Ric Peterson, who hosted early afternoons, is out at CJAD.
A month after Chris Bury was named program director at TSN 690, in addition to the same role at CJAD, some veteran broadcasters are losing their jobs: Morning man Ted Bird has been fired from TSN 690, and mid-day hosts Ric Peterson and Suzanne Desautels have had their faces scrubbed from CJAD’s website.
My Gazette story on the changes is posted here.
“I wasn’t given a reason, only told that my services were being terminated. That’s all I can say for the record,” Bird writes me in an email. His Twitter account has disappeared as well, but he says he’ll be back “after the trolls finish their feeding frenzy.”
Desautels, who four years ago was let go from the Q92 morning show, sparking outrage from listeners, addressed her job change indirectly on Twitter Wednesday morning:
When life pulls the rug out from underneath you, time to get vacuuming. I hate housework.
— Suzanne Desautels (@SDesautelsinMTL) September 11, 2013
She then clarified:
Life is full of changes..that's what makes it interesting. Still part of the fabric of Montreal, every morning on CJAD.
— Suzanne Desautels (@SDesautelsinMTL) September 11, 2013
She told me she will continue doing the weather for Andrew Carter’s morning show, and is taking over the Saturday morning travel show as well. That move means Sharman Yarnell is off that show and the station. “And this couldn’t have happened at a better time for me,” she tells me. “I am pursuing my travel writing career, as well as my new PR company A.C.E. (Arts, Culture & Entertainment) with Tracey Hill. This does not mean I won’t be back on radio, though!”
After a day of radio silence, Peterson posted this to his Facebook page on Thursday morning:
After more than 30 years of broadcasting in Montreal I thought my first day off the air would be one without much talking on my part. I was mistaken. I am very touched by the many phone calls and moved by the texts, emails, comments as well as the posts to my social pages. Your kind words are very much appreciated. It pleases me to know how many lives I’ve touched, thank you for listening. Some wise soul once said, “man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward” I am looking forward to sharing my future adventures with you all.
Barry Morgan, who’s filling in for everyone these days, it seems, hosted the noon to 3pm show Wednesday on CJAD.
The cuts and changes also mean CJAD sports reporter Chantal Desjardins is out of a job. She made light of the news on Twitter and Facebook:
On the bright side, I won't have to PVR "The Young & The Restless" anymore…
— Chantal Desjardins (@ChantalOnAir) September 10, 2013
Being unemployed allows me to consider fun new jobs. Deciding between "movie stunt double", "lion tamer" & "spoon player outside Ogilvy's"
— Chantal Desjardins (@ChantalOnAir) September 11, 2013
Bell confirmed with me this afternoon that CJAD reporter Claude Beaulieu has also been terminated. Spokesperson Olivier Racette wouldn’t confirm how many jobs have been cut.
I’ve also heard from multiple sources that assistant CJAD program director Teri-Lee Walters is gone. But because she’s not on-air staff, Bell did not confirm that name. An email sent to her at work prompted an automated response saying it had been forwarded to Bury.
Bury wasn’t allowed to comment directly about the changes. All comment from the employer was filtered through Racette. Here is what he wrote to me in an email:
We are consolidating our Montréal-based radio stations in one location at 1717 René-Lévesque [E.] this week to improve operating efficiencies. We have made reductions in a number of positions that would have become redundant as a result of the move.
Additionally, the move provided the opportunity to make some programming changes, which will see the departure of TSN Radio 690’s Ted Bird and CJAD 800’s Ric Peterson, Sharman Yarnell, Chantal Desjardins and Claude Beaulieu. They are all highly-respected figures in Montreal radio and we thank them for their contribution to the success of both TSN Radio 690 and CJAD.
TSN’s move from its Greene Ave. office to the one at the corner of Papineau Ave. housing the former Astral stations took place Thursday morning at 10am. Shaun Starr and Elliott Price were the last people to broadcast from 1310 Greene.
Today woulda been 4 years.. it was a helluva run! will keep you all posted..
— Nick Murdocco (@nickyfranchise) September 12, 2013
UPDATE (Sept. 12): Word has come out that TSN has cancelled The Franchise, the weekend morning show. Host Nick Murdocco says the show will continue, broadcast 8-10am weekends on MontrealHockeyTalk.com.
His co-host, Gary Whittaker, had this to say on Facebook:
Had a great 4 year run at TSN Radio working the weekend mornings, which has now officially come to an end. I want to thank everyone for their support since we started at CJLO. Definitely not over for The Franchise…sometimes you need to be pushed out of the nest in order to fly, and this is exactly what we plan on doing…taking off to bigger and better opportunities for us to make a full time career out of it.
Racette confirmed the news, saying “the TSN Radio 690 [weekend] morning show is headed in a new direction. Details will be announced at a later date.”
UPDATE (Sept. 30): Producer Sheldon Fried is also reportedly among those let go.
The English market in Montreal is a strange one. For 30 years, it has only accepted one TV station, one AM radio station and one newspaper. Many have tried to change that, but to no avail. You could accurately claim that there has never been as much daily English TV news programming on the air as there is now, yet the ratings show that the public continues to switch religiously to one outlet: CFCF. You could argue that they have the big budget and production values, but I suspect the ratings would be the same if Mutsumi would deliver the news from behind a cardboard box. Everyone thinks the arrival of TTP will change everything, but judging from past attempts, I doubt Bell is too worried. The CJAD demographic is older and much too conservative to change their listening habits. There are people who have literally never moved their “dials” away from 800. And these are not the people who are now complaining about the recent firings by posting online. They will accept whatever programming is given to them and Bell knows that. Maybe TTP will get it right where so many others have failed, but that assumes that they will do everything the right way from the get-go. A 24 hour news room would be a start. That would give people a reason to turn the dial while CJAD recycles the same newscast on a loop through the overnights, which is a real disgrace. That would probably motivate them to do the same, make no mistake about it.
As for the firings, it sucks to lose your job anywhere, but when just about every other company in town is controlled by the same company, that it what many find unacceptable and disturbing. The Bell/Astral deal was bad for everyone except for Bell and Astral brass. It is a pretty horrible feeling when you are used to having that microphone at your disposal and then have that taken away. It’s actually traumatic. I feel bad for all involved and hope they land on their feet, preferably in a better market that this one.
I really doubt that. Sure, there’s something to be said for viewer loyalty, and CFCF has that in droves, but if the quality dips that badly, if other stations have more news to the point where it’s that noticeable, people are going to start to switch. It might take a while, but there will be a definite trend.
Although losing a job is a sad event, most of those who were let go know that it has nothing to do with them personnaly nor does it have to do with the quality of their work.
For as much as getting a job in radio is the best thing that you will ever get ,being suddenly separated from your dream goes with the deal. It is always a business decision. I need to save that much money so find a way ! Of course they will try to keep the morning man of the most hated personnality in the station but in between everything goes.
Nothing new here except that we get to deal with bigger and bigger corporate empires that do more with less and make sure their message gets through everywhere.
