It's just Chantal and Bad Pete now
Apparently unhappy at being the only anglo music radio station to not make major changes to its morning show, CHOM has decided to drop PJ Stock, the former hockey player and Hockey Night in Canada analyst who joined the station a little over a year ago.
Also being scrubbed from CHOM’s website is Merv Williams, a supporting cast member on the morning show, but one whose presence had been felt more and more. Williams also contributed to CJAD’s Trivia Show, and that too has come to an end. (Unlike CHOM, which seems to be pretending like he never existed, the Trivia Show made it a point to note Williams’s departure on air, as you can hear from this clip (MP3).)
The reasons for the move aren’t known. Williams politely declined to comment, Stock couldn’t be reached for comment, and Program Director Daniel Tremblay hasn’t responded to an email sent over the weekend (I’ll update this if he does, but I’m not holding my breath).
UPDATE (March 15): The decision to can Stock hasn’t exactly caused a lot of commotion. No newspaper articles, no Facebook protest campaigns. The fact that Stock would join the crew only after 7pm, and often not at all because of commitments to Hockey Night in Canada and others, meant he was more of a part-timer on the morning crew than anything else. A lot of people, of course, just didn’t like the guy, and thought he was a poor choice for a radio host (the man he replaced, Ted Bird, isn’t among them – Bird suggested Stock be invited to be part of the show even before he resigned from it).
But the disappearance of Williams is being felt, despite not being a marquee name. Aside from the on-air tribute on the Trivia Show above, Williams also got a public shout-out from Bird on Twitter and Facebook, the latter prompting dozens of comments.
sorry to hear about merv , i wish him well. as for stock, i never understood his hiring in the first place.
During the overnight hours on CJAD, they peddle a “buy local” media message.
I guess it doesn’t apply to on air talent.
PJ Stock was never a good fit, anyhow.
Does anyone else notice that this item is pushed up against the CKGM “nothing f—-g works” article? Seems to me that at CHOM, “nothing f—-g works” pretty much describes their on air choices, especially on the morning show. He was more like a “friend of a bean counter” choice rather than an actually well thought out choice. Oh yeah, then he was limited in appearance and scope. Not really a third member of the morning crew, almost more like a special guest star or something.
My usual rant comes here: It’s high time for the CRTC to wake up and understand the incredible harm done to radio and TV by the continued concentration of ownership. CHOM in other hands wouldn’t be in the place to fire Stock, because anyone with a lick of radio sense wouldn’t have hired him to be on air in Montreal to start with. On air choices aren’t just about cost effectiveness and bottom line efficiencies, they are made about who really connects with the public, and who entertains them, even if they aren’t politically correct or sanitized for all. If the fans listen to your station, the advertisers will come. Don’t play to the ad men, play to the fans. The ad men will trip over themselves to get to your fans when you have them.
Corporate radio has it all backwards. Leading with their butts instead of the their hearts.
PJ will not be missed and he will not miss us either he’s too busy with his career on Hockey Night in Canada.
I will not miss his constant anti Habs act as well.
I think they should have fired that prize patrol vehicle.
I liked Stock, I thought he was fun in the mornings, had lots of energy – but like others have said, he was hardly ever there with his shift starting later at 7 am. I know his main job requires him to stay up late watching hockey and on nights when he’s on RDS’s L’Antichambre after the Habs game, he probably doesn’t get home until midnight so that’s not really the ideal schedule for a morning radio guy. And then he would miss Fridays completely to fly out to Toronto for Hockey Night in Canada…And now with the playoffs starting soon, he’d probably be on air less. I like Stock but his hiring as a part-time morning show guy never made sense. I’ll miss him in the mornings but like the previous poster said, I don’t think he’ll miss CHOM too much. He’s still got HNIC, HNIC Radio and L’Antichambre so I think he’ll be fine.
I also like Merv and don’t understand why they let him go. He was quite funny too and would’ve been a good replacement…if they’re looking for one. I have a feeling they’ll probably stick with the two person format in the mornings from now on.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out PJ.
This is a busy week at Fort and Saint Catherine. Stock, Merv and Michael Farber!
PJ Stock could go back to the CBC. Did he take time off during Battle of the Blades? My mom liked him but I thought he was a bad fit.
