Tag Archives: CKBE
Radio ratings: Good news for 98.5, The Beat and CHOM
Quarterly radio ratings were released earlier this month. You can see the BBM compilation of top-line data here (PDF), but it doesn’t say too much.
Astral and Cogeco both provide analysis for the benefit of advertisers, Astral in the form of a slideshow (PDF) and Groupe Force Radio (which represents Cogeco stations and independent former Corus stations in Quebec City and Saguenay) also does a slide presentation (PDF). The latter tends to be more detailed, but is also more biased, highlighting their stations’ successes and their competitors’ struggles.
Here, based on those reports, is some analysis of what’s going on in commercial radio in Montreal. We’ll start with the English side.
English radio
Afternoon ratings show a spike for Donna Saker’s show on CKBE, rocketing it to No. 1. There’s a similar spike in late mornings and at noon-hour.
Overall, there hasn’t been much change in the ratings. A few points up, a few points down. But breaking it down a bit you see some significant gains for CKBE-FM 92.5 (The Beat) and a few highlights for CHOM-FM 97.7 as well.
The Beat, which rebranded last fall in an effort to attract a younger female audience but hadn’t seen much movement in ratings until now, is starting to see the change (and accompanying marketing spending) pay off. It’s second behind Virgin Radio among adults 18-49 and 25-54 (in both cases passing CHOM), first among adults 35-64 (passing CJAD) and has seen a gain of more than 50% in a year for men 25-54 (which is interesting because the station is targetting women).
Caption The Beat’s station manager Mark Dickie
Cousin Vinny joins The Beat
"Cousin Vinny" aka Vincent Barrucco
Cat Spencer, Nat Lauzon and now Vinny Barrucco. “Cousin Vinny” has become the latest personality to jump from Virgin Radio to competitor The Beat, even though the latter is less than a year old.
Barrucco left CJFM suddenly at the end of February, and was purposefully vague about why, saying he had “a new opportunity” coming up. This was apparently because of a non-compete obligation that wouldn’t allow him to jump directly to a competing station. So after three months off (during which he said he missed not being on the air), he’s back behind a microphone.
The new hire was introduced to listeners on Monday’s morning show and answered some short-answer questions:
His first shift is Monday at 4pm. His show is weekdays from 4 to 8, leading in to Paul Hayes’s Heartbeats.
Barrucco replaces AJ Reynolds, who was let go from CKBE the same week Barrucco left CJFM. Christin Jerome has been holding the fort in the meantime, and will remain with the station in her unsung-hero capacity.
UPDATE: Mike Cohen interviews Barrucco and program director Leo Da Estrela. Vinny explains it was tough to be off the air for three months and is kind of vague about the reason he decided to move from Virgin to The Beat (which I guess means it’s because of the money). Da Estrela says The Beat’s goal isn’t to steal talent from Virgin, but to get talent that knows Montreal and knows radio. He also acknowledges that the two stations sound a lot alike and have similar playlists these days.
Cogeco applies for big power boost to The Beat, 98.5FM
Existing (purple lines) and proposed (black lines) coverage areas of CKBE-FM 92.5, as prepared by SpectrumExpert. The map for CHMP-FM 98.5 is identical.
Cogeco wants more power.
Its broadcasting arm, Cogeco Diffusion, has applied to the CRTC to more than double the power output of two of its stations, CKBE-FM 92.5 (The Beat) and French-language talk station CHMP-FM 98.5, so they reach their maximum of 100kW effective radiated power, from the current 44.1 kW and 40.8 kW, respectively.
The move comes, the applications say, because of a new antenna installed by CBC/Radio-Canada on the Mount Royal Tower for CBF-FM (Première Chaîne 95.1). Cogeco wants to put both stations on this antenna, and replace their ~20kW transmitters with ~40kW transmitters, leading to a 100kW ERP for both.
At 100kW, the stations would match CBF-FM and CBFX-FM (Espace musique 100.7) as the most powerful FM radio transmitters on the tower. Only CKOI, which transmits 307,000 watts from the CIBC tower downtown, has more power, because it was approved for that power before the 100kW limit was set in the 1960s and the right was grandfathered in.