I think the changes are good, although I have enjoyed Ric in past, his show lost any edge (puppies and kittens?) and just did not flow with addition of Suzanne–he excelled when he was on his own. Two salaries but show went caput, of course that time slot was not an asset. I do agree he seemed like a nice decent person, approachable, and very professional but lost my interest when he got moved. Chantal was very likeable and fun but I just cringed everytime Aaron Rand put her down, set her up and made her life more stressful with corrections, interruptions. It was not amusing nor so called teasing and he would not have got away with all of this with a male broadcaster. He made her look incompetent but what could she do, take on the one in charge of that show-no win situation. But he is able to handle a wide variety of topics and asks the right questions and I enjoy his program. Andrew protects his friend Trudi or she would have been gone a long time ago when they made the other cuts. Suzanne is lucky she has a foot still in the door but she might do well on the travel show if she could just talk less about her personal stuff and be more in hostess role to Chris the expert. I like the ctv partnering of personalities-its new and fresh. The alien show was taken off sister show cfrb awhile ago and they have more interesting night programming so we should just share their shows than listen to this weird nighttime program we have. Thank heavens for the web connections, when the late night show programs come on I just switch to cfrb (which I did also when
Dan covered for Barry this week). Also have been enjoying cbcs talk shows in montreal and Ottawa when things get repetitious on cjad shows. And Dan I don t think anyone here should use their real names. I was creeped out once when I complained about you hanging up on callers (not me), insulting your audience and general aggressivity on earlier show you had and the email I sent to your boss somehow enabled you to send me a cryptic message to my personal email! I wouldnt want you trailing after me directly like you are with messages here.
I have empathy for those who have lost jobs and their families (I too have been there) but they will survive as they are talented professionals but no longer a good fit for the station. Thanks Ric, Suzanne, and
Chantal for all the hard work, chuckles and creativite dimensions you put into your shows and commentaries at CJAD– we enjoyed our time with you and wish you all the best in your next endeavors. Good people like you will find other niches so just revel in the extra vacation time!
Agree with most of you comments. Never listened to Carter. Too wishy washy. Deshautel should not be on the radio. She ruined Ric’s program. I really liked his show. I think Aaron and Chantal had a good gig going. It suited his show and she was quick with the answers. He was helping her to become more efficient I assume.
Travel show this morning on CJAD did not work out with Suzanne. She did not interact well with Chris Robinson, again talked about her own experiences, took over show and end of show thanked Chris for coming on the show, (its his show I believe) she tried to rephrase but too late and he laughed. He did with grace thanked Sharman for having been there for years and expressed his enjoyment in working with her. Its true
the travel show worked well for them- they clicked and she had charm, hope she finds something else on radio. Maybe Suzanne would do better on television programming.
I was so shocked to hear all these great radio people lost their jobs. It is sad that many of you people are bashing them. If you did not like them why would you tune in. Freedom of speech is great but come on these people had jobs like many of us and loosing a job that you get up every day to go to is like a death.
I wish them all good luck and hope you all get picked up quick with another employer. I will miss you all and thank you for making my day complete.
Deborah Ann
What about joe Schwarz? Is he still on CJAD? I checked the schedule and I saw that tomorrow, Alec Baldwin’s show ends at 3 and Impact Soccer is on at 4:45. so what about The Right Chemistry and Ann Shattila’s Hollywood. I hope that they get their schedule fixed up properly.
Also, my mom told me that there are a lot of CTV personnalities showing up on CJAD. I heard “Weather buddy” Lori Graham doing the weather in the morning, and my mom heard “Christine Long on Aaron Rand’s show (replacing Natasha Gargiulo?) Does CJAD’s new parent company own CTV as well? If so, that is kind of interesting as i remember watching “Guy stuff with John Moore” on Global a few years ago and they would always have alot of CJAD personalities mixed with Global anchors.
What’s up with Abe Hefter? Is “The Locker room finished”? The Hockey season has just started.
I would think that Dan Laxer is integral to the success of theTrivia Show and that’s one reason for him to stay. Plus he fills in for Joey Elias.
While I am at it, What happened to Egbert Gaye? We miss him on The Gang of Four”
Sorry for all these questions. All this shuffling around was a tad confusing.
As far as I know, yes. But like most weekend shows, the schedule could be disrupted by Alouettes and Impact games until December.
Yes. Bell Media owns CTV, CJAD, CHOM, Virgin Radio, NRJ, Rouge FM, Boom FM and a bunch of cable TV channels.
The hockey season hasn’t started yet. The first preseason game is Sunday, and Hefter says he’s back then.
A couple of weeks ago, they mentionned on air that The Locker Room was cancelled. It is the reason they moved the Jim Popp segment to TsN
Hefter was on-air on CJAD & TSN 690 Sunday morning(Sept 15). Since the previous CJAD reshuffle, he usual gig is weekends.
The Locker Room has now become the weekend morning show on TSN 690
Alex Baldwin’s show is shutting down within a few weeks, he is heading to msnbc I think, so his “radio blog” show is toast. Another minor hole in the ‘AD schedule.
I agree with Montrealer that Chantal’s sportscasts were diminished by Aaron Rand forever tripping her up. It got old very quickly. Hope he doesn’t repeat that with the new girl.
Also agree that, for some reason, Ric ( talented and likeable) didn’t shine in the noon time slot. I gave up on FFA after being frustrated too often by topics I found interesting being dropped due to time while he would laconically deliver overly lengthy introductions and reintroductions of the panelists…often four times during twenty-five minutes or less. I never listened to the Suzanne segmnt.
I think they could make better use of Trudie Mason. She’s usually good on G of F but seems wasted on her other duties.
Too bad about Claude Beaulieu.
Hope he doesn’t repeat that with the new girl.
Girl?!! Condescend much? Can’t handle females doing sports? Are we back in the 1950s?
For the record, there are no girls working at CJAD. There are, however, many adult women.
The fact that you would leap to that shallow conclusion means that YOU have a problem with women doing sports.
Suggest you take the stick out of your rectum. Fell free to leave your head there.
Sad to hear about people loosing their jobs but its easy come easy go in the radio/media world. I am sure they will show up again sooner or later. I really miss Peter Anthony Holder’s show. His Stuphfile internet show is great too but I prefered the radio show. Passion with Laurie Betito is a show that I could do without… snorefest. I don’t know how long it has been on but it seems like forever.
That statement from Racette, Steve, is just so corporate, The problem I have with the statements there, If Bury can’t comment, the question is, were the firings from the suits at Toronto….Like how much was it his output, are all the Bell owned stations going to be puppets, per se, of the Toronto suits…
Any word from Martin Spalding on all of this, you’d expect at least him to say something??
Some moves can be explained, Sure Chantal became redundant with the TSN angle, Sharman was being reduced..Ted Bird, the Astral people weren’t in charge then, Bury wasn’t there and neither was Spalding…Bob Harris was the PD if I recall….
But the puzzling ones were Claude Beaulieu. Their senior guy, next is Shuyee Lee, but she just goes through the motions, doesn’t pick up scoops like Claude. How does he become redundant with the TSN move to Papineau. He wasn’t a sports guy.. Ric Peterson same thing, how does he become redundant also..if it was a ratings move, that could have been done after the last BBM release….So the corporate BS doesn’t totally wash.
I can’t prove they weren’t, but that seems unlikely. What criteria would they use? Ratings and salary alone? Would they listen in for a couple of weeks first? It makes much more sense to leave those decisions to local management. Besides, as much as these are “Bell Media” stations, it’s really the Astral radio people in charge in Quebec.
Spalding was adamant that Racette be the only one to comment about this from the company.
The Bell/Astral merger is obviously relevant here, but it’s not the only thing. Ratings came out a week before the changes happened. And we’re just starting the fall. And TSN was moving offices. These are all times when radio station programmers make changes.
