expect CJAD to be one of them. I’d expect CHOU 1450 to go for it or a bumper crop of Arabic/third-language applications. Anyhow, all just conjecture at this point.
I guess management thinks now that they have no local talk\news competition they can tinker with stuff any damn way they please without listeners balking and turning to alternate and new sources (internet, satellite, etc..) Well, it’s been quite a while now that I have been tuning in to whatever North American radio station I please on the internet thanks to the sad state of affairs here.
The only thing this is about is money, pure and simple, nothing else. But the management savants seem to be doing things bass ackwards. On the one hand, they have had a slew of rotating newsreaders in the non 6am to 7 pm hours, never giving one person a chance to make a decent living and grow on the audience. Then on the other, they have 2 newsreaders in the mornings and afternoons. They had this great part-time (because full time at a decent wage is such a nasty word at CJAD) newscaster in the overnight hours and on Saturdays, David Cohen, and now he’s been turfed too. The voice, the intonation, the pronunciation, the news content, even the odd glimpse of his humour was all excellent. For what, bloody Bill Marshall of Broadcast News (oh, excuuuuse me, The Canadian Press now, if you please) so he can tell me what colour the corn just turned in Saskatchewan and that the Calgary Stampeders just made another goal??? (Touchdown, moron). On the one hand, they throw oodles of money and vacation time at a core few, and the other hand, they can’t pony up enough cash to keep a full time newsreader overnights and on weekends. Yanking weekend local news is THE straw that just broke THIS camel’s back. CJAD has just been officially downgraded from the Major Leagues (barely) to the Double AA Minor Leagues with this latest stunt. They may be saving a few bucks but it makes the whole operation look like someone is running it from his or her basement on a budget of 5 grand for the year. I hope whichever wingnut came up with all this gets locked up in a room with Tommy S, Kim, Damn Laxer and Bill Marshall talking and yelling nonsense at them all day, all at the same time. Then they’ll know how we, the audience, feels. I’m done with this 2 bit hack station.
Right on.. I’m from Massachusetts originally… I came to northern Vermont in 1998 in the throws of the Ice Storm… I quickly grew into CJAD as being a last bastion of decent radio.. I work on the radio myself… I guess I’ll have to get darn good and land a job at WCBS or something to keep in this biz. It used to be an honor to work at a place like that… Now it’s no longer just an honor.. it’s a near necessity.
I agree with you John , David Cohen’s news broadcasts were excellent , to say the least . He is a very talented and professional person that it’s CJAD ‘s loss and ours also .
I’m not sure why anyone wants to listen to AM commercial radio anyway. I find all the advertisements extremely grating, let alone the sad excuses that pass as “hosts”. Only time I used to listen to CJAD was driving too/from Ottawa because the hosts would incense me so much there was no danger I would fall asleep at the wheel (especially Tommy and, at that time, Dr Laura in the afternoon – many times I’d find myself yelling at their stupidity).
For many years now I only listen to CBC in the mornings. Not quite as good now that Mike Finnerty has left, but still head-and-shoulders above any of the commercial stations. Same thing in the “drive home” period too (though I don’t have to commute anymore). To anyone still listening to AM English radio, give CBC Radio 1 a try and I guarantee it will lower your blood pressure. It’s not perfect (as their command of the English language is still somewhat limited) but it’s a whole lot better than any of the other non-music channels.
Paul
I wish CJAD would fire Kim Fraser. I’m so sick of hearing the same B.S. on her show day after day. “Fruit Loops’ this….”Fruit Loops” that! Or the incessant yap about her ‘cooked’ up “Sex and the City” gal pals and annoying giggles. She is so full of herself and that damn “cookie diet” she keeps pitching on air. She is very transparent and her little narratives are so chucked full of B.S. that even a 5 year old could see through it. Time to dump “Silly Kimmy Bums” and put someone new in the slot who can reinvigorate the listeners and peek new interests. I like Dan Cook because he’s very blunt and controversial causing debate. He throws stuff in your face whether you like it or not and stimulates conversation and provokes thought through his sassy views sincere and perhaps playing “devil’s advocate”. I enjoy his cutting edge. Kim is tired and annoying. Her 15 minutes of fame should have been canned 15 minutes ago!