By comparison, other stations like CHOM, CFGL (Rythme FM), CITE (Rouge FM) and CJFM (Virgin Radio) operate around 40 kW ERP, as does CKMF (NRJ), though it has been authorized to go up to 75 kW. CBC Radio One and Radio Two operate around 25 kW.
As you can see from the map above, though it more than doubles the radiated power of both stations, the impact on the coverage area is minor. Cogeco’s application estimates an increased potential audience of 1.5% or 5%, depending on how you measure it.
That said, those who receive either station with some noise or difficulty will probably find it easier if the CRTC approves this change.
Interference
The CRTC’s decision on this matter won’t just take into account Cogeco’s needs, but will also look at how this increased power will affect other radio stations. Coordination rules set limits in terms of how much stations on the same channel can interfere with each other, as well as how stations protect other stations on adjacent frequencies. Cogeco’s applications see no interference problems in which another station’s needs would take priority over its own.
Here’s what the engineer’s report lists as potential issues:
For CKBE:
- Co-channel interference: The station would risk interfering with four U.S. station allocations on 92.5 FM, none of which have an operational station. The station would also graze the coverage area of CBCD-FM, a retransmitter of CBC Radio One Ottawa in Pembroke, Ont. (An application is also under consideration for a 300W station on that frequency in Clarence-Rockland, Ont., east of Ottawa.)
- First-adjacent channel interference (92.3 FM, 92.7 FM): The biggest concern here would be CBF-FM-12 (92.7), a 130-watt retransmitter of Sherbrooke’s Première Chaîne station in Victoriaville. It could also increase interference with WPAC in Ogdensburg, N.Y., but only if that station were expanded to its maximum allowable parameters.
- Second-adjacent channel interference (92.1 FM, 92.9 FM): There’s a slight overlap near St. Jean sur Richelieu for Burlington’s WEZF (Star 92.9), so there might be trouble for people on the fringe of WEZF’s coverage area near Montreal.
- Third-adjacent channel interference (91.9 FM, 93.1 FM): Only real concern here is CKLX-FM (Planète Jazz 91.9), which might get more interference for people who live near the Mount Royal tower. But being three channels away, and because it also transmits from that tower with a lot of power, it’s unlikely to result in significant interference.
- Harmonic interference: The engineers predict a potential interference problem on TV channel 8, which is used by the analog TV retransmitter of CJOH in Cornwall, Ont. The audio frequency of that channel is at 185 MHz, which is twice 92.5. The station is required to solve any harmonic interference problems that come up.
For CHMP:
- Co-channel interference: The biggest concern here is CJWL-FM (The Jewel) in Ottawa, which would not be fully protected. There’s also a potential for some interference with WCKM-FM in Lake George, N.Y.
- First-adjacent channel interference (98.3 FM, 98.7 FM): Potential interference with CIAX-FM, a community station in Windsor, Quebec.
- Second-adjacent channel interference (98.1 FM, 98.9 FM): No interference issues. The closest station is CFGE-FM 98.1, a Rythme FM transmitter in Magog, which is also owned by Cogeco.
- Third-adjacent channel interference (97.9 FM, 99.1 FM): No issues here either. There’s an American frequency allocation, but CHMP interference would not carry anywhere near the U.S. border.
- Fourth-adjacent channel interference (97.7 FM, 99.3 FM): The engineer mentions CHOM-FM in its report, but notes no likelihood of interference between the two.
- Harmonic interference: Engineers note a potential interference issue with TV channel 10, which is used by the digital transmitter CFTM-DT (TVA), also on the Mount Royal tower. The second harmonic of 98.5 MHz is 197 MHz, which is part of Channel 10. CHMP is required to solve harmonic interference issues if they come up.
For all the listings of interference problems, Cogeco’s application notes that CKBE and CHMP would be operating within their maximum allocated coverage area, which means it would not need to coordinate with these stations. And in any case, these stations are already operating, so most interference issues would already exist. It’s unlikely too many people are going to have problems they didn’t have before picking up stations.
Rubber stamp?
I haven’t seen enough applications like these to judge their chances of getting through the CRTC. But the fact that they are Part 1 applications (no notice of consultation, no hearing date set) suggests the commission sees this as a minor change. Unless one of the stations listed above files an intervention and makes a case that the power increase would negatively affect their station (and that their station’s needs are more important), these changes are likely to pass.