Merv’s time at CJAD was shrinking alot. I loved that late night Friday show he did afew years back with Paris Mansouri. I didn’t like how they got rid of the Finnigan quiz show for more Hockey talk. OK, I understand hockey’s big but can we not have Hockey every night with more worthwhile programming. I also loved Merv taking over the reins on Christmas Day a few months ago.
Also, in passing, my mother was wondering, is Merv a father? She thinks she has heard him say “my son” a few times”. A big loss.
I hope Michael Farber gets better. a Speedy Recovery!
one down,two to go.bring in Aaron and Tasso to CHOM.watch the ratings rise with that move.mornings suck on CHOM since Rob Kemp left.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.
I’d stop listening if they did that.
I won’t miss PJ at all. I rarely heard him articulate a complete sentence. Merv will be missed.
PJ who now? Chantal? Who are these people? CHOM didn’t that used to be a radio station playing great music? What ever happened to CHOM is it still around? Wait a minute let me get out the radio from the back of my closet. Oh there it is, just blow off the dust. Let’s plug this bugger in, see what happens. Fuzzzzzzzz, buzzzzz, crackle. Hold on let me turn down my iTunes. Oh there it is, how funny it is like a way back machine. Dials and knobs, same old music. Wait, is this a repeat program from a few decades ago? Wow man takes me back! Back to a time when internet didn’t exist. Great way to spend your money Astral. Always ahead of the curve and constantly firing people. Bottom line is important when no one is listening anymore.
I’ve been wondering where he was over the past few weeks and now my suspicions are realized, it seems like every time announcers at chom go on vacation someone gets axed.
Merv will be missed greatly by me, he was an original and a breath of fresh air in chom’s ever so boring line up.
If I recall correctly, Merv Williams got his start as an on-air personality on Dave Fisher’s weekend morning show. Williams was the board operator and Fisher encouraged him to make some comments as well as pushing the buttons. Guess that’s over for now.
Well I certainly wont miss PJ other than hockey he knew nothing about sports that didnt read off copy and i really wont miss the hab bashing and Boston cheering so BYE BYE PJ
as for Merv There nuts he was the best personality they had always funny and a welcome voice on chom and as far as the cjad side of things What a mistake Merv was a great on air personality not to mention all the other odd jobs he filled in on its unbelievable how foolish and short sighted the corporate idiots are why dont they just bite the bullet and go totally automated seems thats where they want to go (we dont need people robots are the wave of the future and they cost less who needs entertaining personalities) IDIOTS. whats next no hook up with Toronto to speak with John moore in the morning cause the long distance is to expensive.
shame shame shame
PJ Stock was fun to listen to but he is NOT a radio personality. Ted Bird IS a radio personality and there lies the difference when Ted left and ended up on K103.7 which is a great little station. The many comments about him being a part-timer are all true. Radio is not his primary job and it’s fine to make a few extra bucks when you have 4 kids to feed.
Merv Williams is a great radio personality with great presence, wit and ability. The moment his role was reduced when CHOM started retooling in 2009, it was a sign… a bad one. Any radio station wanting good ratings in Montreal should hire him right away.
I love CHOM but the best morning crew they had in the last 15 years was Rob Kemp, Kim Rossi, Ted Bird and Merv Williams. The ratings showed it and the fans liked it!
I will miss both Merv & PJ – they were the best part of the morning show. Since I heard that I can listen to Ted Bird on K103 online I will be doing that. No more CHOM morning show for me. Chantal drives me crazy – she laughs at every newscast (if you want to call it that – she very rarely reports the important news). Pete is just condescending and the show is no longer fun to listen to.
I can’t believe Merv is gone….it’s very sad!!!
I think they should have put Merv instead of PJ Stock to begin with.
PJ Stock…nope..not gonna miss him….sorry!
I’d love the know if the people who work at CHOM or Astral and their friends and family think CHOM is a good station. It has got to be one of the worst rock stations in the country. I’d love to have an Ottawa Bear or Vancouver CFOX type rock station in this city…and I’m going to be 45!
Jeez, is that a official publicity photo? Pete looks old, whoever she is looks , well, whatever. Merv, I miss. Although, truth be told, I miss Ted too. PJ, go quickly to that hell you deserve. the cee bee cee. soon to be gone when my man gets his majority next election.
Could’t care less. PJ was a bad fit. hated him. Glad he’s gone..
Pete, you should be next..
