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Imagine that you’re on the bus going to work. As you pass a particular building, your phone asks you if you’d like to hear a radio story about an event that happened there.Then you get a text on your phone from a different station asking you to write back if you’re stuck in traffic. The station uses the information to create a real-time traffic map on its website.Then a Twitter message asks, since it’s the 8th day of the month, for you to vote on which of three composers’ 8th symphonies you’d like to hear at lunchtime on the local classical music station. Could this be the future of radio? |
| Read more abot this story written by Beth Knobel who is a Co-author of the book “Heat and Light” which offers advice for the Next Generation of Journalists; Fordham professor; Former Moscow bureau chief; CBS News here. Thanks to the Huffington Post for allowing us to reprint part of this story. |
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Major stories in smaller markets do not come along all that often. But yesterday was a good example of how one radio station moved quickly to cover such a story. At 8:15am Sunday (27/3) a 45-unit 3-story apartment building exploded in Woodstock Ontario. |
| The explostion was heard for many miles, and 104.7 Heart FM had a reporter on the scene within five minutes (the building was located about 2 kms from the radio station) shooting video, talking to eye witnesses and filing news stories. The station website was hit with so much traffic that it almost ground to a halt, but within 30 minutes the website hosting company was on the job and fixed the problem.
The station video (including an appropiate credit) was run unedited by many of the television outlets accross the country throughout the day and is still being run today. Heart FM is normally live til Noon on a Sunday and then voice tracked, but the PD came in and went live until 6pm to ensure listeners were kept updated with the latest information including road closures, who to contact if they knew someone affected, and how locals could help. The Police Chief drove to the station to be on the morning show today and broke new information about this story live on the air. The radio station proved that acting quickly and being local is the best way to build loyality. I should also point out that I own 104.7 Heart FM so I am very proud of the effort the staff put in yesterday and every day. |
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With the release of Apple’s IPad 2 in Canada today (March 25th), there is a new research study you may be interested in. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Project For Excellence in Journalism, nearly half of all American adults (47%) report that they get at least some local news and information on their cellphone or tablet computer. |
| What they seek out most on mobile platforms is information that is practical and in real time: 42% of mobile device owners report getting weather updates on their phones or tablets; 37% say they get material about restaurants or other local businesses. Adults who get local news and information on mobile devices are more likely than others to feel they can have on impact on their communities, more likely to use a variety of media platforms, feel more plugged into the media environment than they did a few years ago, and are more likely to use social media. You can read the full report here. |
| In short Colmen say: •Most listening habituated •Reliance on pre-sets •Little scanning and “stumbling” upon stations •Most listening comes from Intentional useYou can read their report Coleman PPM Brieifing 2011 |
ByrnesMedia congratulates the following award winners from Canadian Music Week’s 29th Annual Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards at:
| Music Director of the Year – Major Market | Don Mitchell | The Edge 102.9 | Toronto |
| Music Director of the Year – Medium Market | Paul Morris | HTZ FM | St. Catharines |
| Music Director of the Year – Small Market | Jacquie Beckett | Rogers Radio | Kingston |
| Program Director of the Year – Major Market | Al Ford | Sonic 102.9 | Edmonton |
| Program Director of the Year – Medium Market (tie) | Jason Manning Jim McCourtie | The Ocean/Jack FM FM96 | Victoria London |
| Program Director of the Year – Small Market | Mark Burley | 99.9 Sun FM | Kelowna |
| Station of the Year – CHR | The Beat 94.5 | Vancouver | |
| Station of the Year – Hot AC | CHUM FM | Toronto | |
| Station of the Year – Mainstream AC | CHFI | Toronto | |
| Station of the Year – Classic Gold | Q107 | Toronto | |
| Station of the Year – Country | 93.7 JR FM | Vancouver | |
| Station of the Year – Medium Market | Wired 96.3 | Saskatoon | |
| Station of the Year – Multicultural | |||
| Station of the Year – News/Talk | 680 News | Toronto | |
| Station of the Year – Rock | 102.1 The Ede | Toronto | |
| Station of the Year – Small Market | 99.9 Sun FM | Kelowna | |
| On Air Talent | John Derringer | Q107 | Toronto |
| Promotion of the Year | Glee FM | Proud FM | Toronto |
For the 4th time in the past 10 years Corus have rebranded their station at 93.1 in Barrie. It has relaunched as Chay today @ 93.1. Most recently it was a Hot AC, branded as FM93.
The station is playing a gold based format with songs from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s and today.
In a statement, JJ Johnson, general manager of Corus Radio Barrie/Collingwood, said “The gold-based format that will anchor chay today @ 93 1fm will appeal to those listener memories, past and current, be unique to Barrie and resurrect the heritage of CHAY.”