If you wish to file a comment or intervention in these cases, the deadline is May 14. You can view the applications or submit comments via the CRTC website.
Cousin Vinny leaves Virgin Radio 96, AJ Reynolds let go from The Beat
This post has been corrected. See below.
"Cousin Vinny" aka Vince Barrucco
Vince Barrucco, better known as Cousin Vinny, has resigned from his post as afternoon drive announcer at CJFM to explore “a new opportunity” in the city after a few months off the air.
Mark Bergman, brand director for Virgin Radio 96, confirmed that Barrucco submitted his resignation letter Monday morning. Bergman said Barrucco didn’t say where he was going.
Through social media, Barrucco was coy about his destination, saying only that it was “a new opportunity” and that he’d be staying in Montreal.
AJ Reynolds: gone from The Beat
But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that another Montreal drive-time announcer has been scrubbed from the schedule: AJ Reynolds is no longer part of The Beat, his name and face gone from the website (for the most part) and his Beat Twitter account disappeared, all about the same time as Barrucco left Virgin. Barrucco’s sudden disappearance from the air, the lack of announcement about his leaving, and his forced vacation from behind the microphone are all consistent with him being poached by a competitor.
Reynolds, whose Canada’s Top 20 Countdown has been picked up by seven new stations across Canada and will expand to four hours daily as of March 5, according to an ad it’s running on the Airchecker blog, said he was leaving the Beat on good terms and wished them well.
The Beat’s station manager, Mark Dickie, said the station had decided to “make a change” because of disappointing performance at drive time* “things not working out as expected.” He wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Barrucco had been hired to replace Reynolds.
Reynolds’s syndicated show, Canada’s Top 20 Countdown, will remain on the Beat, at least for now, Dickie said. It airs 5-7pm Sundays.
Claudia Marques, the traffic announcer paired with Reynolds, is on maternity leave (as is morning traffic announcer Natasha Hall, which led to plenty of jokes about the fertility powers of the traffic announcer’s equipment there). Dickie said Marques’s job will be waiting for her when she returns.
I asked Bergman about what a trend that seems to have developed, if it is true that Barrucco is heading to the Beat. Barrucco would be the third Virgin star, after Cat Spencer and Nat Lauzon, that has been poached by the Beat in just the past year. This is noteworthy because CJFM consistently does better than CFQR/CKBE in the ratings, so you have to wonder why people are leaving the No. 1 music station for similar jobs at the No. 2.
Dickie also downplayed the trend, pointing out that the Beat has plenty of people from the old Q combined with new talent from elsewhere.
Bergman, who said he didn’t know where Barrucco was going, said he isn’t worried about losing talent, because the team at the station is stronger than any individual announcer. And the numbers suggest he’s right, at least so far. Nevertheless, Bergman stressed that he has the utmost respect and admiration for Barrucco and that he wished him well. Barrucco had been at CJFM since 2009, and on the afternoon drive show since he replaced Bergman in April 2010.
Barrucco told me he’ll be starting his new job at the end of May.
“A great opportunity presented itself that was hard to refuse,” Barrucco said. “I enjoyed my time at Virgin Radio and wish the entire crew the best! Looking forward to the future!”
Astral has posted a job opening for a full-time announcer (the deadline is March 16), though Bergman says he hasn’t discounted the possibility of using someone already on staff to fill the afternoon drive slot and taking on someone new to fill out the schedule. He says he’s searching around for what’s out there in the talent pool.
He’s been doing a lot of that lately, thanks to Cogeco.
*Correction: An earlier version of this post said Beat general manager Mark Dickie expressed disappointment with the performance of the afternoon drive show hosted by AJ Reynolds. In fact, he said that things had not worked out “as expected” – a statement I had apparently interpreted a bit too much. My apologies to Dickie and Reynolds.
Fertility gods open jobs at The Beat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jnS3ihnZyI
There must be something in the water at CKBE-FM, or maybe a delayed (and unusual) reaction to Aaron Rand’s departure last year, because both the morning and afternoon traffic announcers are pregnant.