Laurie and Olga were quite amusing and their commercials for Furniture Whole Sellers make me laugh because they sound like they’re trying not to laugh doing them. I liked the edgy side of Kevin and Trudy but get tired of listening to them talk about their slew of family vacations all the time. By the way I hate the drinking and driving ad with the woman Kim Fraser acting as some young babe impressed with the guy who acts as designated driver. Kim Fraser really bugs me.
From CJAD’s website page for PAH show:
Where else are you going to find quirky guests like the man who makes functional electric chairs for Barbie dolls, a tumbleweed farmer, a professional fetish trainer, a Hebrew rap group or John Wayne Bobbitt?
Where else are you going to hear from Alan Bean, who walked on the moon; Steve Allen, the first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW; Michael Moriarty from LAW & ORDER; comic Jimmy “JJ” Walker, Efrem Zimblist Jr, STAR TREK’s George Takei or legendary wrestler Bret Hart?
READ YOUR OWN DESCRIPTIONS, CJAD!!!!!
Astral Media Radios
Attention: Mr. Dalpé,
I would like to make a suggestion regarding Montreal’s CJAD. I am sure you are well aware of how long this station has been in existence, and how important it is to the English listeners in Montreal. And let me also remind you that there are..or maybe were, many Francophones in the listening audience also.
Your recent cut of 9 people has certainly diminished the quality of the station. We are now reduced to canned programs, replays, and music. It is really quite sad that, what once was a vibrant, exciting, interesting, and informative radio station has declined this much. What once was the station that everybody tuned into…to get the feel of Montreal…has now lost so many listeners.
You don’t have many interesting programs or personalities left. I suggest you make the most of the little you have left. For example: Sharman Yarnell in her program Showtime. Sharman is a well loved Montreal personality, with many accolades to her credit (TV , theater, radio and cinema work). Her sparkling personality has always delighted the CJAD listeners. (It was a shame to see her moved off the Trivia show.) Anyway, my suggestion would be to increase the program Showtime to one or two hours. This is a very popular show, and with Ms. Yarnell at the helm is is always very entertaining program.
This is one suggestion as to how you could improve CJAD .
Sharman Yarnell??? She has a very annoying tone to her voice and thinks she knows it all. She should have been canned too. Just my opinion.
How mighty high brow of the management du jour to say that they spent the last year analyzing the PPM data and this and that, implying that it is way above the comprehension level of the ordinary layperson listener. Maybe they should have spent less time and money on consultants for this type of analysis and picked up a copy an old CJAD management play book from the mid to late 90’s. What’s that old saying, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”? Dumping Peter Anthony Holder, simulcasting a non local (Ryan Doyle-Toronto) talk show, and now to ad insult to injury-canned weekend newscasts from The Canadian Press!! Do we need to remind them how back in the mid to late 90’s, they canned Peter Anthony Holder for Ricky Cyr, that talentless yahoo who finished runner up to Laurie and Olga in that “win a job on the radio” contest only to bring him back, or about the mid-afternoon “Dr. Laura” (Schlesinger) simulcast experiment and the like that didn’t work for them back then either. I think we do, because if they had bothered to analyze that instead of last year’s “data”, they wouldn’t be doomed to commit the same mistakes again.