Astral took over CHOM in 2007, and Bird left in 2010. Harris left not long before Bird, but it was actually Daniel Tremblay in charge at the time, and he was the one Bird had a falling out with.
Tremblay is now the music director for Rouge FM in Montreal, which means he’s still in the building.Quarterly ratings came out Sept. 5. The firings happened Sept. 10, and there was a weekend in between. What timing would have made more sense, according to you?
Thanks for this, didn’t know about the ratings..but as mentioned elsewhere…it would be nice to know that noon to 3 compared to the last few books or so….Obviously, the ratings gives them some cover besides the sports merger angle as it refers to Chantal….etc
It’s strange they haven’t announced a new host for Ric either, if this was just a spur of the moment thing after the summer book, So if not Barry Morgan, then who’s the new kid on the block. Surely, it’s not any of the ” kids”they have behind the scenes.
We will never know the real motivations of some changes unless the dismissed players give us their versions if they know.
The Daniel Tremblay that is the MD at Rouge is not the same Daniel Tremblay who was in charge of CHOM. He is most definitely nor longer in the building.
Did I screw that up? I could have sworn I double-checked that right. Nevermind then.
I have a question for anyone who might know:
Are all the doctors who have weekly shows paid? Or do they agree to fill an hour of programming for free because they might pick up patients for their practices? I’m thinking specifically of Laurie Betito and the guy who does the mental health show. Personally I can’t listen to this type of programming so I don’t understand why they’re on.
Mrs B.,
Many shows like the ones you mention on many stations start off as essentially paid advertising.
The host himself/herself buys the airtime and treats the entire show as one long plug for their business. I believe in the early days of Ernie Butler’s comedy show, Ernie was buying the time from CJAD to promote The Comedy Nest. He’d interview the acts who were scheduled to play the club in the upcoming week and plug his business. The Car Show could be a paid ad for Merson, and I’m pretty sure the same applies to the travel show, the lawyer show, the chiropractor show, the financial consultant show and the different doctor shows.
The host is usually also free to sell his/her own airtime, and that’s why you sometimes only hear commercials from some sponsors on those particular shows and nowhere else during other dayparts. I remember the sex show had a cheesecake shop sponsor that was only ever heard on that show, probably a friend of the host buying time from her.
The late John Rossi bought the three-hour overnight block to fulfill his longtime dream of being on the radio. He was a wealthy business owner and the radio show was his hobby that he paid for.
Some of those shows, like the comedy show, have been migrated over to “real” programming at this point. I am not sure which shows on CJAD are bought time right now.
Thanks Neil, that explains everything. I find those doctor shows as stupefying as the vitamin infomercials you hear from 3:00 to 6:00 AM. (Yes, I’m an insomniac.)
I have a hard time imagining the psychology of anyone who will listen to Betito spend an hour talking about teen masturbation.
Sorry for the graphic language. I just had to vent.
This would also apply to many shows on TSN 690? Host buying time, & bringing their own sponsors?
Best solution: Get rid of Heather on CHOM and replace her with Chantal. So tired of hearing Heather’s me, me, me stories acompanied by her annoying laughter. Chantal shines with her goofiness and is alot more pleasant to listen to in the mornings.
Deborah I agree totally. I don’t listen to Chom because of Heather B. When I hear her laugh my blood pressure goes up and I don’t need that.
Heather laughs like my son Lucas….all good….If your not happy because of someones laughs …get a life man…
Here I am again, Dan. Using my real name again. Nothing to lose and nothing to hide.
Maybe you’re still reading this, or maybe you’ve “tuned us out”. Either way, I think your participation in this thread has been a mistake. You are in the public sphere, Dan. Everything you do, and everything you say, has meaning beyond the discussion at hand. While I completely understand your emotions, and admire and applaud your loyalty, you are doing yourself NO FAVOURS with your attitude.
Working in radio, you’ve learned to be a good listener. Any radio station in any market has its share of regular callers whose names the screeners wish they never had to see again. People with no education, no communication skills, no coherent thoughts, no original ideas. If i hear one more time, “As the last caller said…” I will go insane. But you put up with them. You tolerate them. You even treat them with kindness and compassion, because you know many of them are sad, lonely and relying on you to brighten their day.
So apply those skills to this conversation, Dan. Listen with both ears. Use what you’re being told. Or don’t converse with listeners on online forums.
I missed your,CKUT bit today, is there any archive category or Steve did you manage to have a link for those of us who slept in after a late night..
I’m sure you’re hands were less tied there.
Yep. CKUT archives everything. You can listen to the archive of the show here. Though I didn’t say much you don’t already know.
Yes, of course Martin Spalding was there when Ted resigned from CHOM.
If you go back to the article right here on Fagstein, published on January 5, 2010, which had Ted’s statement concerning his departure, he says that Martin accepted his resignation:
Just for the record, I did in fact submit my resignation from CHOM for personal and professional reasons, which VP and general manager Martin Spalding graciously accepted.
The CHOM PD at the time was Daniel Tremblay. Ted complained about him on his blog, reprinted again right here on Fagstein, on April 12, 2010.
He barely paid lip service to the insights and opinions of staff members who’ve been on the front lines of English radio in this town for decades. That spoke volumes to me, and I could not in good conscience continue to work for someone who was making decisions in a vacuum that were running a treasured Montreal institution into the ground.
Ric Peterson same thing, how does he become redundant also..if it was a ratings move, that could have been done after the last BBM release….
Ric wasn’t rendundant; his position will be filled by someone else. That’s not what redundant means.
And there was a PPM “ratings book” (old school term, sorry) released a week before the changes were made.
I was just using the redundant term used by Bell’s PR flack…Mister Racette, I wonder how he felt lying through his teeth, in my opinion…
I agree with the ratings angle, it might be nice if Steve, who usually has those things and does a good job at hashing out the numbers, maybe let us know….You see I”m the type that will find a hole for every explanation..
So if it’s a couple of bad ratings books for the noon to 3 slot, then why is Suzanne still around..
If it’s the redundant angle, then replacing a body whether it’s a Barry Morgan, who I like, or a Dan Delmar, who like Dan Delmar is another that could use small town seasoning, for another body, then that doesn’t wash..then it’s probably budget….
Then that still leaves Claude Beaulieu. the ratings or the redundant can’t see applying here, since he doesn’t have a show, per se, or in the sports department..
What is he supposed to have lied about?
Probably because they like what she contributes to the morning show, even if they feel that the mid-day slot needs retooling.
You’re not the only one puzzled at Beaulieu’s layoff.
Dan Laxer,
Consider this some advice from the “Edan’s” in the world as you used to call us back in the day.
No one in the public eye connects with everyone. There are people who hear Howard Stern, Arnold Swarginager, and they are revolted at the mentioned of them. You had your chance, and the people you aimed to pleased walked away in enough numbers for your boss’s not to invest in you. While I feel sorry you lost your job, I can’t feel you are off the air, and I think CJAD would be better if you and Kim Fraiser left it entirely.
Frankly, calling us out like you are, all you’re doing is acting like a child, and while we might be “cowards” for speaking under fake or shorten names. We are demonstrating power over you, like bullies vs. the target. We are going to win hands down. Since for every lash out you do at us, you just prove that besides being a bad radio host from our position, you are also showing you lack maturity for the job. While I wish you all the best, please find another line of work, or grow up. Whichever is easier for you to achieve.
I disagree. He’s reacting to people lobbing insults by trying to make a reasoned argument about how there are actual people behind the microphones. And he’s doing it without hiding behind a pseudonym.