The video above is from morning traffic announcer Natasha Hall. She’s been keeping a blog at The Beat’s website chronicling her pregnancy and all the stuff that a first-time mother learns that isn’t in the guidebook or in the movies. (It’s similar to Lisa’s Wedding Blog, a video series done by former CJAD promotions director Lisa Fuoco in 2009-10.) As Natasha’s video title says, she’s got about a month left before that thing the size of her head gets pushed out and she can go back to walking instead of waddling.
The afternoon announcer, Claudia Marques, has a bit more time to wait. She’s at about 30 weeks now.
Cogeco has posted part-time, temporary positions to fill both of their jobs. Requirements include three years of on-air experience and knowledge of Montreal’s road network, along with the usual qualities needed to be an on-air talent at a radio station.
The deadline is Monday.
Radio ratings: A good fall for Cogeco and CKGM
Overall market share for anglophone Montreal (note that this includes only BBM members)
Ah, ratings. That time of the every-few-months where people who own radio stations gloat about their rising numbers, and if they don’t have rising numbers they selectively comb through demographics and time periods until they find something to gloat about, and if they don’t find anything there either they just bullshit their way through a press release.
Normally I don’t pay much attention to them, because the changes are so insignificant. But with some major programming changes this fall, and some corresponding jumps and plummets in audience, it’s worth taking a closer look this time.
Here are some more objective highlights from the ratings numbers from what I’ve been able to find. The top-line numbers from BBM Canada are here (PDF, first page is English audience, second page French audience). You can compare that to the spring report or last year for the same period.
Astral Media also does a presentation (PDF) that looks into the numbers overall for key demographics, and for important time periods for adults 25-54, which advertisers apparently covet.
CJAD 800AM (Astral)
Programming changes: Aaron Rand show added to evenings, moving Ric Peterson to early afternoons and Kim Fraser to weekends. Barry Morgan does 7-10pm weekdays, replacing Dan Delmar. Loss of Canadiens games to CKGM.
Overall (adults 2+, seven days a week), CJAD is still the highest-rated station in the Montreal English market. It has a 24% market share, within 0.2 percentage points of this spring and last fall. But it’s losing audience in key demographics, especially young adults. In the 18-34 demo, it’s down from 17% this spring to 11%. Though losing rights to Canadiens games is undoubtedly part of that, it’s not the whole story.
If CJAD thought Aaron Rand would give a ratings boost for its evening drive, that hasn’t happened. Its audience for 4-7pm weekdays is stagnant, and it has dropped to fifth place, behind Mitch Melnick on CKGM, for 25-54.
CKGM 990AM (TSN Radio 990, Bell Media)
Programming changes: Rebranding. Acquisition of Canadiens games. Denis Casavant leaves morning show.
The biggest change to CKGM is the addition of Canadiens games, which is giving a significant boost to the evening audience, making it No. 1 on game nights. “Canadiens games are registering an impressive 28.2 share among males 25-54,” Bell Media’s Greg McIsaac tells me. Previously, the station was fifth place with a 3.7 share during that time period. Now, overall, it’s 19.8, ahead of Virgin Radio, station manager Wayne Bews tells Mike Cohen.
But the station is seeing ratings gains everywhere. Overall, CKGM is reaching more listeners, 131,000 a week compared to 93,000 in the spring. Its market share overall has gone up from 2.7 to 4.
Mitch Melnick’s afternoon show has the most impressive gains, going from 3,490 to 4,540 listeners during an average minute, representing a 30% increase in audience. It was enough to push CKGM past CJAD for this time period among adults 25-54, particularly impressive since he’s now up against Aaron Rand.
For me, the big question out of this is: Was getting Canadiens games worth it? Obviously they won’t get into details about their business plans, but the mood seems to be pretty positive.
Bell Media also wouldn’t comment on whether the station is still losing 30% of its audience after dark, as it complained to the CRTC during hearings that eventually granted it the right to move to the clear channel of 690 kHz. But critics might argue it’s hard to get a 28% share if you’re having significant reception problems.
There was also speculation that the station might be picking up francophone listeners after the closure of CKAC Sports. Though there has been a “moderate increase”, Bell Media’s McIsaac says, the overall numbers among francophones have remained unchanged since the spring. Overall, CKGM has a market share of 0.0 among francophone listeners.