You would also think that they would at least get all of their ducks in a row before wreaking such gross havoc on the listening public. The correct, professional way to have done this was to roll out the new as you kick out the old. Don’t have weeks of limbo and canned and syndicated crap in between just to further alienate the loyal listeners you have left. However, my bet is that this is it, folks; there are no Significant upcoming changes, negotiations, or further announcements, unless talented professional broadcasters are willing to work for nothing. Management just doesn’t want to pay. Proof: James Mennie (who, by the way, needs to be on Weekday mornings or afternoons) put out the word on his maiden “Saturday in Montreal” broadcast yesterday afternoon that management once again wants listeners who think they can host that show to send their applications in.] They feel they don’t have to as Montreal Anglophones are a captive audience. They certainly aren’t out to capture a Montreal Francophone audience as they don’t count in the ratings that determine what rates advertisers will pay on an English station.
I think they’re in for another rude awakening, only a bigger one this time.
CJAD ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAM LINE-UP
12:00 am – 6:00am Last Call With Sol
6:00 am – 12:00 Dr. Laura
Noon – 6:00 pm Coast to Coast
6:00pm -12:00am Nature Sounds
I’d take the Nature Sounds 24/7… better than the remaining drivel they have on there now!
They have no competition. They don’t care what people think, and they haven’t for a long time. They think they are doing us a favour by gracing us with their presence. It’s so true that you have to pay bigger bucks for talented broadcasters, and they aren’t gonna do that. They won’t even give talented younger people a chance. It’s just a take it or leave it attutude.
i wonder how much these cjad personalities make, do you have any idea, i know they get the executive plans at private clinic medisy or whatever but dont say that when they talk about the medicare system pretending they are in like the rest of us. When the boring dan laxer comes on with his repetitive stories, monologues and no interest in callers i desperately switch to talk radio in ottawa or toronto via the web.
i have been a listener to cjad since it began. i now live in ontario and still listen to it,but by cancelling lori and olga , kevin and trudie and keeping kim fraser and tommy schumacher i will no longer be tuning in to cjad.
Another blow for English Montrealers! I can’t wait to move out of this city and out of Quebec. I’ve had it.
I am really going to miss Peter Anthony Holder, his interviewing style was terrific. He’s extremely talented, and I’m sure he’ll do well without CJAD.
I wonder who will replace him, that old guy, Sol Boxembaum?
I find Kim Frasier very crude and I avoid her show.
I can’t say that I will miss Laurie & Olga as I rarely listened to their show.
I agree with the commenter who suggested that Sharman Yarnell should be given more air time. I think she’s great!
You’re leaving Montreal because of some stupid decision made by a radio exec?
When you go, and you are badmouthing Montreal & Quebec to your new friends in whatever Utopia you couldn’t wait to move to, remember that that the decisions of management to make all of these changes, were also the decisions of Anglo-Quebeckers and an English-Quebec corporation.
Love the comment about business programming, everyone who appears is a shill, why not ask a guy like the one who writes in the Suburban to do a show, he is independent, a bit preachy, but you never feel like he is selling you anything and is actually quite knowledgable.
Legal guy is great, thank goodness they canned his sidekick, Cavanaugh, nepotism at its worst! He is a zillion times better than Dino Mazzone ever was.
If I have to listen to that real estate agent on the gang of four tell us how wonderful everything is all the time, I may burn my house down.
Laxer is actually quite good.
Toronto shows will NEVER EVER EVER work in Montreal, they’ll find that out and rehire PAH.
No music please, there are plenty of other stations for that.
Thank you James! I was in utter disbelief when I heard the segment on peeing in the shower. So this is what Montreal talk radio has come to. It’s beyond belief.
I can’t believe that imbecile Kim Fraser escaped the axe; she should have been the first to go. She’s either shilling the cookie diet or doing low-class topics.
The worst thing about all CJAD on-air personalities is that, as many others have said, they WILL NOT SHUT UP long enough to engage the few callers they get in real conversation. Sometimes I listen to an American station where the host lets people go on for 2 or 3 minutes and he actually listens to what they say. This is a trade secret CJAD has never unearthed.
PPM ratings says that an average of 3,000 people listened to PAH every night, that’s it. How can you blame management for that? Perhaps move PAH into Laxer’s old slot but that’s it. These are financial decisions people that’s it. The numbers don’t lie and CJAD is not a charity.