The show died when Terry and Ted and left. Now the show is all about giving away prizes. Astral Media killed the CHOM morning show.
PJ never worked on CHOM. When are these clowns gonna realize we’re sick of “rock star wannabe” radio annoncers. It goes back to Terry and Ted, Aron and Tasso and all those idiots who thought they were stars and that the public actually wanted to hear their opinions on everything or their lame-ass comedy skits. I want morning radio that plays music to wake me up, then gives me the traffic, let’s me know what’s going on in the world, what’s happening with the weather and that’s it. Enough of all the wannabe’s.
Sad to see Merv go. He was actually one of the best morning show “hosts” this city has seen in years, even if he technically wasn’t one. Freeway Frank is sounding good this morning on his first day. Now if they’d just sack Lisa Player, who’s one of the remaining clowns who thinks she’s more important than she really is.
Wow! Lots of negative-nellies on here! I think PJ was a great addition to the morning show! He was loads of fun and added that bit of controversy and cynicism that the morning show needed. He always gave me a good laugh! I’m afraid Pete and Chantal alone just don’t do it for me in the morning – Fridays were always the days that I tuned out. I guess I will have to find other forms of entertainment on my drive into the office now.
Too bad about Merv as well. He was the second most entertaining part of the morning show. Chom has made a big mistake and it also annoys me that they didn’t have the common courtesey to announce these changes to the listeners.
Bad move Chom. I’ll be switching to the Buzz from now on. Unless of course, I get a craving for Aerosmith, AC/DC or Guns and Roses – the bands they seem to repetitively play every half hour on chom!!!
Wow- I suspected as much. I thought perhaps Merv was still on Vacation. That’s really a loss for the morning show. I am a die-hard listener. As much as Pete and PJ disagreed, their banter was fun to listen to and I will greatly miss it. Merv was witty, cynical and had an amazing sense of comedic timing. I have and will miss him. I love Pete, in all his cynicism, and continue to listen to him occasionally. Chantal, well, she adds nothing other then someone to laugh at. And I mean laugh ‘at’, not ‘with’. She constantly makes idiotic comments, whether well-meaning or not and ,quite frankly, adds very little to the show.
I have really become discouraged with cjad of late.
people seem to drop off the schedule with no explantion
nor caring about the fact that you stress the family type
programs, and give no reasons or where these familiar
voices have gone. it seems to me that some strategic
moves should be made in the production department.
I will miss merv very much, he had a special sense of
humour and is very clever. I wish him only the best.
Lynda
Sorry Suzanne, could throw PJ in with Chantal as someone to laugh at and NOT with…
no loss.
Merv certainly will be missed both on Chom and CJAD.
Sorry to hear about Merv. He tried really hard. He will be missed. This radio business is not an easy industry.
Don’t blame the announcers….fire the stupid program directors,, the only things they know are how to fire knowns and hire stupid unknowns….
Oh good. I will now listen to CHOM again. PJ Stock was the worst choice ever. Rude and obnoxious, so glad he’s gone!
I think that I loved to hate P.J., for the past year I was listening to CHOM, even though I was not always in accordance with P.J. But now that he is gone, I am switching to Energie 94.3 which I never did the year before. I hope that they find someone to fill in the spot of PJ, or else I do think I will totaly switch to Energie. He was good giving the sports news and honestly as much as I loved to hate him… I loved him!!! Bring him back or, yes… the button will switch to Energie.
Christine Boyer
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PJ gone or not. Doesn’t matter to me…I just stopped listening to CHOM arount the time the lights went out with Dimonte’s and Ted Bird’s departure. They gutted a once great rock station yet have the balls…THE BALLS… to celebrate CHOM’s 40th anniversary. Sorry Mr. Beancounter, CHOM is not even a shadow of its former self. Do you want to hear the REAL CHOM that was before the 1990s? I now listen to WDRV Chicago on my PC all the time….garanteed you’ll hear RARE tracks from The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Al Stewart, Roxy Music, Beatles (remember them?) and all the other greats from mid1960s to mid1980s. As for todays crappy rock….nobody will be play it as classic 20 years from now.
Why do I bother commenting? I just come to this site hoping to hear of CHOM/Astrals imminent implosion.
Would like to know if there is anyway we can get Merv back to the radio? Would have been really neat to listen to him one last time!
Looks like Merv has passed on, sadly http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?pid=180689563
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