I think you are wrong on this one, I don’t think people were “lobbing insults”, they were stating their opinion, some of which I agree with, and some I just don’t. Dan (and apparently you) fail to separate the public’s opinion of the on air personality from the person themselves. Not liking Suzanne on air (dull as dry toast to me) doesn’t mean I hate her as a person – I just don’t like her on the radio (or on TV for that matter).
Do I feel sorry that she lost some of her job? A small bit. I have much more sorrow for those working behind the scenes who lost their jobs because of this merger, and who worse have lost their jobs under the guise of merger but could just be for pure cost cutting reasons – slam it all in now, nobody will notice the difference, right?
” hiding behind a pseudonym”
this is another area I have to disagree with you both on STRONGLY. This is the internet. It’s a stadium size PA system that can be heard all over the world, and in that mix, there are a few wackos and weirdos who would like nothing more than to punish people for their opinions. Sadly, in the context of the discussion, Dan has an advantage over most of us because he is already a public person and “out there”, so the risks of signing his name (but oddly not posting his phone number, email, home address, and such… hiding something?) are much lower for him.
When people call into Dan’s show (when he is on… once in a while!), they don’t have to give their name, address, phone number, date of birth, and so on to go on the air. The comments are RELATIVELY anonymous as well. I can call up and be “bill from verdun” every day if I like, even if I am not Bill and I don’t live in Verdun. Who would know, right? Does this mean that the opinions expressed on the air are invalid or somehow diminished in value because they didn’t come with a notarized copy of an ID?
As I said before, any time Dan wants to come over to my end of the world for a coffee, I am buying… I might even buy him a slice of pie too if he likes. The dicussion I have with him there would be much the same as here, just not with the megawatt PA system to blast the story out to all the wackos.
Oh, and as a side note Steve, you are invited too… but make sure you have some time off first :)
On a curious note Steve, this seems to be attracting more attention..than even the post last year of last year when Bell was going to circumvent the Common ownership thing by switching to RDS 690…
any reason why, these two attracted more attention than the actual Bell/Astral articles, which was the original root of all these problems in the first place.
Probably because Bell/Astral is abstract, and people don’t really care what company owns a radio station. But when it’s a major change in programming like this, then they care.
Not much to be puzzled about.
Claude Beauleu’s firing isn’t much different than a cousin of mine who worked many years at CFTO (CTV Toronto). A gifted, highly talented individual gone like the wind. He later did find out why he was laid off. Very simply, was too expensive to employ. Same thing here with Claude Beaulieu.
What kind of salary approx. was Claude Beaulieu making at CJAD, as senior CJAD news reporter?
The locker room on CJAD is cancelled because they didnt want it competing with TSN
While I have enjoyed reading this thread, I really have nothing to add. But wonder, what’s the record for most messages generated by one of your postings? ‘Cause this one must be up there.
2,210. But yeah, this is definitely among the more popular ones.
Steve, after Bell suits in Toronto get thru or ordering Spalding and Bury to gut AD and 690, is there gonna be any bloodbath at Virgin and CHOM along with Rouge and NRJ? Or are they already lean and mean..
After all, they did say to the CRTC, that about 80 jobs would go.
I am aware of no such orders.
Actually they told the labour minister this. I don’t believe they gave the CRTC any figures on layoffs. And keep in mind that these jobs are throughout Bell Media in Montreal, which includes most former Astral specialty channels, CTV, RDS, six radio stations, Astral Out of Home advertising and all sorts of Astral administrative staff.
I noticed over the weekend that weekend morning show “The Franchise” which was cancelled on TSN690, was replaced by ad hoc show with Eric Thomas and Robyn Flynn. Not sure if this is permanent.
Not sure about the replacement, but yes The Franchise has been cancelled.
I listened to Robyn and Eric this weekend, they were great! Those two really deserve more air time.
But this weekend, thei will have The Kauffman Show in the morning.
It appears as if Barry Morgan has been officially added to the CJAD schedule for the midday shift. He is on the website schedule every day with his photo, whereas the evening shift (his old slot) is still blank.
Up to today the midday website listing was also blank, leading me to speculate that Barry has been given the shift. If not, they probably would have also left it blank.
Further to my comment above, there’s now a banner on the ‘AD website that says:
The Barry Morgan Show
Provocative Radio.
Weekdays Noon – 3 PM.
Seems pretty official to me.
Someone named Jeff Moss is doing the 8 – 10 pm shift on CJAD tonight. He opened by stating he’s sitting in for Barry Morgan, so now I don’t know what’s happening. Either he didn’t get the memo or Barry has not been moved to the midday shift permanently, as speculated above.
Anyone know who this Jeff Moss guy is? First time I’ve ever heard his name.
What’s also strange is that Dan Delmar hosted the entrepreneur infomercial show at 7 pm but didn’t stick around to finish the shift to 10 pm.
Neik K, I guess you haven’t been listening to CJAD weeknights(M-F) the past year or so? Jeff Moss has been a regular replacement for Barry Morgan on ‘Barry Morgan Show’ as Barry was often absent hosting his own CJAD show. Barry often subbing for everybody else on-air at CJAD, including weekends. Jeff is now a comic store owner in the West Island, have moved from Toronto about 3 years ago. And Jeff use to appear on CFRB Toronto doing radio shows part-time.
He still needs seasoning big time at smaller stations e.g. Sudbury, Timmins, maybe Moncton..
Tuesday night it was Kelly Alexander(with co-hosting help from Joey Elias for first two hours), & she said subbing for Jeff Moss. So Jeff Moss has the CJAD night-time gig 7-10pm? At CJAD website, that timeslot still doesn’t list any host.
Regarding Dan Delmar hosted the entrepreneur informercial show at 7pm, he’s been doing it on CJAD for about the fourth year(today was debut of new season). Even when he stopped doing the weeknight CJAD show M-F, he continued hosting the entrepreneur infomercial Mondays at 7pm.
This could answer your Jeff Moss question..
This below link was dated July 15th, so might have been subbing for Barry in July..
https://soundcloud.com/modellauncher/cjad-montreal-model-launcher
This link is from…January has a Jeff Moss on The Beitito show, according to this, he’s a comic book owner..telling me they don’t care about this shift, if not, or Chris Bury has no time to listen to wonderful air checks or mp3 demos he gets from career announcer types working in the medium markets, Surely, there’s better talent out there than a comic book owner, if this is the same guys, Sounds like it..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeJZJjH3Q3Q
Yes, same Jeff Moss.
Not a regular CJAD listener are you? Jeff Moss, who owns 4th wall comics, has been filling in for Barry Morgan off and on for 3 or 4 months. As for Delmar, he’s been doing the Monday night Fuller Landau show from 7 to 8 for the past year or so but then he hands off to Barry Morgan or whoever is replacing him that night. Barry has been much more off than on for the past few months to a point where I thought he was on his way out. So that’s about it.
To all who responded: I don’t happen to be around a radio every weeknight, so I must have missed Jeff Moss when he subbed for Barry. I have heard a sub with the last name Aflalo (I think) filling in on the evening show occasionally, but never caught Jeff. Doing my own research it seems he was also a contributor to the now-defunct Next Gang of Four.
As for Dan Delmar, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Fuller Landau show. I’m almost always busy at that time of evening. I tuned in specifically tonight to hear who was hosting the evening shift.
Thanks to all who answered!