Chech out the station’s website here
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Erica’s tips for being successful in 2011 included:
1. Never insult your listeners. |
OTTAWA-GATINEAU, March 7, 2011 — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today approved BCE Inc.’s acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc. This transaction will improve access to local programming through the carriage of at least 43 additional conventional and community television stations on BCE’s satellite television service.
“We are pleased that BCE has addressed our questions regarding how this transaction would contribute to the vitality of the Canadian broadcasting system,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. “BCE will provide stability to the CTV Television Network. It will also invest $245 million in the Canadian broadcasting system, of which more than $140 million will be allocated to new Canadian television and radio programming.”
The CRTC’s policy for ownership transactions in the broadcasting sector requires the buyer to make specific commitments to fund initiatives that will improve the broadcasting system. Further to a review of the proposed benefits package, the CRTC is requiring BCE to spend $245 million over the next seven years. Read the full decicion here. CHUM’s 32 radio stations did not warrant a mention in the decision, but they are listed in a chart at the end of the decision.
Thursday (March 3rd 2011), two panels of broadcasters, led by Sylvie Courtemanche, Chair of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, appeared before the Bill C-32 Parliamentary Committee that is considering the amendments to the Copyright Act which include a reproduction right exception for broadcasters. The two panels provided regional representation and the small and large broadcaster perspective: Panel 1 (National Private Broadcasters) Sylvie Courtemanche, Vice President Government Relations, Corus Entertainment and Chair of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Gabriel van Loon, Legal Counsel to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Brad Phillips, Vice President Operations, Astral Radio British Columbia and President of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters Mike Keller, Vice President Industry Affairs, Newcap Broadcasting Panel 2 (Independent/Regional Private Broadcasters) Ross Davies, VP Programming & Operations, Haliburton Broadcasting Group Inc. Guy Banville, Consultant and former Vice-président des programmes RNC Media Inc. Paul Larche, President, Larche Communications The broadcaster appearance was a true spectacle that highlighted how contentious the reproduction right issue is. The Liberals on the committee went on the offensive and launched a number of direct assaults on broadcasters generally, as well as the broadcaster position, and the assertions that the industry should not be paying multiple times for a single use of music. Liberal MP Dan McTeague suggested that radio stations are making record profits and the industry is using new technology and copying music onto broadcast servers that allows broadcasters to lower costs. “Technology is allowing you to get more for less” said McTeague. The Bloc Quebecois was diplomatic and even complimentary while the NDP sent mixed messages. The Conservatives demonstrated that the current PSA campaign is working – they displayed their clear support for the broadcaster provision. Paul Larche, appearing for the Independent Broadcasters said “Of the $21 Million for the reproduction rights that are now being collected, $16 million goes to foreign record labels and foreign rights holders. There is an overhead or administration costs of over $1 million dollars. Only $3.5 million dollars actually stays within in Canada.” “Larche went onto to say “Copyright is one of the biggest issues facing broadcasters today. I was paying 3.2% for the rights to play music when I brought my first radio station in 1995 and today I am paying about 9% for the rights to play this same music. We are now making three different copyright payments just for the rights to transfer music from one digital format to another so we can play this music on radio. This additional $21 million fee is on top of the $64 million the radio industry pay annually for the rights to play music. This is just not right.” When asked if anything had changed Larche said “The output is exactly the same….we are using the same transmitter and the same process. The input is still virtually the same. In the past we would play 45 records and they would often get scratched and the record company would send us another copy which they were always happy to do. Then we started to copy the CD’s onto a cart (like an 8 track tape) so we could play them on the air, and there was never any rights issues with this process. . Now we receive the music digitally and we transfer that music to a computer hard drive.” Mike Lake, the Parliamentary Secretary (Industry) said “It sounds like you are now paying several times for the rights to play the same music. I don’t know that someone listening to the radio at home would really know how that music gets from the creator to the radio and understands the steps, so it’s easy to slide a back door fee in there of $21 million dollars. If I go back to my own business experience when I was the Director of Tickets sales for a hockey team. It would be like us selling a ticket to a game but then having someone collect a fee on the way in, an additional fee like a seat access fee.” The CAB and its members clearly have an uphill battle on this issue, but we are heading in the right direction and now have some positive momentum. We have much more to do in order to shore up support for the broadcast reproduction exception and we may call upon you again to help us fight the good fight in Ottawa and across the country. Broadcasters have shown their opponents that this industry will not roll over on this issue. We will continue to monitor the passage of this Bill and keep you informed.
Bob Pittman is the guy who created MTV and has done lots of other interesting things along the way including Time/Warner and AOL. He is regarded as one of the 10 marketers who transformed American Culture. Bob is now in the radio business as the Chairman – Media & Entertainment Platforms for Clear Channel. Read what he is up to via this story in Ad Age. By the way if you like what you read you can hear Bob speak at the Ad Age conference in New York on April 6 & 7. Details here.