The numbers don’t lie, but are they accurate? They apparently did a 400 person survey to get these “numbers”. How many of the 400 actually predominently listen to CJAD? If you go to The Gazette site and read the comments, over 400 people there seem to DISAGREE with the program choices. So how accurate are the numbers, really? How do they calculate out of a survey of 400 that 3,000 people listened to PAH? Last I knew, no one had Nelson boxes on their radios monitoring everything they listen to. Not to mention numbers can be “played with” to back up any so-called “financial” decisions they make.
Valerie,
You may have a point about the accuracy of a 400 person sample, but I’ll leave that to the statisticians. The new ratings boxes are not attached to the radio, they are attached to a person so they pick up whatever radio waves are within listening distance.
I agree with all the comments about PAH,maybe Cjad felt that his show could not compete with Coast to Coast on 940, they should of brought him back to the evenings 7-10.He would have kicked Butt.
AS for Chom changes it’s about time Pete is back on mornings,Pete & Ted work well together. But the afternoon drive and evening show, Cjad just let go 2 pros Al Gravelle & Jake Lawrence( Solid Gold Shows) both worked at Chom in the past, why not use their talents. I guess age and experience cost to much, let’s hire someone younger and cheaper at a rock station that thinks the song Kashmir by Led Zep is a song about a sweater.
I just wanted to throw a shout-out to John who posted Aug. 9, 11:26am…
http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/08/06/cjad-changes/comment-page-1/#comment-89854
Thanks very much for the kind words. I truly appreciate it. One correction, though: I wasn’t turfed. (Just the thought… It’s unconscionable!) I suppose I would have been had I stuck around, but I left on my own at the end of June. (Talk about timing!)
Still, thanks!
CJAD has no class, PAH along with Al Gravelle have experience and are very talented , alot more that Dan Laxative !! Laurie and Olga well , I’ll let you decide on that one . They should have got rid of Kim Frasier and Tommy S. a long time ago ! CJAD doesn’t care at all , it’s all about the $$$ and they have no competition , most of the mangement IS from Toronto and have no idea what they are doing .
R.I.P. CJAD
I am very dissapointed in Montreal Radio as of late. Murray Sherriff (MIX), David Tyler(Q) and all my favorite radio personalities from CJAD…. Gone!
I am looking for a new home to park my ears…
well anyone who is subscribed to astrals job offers will see that skip snairs job is open now …
I see they finally got rid of those 2 Republican Americans, Kevin & Trudie!!! They used to make me want to puke my guts out every time they ranted about how “great” the U.S.A was. Now that they are no longer on the air together, maybe they should consider moving back to “George Bush” country…aka, the southern U.S.A. with all those Bible thumping, Holyier than thow, Rightous, RED NECK ZEALOTS!!! STOP trying to force feed us how “great” a prime minister Mr. Mulrooney was!!!! WE AIN’T BUYING IT!!!!
Where do I begin,
I have always llistened to CJAD, I like talk radio better than the music stations. Not anymore! The radio execs should llisten to the listeners, because they are right. Everything that has been said about Kim Frasier and Tommy, I totally agree with. CJAD doesn’t know what The format of TALK RADIO is all about. Callers should be able to call in and voice their opinions on what the host’s topic of the day is. If the caller doesn’t agree with the host, they’re toast. Trudie Mason was the worse one for this. She would berate a caller, not give them a chance to respond and then say “thank you for calling”. I am glad that their show was cancelled. I often waondered how Kevin and Trudie could stay married. They disagreed on everything.
They say every black cloud has a silver lining. Being fired from CJAD will enable Kevin to stays inside the house all of the time and not venture out into the big bad world. I have never llistened to anybody so negative about EVERYTHING !