Neil K,
CJAD has used Next Gang of Four & its off-shoot Delmar & Dwivedi programs, as a developing ground for new CJAD on-air talent(within their Astral/Bell Media stations & outside). Just announced on Twitter earlier today, CJAD next Monday night debuts ‘The Exchange’ as the replacement for Barry Morgan Show weeknights M-F, with rotating hosts depending on the day(including Dan Delmar, Supriva Dwivedi & Matt Gurney). I’m guessing most(if not all) the CJAD hosts & contributors to The Exchange would have appeared on Next Gang of Four or its off-shoot D&D before.
So where’s this talent, certainly not Rick Moffat, or Aaron Rand, or Barry Morgan, OR Andrew Carter,,maybe developing cheap talent..Let’s face it, on AM, outside of a hockey or baseball game, the evenings are a dead zone..so they won’t spend big dough on a superstar.
Gone are the days, when often the top dog on AM, often was evenings or late afternoon, like Dave Boxer on the old CFCF, Paul Reid on ‘AD, it was the same in the USA…evenings is really fill-in, so cheap talent it is..sorry guys, Dan Delmar is another one of those that could use small town training..
Not a regular at night, nope..and certainly with a comic book store owner..although,I did catch Barry at times, but he’s been around and seasoned..it shows needless to say….I hope he’s just a fill-in this Moss guy..If not, TTP will have it easy at night..
One more observation: the afternoon sportscasts today were cross-branded as coming from TSN complete with a TSN jingle preceding each one.
It’s getting out of hand..
We are the Bell. Your station will be assimilated. Resistance is not only futile, but will be downplayed by the CRTC.
Every time you mention “comic book store owner” my mind immediately goes to The Simpsons. “Comic Book Guy”‘s real name is also Jeff (Albertson).
“Worst episode ever…”
:)
Just another day at CJAD. Unless you are part of the “clique” you’re on the bubble.
Carter stays, Shumacher stays and now throw in Rand who has managed to wiggle his way in.
Feel bad for those who were let go. Done with CJAD. Station has gotten progressively worse over the years.
Yup, you’re right gotten worse with corporate suits running the show and protecting their shareholders and muzzling their own local management. And concerning cliques, even though I like Barry Morgan, his demeanor,etc…don’t forget he was at 940 with Chris Bury, and so was Suzanne Desautels, and newscaster Luciano.if I recall..is there anybody else from 940 that came over to ‘AD that I”m forgetting..??
Steve, have you heard of any other bloodbaths in other markets like maybe in Toronto for example with CFRB and their sports station.
Again, I have seen no evidence that “corporate suits” are “running the show” more now than they were before.
No. All the more reason to believe that these decisions were taken locally, rather than some “suit” in Toronto deciding to personally program 107 radio stations.
So this is all the more puzzling..if decisions are taken locally, why hide behind some Bell PR flack…poor guy he had to come up with something even though, as you believe that decision did not come from TO….
Martin Spalding or Chris Bury, could have made a statement.. ” We decided to make changes today…..etc”
The same reason anyone hides behind PR: They want to control the message, and make sure they don’t say the wrong thing.
They did, through PR.
Aaron, Margoe Edwards, Kira Yager, Greg Charlebois, Lezlie Robinson and Orla Johannes all worked at Corus at the same time as Chris. I realize the traffic reporters are now employees of CTN but at least some of them started as Astral employees.
Oh, and Coast To Coast AM was also being carried on CINW while Chris was there. Chris picked it up for CJAD shortly after he started.
I thought of Kira Yager, but absolutely sure she was at 940 or Lite Rock or both. She was promotions at both 940 & Lite Rock 92.5?
I have two more. These two originally jump ship from CJAD for gigs at 940 under Chris Bury. Mitch Shulman & Dino Mazzone. But are now back as contributors on CJAD.
Suzanne Desautels was not at 940, she was on the FM side ‘Lite Rock’ station. The only other one from 940, currently on CJAD with Chris Bury are the traffic reporter Orla Johannes(still on maternity leave).
After the demise of 940 News, Chris stayed on as program director and promotion director of the oldies music station. He later added the title of promotion director at Q92/The Q, and spearheaded the massively-successful Ambush Wedding promotion.
His last role at Corus was as producer of the morning show (not tech producer or board op, but behind-the-scenes producer lining up the show, booking guests, doing research and writing content, etc.)
In his capacities as both promotion director and morning show producer, he worked very closely with Aaron, Tasso and Suzanne.
As such he worked with all the names I mentioned above. The only two people on my list who were hired by CTN and not Chris directly were Greg Charlebois and Lezlie Robinson.
To clarify, Chris was the morning show producer at Q92/The Q, not the oldies station. Marc Denis and Jim Connell took care of most of the duties themselves, and CJ Jerome programmed the music.
When Brian Depoe arrived he assumed the role of PD at Oldies 940 in addition to being PD at Q. After Linda Fraraccio was brought in from Global as promotion director, Chris transitioned to producing the Aaron, Tasso and Suzanne show.
So Chris worked almost exclusively for the FM station in his last year at Corus.
You’re right here in all your statements Neil..Coast to Coast was picked up only after 940 had folded…so it was, you might say, a free agent..
As for Chris Bury, he was also the one who fired Marc Denis, who probably has a bigger collection of records than 940 than CKGM Oldies ever had…Easy to do, since CKGM, only played the same 100-200 song rotation..AS for 940, they did have play a wider choice from more years but then same songs from those years….so over a few days, it was varied, but for those who knew their oldies or ” blasts from the past” would catch on quickly..
Besides 940, didn’t Bury also program or was PD at CKGM Oldies 990?
As for those traffic people, I forgot about those names, but even though, their paycheck might say CTN, it is difficult to believe that he didn’t hand in their hiring, and I”m pretty sure that he approves their hiring at CTN all these ” traffic reporters…
But back to Oldies, it is a format that works if it’s on FM and stereo sound, even though 940 tried everything online streaming. but on the radio it still wasn’t stereo….Ho w would I love to see an Oldies station in Montreal.but there’s abundance on Stations..like big US Markets….but it take someone who knows those hits to program it..and just a couple o f hundred songs….sorry for getting off the main topic of the local bloodbath but I had to say it..
But Chris Bury is not your boy wonder type PD like those great career types like Mac McCurdy who ran AD in the 60’s with lots of competition or boy wonder John Mackey, who Neil might know, who was PD at CKGM in those 70’s with Ralph Lockwood and ” La Connection Francaise” and had ratings that the French stations salvitating and enough to make some NYC stations wonder how he did it..
Media Man,
I never had the privilege of working with John Mackay, but I certainly know who he was and knew of his legacy.
No, Chris Bury never worked at CKGM Oldies 990. The program directors while I was there were Susan Davis, David Wolfe and finally Ian MacLean, who was also the PD of CHOM until the last few months of CHUM’s ownership.
Doh! I misspelled John Mackey’s name. I wish this blog had an edit feature like Chowhound.
And the PDs I named were at the various incarnations of the AM station (980 Hits, Oldies 990, the talk station, The Team, etc.) over the years, not strictly at Oldies.
Actually, the first PD at CKGM I can remember was Steve Anthony. I worked in the old house at 1355 Greene and tried to avoid spending much time at 1310 as that was where “The Suits” (sorry…) were.