If anything, the more likely scenario is that anglophone listeners who tuned into CKAC are coming back to CKGM. The French all-sports station had a 0.5% share among anglophone listeners. Stands to reason many of them would prefer hearing sports-related news and commentary during the day.
CKBE 92.5FM (ex-CFQR, The Beat, Cogeco)
Programming changes: Complete station rebranding. Cat Spencer replaces Aaron Rand on morning show, Ken Connors moves to weekend mornings, Nat Lauzon does weekend afternoons (starting Oct. 15).
They called it a brand new radio station. They wanted to shed all remaining remnants of the old Q92. But despite all the changes, it has still inherited the old Q ratings. The station has a 16% market share overall, which is actually down slightly from last year.
But program director general manager Mark Dickie still has a happy face. (Well, I assume he does. He seemed content when I chatted with him over the phone.) That’s mostly because CKBE has made the strategic decision as part of the Beat rebranding to target the 35-44 female demographic that competitor CJFM seems to have abandoned, and it’s seeing corresponding gains there, and Dickie says they’ve managed to do that while continuing to grow its 45-54 female demo. Overall, from 9am to 4pm, it has a 30% market share for women 35-54.
“It’s pretty well what we were hoping for in the first book,” he said. Among his cherry-picked highlights, the breakfast show with Cat Spencer and Sarah Bartok has surpassed CJFM among the key demo and has gone from fourth to second (behind CJAD) among adults 35-54. (Expanding to adults 25-54, it’s still third, but gaining on second-place CJAD.)
Besides the new morning show, the Beat has also focused on weekends, moving Ken Connors to a beefed-up weekend morning show and bringing star Nat Lauzon in for weekend afternoons.
Lauzon’s numbers are good, even though she’s been on for only half the ratings period. Her numbers are up 6% on Saturdays and 7% Sundays compared to the spring. Among adults 35-54, afternoons are up 12% on Saturdays and 15% on Sundays.
But it’s Connors who is making the biggest impact, with double-digit growth on weekend mornings. Among women 35-54, the station’s audience has grown 37% on Saturdays and 53% on Sundays on weekend mornings.
“It’s definitely paying off,” Dickie says of the decision to focus on weekends, and of the Beat rebranding in general.
Of course, a lot of that is the promotional blitz that comes with a station rebranding. We’ll have to give it another ratings period to see if this audience is sticking around.
CJFM 95.9FM (Virgin Radio, Astral)
Programming changes: Freeway Frank replaces Cat Spencer on morning show, Nat Lauzon leaves midday show for CKBE.
Virgin is still the market leader among adults 18-54. The only big demo it’s lost control over is men 25-54, where CHOM has snuck into first place. The morning show, which took on Freeway Frank Depalo this year and is about to lose Lisa Player, has kept its audience. Its audience during midday, which has lost veteran Nat Lauzon, hasn’t seen a significant change among adults 25-54.
Virgin’s on-air lineup is young, and midday hosts Andrea Collins and Nikki Balch are new to the station over the past year. But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I suppose. “As the leader our plan was not to react,” Brand Director Mark Bergman tells Cohen.
CHOM 97.7FM (Astral)
Programming changes: Pete Marier moved to afternoon drive, Rob Kemp to morning show, Tootall to middays and Sharon Hyland to weekends.
Even though CHOM is in a period of transition as it awaits the return of Terry DiMonte on Jan. 9, this has actually been a pretty good ratings period for the station. It’s up just about everywhere, except among women and during the drive-time show, where it’s stagnant. It’s now first overall among men 25-54, overtaking sister station CJFM. Even the morning show has picked up listeners, though it still sits fourth among English-language stations overall.
CBC Radio
Overall, Radio One’s market share is still 8% among anglos, which hasn’t changed over the past year. For Radio Two, there’s been a slight drop in overall audience, going from a 3.1% to 2.6% market share.
CHMP 98.5FM (Cogeco)
Programming changes: Incorporation of sports programming in evenings after closing of CKAC Sports.
Cogeco Nouvelles, in a totally unbiased press release masquerading as news, declared 98.5 the most listened-to station in Canada. I’m too lazy to confirm that, but they’re not making up their significant market gains.