I remember e-mailing the station a couple of years ago about Jason Mayoff in the morning and his reading of the newspaper news. Listening to his show, felt like driving in an electrical storm with the interference coming over the radio. The reason ? All you were hearing was the turning of newspaper page being picked up by his Microphone. The station never answered my e-mail. That is the philosophy of the Station. If it’s positive, the station is first in line to accept thier due, If is is negative, you don’t count.
I know that as far as the staion is concerned, my comments, (as well as everyone before that has left thier comments) won’t make a bit of difference to CJAD execs, and that is why the station is going downhill and losing llisteners.
The gentleman who runs the Montreal radio Yahoo! group, Sheldon Harvey, has been talking with CJAD director Mike Bendixen and it seems that phone-ins from listeners are going to be abolished at some point. Bendixen claims he’s frustrated with the large amount of repeat callers, and in some cases, a total lack thereof.
Who does this Mike Bendixen guy think he is, anyways? He seems to have some kind of G__ D complex, making all these (unpopular) decisions. Repeat callers? No callers? This is news to him? This is MONTREAL, where every six months, we have a mass exodus of anglos heading down the 401 for greener pastures. Where does he expect the NEW callers to come from?
P.S. He sure ain’t helping the problem!
Without repeat callers at this point, there would be no calls.
The reason people hesitate to call or don’t call is because the 1/2 hour topic is aimed at 1 specific narrow question and if you decide to call you have to explain to the call sreener your point of view, who then decides IF you are on topic and IF there is enough time left for you to go on. I don’t have time to waste with that.
CJAD 7:50AM to 10PM weekdays is a total and absolute waste of time.
Jacques
CJAD being assimilated by the borg collective would be an improvement. There’d be some sort of sign of intelligent life.
I remember when CJAD was a true station with REAL announcers not these phoney, brownosers , boring dollar store quality announcers that we are now stuck with . George Balcon, Gord Sinclair and Ted Blackman MUST be rolling over in their graves . But as I stated before CJAD really doesn’t care , they would rather hire dollar store quality announcers, some that work for free than have some quality announcers . I miss the good old days when CJAD really put out quality shows and news , too bad there is no competion to give them a run for their money. Management at CJAD doesn’t care one bit , they ONLY think of themselves and their Toronto style attitudes and $$$$ .
Yup, George Balcan, Ted Blackmnan, Melanie King, Jack Finnigan….I used to have CJAD on for 10-11 hours straight in those days.
I can’t believe the stupidity of Astral media and the arrogance! How dare they fire Kevin Holden – Rod Dewer – and Laurie & Olga – and leave us with ‘their version of mental giant’ Kim Frasier???
It sure looks like Astral Media is determined to eliminate English talk radio altogether!
Is Astral Media owned by a Separatist or something?
Sure looks that way to me.
And I agree – they leave on the hosts -Schnurmacher & Frazier – who don’t let their callers speak! (unless of course – they kiss their asses) Real smart of them!
Astral is owned by shareholders and the Greenberg family has had majority control of it for a long time.
CFRB in Toronto just got lost 12 staffers.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/687342
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I am not interested in listening to your radio station anymore. Kevin and Trudy were the only reason I tuned in. Though Dan Laxer has talent, trying to take the place of Kevin and Trudy is truly nuts. You already have a one act show with Kim from 12 to 2. We need Kevin and Trudy back.
If money is a problemo, simply request the higher ups or take a pay cut and use that money to pay Kevin and Trudy’s spot from 2 to 4.
I am expecting many people to be as perplexed and thunderstruck at the stations’s decision. Though I have nothing against Dan Laxer, I believe his spot will fail miserably.
Anyway, CJAD has lost another afternoon listener.
Louise
CJAD is for west island housewives on meds, its producers screen the callers and if you actually have an opinion they wont let you on the air its the worst radio station in Montreal, and I cant even listen to the call signs anymore its a disgusting excuse for media
Earl Jones pedophile obsessed radio for the sheep
infowars.com is a much better choice