Steve taught me more about broadcasting and communication in a few months than I learned in three years of university. That was when CKGM was a powerhouse that would cume 700,000 listeners. Steve did afternoon drive, Mark Kriski was on middays (he’s now a major TV star on KTLA in Los Angeles) and Pete Marier did evenings and called himself Captain Countdown when he hosted the Top-40 show on Wednesday nights.
Chris Bury didn’t have any significant PD experience(if any at all) before being PD of 940 News. He was so young when he first hired as PD of 940(maybe a little over 20 years old). Previous to 940 News he was at CJAD radio as a producer of the Afternoon Drive I think(can’t remember who was the CJAD Afternoon Drive host then).
John Mackey was PD from 1970 to maybe at some point in 1976-77, I believe he was became GM when Jim Sward , who was an exec at CFOX poached by Geoff Stirling, left. Mackey went over to CFCF and had big numbers there, got back Mike Stephens on Sunday evening, and during his tenure George Balcan was mornings at CFCF and Gord Sinclair doing news…and of course, Ted Tevan was brought in by Mackey. They had 700,000-800,000 in one book.
As for Steve Anthony, he was PD, yes, around 1984-85-,86 era…..they never had the big numbers like the 70’s, as FM was now happening like FM96, and CHOM with Terry D, now happening..
Don’t forget CKGM was Oldies twice, first time, you’re right about all those names, which is why it was always the same songs…they didn’t know their stuff….then there was CHTX, a new Top 40 with a beat around 1990-91-92. They went Oldies again with the late Andy K in the morning, and this is where I believe, Chris Bury was PD the second time around..or maybe programming it, didn’t matter anyways, he didn’t have the inventory or the knowledge of the Oldies Market….which really is quite different than a rock station or Hits stations like Virgin or The Beat
And hence why the originals of CJAD are now on the outside looking iin. Ric Peterson was bounced around from time slot to time slot and always managed to be upbeat while on the air. And the thanks he was given was “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out”!
CJAD the little boys club of Carter, Schumacher and now Rand! How the first two manage to stay on is beyond me. They have to be the worst and Rand is right up there with them.
I do fall into CJAD’s target audience but no longer listen to that station. Shameful is what it is. George Balcan must be turning in his grave, rest his sole.
Because people listen to them. It’s not really more complicated than that.
Fagstein : I understand the concept. It was more tongue in cheek statement.
I for one no longer listen to any of them on that station and fall into their target demographic.
Neil K thanks for the trip down memory lane with Steve Anthony, Pete Marier back in the CKGM days.that was radio.
On the FM side when Terry broke in with Patty, Chris Michaels did the afternoon drive and Al Gravelle was the mid day host.
Electric Lunch Hour, Two for Tuesdays …. vinyl and not digital format.
Don’t forget Doug Price who did the Electric Lunch Hour before Al. Al was on evenings on CHOM at one point before Claude Rajotte. So was Benoit Dufresne. And the morning man when I first got there was the late Ron Able, who was replaced by Terry when Ron moved out west.
I was in the music department the day the very first CD player (Sony CDP-101) and the first production run of eight CD titles were delivered. Those were the only eight CD titles that existed anywhere. All Columbia artists, one CD from each musical genre. Michael Jackson, Springsteen, Billy Joel, Earth, Wind & Fire, Neil Diamond, a classical title, a jazz title, and one more.
Sigh, we must sound like really old men to kids like Fagstein.
I still have boxes of cassettes with hundreds upon hundreds of hours of airchecks from those days. And tons of photos too. Never managed to get a photo of the CHOM ghost.
(Al Gravelle is now running K103. I don’t think he’s on the air regularly but he does read spots.)
For anyone who wants to relive memories, or wants to discover what the golden era of Top-40 radio in Montreal sounded like, Marc Denis does an amazing job curating his CKGM Tribute website. It’s loaded with history timelines, photos, music flow sheets, charts, on-air schedules, internal staff memos, media coverage, memorabilia and yes, dozens of scratchy airchecks, jingles and commercials. Ralph Lockwood’s famous Bar-B-Barn commercials are there, in addition to commercials for Belmont Park, Steinberg’s, A&P, Jean Junction, the 1976 Olympics, etc.
You can spend hours reading, listening and reminiscing.
The link is here:
http://www.marcdenis.com/ckgm.asp
Good stuff Neil, and I believe that before Doug Price, wasn’t it Andy K that started the Electric Lunch Hour…you’re really good if you know why left……
As for Marc Denis’ site, he also has one for CFOX, which is also a treat….A friend of mine who interviewed him a while ago, mentioned to me that Marc was thinking of doing one for CFCF for those same years. Would be another treat with the Dave Boxer years..
lt’s only th beginning more changes to come
I’m really shocked to hear of all the changes on CJAD. I really liked Ric Petersen, particularly in the free for all slot at noon. He’s professional, and well informed on a lot of topics. The Ric & Suzanne show I found mushy, could take or leave it, but some people like that. It’s all about variety. Chantale Desjardins I really liked with Aaron Rand, they were very entertaining together. I can definitely do without hearing Laurie Graham doing the weather. And why would they fire Claude Beaulieu, he’s a great veteran reporter. Barry Morgan is okay, but he is not the excellent broadcaster Ric Petersen is. I’m disgusted with Bell!
Sorry, I found RIc too irritating sometimes. I found he just repeated and stretched so much. He’d take 3 minutes to express an opinion that should only take 30 seconds to say.
I’m sorry to see Chantal go. I liked the banter between her and Aaron, even though many of you posted here that you did not like it.
In looking at this big bloodbath, makes me recall the story, when at CKGM on Greene Avenue, and not sure exactly which year probably around 1968, 1969,70…under the ownership of the enigmatic owner Geoff Stirling, when one day, he asked the station manager or PD of the day to gather everybody into their meeting or conference room, and then a pre-recorded tape, it was a reel-to-reel deck those days, and proceeded to thank everybody for being there and announced to everybody they were being fired….
It was just another one of those classic Stirling stories..even though not a pleasant one..
I would expect that all received generous severance packages. just out of curiosity (and in reference to a question earlier)whats a ballpark figure for radio announcer salaries (although I realize each time slot and personality would negotiate somewhat their own salary and perks) for Montreal market; I expect it would be much lower than
Toronto or US market. Any guesstimates?
I know nothing about comics but I have to admit Jeff Moss manages to have a variety of topics and can speak on everything from sports to topical items. He also has quick humour and treats everyone with respect. Easy to listen to….I like his outlook and refreshing to get away from strident and repetitious viewpoints of other cjad personalities. I find many of show slants really too fanatic and narrow for my tastes re Quebec issues, topics!
I got a Tweet from Dan Delmar this afternoon announcing the new show that will run on CJAD weeknights from 8 – 10 pm.
It’ll be called The Exchange and will feature a rotating line-up of hosts. Dan will host Monday nights. He only mentioned Matt Gurney and Supriya Dwivendi as the other hosts, but didn’t specify which nights they’ll host or mention the other two hosts.
Rich was mushy but Suzanne was as interesting as a doorknob. Half the time she would ask such loaded questions that basically had the answer in it itself, and the show itself had no edge what so ever. Their banter also went on an on, which goes to show that nobody was calling even though they gave the phone number out umpteen times, and when the advent of text messaging became the main way of conversation the writing was on the wall.
Ric more than likely had no choice and was told he had to do the show with her. He can handle it on his own. Desautels is a waste of air time. All air, no substance.