Overall, the station has jumped from a market share of 12% last fall to 20% this fall. That’s incredible. It’s gained throughout the day weekdays (it’s stagnant on weekends, when it plays music). The morning show, hosted by Paul Arcand, has gone from 33,000 to 45,000 average listeners a minute since last spring, a 37% increase. It’s a 47% increase if you count from last fall.
In the noon and early afternoon periods, CHMP has rocketed past three other stations, CITE, CKMF and CKOI, to jump from fifth place to second among adults 25-54.
Demographically, the spike is most pronounced among men 25-54, where it was once in a three-way tie for first place with NRJ and Rythme FM, but is now way ahead (28% to 20%). But it’s also ahead among women and young adults.
Unsurprisingly, the station has seen an increase in ratings during the evening, where it has replaced repeats of the day’s talk shows with sports talk and Canadiens broadcasts. “Its new sports programming has proven a contributing factor to the station’s growing success,” says Cogeco. But that’s not the whole story. Simple math shows that adding all of CKAC’s former audience to CHMP only accounts for about half its increase in market share. Something else is causing more people to listen to the station and/or for longer.
CKAC 730AM (Radio Circulation, Cogeco)
Programming changes: Complete station rebranding, replacing sports and sports talk with 24/7 traffic information.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that since its switch Sept. 6 from sports talk to traffic, CKAC has plummeted in the ratings. But that was expected. Last fall, it had a 4.1% market share. This fall, it’s 0.5%.
Where CKAC’s morning show had an average minute audience of about 9,000, Radio Circulation is only 1,290. Similar drops happen across the schedule and across demographics.
Still, CKAC reaches more than 1 million listeners a week (counted as those who listen at least a minute in a week).
In its application to the CRTC this spring to put a French-language traffic station on 690AM, Cogeco estimated a French-language traffic information service as having a market share of 0.8%, with a total 265,200 weekly listening hours. That number, they said, would double as of the third year. As it turns out, they’re behind that estimate a bit (even though there’s one fewer station to compete with).
Fortunately for Cogeco, its agreement with Transport Quebec doesn’t set any minimums concerning market share or total audience.
Other French-language stations
There haven’t been much changes to the music stations on the French side, certainly not much of interest to anglos.
Among young adults (18-34), Astral’s CKMF (NRJ) has overtaken Cogeco’s CKOI for first place, going up six points with a corresponding drop of six points for CKOI.
CKOI’s overall market share has dropped from 9.8 last year to 6.6 this fall, a significant drop. Why Cogeco would say it’s proud of the station’s performance is beyond me.
Quebec City
In brief:
- CFEL (CKOI), recently sold by Cogeco to the Leclerc family on orders from the CRTC, has slid significantly in market share among adults 18-34. It’s now 16%, compared to 24% last fall, dropping it from first to third in the market.
- There’s a corresponding spike for Astral’s CITF (Rouge FM) in that same demographic. It has gone from 5% to 11% market share over the same period.
- CHOI (Radio X) is losing a lot of audience during weekday midday, and Rouge FM has a corresponding spike in audience for that period.
Star 92.9 takes out attack ad on The Beat
Ad from Star 92.9 in this week's Suburban
Well that’s a bit more direct than you normally see. This ad is from Star 92.9 WEZF, a station based in Burlington, Vermont, that targets the Montreal audience even though it’s not incredibly easy to pick up here if you’re not in a car.
In case you can’t tell from the references to Aaron, Tasso, The Q and 92.5, the ad is a direct attack on The Beat (CFQR, now CKBE) and its programming changes.
I get the plan to profit from the format change, but the direct attack seems a bit much. Though there are still people bitter about Tasso and (later) Aaron getting the boot, I haven’t heard much negative about changing from The Q to The Beat. It’s too early to get an idea of ratings, but The Beat General Manager Mark Dickie says he’s encouraged by early numbers in their target demographic.
But I guess going outrageous is part of their marketing plan. It got me talking about them.
Star owner ad salesman Tim Martz spoke with The Suburban’s Mike Cohen recently (makes you wonder if the timing of the story and the ad are a coincidence).
Nat Lauzon back on the air with The Beat
Nat Lauzon, the former daytime DJ at Mix 96/Virgin Radio until she left to join what was then called the Q, began her first shift as the weekend afternoon host Saturday on CKBE, 92.5 The Beat.