I am shocked and extremely disappointed to hear of Ric being let go. He has had 30 years on radio and I for one loved the banter between Ric and Suzanne. Also loved the banter between Chantal Desjardins and Aaron Rand. If this keeps up, CJAD will be losing more than me as a loyal listener. Good luck Ric and Chantal, you will be missed.
Delmar & Dwivedi is gone from the Sunday schedule. It was quite good and actually the only weekend programming I listened to. However, I just read a tweet from Dan Delmar saying that he and Supriya Dwivedi will be, among others, rotating hosts of the weeknight show which will be called The Exchange.
I listen to CJAD most of the day and I am truly sorry to see Ric and Suzanne leave. They were awesome together.
I do however, not turn the radio on until I am sure that Andrew Carter’s show is over. Although he is smart, well informed and entertaining for sure, he cannot get one sentence out without hesitating, starting the sentence 5 different times 5 different ways and I find it totally annoying! I found myself yelling at the radio, SPIT IT OUT.
I will continue to listen of course, after 9:00 a.m.
About Barry Morgan, I’m not totally sold on him, but why give him a show on in the Evening, then use him constantly to fill in for Andrew, or Aaron. I don’t think Barry was hosting for the majority of his run in the evening. It was mostly Geoff Moss or Christopher Dimakos! Why couldn’t the other shows get a permanent fill in host, like James Mennie does for Tommy , Geoff does for Barry or Dave Fisher does for Andrew most days ? (I know he can’t do every day, but they could have gotten somebody else like Laxer or McKee) It just seems a tad odd with Barry everywhere on the schedule.
I guess this also means no more Barry Morgan regulars like Mike Paterson, Esther Ballas or the American guy that talks politics. I do not know if they will move to the afternoon with Barry and they probably won’t be on with Dan Delmar. I know that woman from the Dogue Shop is always on when Kim Fraser fills in. What about Geoff Moss? I guess he’s out of a fill-in job. I don’t think that he would fit in in the morning as he has a second job.
BTW, i see that Elizabeth Stafiej is back on yet again on Sundays.
With Barry Morgan now getting the permanent 12-3pm M-F gig, who’s now the main sub at CJAD? I’ve noticed Dan Laxer subbing on several different CJAD shows the past few days. He just hosted Thurs 7-8pm CJAD Infomercial hour.
Media Man says Chris Bury was PD the second time around..or maybe programming it…
No, for the second time, he never worked on Greene Ave. Trust me, I was there.
I am also repeating it to Media Man for second time(check above when I told him first time) Chris Bury was never never…..never… never ever the PD of the Oldies CKGM station. He worked at CJAD, right just before becoming PD of 940 News.
Sorry Neil K and Steve W, I got that from somewhere , I don’t know, but I stand corrected..
The schedule for the new evening show The Exchange is now up on the CJAD website.
Dan Delmar hosts Mondays (as we knew from his Tweet), Matt Gurney Tuesdays and Thursdays and Supriya Dwivedi Wednesdays and Fridays.
Here’s the descriptive blurb on the show from the website:
This brand new show is guaranteed to entertain and to create buzz. Each night a different host goes head-to-head with a guest commentator. Expect strong debate, lively discussion and some laughs. Any topic is fair game- from hard news – to the latest controversy blowing-up the Twitterverse. Listen, enjoy, participate.
I will give ‘AD credit here… they are pretty much taking people off the bench and tossing them into the game to see who sinks and who swims. It will be interesting to see if any of them make a connection.
On the economic side, this is a good move for the station too, because it’s unlikely this is going to cost them very much, mostly people already on staff, perhaps making a bit more working extra shifts, but very likely put in a position of “may the best person win” – vying for a full time on air position.
I noticed also that Sunday is getting to be more and more “bought” content, paid content and “best of” shows. So net this looks like a bottom line win for the station, more paid for time, more filled them, and no need to replace people.
They should have also added: This brand new show is guaranteed to entertain and to create buzz at low salaries by kids who have never seen or got their seasoning at a small market radio station like so many other great announcers who have paid their dues. AMEN..
But then in radio in the evening is not prime time, but I can imagine these kids will be gone when TTP starts up at 600…
Just as I figured. This new CJAD weeknight program The Exchange is an evolution. Starting with Next Gang of Four, then Delmar & Dwivedi and now The Exchange using the same group of people.
I wonder if the person(s) who chose to name the new show “The Exchange” even realize the significance of the name Exchange from within CJAD’s own history.
Exactly, just as I mentioned above in so many words, cheap labour and with Dilbert mentioning about all the ” Bought for” content and ” best of” shows, it’s a combination of lack of imagination or creativity and/or budget constrainsts imposed by the suits in TO, but they have saved a ton of dough, the last few weeks..
One thing that no one has commented is, since TSN690 moved to 1717 Rene-Levesque E. their on-air sound is AWFUL!!!! You hear both the regular broadcast and overlay of 10 second delay. And I’m sure they are aware of it, but they never mention it on the air that there’s a problem, And it’s been a week now.
Man did they ever get rid of the wrong guy ON TSN morning show. Guess ill have to go back to listening to my ipod music in the mornings from now on. Ill miss listening to you Ted you made my mornings fun. Thanks for all the laughs
Price is a blowhard, bullying his view to Starr and the other kiddies in the room. Never interesting always irritating.
I’ll listen when they are gone. Love the ipod…..
So sorry to hear about Claude Beaulieu leaving and Ric Peterson losing his show. I hope you guys find better jobs elsewhere. How did Andrew Carter manage to stay on???/ Gee, he’s awful. I only turn to CJAD when I hear Tommy’s voice in the morning.
I wish Trudi had more air time (back with Kev perhaps?) and that we could get Kim Fraser back; I miss her a lot; loved her laughter and her way of making everyone feel comfortable.
I am someone who was born and raised on CJAD, and it seems the longer my memory becomes, the more CJAD becomes less relevant to what I need, and less responsive to the listeners. Anyone remember Terry’s time in the morning drive seat, or Ricky Cyr? Up until a few years ago if you had feedback, you’d get a response. It’s like they took this “news/talk” leader hype to their heads, and the way they handle the listeners is definitely within the Bell MO. We are the customers; they don’t care how we feel. It’s easy to be a leader in a monopoly, and the English community doesn’t have much choice in Montreal.
I know it’s all about dollars and cents, and saving money. However, there has to be a line in the sand about quality, and being up front about things. I mean seriously, how many hours of paid programming do we need? I don’t just mean the infomails. I mean the “guests” who pay to get half an hour, and hour to be on with say Tommy to promote their agenda for who knows how much to Bell and promote it as the truth, when they are so full of bull, its farm quantities.
I think Barry Megan is a great guy, but he doesn’t have it for a full show, he’s why I was turning off my radio at 7, and now come noon, off it goes except for traffic updates when I am on the road. I mean CJAD used to have a helicopter, so we knew highways, X, Y, Z had these problems. Now it’s someone who is in one room watching webcams to get reports. This makes me less likely to listen to CJAD before I go on the road, I can do the same thing from my own PC.
As I think about CJAD, it’s less about what English speakers in Montreal want, and what someone in Toronto wants, either dollars and cents wise, or to promote their own homegrown talent. I can’t listen to one more “best of” show, or a show that is more hype that substance, or pre-taped in say Chicago, and piped here. What happens if *gasp* breaking news happens. Those pre-taped newscasters do such a great job in covering it no?
I am willing to be if there was a rally tomorrow in front of CJAD demanding that a host at CJAD be fired, and asking for certain old hosts to be rehired, that CJAD wouldn’t cover it. They would do everything they could to ignore it. That is crossing a line in my books, when you are a “news/talk” leader, you should have the courage to report on your own bad news.
It used to be I’d listen to CJAD all the time, now with maybe the exceptions of 60 minutes, and Andrew Carter. I just keep it off. If I want background noise, I’ll pop on a DVD, or turn on the TV. I remember when CJAD had competition back in the mid 2000, and I know they need it. The only way Bell listens, is when profits go down, and the really way to move advertising dollars is via another news/talk station. The fact that it will take that is sad, because before CJAD didn’t need competitors to realize certain things were a mistake.
Strictly speaking, you’re not the customers. You’re the product. The advertisers are the ones who are actually buying things from the radio station. That aside, I think they do care how you feel. But if how you feel is “you suck, I hate you” then they’re not going to listen to that.
Do you have proof that guests on Tommy Schnurmacher’s show have paid money in exchange for an interview?
Same with every other radio station in town. Is that necessarily so bad? The helicopter has prestige value, but does it really provide better information than dozens of cameras across the region?
No, they probably wouldn’t. It’s not like there’s any way that they could cover it in which everyone would be satisfied that they did so fairly. But more importantly, I don’t think any such rally would actually happen. We’ve seen plenty of radio personalities be shown the door, but protest plans never truly materialize.
I apologize, I don’t know how to quote via your site, so I am going to hack it in a sense.
I’ll agree, the average person listening isn’t a customer, we’re a consumer. Its a big difference, however, the point remains. If the consumer doesn’t listen, or doesn’t like the show, the advertisers will walk away.
I have written CJAD saying why I don’t like, shows, X, Y, and Z. I remember telling them years before they ended Starlight concert why as a teen at the time I hated the show. I told them the music didn’t appeal to me in the least. How many people wrote Chris, and told him why they didn’t like the changes?
I’ll be upfront, I strongly suspect that some of Tommy’s guests pay to get on. I should’ve cleared that up when I originally posted it.
Yes, not having a helicopter is bad. As someone who does a load of driving, the more I know about road problems, the better. You pointed it out yourself, I could listen to any other station out there. Instead of trying to be a leader they’re running with the pack.
When Mike did the cleaning of the CJAD back in 09 or 10, CJAD had the honestly to go on air, and admit they fired people. Now, now they don’t. Sometimes it counts as much as how you hire, and how you fire people for your character to be judged.
And CJAD is the most popular station in English Montreal. If that changes, rest assured there will be changes to programming to fix that.
Sure. But is CJAD traffic providing enough information? Helicopters are expensive, and you have to find some way to justify the cost. There’s a reason why Montreal has only one media-owned helicopter.
How many other news/talk stations are on the air right now in Montreal in English? None. CBC doesn’t count because ultimately they could cost two mints and the Federal government would keep them on air.
Yes, when I’ve had problems with CJAD, and there were other stations, I would listen to them. Easy to be a news/talk leader when you are in a monopoly situation.
As a driver, CJAD really doesn’t provide me with enough on time information. Perfect example, I was going up the 15, hit a traffic jam. CJAD didn’t have the information for another 30 minutes.
I’ll break out another old bone, and minor one I have with CJAD. If I find a traffic problem, I can’t call it in, because I am not with Bell. I am with a cheaper carrier who offers me the service quality I need. How can I help my fellow motorists if I can’t call in the information?
I have heard that ‘some’ guests have paid to get on Tommy’s CJAD show. Don’t know if it’s true. Can someone confirm with inside knowledge(or a person in the business), if that happens?
Yes, Mike Bendixen was the last CJAD program director who would appear approx. at least once a year on Tommy’s CJAD program, answering CJAD listeners’ questions on CJAD programming. It might have been started when Steve Kowch was CJAD program director back in the mid-90s. Not only did Kowch answer CJAD programming questions on-air, but he also gave his direct CJAD phone number on-air so any CJAD listener could reach him by phone. My dream guest for CJAD Tommy show would be Chris Bury for an hour answering CJAD programming questions from CJAD listeners.
Yes, you have to pay to get on Tommy’s show.
I do think the exception to that rule is the political pundits, the guys who represent the Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives.
Yes, I remember Mike Bendixen being on and Steve Kowch, it was like a state of the union type show at the same type..I doubt under Bell, Chris Bury would be a guest. look what happened with the Bloodbath Day, it had to be a PR flack to do the talking.
As for paying to be be a guest to be on the Schnurmacher show, I wouldn’t, but I have heard of it as well. It shouldn’t be hard to find out, but Steve Faguy, I think it might make a good story to break.Any chance of looking into it. I would love to hear squirms on the walls of the boardroom of Bell on this one.
Glad to see that CJAD hasn’t screwed around with the weekend morning shows. Dave Fisher is a pro, and I like the Home Improvement Show on Saturday and the Trivia Show on Sunday.
Well if you didn’t know, Sharman Yarnell is gone from the Chris Robinson Travel Show Saturday mornings on CJAD, replaced by Suzanne Desautels. I haven’t checked lately. Chris Robinson is solo host of Chris Robinson Travel Show on CFRB Toronto?
The idea of Program Directors talking to listeners about CJAD has been done several times over the years before Steve Kowch’s tenure. Ralph Lucas used to do it in the 1980s when CJAD still had Balcan, McKenty, Cannon, King, Finnigan.
OK, come to think of it. I remember Ted Blackman & Pat Holliday CJAD PDs doing it before Steve Kowch. I don’t remember Ralph Lucas as a CJAD PD, but I’m aware of his name. Lucas was fired as CJAD PD, after an on-air incident around new year’s time in the 80’s(Mitch Melnick mentioned it several times over the years)?
I haven’t listened in to the morning show on TSN since they let go of Ted. I like Elliot and Shawn, but Ted brought that “not 100% focused on sports” dialog that made the show listenable for more then just a few minutes.
Without witty commentary, its just a 4 hour sports update that rarely deviates from the topic of the Montreal Canadians. A very typical and short sighted corporate move from Bell, get rid of the “x factor” and focus on promoting the company assets (Habs broadcasts). Pathetic.
Who’s next… Melnick? That wouldn’t surprise me a bit. I championed Bell’s position to the CRTC to keep TSN 690 and this is how I get re-payed.
Given the chance, Bell could f–k up a cup of coffee.
I certainly didn’t champion it…I was one of those that said no, as TSN, would have been better off in the hands of another owner like TTP, or a smaller dedicated ownership group…so those went along with Bell’s dog and pony show and all that smoke and mirrors, get what they wished for…
@Steve W.
No, Ralph Lucas was NOT fired as PD from CJAD. Please get your facts right instead of writing innuendo. Lucas was the PD at CJAD for about four years from 1981 to about 1985. In that time, he was also eventually promoted to General Manager and Vice President of CJAD when Peter Shurman left for Toronto. In 1985, he was again promoted by Slaight Broadcasting (CJAD and CJFM’s owners) to become Program Director and Vice President of CFRB, their station in Toronto.
Another update, minor but continues the trend:
The CJAD website use to have sports new on it, now that section has been replaced with a straight link to TSN690. Another indication that “CJAD sports” is a thing of the past, and don’t be shocked if everyone who was involved with it got axed.
I think everyone involved with it has already been axed, moved to TSN or been reassigned.
I think so too, but like what happened with Sheldon Fried, there has been plenty of action away from the publicly known names, with the anonymous staff members bearing the brunt.