The first day of one of Montreal’s biggest (and yet perhaps most underrated) radio personalities was remarkably low-key. Her first words on air, just after noon, sounded like this. Another few words at 12:37pm, but otherwise it was all about the music, following The Beat’s 10-in-a-row-to-start-each-hour thing.
Off air, she announced the new job this morning on her Twitter account and her Facebook page, and got a congratulatory tweet from fellow-Virgin-to-Beat-turncoat Cat Spencer, along with a bunch of messages from fans (some only finding out now that she’s switching stations).
Part of the low-keyness was necessary, Beat General Manager Mark Dickie said this week, because Lauzon’s contractual obligations to Astral expired only at midnight, exactly three months after her last day at Virgin (that’s why she’s only starting now when the “new station” launched more than a month ago). So the station couldn’t put her on air or do much to advertise her before today. Even the web page for her show isn’t done yet.
Dickie promised he won’t let her go unnoticed though, and said a marketing campaign featuring Lauzon will begin on Monday. Combined with the one-woman Lauzon marketing machine that is her mother, we expect people will be seeing that adorable face around over the next little while.
As previously reported, Lauzon left Virgin on good terms, mainly because she wanted to devote more time to her other passions, her freelance voice-over work and her Montreal Dog Blog. Dickie jumped at the chance to hire Lauzon when he learned of her desire for a part-time job, and though he said he’s spending far more on her than he planned to for a weekend DJ, he has absolutely no regrets about doing so.
Let her talk
UPDATE: I listened to Lauzon’s first show as I did errands on Saturday afternoon (why oh why did I choose then to do grocery shopping?), and I was struck with one thought: Why am I not hearing her talk?
I know there’s a difference between talk and music radio. And I know there’s a lot less talking during the day than during morning shows when you need to throw in news, weather, traffic and contests. But Lauzon’s on-air bits were short and infrequent. Maybe a minute and a half each hour.
I’m hardly one to complain that there’s too much music. But why spend money hiring someone like Lauzon for such little on-air exposure? I just don’t get it. (Now I do, see below.)
I’m reminded of the experiment that this same station did with Terry DiMonte in 2008, not long after he moved to Calgary. DiMonte went to work for a Corus station, Q107, and since Corus also owned Q92 at the time, they figured they’d make use of his following in this city and give him a noon-hour show here that he’d do from there.
It made sense, but it was stopped after less than a year for the simple reason that Q92 was paying DiMonte a lot of money to talk for just six minutes a day. His connection to the Montreal audience is important, but if you’re going to hire him, have him actually work instead of just sitting around during non-stop music marathons.
Lauzon has far too much talent for the amount of airtime she has, if that first show is any indication. Hopefully The Beat can find a formula for it that allows Montrealers to hear her voice and appreciate her quirky sense of humour without making it feel like talk radio. Even just a few seconds between every couple of songs can go a long way toward making the audience feel like they’re listening to the music with someone.
UPDATE (Oct. 17): Lauzon responds to me thusly about her talk time: “[It] was my choice to keep it simple. Getting used to new software/equipment and I really wanted to just keep ‘er on the rails and keep it simple while I get my bearings. Things will widen up over time (that’s what she said).”
That’s good to hear. We need more time for crude jokes like that on weekend afternoons.
Dickie confirms Lauzon will get more airtime, saying we should expect to hear her voice on The Beat as much every hour as we heard her on CJFM.
I personally think there could have been a stronger first impression, maybe a better introduction on her first show, but having a soft launch instead of a hard one isn’t going to discourage people from listening to her.
Lauzon has posted on her blog about her new job, and is asking listeners to take pictures of themselves next to billboards of her that are going up, and email those pictures to her.
Nat Lauzon hosts Feel Good Weekends from noon to 5pm Saturdays and Sundays on CKBE 92.5FM The Beat.
The Beat is on – but is 92.5FM* any different?
New logo for CFQR "The Beat"
Commercial radio stations spend all sorts of money on focus groups, surveys, branding specialists, PR firms, promotions and consultants to find ways to connect with audiences, target demographics and maximize their ratings (and, hence, advertising revenue).
But as CFQR* general manager Mark Dickie tells it, The Beat owes much of its new brand’s success to random thoughts from Program Director Leo Da Estrela.